May 12

On this day in 1941 Konrad Zuse presented the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.  His invention caused a stir, to be certain, but in time other machines superseded the Z3 in fickle public admiration.  Zuse fought to maintain his position as the golden boy of German engineering, but in time he grew bitter and retired more and more into solitude.  He took to sleeping in his lab, neglecting his health, and finally developed severe enough agoraphobia that he only contacted other human beings when delivery personnel brought him food and newspapers.  The former he picked at, weight melting off him by the day.  The latter he read and tore in fitful petulance, with less and less effectiveness, as eventually his strength made him unable even to take out his fury on newsprint. 

In time he stopped accepting deliveries at all, and eventually the friends who'd known him in better days, before he rejected their encouragements and repudiated their friendship prevailed with authorities, who authorized a break-in to ensure Zuse's safety.  But he was nowhere to be found.  Only his clothing-- filthy, ragged lab coat, threadbare garments, and his dark-rimmed spectacles-- was found lying on and about the Z3 itself.  No trace of his body was ever discovered.