More anniversary madness: Today is the fifth anniversary of the first release of Linux Quake (am I correct in thinking this was the first-ever Linux release of a major PC game?). It was four years ago today that Angel Munoz offered Jason Hall a $2,000 bet that Thresh would "kick Craig's ass" in Quake, after the Monolith CEO posted a .plan update staking $100 that Monolith's Craig Hubbard could beat Thresh in a deathmatch (this all eventually fizzled out without the match being played). Three years ago today the departure of Mike "Chaos" Werckle from Ritual Entertainment was announced. Finally, it was one year ago today that it was announced that Warren Spector and ION Storm Austin would be creating Thief 3.

Also, some noteworthy stuff from this month in gaming history (from before this site's existence), courtesy of David "Sopranos" Chase, who seems to like this stuff as much as I do: In August 1990: Three Softdisk employees collaborate on Catacomb II. Their names? John Romero, John Carmack, and Tom Hall. August 1991: Duke Nukem is released. August 1993: Tom Hall leaves id Software to join Apogee where he helps create Rise of the Triad.

Story of the Day: Man Out to Bond With Gorillas Jumps Into Zoo Exhibit (Fox). Thanks theAntiELVIS and John Riordan. He was saved... lucky he didn't desire to "bond" with piranhas.
Bonus Story: Dog That Saved Owner, Three Others From Fire Scheduled to Be Put to Sleep (Fox). Thanks theAntiELVIS. Anyone in Florida want to adopt an older dog or two?