The 16th episode of the syndicated science fiction Science Fiction Theatre airs on stations across the U.S. Hosted by Truman Bradley, the episode stars Basil Rathbone.
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The first American TV network to go out of business transmits its final broadcast, a live boxing match from New York. The DuMont Television Network has simply run out of money, despite countless innovations that will be adopted by its competitors in years to come: the first made-for-TV movie, the first sitcom, the first soap opera, the first interstate coax cable link between stations (connecting the east coast to St. Louis), and the first to sell ad time within a single show to multiple advertisers, rather than letting a single advertiser sponsor an entire show (usually controlling the content as well). DuMont was also home to the first American science fiction TV series, Captain Video and his Video Rangers, which thrilled young viewers between 1949 and 1955. The DuMont Network goes off the air after operating for only ten years. The DuMont name continues to be used by its core of owned-and-operated stations in major cities, though that business unit will eventually rename itself Metropolitan Media, and later Metromedia. (Ironically, the Metromedia stations will eventually be purchased by the nascent Fox Broadcasting Company in the 1980s, becoming the core of another upstart TV network.)
The Soviet Union launches its second manned spacecraft, Vostok 2, with cosmonaut Gherman Titov aboard. This mission sets a new space endurance record, with Titov spending just over one day in orbit, circling Earth 17 times in the process. Later accounts show that it’s not a pleasant day in orbit: Titov is reportedly the first sufferer of space sickness, vomiting in the cabin of his Vostok capsule.
The BBC informs the press that major changes are afoot for the popular science fiction series Doctor Who – namely, that the last remaining original cast member, William Hartnell, will be leaving the show, and that producers are already searching for a new actor to take on the role (though, in reality, they have already hired Hartnell’s replacement and are scrambling to reformat the series to allow for the unprecedented swap of its main star). When contacted by British newspapers for a reaction, Hartnell confirms the news.
The World Wide Web is born as Tim Berners-Lee shows off his concept for implementing hypertext, consisting of cross-linked documents, on the internet. At the time of his demonstration, the net’s primary functions are Gopher, Telnet and Usenet, but as those services do not provide a simple, user-friendly experience for providing amusingly captioned cat pictures to the public, “the web”, also known as “the WWW”, quickly gains traction and prominence. While the internet’s infrastructure can trace its origins to the 1960s and ARPAnet, this marks the dawn of the public-facing internet (which now, of course, includes the site you are reading right now).
Sci-Fi Channel airs the 77th episode of the science fiction series Sliders, starring Cleavant Derricks, Kari Wuhrer, Robert Floyd, and Tembi Locke.
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Pay cable channel Showtime premieres the 50th episode of Stargate SG-1. Sam J. Jones, star of the 1980 movie version of Flash Gordon, guest stars.
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Sir Alec Guinness, best known to SF fans as Obi-Wan Kenobi, dies at the age of 86. He was a working actor for over six decades, though directors had to beg him into participating in his two best-known outings – Star Wars and The Bridge Over The River Kwai; indeed, in recent years, he has made his disdain for the former project very well known to any fans who dared to ask. Reports around the time of his death indicated that Sir Alec Guinness has been suffering from liver cancer. He is survived by his wife and son.
Sci-Fi Channel airs the fourth episode of Stargate Atlantis. Christopher Heyerdahl (Sanctuary) guest stars.
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Director Jud Taylor, best known to genre fans for helming several third season episodes of the original Star Trek, dies at the age of 76. In addition to his directing duties, he served as vice president of the Directors’ Guild of America from 1977 to 1981, and then served a term as the body’s president until 1983; the years he spent advocating the cause of film and television directors are considered among the most influential in the DGA’s history, during which he helped open doors for both female and minority directors, and had a tremendous effect on directors’ creative rights, pensions, and pay. He was active behind the camera as recently as the 2000s, during which he directed several episodes of Law & Order: SVU.
NASA’s Phoenix lander samples the soil of Mars, and it finds not only water, but an unusual soil composition which would make living off the land unlikely for human travelers. The soil sample in question contains perchlorate, a chemical used on Earth to make solid rocket fuel. So while a hypothetical Mars colony couldn’t use the planet’s own soil for farming, it could certainly launch a rocket or two. But missions scientists are quick to point out that while the presence of perchlorate in the Martian dirt may be unfriendly to humans, there may still have been life on the planet at some point which adapted to that chemical; it may also be a localized phenomenon unique to Phoenix’s polar landing site. (There are some plants on Earth capable of processing perchlorate-infused soil, but they’re generally not regarded as viable crops.) The Phoenix probe’s mission is extended to the end of September so it can continue its studies, and could be extended again at the end of that period, though the harsh Martian winter is likely to deny the non-roving Phoenix the kind of longevity enjoyed by its more mobile siblings, Spirit and Opportunity.
Syfy airs the 48th episode of the science fiction series Eureka, starring Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, and Joe Morton. James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) and Tembi Locke (Sliders) guest star.
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Surviving a previously untested landing method involving a rocket-firing sky crane, NASA’s Curiosity rover (or, more formally, the Mars Science Laboratory) lands safely on Mars, at the base of a mountain near Gale Crater. The first images from the surface arrive within seconds of landing, confirming the safe delivery of NASA’s latest mobile Mars explorer. The landing is especially suspenseful due to the “seven minutes of terror” – the one-way time for a signal to reach Earth from Mars – and the fact that the entire reentry and landing procedure takes 14 minutes.
The internet-based fan film Star Trek: Phase II releases a short vignette episode, Going Boldly, introducing the series’ new Captain Kirk, actor Brian Gross.
Streaming service CBS All Access premieres the first episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, created by Mike McMahan (Rick & Morty) as the first ongoing animated Star Trek series since the early 1970s. Chronicling the voyages of a new set of characters aboard the 24th century U.S.S. Cerritos, Lower Decks stars Tawny Newsome (Space Force), Jack Quaid (The Boys), Noel Wells (Craig Of The Creek), Eugene Cordero (Other Space), Dawnn Lewis (A Different World, Futurama), and Jerry O’Connell (Sliders).
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