Thank you to all who attended our Future of Doxacon Seattle meeting this last weekend. We look forward to sharing the results of that gathering as we continue to discern and dream together how to celebrate the intersection of faith & fandom here in the Pacific Northwest. In the meantime, please enjoy this week’s digest!
April 7 – Today is the anniversary of the world’s first animated cartoon. Released in 1906, “Humorous Phases of Funny Faces” by J. Stuart Blackton was a stop-motion animation done on a chalkboard. Although the jump-cuts used to make the animation possible are oft-used nowadays (some might argue overused!), it was one of many advanced techniques used at the time to create the animation.
April 9 – 65 years ago today (1959), NASA introduced America’s first astronauts – NASA introduced America’s first astronauts. They were known as the “Mercury 7”, named after Project Mercury – the first human spaceflight that took place just a couple of years later. Read more about them at the NASA anniversary page.
April 10 – Thought to be practically unsinkable, the Titanic began its maiden – and final – voyage on this day in 1912. The tragedy of its sinking not only drew international attention and inspired artistic works, it informed major changes in maritime safety practices – these included changes not only to how ships were designed & outfitted, but the formation of regular radio contact with passenger ships. Learn more about the RMS Titanic at the Titanic Historical Society website.
April 13 – On this day just over fifty years ago (1970) Apollo 13 announced “Houston, we’ve had a problem here”. What was intended to be humanity’s third lunar landing ended up being an extraordinary test of ingenuity, courage, and teamwork among the three astronauts and mission control. The result was what is dubbed “The Successful Failure” – you can read NASA’s account at their website.
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