I copied this from
HERE
A Brief History of Dungeons and Dragons
"Oh, you play D&D? I remember that from junior high. I didn't think anybody played it anymore."
I hear that comment over and over, and it's made me think, exactly how long have I been playing this, anyway?
Dungeons & Dragons was begun by Dave Arneson in 1971 at the University of Minnesota. In 1973 he approached Gary Gygax and they formed Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) to make the game. In 1975, the company incorporated as TSR, Inc., and D&D took its place as the grandfather of all role-playing games. Although TSR, Inc. experimented with a number of other game genres, its first creation, D&D, remained the mainstay of TSR, Inc.'s corporate strength.
In 1979, TSR, Inc. released the first book for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, with more sophisticated divisions between races and classes and more complex rules for character development and game mechanics. AD&D swiftly surpassed the simpler D&D in popularity and is now the preeminent of the two games.
In 1989, a second edition of AD&D was released that began shifting the game's focus to a point-based system. Virtually all subsequent modules and reference books written for AD&D use second-edition rules, and second-edition AD&D is still the implicit core of D&D publishing. However, in 1995, TSR, Inc. took the controversial step of publishing the first of a set of Player's Option rulesbooks that continued to move D&D closer to a point-based system. When the PO books were published, many players assumed they were the "third edition" of AD&D. However, TSR, Inc. vehemently denied this.
In 1997, Wizards of the Coast bought out TSR, Inc. A lot of people worried that this meant the end of D&D, but judging from plans, that doesn't seem to be the case. As of this writing, the FAQ about product plans acknowledges that a third edition of D&D is being considered, but nothing concrete has been determined (or, at least, released to the public).
So, let's see ... it's not quite 1998 yet, so D&D has been around 24 years! I guess it has been a long time, hasn't it? Well, if that means some mundanes think my interests are stuck at a junor high level, so be it—I intend to still be rolling dice and slaying dragons even as they roll me into the nursing home....
Written by Dru Pagliassotti