♟️ The year is 1859, American Paul Morphy had just defeated Europe's top chess masters leading to a surge of interest among the American public. Scientific American tried to quell the hype, suggesting chess playing was a waste of time that would be better spent outside, the piece stated: "A game of chess does not add a single new fact to the mind; it does not excite a single beautiful thought; nor does it serve a single purpose for polishing and improving the nobler faculties"

🗞 Source: Scientific American, December 24th, 1859 - Page 9: https://books.google.ca/books?id=90hGAQAAIAAJ&dq=%22a+pernicious+excitement+to+learn+and+play%22&pg=PA9&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false