The Great Geek Manual

1831
At age 22, Charles Darwin embarks from Plymouth harbor aboard the British Naval ship HMS Beagle on what will become a groundbreaking voyage of scientific discovery. The Captain, Robert FitzRoy, will sail to the southern coast of South America to conduct an official government survey. Just out of university, Darwin took an unpaid position as the ship’s naturalist. He plans to be at sea for two years, but the voyage will last five years, making stops in Brazil, the Galapogos Islands, and New Zealand. From the observations he will make during the voyage, Darwin will develop his theory of evolution through natural selection, which he will publish twenty-eight years after the Beagle leaves Plymouth.

1922
The Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō becomes the first purpose-built aircraft carrier ever commissioned anywhere in the world.

1932
The world’s largest cinema Radio City Music Hall, which boasts 6,200 seats, is opened by NBC in New York. Over a hundred thousand people gather outside the cinema, waiting for admission.

1940
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction comedy The Invisible Woman, directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Virginia Bruce, John Barrymore, and John Howard, to US theaters. In it, an attractive model with an ulterior motive volunteers to test an experimental invisibility machine. IMDB listing

1968
The Apollo 8 returns to Earth after becoming first crewed mission to reach the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, James A. Lovell Jr., and William Anders made ten orbits of the Moon on Christmas Eve before their return.

1982
According to Twin Galaxies, Chris O’Brien scores a record-setting 347,400 points playing the Midway arcade game Ms. Pac-Man at the Fun Time Game Center in San Diego, California. Visit the official Twin Galaxies website.

1988
Microsoft announces that Jon Shirley will step down from his position as CEO and President of the company on June 30, 1990, but Shirley, who has been President since 1983, will continue to be involved with the company as a member of its Board of Directors. Visit the official Microsoft website.

1995
France concludes a series of nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific after French President Jacques Chirac lifted the prior moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. While most nations restrain themselves to nuclear weapon computer simulations rather than physical detonations, France claims that the tests that had been suspended several years earlier left scientists without sufficient data to conduct meaningful simulations.

1997
Excelsior.arc.nasa.gov is hacked by “Claire Danes”. View an archived version of the defaced website.