The Great Geek Manual

It’s Towel Day! A day of tribute for fans of the late author Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy books.

1925
John T. Scopes is indicted for violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which prohibits the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools. It marks the beginning of what would become known as the Scopes Trial.

The National Forensics League of America is founded.

1927
First public screening of Fox Movietone News is exhibited at the Sam Harris Theater, in New York City. It features footage of Charles Lindberg’s sensational solo flight across the Atlantic ocean, which took place on May 20th and 21st.

1940
In an experimental test of Penicillin, eight mice are inoculated with a lethal dose of streptococci and then four of the mice are injected with Penicillin. On the 26th, the four mice given the anti-biotic will be healthy, while the other four will be dead. Thus, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley confirm that they had isolated enough of the drug’s active ingredient from what Fleming had termed “mould juice” to produce an effective dose.

1945
Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke proposes placing relay satellites around the Earth in geosynchronous orbit.

1948
Andrew Moyer is granted a patent for a method of mass producing of Penicillin.

1952
In the case of Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. Wilson, dubbed “the Miracle case” by the press, the United States Supreme Court rules that it is unconstitutional to deny a license for exhibition of a film on the grounds that it the film “sacrilegious.” Films are, contrary to the Court’s 1915 opinion, “a significant medium for the communication of ideas” and thus entitled to protection of freedom of speech under the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the US Constitution. Read the ruling at Cornell University Law School.

1953
At a Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.

1961
US President John F. Kennedy addresses a special joint session of Congress to call for a vastly accelerated space program with the long-range national goal of landing a man on the moon and bringing him safely back to Earth. For this and associated projects in space technology, the President requests additional appropriations totaling US$611 million for NASA and the Department of Defense. a man on the moon before the end of the decade “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space program in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

1966
NASA launches the Explorer 32 satellite from Cape Canaveral aboard a Delta-C1 rocket.

1977
Twentieth Century Fox releases the science fiction film Star Wars (which will later be retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), directed by George Lucas and starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, and Alec Guinness, opens in thirty-two theaters. The film will become an immediate success, breaking house records for the theater in which it was released and effectively becoming the first blockbuster in history, before expanding to become the highest grossing movie to date. Audiences are mesmerized by the extensive use of unparalleled special effects, most notably its pioneering use of motion control cameras. The success spawns a new wave of technology-based special effects houses. Produced on a budget of US$11 million, the film will gross US$6,806,951 in its first weekend of wide release. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 2 hrs 1 min

1979
Twentieth Century Fox releases the science fiction film Alien, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt, to 1,437 US theaters. Produced on a budget of US$11 million, the film will gross US$10,052,042 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hr 57 mins

1982
The Philips electronics company introduces Laservision as a playback media for laserdiscs.

1983
Twentieth Century Fox releases the science fiction film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, directed by Richard Marquand and starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Billy Dee Williams, to 1,764 US theaters. Produced on a budget of US$32.5 million, the film will gross US$23,019,618 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 2 hrs 14 mins

1990
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction film Back to the Future Part III, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Mary Steenburgen, opens in 2,019 theaters. Produced on a budget of US$40 million, the film will gross US$19,089,645 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 58 mins

1994
CERN holds the first international World Wide Web (WWW) conference in Geneva, Switzerland through May 27th. Eight hundred people applied to participate in the conference, but only four hundred participants are admitted. At the conference, which is widely dubbed the “Woodstock of the Web,” researchers expand on the work of Tim Berners-Lee. Among other technologies, VRML will be conceived at this conference. Visit the official CERN website.

Midway releases the versus fighting game Mortal Kombatfor personal computers in the US.

1999
Corel releases Corel WordPerfect Office 2000. The suite includes WordPerfect 9, Quattro Pro 9, Corel Presentations 9, CorelCentral 9, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, and the Trellix 2 web design software. Visit the official WordPerfect website. Price: US$99, Professional version: US$199

2000
eBay removes auctions for to five seats to witness the execution of Michael Toney who had been sentenced to die for the 1985 bombing deaths of three people. Toney had arranged to have the auction posted with bidding starting at US$100 with the proceeds to benefit his two daughters.

2001
Erik Weihenmayer, age 32, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Visit Erik Weihenmayer’s official website.

The official website of the White House, Whitehouse.gov, is hacked, causing a denial of service for the second time in a month. The first, near identical attack occurred May 4th.

2004
Scribner publishes the fantasy novel Firethorn by Sarah Micklem as a hardcover. (ISBN: 0-7432-4794-9) Visit the author’s official website. Visit the book’s official website. Length: 400 pages

2007
Eidos Interactive releases the third-person shooter Bionicle Heroes for the Wii in Europe. Visit the game’s official website. PEGI: 7+

The first ever Universal Day of the Jedi is held, commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars film.

G2 Games releases the flight simulator Enemy Engaged 2 for Windows in Europe. Visit the game’s official website.

Nintendo releases Mario Strikers Charged Football for the Wii in Europe. Visit the game’s official website. PEGI: 7+

Sega releases the puzzle game Crush for the PlayStation Portable in Europe. . “>Visit the game’s official website. PEGI: 7+