Star Trek fans will be tickled to know that the good ol' starship Enterprise first took flight on network TV on September 8th 1966, and split infinitives became OK. Actually, aspects of the show have become such cultural items that even non-sci-fi fans know the thrilling soundtrack, the iconic hull of NCC-1701 zipping into warp, Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov, polystyrene alien worlds, and the inevitable death of red-sweatered crewmen. Who hasn't switched on their cellphone (or flipped it open... old Motorola StarTacs were the best) and muttered "beam me up, Scotty"? All that began 42 years ago, a number that'll please a different set of sci-fi fans. Fingers crossed for the upcoming reboot movie. [Wired]

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