Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he solves puzzles and attempts to rescue his girlfriend from a mad scientist. Initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Maniac Mansion was Lucasfilm Games' first self-published product. Conceived by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, it tells a comedic story that draws on horror film and B-movie clichés. Gilbert developed Maniac Mansion's innovative point-and-click interface, which became a standard feature in the genre. To speed up production, he created a game engine called SCUMM, which was used in many later LucasArts titles. Maniac Mansion was critically acclaimed for its graphics, cutscenes, animation and humor. Writer Orson Scott Card praised it as a step toward "computer games [becoming] a valid storytelling art". The game's success solidified Lucasfilm as a serious rival to adventure game studios such as Sierra On-Line.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1782:

Construction began on the Grand Palace of Bangkok, the official residence of the King of Thailand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Palace

1882:

The Irish civil servants Thomas Henry Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish were stabbed to death by members of the radical Irish National Invincibles as they walked through Phoenix Park in Dublin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Park_Murders

1941:

American entertainer Bob Hope performed the first of his many shows for the United Service Organizations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Hope

1954:

At Oxford's Iffley Road Track, English runner Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_mile

2010:

Major stock indexes in the United States dropped nearly 9% and rebounded very quickly, exacerbated by high-frequency traders using algorithms which have since been outlawed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Flash_Crash

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

titfer: (Cockney rhyming slang) A hat. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/titfer

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

There's an ocean of darkness and I drown in the night till I come through the darkness to the ocean of light, for the light is forever and the light it is free, "And I walk in the glory of the light," said he.   --Sydney Carter https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sydney_Carter