Computer Space is a space-combat arcade game released in 1971. Created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney in partnership as Syzygy Engineering, it was the first arcade video game and the first commercially available video game. In the game the player controls a rocket engaged in a missile battle against a pair of hardware-controlled flying saucers set against a starfield background. The goal is to score more hits than the enemy within a set time period. The game is enclosed in a custom fiberglass cabinet, which Bushnell designed to look futuristic. Bushnell and Dabney created the game to be a coin-operated version of Spacewar!, a 1962 computer game. They could not economically run the game on a general-purpose minicomputer, so they built specialized hardware for the game. They ran their first location test in August 1971, and it was shown to industry press and distributors at the annual Music Operators of America Expo in October. More than one thousand cabinets were sold by mid-1972.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Space

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1814:

War of the Sixth Coalition: At the Battle of Arcis-sur-Aube in north-central France, Napoleon suddenly realized that his French army was vastly outnumbered by Allied forces, and hurriedly ordered a retreat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Arcis-sur-Aube

1952:

The Moondog Coronation Ball (poster pictured), generally considered to be the first major rock and roll concert, took place at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog_Coronation_Ball

2019:

A major explosion at a chemical plant in Yancheng, China, killed 78 people and injured 617 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Xiangshui_chemical_plant_explosion

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Muzak: 1. (music, trademark) Recorded background music characterized by soft, soothing instrumental sounds which is transmitted by wire, radio, or recorded media (originally on a subscription basis) to doctors' offices, shops, and other business premises. 2. (music) Easy listening music, whether played live or recorded, especially if regarded as uninteresting. 3. (figuratively) Something (such as speech) regarded as droning on and often boring, or soothing but undemanding. 4. To provide (premises, etc.) with Muzak. 5. To adapt or reduce (a piece of music, etc.) to the status of Muzak. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Muzak

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The besieged Mariupol will go down in history of responsibility for war crimes. The terror the occupiers did to the peaceful city will be remembered for centuries to come. And the more Ukrainians tell the world about it, the more support we find. The more Russia uses terror against Ukraine, the worse the consequences will be for it.   --Volodymyr Zelenskyy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Volodymyr_Zelenskyy