Space Invaders is an arcade video game designed by Tomohiro Nishikado, and released in 1978. It was originally manufactured and sold by Taito in Japan, and was later licensed for production in the United States by the Midway division of Bally. Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and features two-dimensional graphics. The aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon and earn as many points as possible. In designing the game, Nishikado drew inspiration from popular media: Breakout, The War of the Worlds, and Star Wars. To complete it, he had to design custom hardware and development tools. Though simple by today's standards, it was one of the forerunners of modern video gaming and helped expand the video game industry from a novelty to a global industry. When first released, Space Invaders was very successful and popular. Following its release, the game caused a temporary shortage of 100-yen coins in Japan, and by 2007 had earned Taito US$500 million in revenue. Guinness World Records ranks it the top arcade game. The game has been the inspiration for other video games, re-released on numerous platforms, and led to several sequels. The 1980 Atari 2600 version quadrupled the system's sales and became the first "killer app" for video game consoles. Space Invaders has been referenced and parodied in multiple television shows, and been a part of several video game and cultural exhibitions. The pixelated enemy alien has become a media icon representing video games as a whole.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1479 BC:

Thutmose III became the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt according to the official chronology, although during the first 22 years of the reign he was co-regent with his aunt, Hatshepsut. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thutmose_III

1877:

Unable to resolve a series of disputes over the Balkans in the aftermath of the 1876 Bulgarian April Uprising, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, starting the Russo-Turkish War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russo-Turkish_War_%281877%E2%80%931878%29

1915:

The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire began with the arrest and deportation of hundreds of prominent Armenians in Constantinople. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Genocide

1916:

Irish republicans led by teacher and political activist Patrick Pearse began the Easter Rising, a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, and proclaimed the Irish Republic an independent state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proclamation_of_the_Irish_Republic

1993:

The Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated a truck bomb in London's financial district in Bishopsgate, killing one person, injuring 44 others and causing £1 billion in damages. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Bishopsgate_bombing

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gargoyle (n): 1. A carved grotesque figure on a spout which conveys water away from the gutters. 2. A decorative carved grotesque figure on a building. 3. A fictional winged creature. 4. (slang, pejorative) An ugly woman http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gargoyle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it. --Vincent de Paul http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vincent_de_Paul