What Tomorrow Looked Like Yesterday…

Published On: December 5, 2021

Doctor WhoThe 870th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 171st episode since the series’ revival), starring Jodie Whittaker, Mandip Gill, and John Bishop. This is the sixth episode of a six-episode, season-long storyline titled Flux.

This entry is forthcoming.

Published On: December 5, 2020

Hayabusa-2 Samples RetrievedThe Japanese space agency, JAXA, successfully recovers the Hayabusa-2 space probe’s sample return container after its return to Earth in Austrailia. The container’s precious cargo is 100 milligrams of surface and subsurface material retrieved by Hayabusa-2 from the surface of asteroid 162173 Ryugu during a series of touch-and-go maneuvers performed between February and July of 2019. Though it drops its samples off during a close flyby of Earth, Hayabusa-2 remains in space, where JAXA hopes to redirect it to study further asteroids, though the probe will no longer have the ability to gather or return samples.

Published On: December 5, 2019

Robert Walker Jr. in Charlie XActor Robert Walker Jr., perhaps best known as the troubled Charlie Evans from the classic Star Trek episode Charlie X (1966), dies at the age of 79. The son of a Hollywood acting power couple, Walker was expected from an early age to follow in his father’s footsteps; even after his parents divorced, his new stepfather, David O. Selznick, was a guiding force in his career. Early attempts at movie breakout roles proved less than successful, but Walker made a huge impression on TV audiences, with memorable appearances on Star Trek, The Invaders, and The Time Tunnel in rapid succession; movie success did eventually follow in such films as 1969’s Easy Rider and 1972’s Beware! The Blob, but it was television that provided much of his work. Later TV appearances included guest roles on The Six Million Dollar Man, CHiPs, Dallas, In The Heat Of The Night, and L.A. Law.

Published On: December 5, 2016

MarsThe fourth episode of Mars airs on the National Geographic Channel. The series is a hybrid drama/documentary about a fictional human mission to Mars in 2033, contrasted against efforts to prepare for such a mission in the present day. The series is produced by Ron Howard (Apollo 13). Read more

Published On: December 5, 2015

Doctor WhoThe 827th episode of Doctor Who airs on BBC1 (the 128th episode since the series’ revival), starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman. Maisie Williams (Game Of Thrones) guest stars in the ninth season finale.

This entry is forthcoming.

Published On: December 5, 2014

Orion EFT-1NASA launches Exploration Flight Test 1, the maiden unmanned voyage of the next-generation Orion space vehicle which is intended to assume the Space Shuttle’s place as NASA’s primary manned spacecraft. Heavily instrumented, Orion is boosted to a high altitude of 3,600 miles during its second orbit, and returns to Earth at 20,000mph, the fastest return of a man-rated spacecraft since the Apollo lunar missions. The flight profile of the EFT-1 mission is similar to that of 1967’s Apollo 4 mission, though ongoing budget constraints force NASA to launch Orion atop a Delta IV Heavy booster rather than the Space Launch System booster for which Orion has been designed. This budget crunch also prevents the Orion program from moving forward at the pace of Apollo: the next Orion flight will not take place for several years. Orion EFT-1 is also the first American spacecraft to be recovered from sea after a splashdown since 1975’s Apollo-Soyuz mission.

Published On: December 5, 2001

Space ShuttleSpace Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on the 107th shuttle flight, a resupply and crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. Aboard Endeavour for her 17th flight are Commander Dominic Gorie, Pilot Mark Kelly, mission specialists Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani, and ISS Expedition 4 crewmembers Yuri Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch. Returning to Earth via Endeavour are ISS Expedition 3 crewmembers Frank Culbertson, Mikhail Turin and Vladimir Dezhurov.

Published On: December 5, 1993

Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe 28th episode of George Lucas’ historical adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles airs on ABC, starring Sean Patrick Flanery. Tim McInnerny (Blackadder), Nickolas Grace (Robin Of Sherwood), and Bernard Bresslaw (Doctor Who) guest star in the final episode to air on ABC. Lucasfilm will produce four feature-length TV movies for The Family Channel from 1994 through 1996.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Published On: December 5, 1991

Dark SeasonThe fourth episode of Dark Season premieres on CBBC (the BBC’s children’s programming block). This is the first drama series created and written by future Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies, and is one of the earliest acting jobs in Kate Winslet’s career. Jacqueline Pearce (Blake’s 7) guest stars. Read more

Published On: December 5, 1991

Doctor WhoVirgin Publishing releases the fourth book in the Doctor Who New Adventures series, “Timewyrm: Revelation” by Paul Cornell. This is Cornell’s first professionally-published fiction, and is published over the objections of former Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner (acting as an advisor to the editors), who cites concerns over the book’s abstract attempts to establish an epic mythology involving Gallifreyan gods. The book also concludes the four-book Timewyrm cycle, which has proven to be enough of a sales success that Virgin opts to continue publishing original Doctor Who fiction. Read more

Published On: December 5, 1981

Spider-Man And His Amazing FriendsNBC airs the 13th episode of the Marvel animated series Spider-Man And His Amazing Friends, starring the voices of Dan Gilvezan (Transformers), Kathy Garver (Family Affair), and Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo, Transformers, The Smurfs). This concludes the show’s first season.

This series is not yet chronicled in the LogBook. You could join theLogBook team and write this guide or support the webmaster’s efforts to expand the site.

Published On: December 5, 1981

Atari 2600Atari releases the home version of the arcade hit Defender as a cartridge for the Atari VCS home video game system. Though the game undergoes major alterations to fit within the VCS’ memory, Defender sells well. It includes the first issue of a tie-in comic book, Atari Force, created by DC Comics (a subsidiary of Warner Communications, just like Atari). Read more

Want to look up any other day of the year? Or just browse through any year covered on the site?