January 3 in Nerd history: Happy birthday JRR Tolkien!

Last updated: February 22, 2024

January 3 in Nerd history: Happy birthday JRR Tolkien!

Happy Fruitcake Toss Day! If you still have some kind of holiday fruitcake lying around, today is the day to toss that bad boy. I’m pretty sure the intention here is to toss it in the trash, but why not have a little fun with it and start a fruitcake battle with your neighbors? I’m sure they’ll totally understand.

This is The Reset Button from Classic Nerd, resetting your day.

January 3 in Nerd History

Here are five things that happened on January 3rd for those of us who got that Transformers toy we were hoping for.

I.

Birthdays of honor: JRR Tolkien (1892), Dabney Coleman (1932), Sergio Leone (1929), Robert Loggia (1930), Florence Pugh (1996), Danica McKellar (1975), John Paul Jones (1946), Dan Harmon (1973), Stephen Stills (1945), George Martin (1926), Matt Ross (1970).

II.

20 years ago, in 2004, the all-time great DJ Casey Kasem hung up the headphones after 30 years of delivering the top 40 songs to America.

Saved By The Bell 90S GIF by PeacockTV

His voice is still like therapy for those that know it — and it was also the one that served as the original voice for Scooby Doo.

For better or worse, host duties for American Top 40 were passed to Ryan Seacrest.

III.

It was just a hair over 40 years ago, on January 3rd 1983, when one of the greatest moments in game show history took place — Plinko debuted as a game on The Price is Right.

Plinko Price Is Right GIF - Plinko Price Is Right Fail GIFs

Rumored to be the most-popular game from the show, it began with a potential top prize of $25,000 — the highest the show offered up to that point. Since that day anytime you see any sort of game where you drop a chip or a ball or anything else and try to win a prize you imagine yourself playing Plinko next to Bob Barker. We all do.

IV.

If you want to know whether a company you admire is doing well, check to see if its name has gotten shorter over the years. If you’re familiar with a little place called Apple, Inc., you’ll know what I mean.

Back in 1976, it was founded as Apple Computer Company, but today in 1977 it was officially incorporated by Steve Jobs and ​​Steve Wozniak (meaning it went from being a thing some dudes came up with in a garage to becoming a real company) — and the name was shortened to Apple Computer

The company would remain Apple Computer for 30 years until it was shortened yet again in 2007. I guess “think different” could also mean “think shorter.”

V.

Today in 1989 you got on the floor to do the New Kids’ dance when New Kids On The Block released their hit single “Hangin’ Tough.”


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