American factory worker Robert Williams became the first human to be killed by a robot on this day in 1979 — man crushed by a robot’s mechanical arm at the Ford plant in Flat Rock

Though killer robots are a favorite subject in science fiction, it is a shocking tragedy when humans are killed by robots in the real-world. Today marks the anniversary of what is widely regarded as the first case of a death of a human caused by a robot. On this day in 1979, Ford Motor Company factory worker Robert Williams was crushed, and killed instantly by a robotic arm, while doing his job.

Williams was just 25 years old when he became the first human casualty of the robotic advance into factory production environments. The unfortunate incident occurred at Ford’s casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.

Reports about the historic incident indicate that Williams was asked by another production team member to climb up to a shelf where castings were stored by robotic arms. The request was precipitated by the robot reporting “what seemed like erroneous information on the number of parts on the shelves,” says a New York Times article covering the ensuing lawsuit. Climbing up would likely have been concerning for the young factory worker, as the robot arm serviced shelves five stories high.

Then tragedy struck. The robotic arm of a one-ton cart unit, responsible for putting castings onto shelves and taking them off, swung into action, hitting Williams on the head. Some other reports on the incident note that Williams died instantly from being struck by the robot.

Record compensation payout

It would take about three and a half years and a court case to win $10 million in compensation to the family of Robert Williams. The winning lawyer warned the court that “we have to be very careful that we don't go backwards to the kind of notions we had during the industrial revolution that people are expendable.” This was the largest ever compensation payout in the state of Michigan, at the time.

While Williams was an unfortunate first, he wouldn’t be the last person to be killed by an errant robot. There have been several factory-based cases since this one.

Additionally, as we approach half a century later, we live in troubled times when robotic, artificial intelligence packing drones are being developed and rapidly refined to battle on land, sea, and air. They readily destroy other robots, vehicles, buildings, or kill their human targets.

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