[en] A series of theta-pinch high-beta stellarator experiments has been recently completed. They demonstrated the existence of a toroidal equilibrium at high beta (about 70%) and reveal the expected instability of gross plasma motion. Feedback stabilization, by means of optical sensors for plasma position coupled to current amplifiers for magnetic field control, works effectively to keep the plasma column near the center of the discharge vessel. Confinement of plasma in the recent feedback experiments is limited by classical end losses associated with the finite-length toroidal sectors. This document gives a simplified history of Scyllac much as it was presented in an invited paper at the 1977 Plasma Physics Division meeting of the American Physical Society held in Atlanta, Georgia