More than 25 years ago, the world had a major freak out about a computer virus called “Michelangelo,” after the famous Italian genius. The virus was programmed to delete all files on an infected computer on March 6, the artist’s birthday.
At a time when a relatively small number of people had personal computers, the media flipped out.
Videos by VICE
“It’s the day the dreaded Michelangelo virus is set to attack our computers,” says a TV host.
During an interview, another TV journalist seemed stressed. “So it can shut things down, all the stuff you got in there, that you may really want, it’s just gone?!?”
Read more: The MySpace Worm that Changed the Internet Forever
Michelangelo, which spread via floppy disks, was supposed to wreak havoc on people’s computers and delete everyone’s files. But it didn’t. Despite the collective hysteria, the malware spread to very few computers. In the video embedded above, YouTuber danoct1 relives the hysteria and shows us what the virus actually did to a computer.
Happy birthday Michelangelo!
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