Happy 40th anniversary to Dragon's Lair
Last updated: June 4, 2024
Happy National Take Your Cat to Work Day! Why would you want to take your cat to work with you? Well, if your job is to knock random things off your desk, it seems self-evident. But in all other instances, it seems like a really, really terrible idea.
This is The Reset Button from Classic Nerd, resetting your day.
June 19 in Nerd History
Here are 5 things that happened on June 19 that matter to those of us who the best way to travel back in time is to simply reverse the Earth’s spin.
I.
Birthdays of honor: Zoe Saldana (1978), Paula Abdul (1962), Lou Gehrig (1903), Kathleen Turner (1954), Moe Howard (Three Stooges — 1897), Phylicia Rashad (1948), Nick Drake (1974).
II.
Today we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Dragon’s Lair being released in arcades in 1983. It was simultaneously the coolest game, with its vibe of interactive animation, and one of the first rage games, because damn it I hit that button like 20 times you stupid thing!
III.
Depending on who you ask, it might have come out a day earlier, but chances are today is the day you bought Dare to Be Stupid, the third studio album from Weird Al. Aside from the brilliant title track, the album also included the popular parodies “Yoda”, “Like a Surgeon”, and “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch”.
IV.
Tim Burton’s vision of Batman came back for the second and final time when Batman Returns opened in theaters on this day in 1992 — even though it’s really a Christmas movie.
Also on this day in 1981 Superman II hit U.S. theaters, giving us General Zod becoming the president. And 1987’s Cyrano de Bergerac inspired Roxanne gave us Steve Martin with a prosthetic nose.
V.
Garfield’s first comic strip went into national syndication today in 1978. It was called Jon before it went national, but Garfield always did like food.