Au Début

In the beginning, there was nothing. Pretty soon this became boring so, out of nothing, a round ball of rock came into existence with a "pop!" and the earth was born. For the next 4.5 odd billion years times were tough. Tectonic plates shifted, species came and went, but in general, Earth seemed like a pretty banal place. Everything changed however on a breezy summer day in the year 1989 AD.