April 12 in nerd history

Here are 5 things that happened on April 11 that might be of interest to those of us who think the dryer still works just fine, damn it.

I.

Birthdays of honor: Ed O'Neill (1946), David Letterman (1947), Tom Clancy (1947), Claire Danes (1979), David Cassidy (1950), Shannen Doherty (1971), Beverly Cleary (1916).

II.

Mad Max made its debut in Australia in 1979, where, I presume, it's essentially viewed as a documentary. And Marky Mark made the spelling "4EVA" popular when Fear was released in 1996.

III.

Several notable music debuts on this date, including:

• R.E.M.'s Murmer in 1983
• Garth Brook's debut studio album, Garth Brooks, in 1989
• Hole's Live Through This in 1994, exactly one week following Kurt Cobain's suicide

IV.

A big day for space exploration on April 12: In 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space. 20 years later, the first space shuttle launched (Columbia).

V.

Euro Disney opened on this day in 1992, and immediately everyone regretted the name. It's now simply: Disneyland Paris.