60 Years Ago - Nerd Nights in Boston

Yesterday 60 years ago.

The US was stunned by the Pearl Harbor raid. Then Japan marched across the Pacific; US defeat in the Philippines resulted in the Bataan Death March.

A creative US Navy officer, Captain Duncan, devised a plan to bomb Tokyo, the capital. The Japanese knew we had no aircraft that had the range to reach Tokyo, but he found a way. On April 18, 1942. Under the command of Jimmie Dolittle 16 Army Air Corps B-25 were loaded on the aircraft carrier Hornt.

A History Site in NC

At some Boston nightspots, nerds rule

"It may be the jocks who have made headlines for Boston, with their World Series triumph and talk of a Super Bowl dynasty.
But nerds are the real lifeblood of this city.

''There are so many nerds in Boston," said Chris Balakrishnan, a postdoctoral fellow in biology at Harvard University who organizes monthly Nerd Nite gatherings for like-minded, well, nerds. ''It's just remarkable."

"Bar and restaurant owners are getting wise to nerd power and the fact that geeks pay. Across the city, venues have opened their doors for events such as Nerd Nite and reaped the financial benefits of a city population that, thanks to numerous universities, will never suffer a drought of studious overachievers.

"The nerds have brought thousands of dollars on nights when business was generally slow. Nerd Nite, which initially was held on Wednesdays, became so popular during the last year that the owners of the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain agreed to let the nerds take over coveted Friday nights and fill the stage usually reserved for bands with their laptops and slideshow presentations."

Restaurant review in the Boston Globe