Nuclear Pulse Propulsion
As part of a post-Manhattan-Project program of seeking peaceful uses for the technology previously developed for the construction and delivery of nuclear weapons, an informal report authored in August by C.J. Everett and Stanislaw Ulam is distributed from Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Atomic Energy Commission and other interested parties on this date. The report outlines a theoretical space propulsion system which would eject and detonate a series of nuclear explosives behind a spacecraft, pushing it forward at high velocity. The suggested spacecraft design would carry a pusher plate and shock-absorber system to minimize the acceleration effects on crew members in a shielded payload section. This is the culmination of a series of ideas Ulam had devised over the past decade, which would theoretically put interplanetary or even interstellar travel within reach. As the space race heats up, Ulam and Everett’s proposal will be revisited and expanded upon, at least on paper; physicist Freeman Dyson, in particular, will spend considerable time and research on what will come to be known as Project Orion (unrelated to the 21st century Orion crewed spacecraft design).
The first episode of the science fiction drama series Men Into Space premieres on CBS, starring William Lundigan. Angie Dickinson guest stars. This is a rare instance of a network program produced by Ziv Television, which is better known for its syndicated offerings. Men Into Space predicts several future developments in the space program with surprising accuracy, given both its budget and the fact that men have yet to go into space at the time of the series’ premiere.
The 37th episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone airs on CBS. Bob Cummings and Gene Lyons star in the second season premiere, written by Serling, who appears on-camera as the show’s narrator for the first time.
ABC airs the 
UK broadcaster ATV Midlands premieres the first episode of Gerry Anderson’s science fiction series Thunderbirds, featuring the voices of Shane Rimmer, David Graham, Sylvia Anderson, Ray Barrett, and Peter Dyneley. The series is filmed with puppets on detailed miniature sets, with “exteriors” involving equally detailed miniature models a system Anderson refers to as “Supermarionation”, also used on such past series as Supercar, Fireball XL5, and Stingray.
The fourth episode of Irwin Allen’s science fiction series The Time Tunnel airs on ABC, starring James Darren and Robert Colbert. Linden Chiles, Whit Bissell, and Lee Meriwether geust star.
The 
ABC broadcasts the fourth episode of the Filmation animated series Journey To The Center Of The Earth, very loosely based on the 
British broadcaster ABC airs the 121st episode of the spy-fi series The Avengers, starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. Peter Cushing (Star Wars, Dr. Who And The Daleks) guest stars.
The pilot movie The Immortal premieres as ABC’s Movie of the Week, starring Christopher George, Jessica Walter, and Barry Sullivan. Based on the James Gunn science fiction novel The Immortals, published five years earlier, the movie leads to a weekly series a year later.
The third episode of Gerry Anderson’s live-action UFO series airs on ITV, starring Edward Bishop and Michael Billington. Wanda Ventham, Lois Maxwell, and Alexis Kanner (The Prisoner) guest star.
ITV airs the tenth episode of Ace Of Wands, starring Michael McKenzie, Tony Selby and Judy Loe. This episode, like the rest of the series’ first two seasons, is now missing from the archives.
The 15th episode of The Sixth Sense airs on ABC, starring Gary Collins. Joan Crawford guest stars in what would prove to be her final on-screen role.
The third episode of the horror anthology series The Evil Touch airs on Australia’s Nine Network, hosted by Anthony Quayle (Strange Report). (The series will later appear in the U.S. and elsewhere in first-run syndication.) Kim Hunter (Planet Of The Apes) guest stars.
The fourth episode of the BBC’s short-lived science fiction series 
Astronomers catch fleeting glimpses of a new natural satellite of Jupiter, Themisto, though the initial estimates of its orbit are “off” enough that Themisto becomes “lost” and isn’t observed again until 2000. With a diameter of roughly five miles, Themisto marks the dividing line between the larger inner moons of Jupiter and the widely-scattered menagerie of asteroid-like outer moons orbiting the planet. Astronomers Elizabeth Roemer and Charles Kowal (who discovered another new Jovian moon in 1974) share credit for discovering the moon. Themisto is the last Jovian satellite to be discovered by ground-based telescope in the 20th century.
On or around this date in 1976, the very first teaser trailers for an upcoming 20th Century Fox movie called 
CBS airs the 
The 16th episode of Wonder Woman airs on CBS, starring Lynda Carter and Lyle Waggoner. Yuki Shimoda and Lew Ayres guest star.
The 
CBS airs the 
Magnavox releases the video game cartridge 
Atari releases the arcade game 
Desperately trying to keep its coin-op games fresh, Sega releases the arcade game conversion kit 
The first episode of Glen A. Larson’s superhero series Manimal premieres on NBC, starring Simon MacCorkindale (Quatermass, Falcon Crest), Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon), and Michael D. Roberts (Baretta, The First Family). Terry Kiser (Weekend At Bernie’s) guest stars in the series premiere, concerning a man who has the ability to shapeshift into any animal.
The week-long national syndication window opens for 
Space Shuttle Endeavour lifts off on the shuttle program’s 65th mission. The eleven-day flight is a second round of space radar experiments, using a cargo-bay-mounted radar system that flew earlier in 1994 aboard Endeavour. The crew for this flight consists of Commander Michael Baker, Pilot Terrence Wilcutt, Payload Commander Thomas Jones, and mission specialists Steven Smith, Daniel Bursch and Peter Wisoff.
The 27th episode of Chris Carter’s modern-day science fiction series The X-Files airs on Fox, starring Gillian Anderson, David Duchovny, and Mitch Pileggi. William Sanderson (Blade Runner) guest stars.
The week-long national syndication window opens for 
The week-long national syndication window opens for