Coppélia, which premiered May 25, 1870 at the Paris Opera, is a ballet by Léo Delibes based upon a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann entitled "The Sandman". It concerns an inventor who makes a life-size dancing doll. It is so life-like that a young man falls in love with it. If Mary Shelley's Frankenstein represents the dark side of the theme of scientist as creator of life, then Coppelia is the light side. The original choreography was done by Marius Petipa. May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Exterior of the Palais Garnier. ... A performance of The Nutcracker ballet Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. ... (Clément Philibert) Leo Delibes (February 21, 1836 – January 16, 1891) was a French composer of Romantic music. ... ETA Hoffman Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (January 24, 1776 - June 25, 1822), was a German romantic and fantasy author and composer. ... An inventor is a person who creates new inventions, typically technical devices such as mechanical, electrical or software devices or methods. ... A doll is a model of a human (often a baby), a humanoid (like Bert and Ernie), an animal or a fictional character (like a Troll or a Smurf), usually made of cloth or plastic. ... Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley née Godwin (August 30, 1797–February 1, 1851) was an English writer who is, perhaps, equally-famously remembered as the wife of Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and as the author of Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. ... Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is a novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. ... Marius Petipa ( March 11, 1822 — July 14, 1910) was the French dancer and choreographer who virtually invented classical ballet in a career that was centered on Saint Petersburg. ...

Some influence on this story comes from travelling shows of the late 18th and early 19th centuries starring mechanical automations. This field of entertainment has been under-documented, but a recent survey of the field is contained in The Mechanical Turk by Tom Standage (2002). These shows were later to also influence Charles Babbage in his invention of the difference engine. (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A humanoid robot playing the trumpet In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs automated tasks, either according to direct human supervision, a pre-defined program or, a set of general guidelines using artificial intelligence techniques. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (December 26, 1791 – October 18, 1871) was an English mathematician, analytical philosopher and (proto-) computer scientist who originated the idea of a programmable computer. ... A difference engine is a historical, now obsolete, mechanical special-purpose computer designed to tabulate polynomial functions. ...