This day in geek history: August 8

1961

Introducing the Fantastic Four

Introducing the Fantastic Four

Publishing date of Fantastic Four #1. This is the comic that launched the Marvel Age of comics. Created by the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Fantastic Four portrayed a super powered and somewhat dysfunctional family in a realistic setting. It was revolutionary for its time, and its success set the tone for many of the Marvel comics that followed.

http://marvel.com/comics/issue/12894/fantastic_four_1961_1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four

 

This day in geek history: August 5

1930

Neil Armstrong's birthday! As the first human being to walk on another planetary body (our moon), I want to recognize the person who made so many science fiction fantasies a reality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Armstrong

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM!

After I'd already posted today's This Day in Geek History, I decided to look up a few more things, and of course came across this very important event that has today as its anniversary:

1973

Magic: The Gathering released! Still widely popular, this was the first trading card game ever published. It was created by Richard Garfield and published by Wizards of the Coast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic:_The_Gathering

 

This day in geek history: Overview

I've decided to keep a calendar of dates that have meaning specifically for geeks. I'll post them on the dates corresponding to their anniversary dates. I realize the criteria I use for selecting events can be controversial, but my choices aren't fixed in stone, and can change based on the well reasoned arguments I get from other geeks.

The dates will recognize significant publishing events, creator birthdays and deaths, fictional references, significant "firsts", and geek holidays. They'll come from a wide range of fandoms: comics, books, games, toys, and movies; science fiction, fantasy, and superheroes; conventions, cosplay, and concerts (filk & the like). There will be some derived from historic science and technology achievements or figures, but not a lot.

Also, I'm creating this list based on the time I have to research it. It's starting off small, with the events that first occurred to me as the most significant for geeks. However, I get side tracked by diving into interesting rabbit holes (...squirrel!), so the list will never be all that consistent, and it will grow with time. I hope that this year's anniversaries will be different from next year's anniversaries. If you've got an interesting date or set of dates, email me at: alan@eldergeeksman.com. Please include some sort of reference so I can check the veracity of your dates.

And that reminds me. I'll always include a reference link to where I found the date. In some cases I may have had to figure out (or just pick) a specific date, and I'll explain my reasoning in the post.

One of the motivations for this little project is that I missed an important date yesterday. It turns out that August 4, 1997 is the date Skynet was activated, as discussed in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. THAT will appear in next years Geek History post.

These dates must not be forgotten!