"Leonardo's Robot" by Leonardo da Vinci (1495)
The artist's intent: A set of armor capable of motion.
The outcome: The first Terminator. Da Vinci designed and built this robot to show off for Duke Sforza of Milan. The knight could sit, stand, independently move its arms, and most creepily, lift its visor. The great Persian polymath al-Jazari had made a band of musical robots a few centuries before, but this was the first robot made out to look like a warrior. Skynet was born in da Vinci's brain! Just as we always suspected.