1915 – The Radium Destroyer – Hugo Gernsback (American)

November, 1915 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER by Hugo Gernsback. Front cover -"THE RADIUM DESTROYER" from a painting by Thomas H. Wrenn. (typo- actually Thomas N. Wrenn) Warfare of the Future The Radium Destroyer THE European War has clearly demonstrated what a tremendous part modern science plays in the offense as well as in the defense of …

1910 – The Electric Vampire – F. H. Power (British)

The Electric Vampire By F. H. Power Illustrated by Philip Baynes (This short story appeared in The London Magazine of October 1910 with the accompanying Editor's note: 'The following short story, though of course but a figment of the imagination, is yet founded on fact. Over seventy years ago (in 1836, to be precise), a …

1870 – Artificial Man – Orin Vasta (Swedish)

Source: The Daily Telegraph Harrisburg, PA.29 Dec 1870 A NEW ADAM IN SWEDEN. Curious Story from a Swedish Paper— How a Man was Made—What a New Being Thought and Felt—How He Acquired Ideas, etc., etc., etc. The New York World says: A Swedish paper makes the seemingly preposterous assertion that a scientific gentleman of Stockholm …

1960 – “Beauregard” the Robot – Tom Graham (American)

1960 – "Beauregard" the Robot by Tom Graham. There are 17 buttons on the control panel, which Tom uses to make the mechanical man do his bidding. Aided by his machinist dad, the lad labored for 15 months to perfect the robot. Operating a 17-button control panel, Tom Graham is able to make his home-made …

1959 – “DUHAB” – Lawrence Lipton / Bill Riola (American)

1959 – "DUHAB" (Detector of Undesirable HABitués) by Lawrence Lipton / Bill Riola. Photograph caption dated December 5, 1960 reads, "Electronic Cat Detects Subversives for Beatniks. Duhab accompanies poet-author Lawrence Lipton to weed out undesirables." Image source: The Los Angeles Public Library. Lawrence Lipton was talking to the Valley College Writer's Club. Source: The beatnik …