I found this on Wikipedia. I don’t know much about Spanish culture. I speak a little Spanish. They were occupied by the Moors. My understanding is that under Moorish occupation Spain became a pillar for knowledge in Europe during the Medieval period. They would have more libraries in a single city than the rest of Europe put together. So I guess it is fitting that they would come up with this before we did.
That being said… COME ON PEOPLE!!! We’re the United States of America! We’re the birthplace of the personal computer, the pocket protector, and Star Wars. I can’t believe we didn’t come up with this first. It’s worse than finding out that Legos come from Denmark.
May 25th
This all apparently started in Spain on May 25th, 2006. You can read about the details on Wikipedia. What stood out in my mind is that the date they chose for GPD is the day of the release of Star Wars: A New Hope, back in 1977. While we can all agree that this was a major event in Geek history (geek-story?) it is not necessarily the moment, or the earliest moment. So I thought I’d collect together some major moments and present them as possible alternatives. Some of the dates are a little vague, but if any of you have them more nailed-down, please post them in a comment.
Markable Moments in Geek-story
April, 1926
Hugo Gernsback begins publishing the Amazing Stories science fiction magazine. While tracing the actual beginning of the genre is impossible, Gernsback, though his magazine, actually coined the phrase "scientifiction" which later evolved into "science fiction". Though we may not want to set the date to April 1, for obvious reasons.
September 21, 1937
J. R. R. Tolkien publishes "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again." The modern genre of Fantasy is born, and Peter Jackson’s family will forever want for nothing.
March 16, 1926
Robert Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, giving rise to modern rocketry, the space race, and geekdad projects for decades to come.
April, 1938
Action Comics #1 is published giving birth to the modern super-hero genre, and one of the most successful commercial franchises in human history. The issue was cover-dated for June.
1863
Jules Verne publishes Five Weeks in a Balloon, possibly the first modern science fiction novel. This begins the career of writing which would inspire writers and engineers for decades to come.
1858
George MacDonald publishes Phantastes, possibly the earliest modern fantasy novel ever published. MacDonald’s work was cited as inspirational by W. H. Auden, Madeline L’Engle, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien.
July 1934
Dell publishes Famous Funnies #1, possibly the first true modern American comic book.
May 12, 1941
Konrad Zuse (June 22, 1910 Berlin – December 18, 1995) a German engineer and computer pioneer, presented his greatest achievement: the Z3, the world’s first functional program-controlled computer. The Z3 was the first working machine featuring binary arithmetic, including floating-point arithmetic and a measure of programmability. In 1998, the Z3 was proved to be Turing complete, therefore being the world’s first operational computer.
1974
E Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson publish three pamphlets known as Dungeons and Dragons. Geeks the world over are given an entirely new universe of universes to argue over.
July 20, 1984
The Prophecy: Revenge of the Nerds is released into theaters.
August 24, 1995
The Revelation: Microsoft releases Windows 95, Bill Gates becomes the richest man in America, and desktop technical support careers are given job security like never before.
Conclusion
Well, there’s my list. Others will not doubt post other suggestions. Choose wisely.
