The centrifugal impellers in these pumps and compressors make them among the most complex fluid machines ever built. Although the most rapid development of the centrifugal impeller has occurred in the last 60 years, the device has a long history that parallels the rise of modern engineering itself. The centrifugal impeller is the most widely used turbomachine, and continues to be a major research and development topic. The first device believed to have functioned as a centrifugal impeller had 10 wooden double-curved blades and has been dated approximately to the fifth century. It was found in 1772 in an abandoned Portuguese copper mine in San Domingos.
Nobody knows how it was used.
Centrifugal fans had been used for mine ventilation as early as the 16th century. Just who invented the centrifugal impeller is a disputed issue. Some would give the credit to Leonardo da Vinci, who suggested the idea of using centrifugal force for lifting liquid, or to Johann Jordan, a less celebrated figure who is reported to have discussed a similar theory around the year 1680. Most place the origin of the centrifugal impeller with the French physicist and inventor Denis Papin in 1689. Papin's contribution lies in his understanding of the concept of creating a forced vortex within a circular or spiral casing by means of blades.