theLogBook.com is a chronicle of how we used to imagine the future – an ever-expanding
logbook of what our entertainment, our culture, and even our brightest minds thought would happen.
It’s nostalgia – and some real history – that gives factual context to the fiction, cultural
context to the factual, and always looks to the future.

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Published On: June 11, 2013

Shenzhou 10The Chinese manned space mission Shenzhou 10 lifts off, carrying taikonauts Nie Haisheng, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping to the orbiting Tiangong-1 space laboratory module for a stay of over two weeks. This is the fifth manned flight in the history of the Chinese space program, and the second (and is expected to be the last) to visit Tiangong-1. A larger orbital station, Tiangong-2, is under development.

Published On: June 11, 1999

De KelleyActor DeForest Kelley, loved around the world for his portrayal of cranky-but-sympathetic Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy on Star Trek, dies at the age of 79 from cancer. A mainstay of western movies and TV guest roles since the 1940s, Kelley had first crossed paths with Gene Roddenberry guest starring in an episode of Boots and Saddles written by Gene; Kelley later starred as the lead in an unsold Roddenberry legal drama pilot, 333 Montgomery. He made enough of an impression that Roddenberry lobbied for him to be cast in Star Trek, though Desilu didn’t hire the actor for either of the pilot episodes. Kelley’s most recent appearance in the role of Dr. McCoy had been in 1991’s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; he declined to take part in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations, though a role had been written for him. (He had already handed the baton off to The Next Generation in an unannounced cameo appearance in that series’ pilot.)

Published On: June 11, 1997

Perversions Of ScienceThe fourth episode of the adult-themed science fiction anthology series Perversions Of Science, based largely on stories published in Weird Science magazine, premieres on cable network HBO. Jeffrey Combs (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Enterprise, David Warner (Tron, Time Bandits), and Ron Perlman (Beauty & The Beast) guest star.

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: June 11, 1991

ELO Part IIELO offshoot band Electric Light Orchestra Part II releases its self-titled debut album (with the placement of “Part II” on the cover no doubt leaving some confusion as to whether or not this is the original band; it’s actually a new group formed by former ELO drummer Bev Bevan). Read more

Published On: June 11, 1985

Vega 1The landing module of the Vega 1 unmanned space probe arrives at the planet Venus, though some of its on-board experiment packages activate during descent, rather than activating after contact with the surface, and little data is returned. Thanks to a gravity assist from a close flyby of Venus, the Vega 1 “mothership” continues past the planet toward a 1986 rendezvous with Halley’s Comet.

Published On: June 11, 1976

Fairchild Channel FA major breakthrough in an industry that was previously dominated by expensive, bulky consoles that could only play a handful of games each, Fairchild introduces its Video Entertainment System, the first programmable video game system. Though it has several built-in games like its predecessors, the Fairchild system allows owners to add new games by purchasing “Videocarts” – roughly the size of 8-track tapes – containing additional games. Fairchild later renames its VES console Channel F to avoid market confusion with Atari’s VCS (Video Computer System), which doesn’t arrive on the scene until the following year.

More about Channel F in Phosphor Dot Fossils

Published On: June 11, 1976

Coleco TelstarColeco, a toy company best known for its air hockey tables, releases its first video game console, the Coleco Telstar. A self-contained unit capable of playing three variants of video tennis, Telstar retails for roughly half the price of Atari’s Pong console, and Coleco sells over a million units of Telstar in various guises and case styles through the end of the decade. In the early 1980s, Coleco begins development of its own programmable, cartridge-based successor to Telstar, which will reach the market in 1982 as Colecovision.

More about Dedicated Consoles in Phosphor Dot Fossils

Absolutely no generative AI was used in the creation of the content on this website.
It’s mostly just some guy named Earl.

EG