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Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
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Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be plugged in simultaneously in a manner similar to a power strip or a USB hub. A multitap often takes the form of a box with three or more controller ports which is then connected to a controller port on the console itself. The appeal of multitaps was focused mainly on sports games due to their multiplayer aspects, though some role-playing video games and first person shooters have taken advantage of multitap support as well. While historically strong, the demand for console-specific multitaps had largely vanished over the course of the seventh generation, where it became much more common for controllers to connect either wirelessly (removing the need for physical controller ports altogether) or through standard USB ports (allowing a USB hub to serve the same function as a multitap).
The PlayStation Multitap is a peripheral for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. It is an adapter that can be used to plug in up to four controllers and memory cards at the same time in a single controller port. With a second multitap, up to eight controllers and memory cards can be plugged at once. For 4-player games, the multitap must be plugged into controller port 1.
The NES Four Score and NES Satellite are multitap accessories produced by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). With supported games, both peripherals allow the connection of up to four controllers to input simultaneously on the NES; they are interchangeable in their compatibility with supported games. The major difference between the NES Four Score and the NES Satellite is that the former connects directly to the NES, while the latter uses infrared wireless communication instead; the latter acts as a range extender adaptor for all wired controllers, extending the usable range from around 3 feet (for a standard controller) to 15 feet. The Satellite consists of two units: a small infrared receiver that plugs into the console's controller ports, and a main unit that is powered by six C batteries and must have a line of sight to the receiver. Both devices have four controller ports and two "Turbo" switches to simulate rapid pressing of the A and B buttons. The NES Satellite includes a switch to enable either a controller or light gun (NES Zapper) mode; the NES Four Score does not have such a switch and is incompatible with the latter peripheral as well as the Power Pad, but includes a different switch that enables either a two-controller or four-controller mode. NES games released prior to the introduction of the multitaps required the sharing of an NES controller if they supported more than two players (such as Anticipation); such games do not support the multitaps' individual controller feature as a result. Both devices were shown at the 1990 Winter Consumer Electronics Show. Nintendo initially revealed the NES Satellite, designed by Rare Coin-It, to journalists in June 1989; it was previewed in the September–October 1989 issue of Nintendo Power before releasing in North America in December 1989 at an MSRP of US$39.95 and was also featured in the NES Sports Set console bundle, which retailed for $150. The adapter was released in Sweden in February 1991 for 525 kr. The NES Four Score was released in North America in March 1990 for US$24.95.
Thrill Kill is a cancelled fighting game developed by Paradox Development for the PlayStation. Originally intended to be released in 1998, the game's plot involves ten people who all get sent to Hell after dying on Earth and are forced by Marukka, the Goddess of Secrets, to fight to the death for a chance at reincarnation. It was marketed as the first four-player 3D fighting game, with up to four players being able to play at once using the PlayStation Multitap. Each player is given a "kill meter" that increases with each successful attack and, once filled, executes a gory finishing move called a "Thrill Kill". Thrill Kill began development as Earth Monster, a sports game based on the Mesoamerican ballgame in which characters attacked one another as they tried to get a ball into a hoop. As the developers were repeatedly pushed by publisher Virgin Interactive to make the game more violent, Earth Monster's concept was scrapped in favor of an adult-oriented, BDSM-themed fighting game. During development, the game gained a large following for its overtly sexual and gory content, and received one of the first-ever "Adults Only" (AO) ratings from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), also becoming the first game to receive the rating for its violence. Reviews of the beta version of Thrill Kill considered it fun but unfinished. The game was scheduled to be released by Virgin Interactive in October 1998; however, Electronic Arts gained the publishing rights upon purchasing Virgin's North American operations in August of that year, and chose not to release the game or sell it to other publishers due to its graphic content. Bootleg versions of the game were uploaded to pirating websites, and it became especially popular as a downloaded ISO. Following its cancellation, Thrill Kill was reskinned to develop the 1999 Activision game Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, also developed by Paradox, who went on to use the Thrill Kill engine in several of their other games.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker