This Week in the History of the Geek
September 3rd
2004 – Wizards of the Coast premieres the tabletop game Star Wars Miniatures by releasing the “Rebel Storm” set. This set focused on the struggle between the Rebels and the Imperials throughout the classic Star Wars trilogy. Only characters from the three original movies (A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi) were included.
September 2nd
1993 – The United States and Russia formally ended decades of competition in space by agreeing to a joint project: the Mir space station. This station became the world’s first constantly inhabited long-term research station in space.
August 29th
1991 – Nintendo released Super Mario Bros. 3 in Europe; it was the last installment of the Mario series made for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This game introduced a number of advances to the Mario series, including the addition of a map screen, mini-games, new power-ups, and enemies. Some other additions included updating Bowser’s character design to add his now token flaming red-hair and the introduction of the Koopalings, Bowser’s litter of hostile kiddies.
August 31st
1895 – Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin patents the rigid airship, known as the Zeppelin.
August 30th
1797 – Mary Shelley was born on this day in 1797. Her Gothic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is often considered one other earliest science fiction stories. Embracing both Gothic and Romantic elements in this novel, Shelley crafted an enduring tale about the power of science and artificial life that is ever-present across pop-culture genres today.
September 1st
1486 – The first copyright in history was granted in Venice, Italy. It was given to a book that contained the history of the city itself, the Rerum venetarum ab arbe condita opus (The Work of the Founding of the City of Venice) by Marcus Antonius Coccius Sabellicus.
