On October 18, 1958, physicist Dr. William Higinbotham rigged together a simple tennis simulator for his laboratory’s annual open house. The eye-catching display proved to be much more popular than he could have ever predicted.

Following his work on the Manhattan Project, the program that created the atomic bomb, Dr. William A. Higinbotham felt compelled to pursue a less-destructive path. It wasn’t long until he became the head of his own division at Brookhaven National Laboratory, which focused on developing peaceful applications of nuclear power.

To generate public interest for the lab’s 1958 expo, Dr. Higinbotham considered showcasing an early computer simulation of a bouncing ball. He quickly realized ths concept could be taken a step further in the form of a virtual game of tennis. With the help of colleague Dave Potter and technician Robert Dvorak, Tenns for Two was completed in three weeks time.

“It might liven up the place to have a game that people could play, and which could convey the message that our scientific endeavors have relevance for society,”

– Dr. William A. Higinbotham, recalling his thought process making the game

Tennis for Two would become a big hit at the expo, with hundreds of eager players waitng in line to play the sports simulator (a scenario I’m sure many E3 attendees can relate to). Visitors played the game by pressing a red button to serve and hit the ball, and turning a knob to adjust the angle of the shot.

The game proved to be so popular that Dr. Higinbotham had concerns that he may be remembered more for his contribution to gaming than his more noble scientific efforts. Since those projects include the Manhattan Project, numerous government patents, and campaigning against nuclear arms, I doubt gaming will be the only focus of Dr. Higinbotham’s legacy.