The World’s First Celebrity Robot

Love content? Check out Simon's other KZbin Channels:
Biographics: / @biographics
Geographics: / @geographicstravel
MegaProjects: / @megaprojects9649
SideProjects: / @sideprojects
Casual Criminalist: / @thecasualcriminalist
Today I Found Out: / todayifoundout
TopTenz: / toptenznet
XPLRD: / @xplrd
Business Blaze: / @brainblaze6526
Sources:
Marsh, Allison, Elektro the Moto-Man Had the Biggest Brain at the 1939 World’s Fair, IEEE Spectrum, September 28, 2018, spectrum.ieee.org/tech-histor...
Jacobs, Emma, America’s First Celebrity Robot is Staging a Comeback, NPR, April 2, 2012, www.npr.org/2012/04/02/149850...
The History of Elektro of Westinghouse, History Computer, history-computer.com/the-hist...
Pierini, David, Once-Famous Robot Lives Quietly Away From the Limelight, Cult of Mac, February 26, 2015, www.cultofmac.com/313544/famo...

[@amaccama3267]

And where the bloody hell have you been ?

[@terryenby2304]

On his other 20 channels...

[@TheQuickSilver101]

I had no clue that there was a working robot that early. It may have been mostly trickery, but that is pretty incredible. Thank you!

[@andrewpinner3181]

Thanks Simon. ln about 1978, as a kid, l made a robot dog, loosely based on K9 from Dr. Who. lt was powered by a 'Mighty Mo' & had Subuteo stadium lights for eyes, together with a hidden tape recorder blaring nonsensical stuff (using my, then, pipsqueak voice). l ran it along London Bridge concourse arrousing some curiousity & bemusement. Oh boy.

[@12799MaDeuce]

I'm listening to this while working in Mr. Westinghouse's original office in Pittsburgh

[@sallyintucson]

That’s wild!

[@sampilcher7196]

Very cool!

[@lehampton1]

Maybe so but in my youth Gort was the celebrity robot! “Gort, Klaatu barada nikto!!”

[@Mbartel500]

Ah yes “The Day The Earth Stood Still”…I loved that movie when I was a kid. Lock Martin was the man inside of the robot suit, as he really was over 7 feet tall. He was not very strong though. In scenes when he had to pick up an actor, lightweight dummies were substituted, or wires and a harness were fitted to the actors. Sadly Lock died about 8 years after the movie was made.

[@likebot.]

Consider the irony: "robot" is derifed from a a Slavic word meaning slave labourer, while the English word "slave" comes from selling Slavs into... well, slavery.

[@arbhall7572]

Yep indeed. The word slave in fact basically means white folk.

[@GEORGE-jf2vz]

Electro could do more than any member of the American congress.

[@ripvanallosaur113]

I think Bender would be a closer comparison...

[@angusrumplemeyer1791]

This was Bender's earliest ancestor. A wise cracking, smoking robot, and called woman toots. Yeah that's Bender's ancestor.

[@sperzieb00n]

@@angusrumplemeyer1791 ikr, also made me think about bender lol

[@fvckyoutubescensorshipandt2718]

Holy shit I thought this channel died.

[@IzzyTheEditor]

Pimpbot 5000 will always be the best 😂

[@Rin_Derg]

My grandpa, Frank Ruth, was an Elektro's operator from 1952-1960. he worked on the movie "Sex Kittens Go To College". I have a photo of my grandpa, Mamie Van Doren, and Elektro in an elevator in March 1960.

[@dboboc]

Cool! My friend owns the red hot rod from the movie, which later became the 1928 porter from the tv show “ My Mother the Car”.

[@user-mp2el7ln1n]

That robot had 48 electromechanical relays

[@OffRampTourist]

So cool! Had no knowledge of this one.

[@stephjovi]

Awww welcome back neglected step child. I love highlight history it's way to rare

[@davidgreen3423]

It’s almost a spooky season channel, he always posts more around now.

[@stephjovi]

@@davidgreen3423 never noticed that! Interesting! Wish they'd post here its often it's one of my favorite Simon channels Actually it's my favorite series Channel

[@That_Guy42]

This is as though Calculon and Bender had a baby who smokes and acts.

[@kiramiller568]

I know you've talked a bit about them in a few other of your channels but I would love a highlight of the night witches that flew for Stalin

[@SeniSlay]

He's done it a year ago kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y17bl36Vis2fr5Y

[@rickshaw0513]

You should use this channel to do shorts from your other channels

[@HighlightHistory]

That's coming to some extent on our Fact Quickie channel :-)

[@Drummin003]

I get C-3PO and Wall-E, but you chose Siri over Bender Bending Rodriguez? Philistine.

[@DaleRibbons]

Roy Thomas used Electro as a character in the All-Star Squadron comic book from DC in the 80's. The comic book version was more advanced than the real-life version, acting as a butler for the titular super-hero team.

[@terryenby2304]

I had almost forgotten I subscribed to this channel!

[@chuckoneill2023]

Simon, you should do a bit on the downside of the "telebox". Sometimes called a "Blue Box", the tones used were decoded and imitated by "phone phreaks" to make toll calls without paying --- they were the original hackers.

[@Jizag123]

Can you make a dedicated weekly podcast? You know you would have an instant audience just do highlight history podcast or something I’d be listening all day at work

[@Jizag123]

Brain food doesn’t cut it

[@Simonsvids]

This was America's first celebrity robot, famous only in America. The 'world's' first world famous celebrity robot was also American, but was the Robot Model B-9 featured in the 1960's Sci-fi tv series Lost in Space, sold to many countries around the world.

[@seanhunt138]

It also features in the opening sequence of the tv series Humans.

[@Aaron_b_c]

Holy heck Simon how many channels do you have

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@DSS-jj2cw]

Made two miles where I sit now. My wife's grandfather worked for Westinghouse.

[@bobmosley42]

When you have watched all brain blaze formally bussiness blaze and your Whistler addiction craves more and you find these. THANK YOU SIMON ILL WATCH ALL YOUR COMMERCIALS. Lol

[@bradyferguson1009]

Without Electro The Robot there is no Stabby The Roomba

[@2l84t]

Robbie the robot.

[@marissapadillachannel]

Awesome robots already do exist way way back intetesting content to watch

[@billpilling5725]

Yall should see the so called robots in the factory i work in. Theyre just arms programmed by engineers that supposedly know what theyre doing but these things some incredibly funny sh*t 🤣

[@amandajones661]

The robot at 3:50 looks just like the robot on one Road Runner and Coyote episode!! Even as an adult I thought they just created a cartoon robot. I bet the cartoon was based on this robot.

[@pontushaggstrom6261]

How much robot was this? it all seem like timed recording tapes and such

[@PlutoniumBoss]

Even with the (literal) smoke and (figurative) mirrors, the technology was impressive for the time.

[@Nonamearisto]

Electro should be in the Smithsonian, not some two-bit museum in the middle of Ohio.

[@nonnayerbusiness7704]

Slave labourer is not quite right. Rabat was compelled labour to pay taxes and rent by the peasant class in the Austrian Empire. Amusingly, the Hapsburg Emperors tried to convince their lords to change over to a system that pays rent and taxes through currency, because everyone would be better off. However the lower lords resisted giving up that power.

[@kfgelbart]

OMFG, IT'S... ALIVE!!!

[@gwynyvyr]

Day off and Simon is uploading! My dream come true!

[@brendakrieger7000]

Fascinating🤖

[@boldandthebeautifulgimbal2881]

Simon another channel with more subscribers than most. You’re going to takeover KZbin! Fair enough, but how about giving ETA his own channel “Gammon, Scouse, or just a really bad day”.

[@patrickwalsh2086]

I am a robot, I am a robot 🤖🤖

[@CarbonGlassMan]

Cowboys and cops and robbers? We played cowboys and indians or cops and robbers. I don't remember anyone playing cowboys and cops and robbers. lol

[@quasarsavage]

More content fact boi

[@marksadler4104]

Robota (Работа), Russian verb to work

[@donnyjepp]

Hello People of Whistler

[@stephjovi]

Hi 😇

[@donnyjepp]

@@stephjovi 😁

[@midlifeduck7040]

It the release of video so few and far between intentional? A couple months between basically... This must be Daven's doing. Jk

[@MrLeo2A6]

Pounds ? we're in the 21st Century you know ????

[@terryarmbruster9719]

Highlight History... It's ancient history in Simon production average video time since an episode been on this channel . but hey one doesn't need to make much money to feed the serfs slaves peons dungeon dwellers and such, right? 😉

[@M10000]

You talk too fast. Try to cultivate an American accent. Watch My Fair Lady 1964 with Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.