Otto von Guericke
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Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke) (1602 - 1686) was the mayor of Magdeburg from 1646 to 1676.

During this time he investigated vacuum and air pressure, invented the vacuum pump, and made the Magdeburg hemispheres, which he demonstrated again in Berlin in 1663 with even more (24) horses.

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Guericke.
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