Robot homicide anniversary

On this day in 1979, the first incident occurred where a robot killed a human being.

In order to prevent this sort of thing, Isaac Asimov posed his First Law of Robotics:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

Or as Terry Pratchett more sensibly completed it:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm–unless ordered to do so by duly constituted authority.

As Lord Vetinari put it,

A hammer can hardly refuse to hit the nail on the head, nor a saw to make moral judgments about the nature of the timber.

Far more sensible.