Happy Defy Superstition Day! Let a black cat walk right in front of you as you go under a ladder and smash a mirror on the ground. Screw you, superstitions!

This is The Reset Button from Classic Nerd, resetting your day.

September 13 in Nerd History

Here are five things that happened on September 13th at the intersection of nerd and pop culture.

I.

Birthdays of honor: Roald Dahl (1916), Fiona Apple (1977), Ben Savage (1980), Dave Mustaine (1961), Mel Tormé (1925), Don Bluth (1937), Colin Trevorrow (1976).

II.

Today in 1985 Super Mario Bros. hit the NES (aka the Famicom) for the first time in Japan.

This revolutionary masterpiece, designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, sold over 1.2 million copies in its release month alone — all in Japan. By 1994, more than 40 million copies of the game had been sold worldwide.

It’s also a fun way to punish your kids when they’re complaining that games today are too hard.

III.

On a quiet Saturday morning in 1969, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (yes, with an exclamation point and not a question mark, for some reason) premiered on CBS.

The show was a huge hit for Hanna-Barbera and led to several shows with more or less the same structure, from Josie and the Pussycats to The New Shmoo. Not to mention the innumerable spinoffs, movies, toys, video games, and all the rest (any Scrappy-Doo fans in the house?).

IV.

Today in 1990 we finally didn’t have to watch two different shows to get our drama fix of the criminal justice system when Law & Order premiered on NBC.

Go ahead, make the noise in your head.

Not only did Law & Order recently come back and get renewed for a 23rd season, it spawned the longest-running live-action scripted American primetime series ever, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

V.

If you were hitting the theaters 40 years ago today, you were probably there to see the pinnacle of cinema known as Mr. Mom.

The Michael Keaton-led comedy was in the midst of a five-week run at number one.

​