Torres y Quevedo built his chess machine 'Ajedrecista', using electromagnets under the board to play the endgame rook and king against the lone king, possibly the first computer game (1912).
Karel Capek's play "R.U.R." (Rossum's Universal Robots) produced in 1921 (London opening, 1923). - First use of the word 'robot' in English.
Alan Turing proposed the universal Turing machine (1936-37)
Electro, a mechanical man, introduced by Westinghouse Electricat the World's Fair in New York (1939), along with Sparko, a mechanical dog.