Chomp Chomp
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History May 19 - 25.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit how much attention, emotion, and time I’ve wasted on video games. Don’t get me wrong—they’re fun, but I can’t remember the last time I sat down and played a game on a console, and shudder to think of the amount of money I gave to the good people at Sony and Electronic Arts. I hope everyone is enjoying their second and third houses.
But I’m not going to be too harsh on myself. Born in the later part of the 20th century, I was afforded the lifestyle of playing video games since I was a kid, when I discovered Atari. Video games are as much a part of American culture as apple pie and systemic racism.
During the late 1970s, Japanese video game programmers wanted to develop an arcade game that appealed to everyone, not just a segment of guys who enjoyed shooting things.
So they came up with a game starring a face that ate dots and got chased by ghosts, and on May 22, 1980, Pac-Man was released.
The game would be a massive hit and a cultural icon of the 1980s. It introduced us to anxiety as we weaved through the maze, independently trying to consume everything before we potentially got caught.
Our yellow-faced hero gobbled up a billion quarters by the mid-1980s and made $2.5 billion in quarters by the end of the 20th century. The video game industry went from a $5 billion estimated revenue when Pac-Man debuted to a $184 billion industry today.
Not bad for a game about stress-eating while being haunted by your mistakes.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:
1. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925. Malcolm Little was known for his fierce intelligence and uncompromising voice in the struggle for Civil Rights. Malcolm X would challenge America to confront its racist history, and that makes a lot of people upset. He is one of the few people who, learning more about him, made me change my opinion about him.
2. Harvey Milk was born on May 22, 1930. Milk would become the first openly gay elected official when he became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. His advocacy for LGBTQ+ and housing rights sparked a movement that lives to this day. Like Malcolm X, Milk was assassinated.
3. Mary Had A Little Lamb debuted on May 23, 1830. American poet Sarah Josephina Hale penned the poem of a lamb whose fleece was as white as snow. The lamb was clearly a support animal because wherever Mary went, the lamb was sure to follow. The nursery rhyme is based on actual events and is wildly popular.
Did I ever have a weekend! Anonymous and I were supposed to travel to Cincinnati for a college graduation and 50th birthday party celebration on Friday.
Instead of enjoying a nice evening flight to the Queen City, where Anonymous would experience for the second time what it is like on the campus of Xavier University, we sat in the American Airlines lounge for about five hours. Storms shot through Ohio and Kentucky, and that would be enough to delay everything.
Even so, we were fortunate to board a plane around 11:00 p.m., but the main door that needed to be closed wouldn’t close. The Flight attendant tried four times, and a maintenance guy was brought in. It was right about this time that I knew we weren’t going to make the trip to Ohio.
American did give us some faint hope when they ordered us to deboard the plane. We were to move to another gate—where there was a plane! Presumably, one whose door would close! Off we went to sit and wait.
The pilots and crew would join us at the new gate, and we would sit there for another three hours before, mercifully, the flight was cancelled. Anonymous and I would trudge home and figure out a new plan.
That plan made me fly to Cincinnati for a friend's 50th birthday party on Sunday. Plus, I had tickets to the baseball game, and my beloved Cleveland Guardians would be there. I got to see them lose!
But I’ll never forget the wild experience of sitting at the gate, with the crew and the plane, just waiting for us to get in together, close the door, and fly off into the night.
Sometimes I wonder why flying has to be so difficult. But I’m grateful I made the trip!
It’s another busy week, one filled with anniversaries! And at the end of it, we are rewarded with a holiday weekend and the unofficial start to summer! Thanks for the support. I hope to have something for you by Friday, like the Scandal piece I was going to finish this past weekend. Instead, I kept traveling back and forth to the airport, thinking I could still score an early flight.
Anyway, have a great week! Thanks for the support of Okay History. I’m grateful to you all.
Okay,
Chris
