Tagged with: science fiction
Frank Herbert's birthday: Frank Herbert was a science fiction author, journalist, and photographer, and is best known for his Dune series. Dune, the first book in the series, was published in 1965 and is considered a classic in the science fiction genre (Wikipedia quotes it as being the best selling science fiction novel of all time). He died February 11, 1986.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert
Early costume worn in 1950 by Bob Johnson.
First known reference to a masquerade (costume competition): Stacey Lee Feldmann, a cosplay historian, has tracked down the term and the associated competition structure to the 1950 WorldCon, called NorWestCon.
http://www.strangelandcostumes.com/history.html
http://www.fanac.org/worldcon/
1984 Masquerade entry: The Lords of Darkness (from stories by Tanith Lee) made & worn by a group UCLA students
Masquerade at which the term "cosplay" is coined: A Japanese reporter attended the 1984 WorldCon and later wrote a description of the costume phenomenon he was observing, especially the Masquerade. He used two foreign loan words ("costume" and "play") which he smashed together into the portmanteau "cosplay".
http://www.strangelandcostumes.com/history.html
http://www.wsfs.org/bm/minutes-1984.html
http://www.fanac.org/worldcon/LA_Con/w84-p00.html