Like many, I have always heard the folk song John Henry as a classic parable of man against machine during the industrial revolution. I was amazed in recent years to learn that the story is based on real events. 
    A freed slave who journeyed north, John Henry found work breaking stone to dig tunnels through the Pennsylvania mountains. One day men arrived with a new invention, the steam hammer, claiming the machine would be both faster and cheaper than manual labor. Well, of course, they would have to prove it. The steam drill was set up and John Henry, a giant of a man, the best amongst his crew, stepped forward to take up the challenge. 
    For a day and a half, the mighty John Henry, swinging a sledge hammer in each hand, held his own against the newfangled steam drill. But on the afternoon of the second day his heart exploded from the effort and he fell to the ground, dead.
    This 19th century tale from the industrial revolution is still relevant today as the replacement of human labor by ever more intelligent automatons is a 21st century concern. But this is not the reason the tale touches our hearts. What really speaks to us, is that though the body of John Henry may have failed and yes, he laid down his hammer and he died, his will remains unvanquished.