Factory worker first person to be killed by a robot with colleagues unaware

This man was 25-years-old when he became the first person in the world to be killed by a robot - and it didn't take long for a second death to occur in similar circumstances

Robert Williams was just 25 when he made history in a tragic way - becoming the first person in the world to be killed by a robot.

He was employed at the Ford Motor Company casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, and on January 25, 1979, he met his untimely end while working with a parts-retrieval system.

The machine , designed to transport castings and other materials around the factory, seemed to be malfunctioning that day, operating at a slower pace than usual. Taking matters into his own hands, Williams climbed into the third story of a shelving unit, where he was "struck from behind and crushed" by a mecha