The Thor Universe

First comic book: “Journey into Mystery 83” debuted June 1, 1962, with a plot by Stan Lee and script by Larry Lieber, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott. The story is of a lame doctor vacationing in Norway when an alien invasion happens. While hiding in a cave, he finds an old cane that transforms him into the god Thor.

First TV show: “The Marvel Super Heroes: The Mighty Thor” premiered in 1966. The series included Iron Man, Captain America, Sub-Mariner and the Hulk. This animated series took comic book panels and added movement. It ran for one season.

First film: “Thor” was released May 6, 2011. A sequel, “Thor: The Dark World,” was released Nov. 8, 2013, and the third film, “Thor: Ragnarok,” opens today.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor : The actor is best known for his role as the Marvel Comics superhero in the 2011 movie “Thor.” He reprised his role in the 2012 film “The Avengers.” He returned in 2013 in “Thor: The Dark World.” He played the role again in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and in “Thor: Ragnarok.” He will star as Thor in at least two more films, “Avengers: Infinity War” and its yet-to-be-titled sequel, scheduled for release in 2018 and 2019. He also has voiced Thor in multiple video games, appeared in two video shorts and had an uncredited appearance in 2016’s “Doctor Strange.”

Thor’s Day: Ever wonder where the name of the weekday Thursday comes from? Yep, it’s from Thor. When the Germanic people adopted the Roman weekly calendar, they replaced the names of Roman gods with their own, and that’s how we got the name for Thursday, or “Thor’s day.”

First element: Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius (1779–1848) discovered a chemical element that he named after Thor – thorium.

First shrew: First described in 2013, Thor’s hero shrew (Scutisorex thori) is a species of shrew native to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It and its sister species, the hero shrew (Scutisorex somereni), are the only mammal species known to have interlocking vertebrae. The team named the shrew after Thorvald “Thor” Holmes Jr. of the Humboldt State University Vertebrate Museum, as well as referring to the Norse god Thor due to the god’s association with strength.