This Day in Geek History: November 24
1639
English astronomer and clergyman Jeremiah Horrocks becomes the first to observe the transit of Venus.
1859
British naturalist Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. The book details the scientific evidence supporting his theory of evolution that he had collected during and since his voyage on the HMS Beagle.
1909
The Wright brothers form a million-dollar corporation to commercially manufacture airplanes.
1958
The pilot episode of the science fiction television series The Twilight Zone, “The Time Element” first airs as part of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse anthology series on the CBS network. In October of the 1959, the episode’s writer, Rod Serling, will launch the first season of The Twilight Zone with the episode “Where Is Everybody?”
1966
The Star Trek episode “The Menagerie, Part II” first airs. (No. 16/12) In it, Spock is put on trial for helping his former captain, Christopher Pike, return to Talos IV. Memory Alpha entry
1969
The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon.
1972
Nolan Bushnell files a patent for the Pong on-screen control mechanism, but not for the game itself. (US No. 3,793,483)
1973
The Star Trek: The Animated Series episode “The Time Trap” first airs. (No. 12) In it, the Enterprise becomes trapped in the Delta Triangle, an area of space where many starships have gone missing. To make matters worse, the ship also has to defend itself from the Klothos, a Klingon vessel captained by Kor. Memory Alpha entry
1982
According to Twin Galaxies, Oscaar Iglesias scores a record-setting 70,283,000 points playing the Williams Electronics arcade game Stargate at the Mr. Video arcade in Concord, California. Visit the official Twin Galaxies website.
1992
Nintendo releases The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in Europe.
Sega releases the platform game Sonic the Hedgehog 2 game for the Sega Genesis and Sega Game Gear globally, breaking all records for computer games software shipments. Sega dubs the day “Sonic 2sday.”
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