SUBSCRIBER WOW: MAY WOWMANAC

Pac-Man, The Wizard of Oz, Ethel Merman, and a month full of Star Wars!

Hi and welcome back to another edition of the Wowmanac, where I find crazy pop culture factoids related to the month to come for your entertainment! May has some great ones. Let’s jump in!

MAY 3: HELLO FROM MY KINGDOM IN ZAMBIA

On May 3, 1978, marketing manager Gary Thuerk sends a mass-message to hundreds of people on ARPANET (precursor to the web) inviting them to come see a demonstration of the new computer from his company, Digital Equipment Corp. This is considered by some the very first piece of internet spam.

Recipients apparently were furious. Imagine how they’d feel today to discover that half of all email is spam. Thanks, Gary!

Also on this day in 1966, Johnny Carson played Twister on the Tonight Show with Eva Gabor, causing a buying craze for the game that would see over 3 million games sold over the next year.