Today is the day. Sixty years ago on this exact date, January 2, television viewers in Japan could tune their sets to the Tokyo Broadcasting System and see the first episode of a new special-effects program: Ultra Q, the creation of visual effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya. The first episode, “Defeat Gomess!”, featured a Godzilla-like monster emerging from a tunnel excavation project to battle a bird beast from legends. Audiences loved it, and they kept tuning in to Ultra Q in huge numbers for the rest of its run.

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