THE first and benchmark contest between man and machine is in the case of African-American folk hero John Henry who was said to have worked as a steel-driving man tasked of hammering steel drills into rocks to make holes for explosives to create railroad tunnels. That was in the 1800s when railroads were being built across the United States.
Henry, with his heavy build and biceps was said to be the only person who can efficiently do the job until a salesman came in to sell a steam-powered rock drilling machine to the railroad company. Knowing that it could result in Henry losing his job, he volunteered to compete with the drilling machine. Henry won the race but only to die in victory with a hammer still in his hand as his heart gave out due to extreme exhaustion and stress.