Hyphenet's IT Blog: This Day in Tech History: July 9

Gil Amelio Ousted from Apple

Today in tech history on July 9, 1997, Apple Computer announced the resignation of Gil Amelio as CEO.
Amelio was ousted by the board of directors and his departure paved the way for Steve Jobs to re-take command of Apple.

It was the ousting of Amelio who brought Mr.Jobs back into Apple by purchasing Jobs’ company NeXT .
NeXT was used as a basis for the Mac operating system.

Donkey Kong and Mario’s Birthday

On July 9, 1981, the two most famous character video games were released for sale.

Donkey Kong, created by Nintendo, a Japanese playing card and toy company turned into an enthusiastic video game developer.

The game took off in the North American market.

The video game had challenges with acquiring a license to create a video game based on the Popeye character.

Nintendo decided to create a game depicting the characteristics and constant battle between Popeye and Bluto.

Donkey Kong is named after the game’s villain, which is a pet gorilla that has gone rogue.

The game’s original hero was called Jumpman, but then renamed Mario, once the game became popular and Nintendo decided to use the character in future games.

The similarity between Donkey Kong and King Kong landed Nintendo with a lawsuit.

Because Kong, is a common Japanese slang for gorilla, the lawsuit was ruled in favor of Nintendo.

Donkey Kong successfully helped Nintendo become one of the dominant companies in the video game market.

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References:
Brown, Marcel
This Day in Tech History
http://thisdayintechhistory.com/07/09/gil-amelio-ousted-from-apple/