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Nintendo was world-famous by the 1980s but the origins of the company go back a century earlier – to September 23rd, 1889, when Fusajiro Yamauchi founded Nintendo Koppai, a maker of brightly-coloured ‘Hanafuda’ cards. The hand-painted playing cards, made of mulberry bark, were produced for decades and were a favourite of Yakuza gangsters for use

Rerun. Witchcraft and infanticide were the charges levelled against young maidservant Judith Catchpole at the General Provincial Court in Patuxent County, Maryland on September 22nd, 1656. Since the case hinged on whether she had been pregnant, an all-female jury was assembled – the first in colonial America. Seven married women and four single women physically examined

El Santo, masks, spandex suits… all were yet to be conceived when Salvador Lutteroth González launched Mexico’s first ever national pro wrestling promotion, on 21st September 1933. ‘Lucha Libre’ – basically translated as ‘freestyle wrestling’ – has its roots in folklore, carnival sideshows and Greco-Roman traditions; but it was only after matches began to be

There was no red carpet, no Palme d’Or, and no Palais des Festivals – but Hollywood nonetheless descended on the French Riviera for the opening of the first Cannes Film Festival on 20th September, 1946.  It was actually the second time the event had been attempted – the first, in September 1939, was interrupted by

Powered by steam engines, and positioned on 60ft poles along the seafront, the Blackpool illuminations were first shown to adoring public on 19th September, 1879. 70,000 people came to see eight arc lamps, positioned 320 yards apart. Between them they provided illumination equal to 48,000 candles: an incredible spectacle considering it would still be another

The ‘broadcasting ban’ on 11 Northern Irish organizations including Sinn Fein was finally lifted by Prime Minister John Major on 16th September, 1994, one fortnight after an IRA ceasefire had been achieved. The regulations, implemented six years earlier by Margaret Thatcher and her Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, prevented British TV networks from broadcasting interviews with

Rerun. BMW unveiled its redesigned MINI for the first time, on 15th September, 1997; the eve of the Frankfurt Motor Show. Its predecessor had been in production for 41 years. Reborn as a ‘city’ car, rather than a micro compact, and with Union flags painted on its roof, this was the moment the iconic brand

The USSR pulled ahead in the Space Race on 14th September, 1959 – when they became the first nation to successfully crash a man-made object into the Moon. Luna II was carrying a metal sphere bearing Soviet symbols, a replica of which was pettily presented to President Eisenhower by a jubilant Nikita Khrushchev. In this

Phineas Gage, a foreman on the New England railroads, was pierced through the head with a 13-pound tamping iron on 13th September, 1848. The rod went straight through his skull and landed several yards away. Despite this, Gage was able to present himself at a physician, and anticipated being back at work in a couple