LOS ANGELES--When Marty McFly travelled to the future in the 1989 "Back to the Future" sequel - to October 21, 2015, to be precise - he was greeted by flying cars, self-tying sneakers and hovering skateboards.
The futuristic items were from a distant world for the time-travelling teenager on a journey from 1985 to 2015 to save his children. But that day finally arrived on Wednesday, dubbed "Back to the Future Day" as fans of the blockbuster trilogy around the world celebrated the movie milestone.
Social media sites were ablaze with talk about the sci-fi adventure, cinemas held special screenings of the film and companies jumped in on the hype with savvy adverts. U.S. President Barack Obama tweeted: "Happy Back to the Future Day, @realmikefox! Ever think about the fact that we live in the future we dreamed of then? That's heavy, man."
At the Houston, Texas headquarters of DeLorean cars, whose gull-winged DMC-12 model was adapted in the film into a time machine, crowds gathered to mark the anniversary. "A lot of people are getting their cameras out and taking pictures," DeLorean Motor Co CEO Stephen Wynne told reporters. "When we opened... at 8 o'clock this morning, a woman ran in and she was dressed as Marty McFly and everybody goes, 'whoa'!"
In Canada, a playful recall announcement on the official Health Canada website said that "a certain DMC-12 car converted into a time machine, a defect in the flux capacitor could lead to inability to travel through time. Doc Brown will affect repairs."
One short scene has U.S. baseball fans abuzz. A holographic news board informs Marty McFly that the long-suffering Chicago Cubs have won the 2015 World Series.
The Cubs actually made it to the Major League Baseball playoffs this year, and it seemed like the scene might be prescient. But now the Cubs are one loss away from being eliminated from contention by the New York Mets, which would continue the Cubs' 107-year championship drought.
