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.

You can manually look up any date or any year, or go through the whole timeline.
Scroll down for today’s events in history.

The ongoing remodel of the site, the ongoing video series, and more are powered by your support!
Join our Patreon, get access to our Discord, and help the site grow!

Follow our socials or contact us:

Facebook     Instagram     Threads     BlueSky     Mastodon     YouTube     YouTube

Support us or buy stuff:

Patreon     PayPal     TeePublic     Amazon Wish List

Featured Articles

Explore theLogBook

It happened on this date…

(You can also manually look up any other date, browse a year, or go through the whole timeline.)

Published On: July 5, 2008

Doctor WhoThe 753rd episode of Doctor Who (the 55th since the series’ revival) airs on BBC1. Billie Piper, Elisabeth Sladen, Bernard Cribbins and Noel Clarke guest star. This episode brings back Dalek creator Davros for his first appearance in the series since 1988, and is the conclusion of the two-part season finale. Read more

Published On: July 5, 1997

PathfinderSojourner, the original Mars rover, rides out on the Martian surface, getting close-up looks at nearby rocks and demonstrating technologies that are vital to upcoming Mars missions, including automatic hazard detection and avoidance. Sojourner’s ability to “see” obstacles and navigate around them without advice from ground controllers will be essential to later Mars rovers, since it takes seven minutes for a signal to reach Earth, and seven more minutes for instructions to return. The rover captures the public imagination and is even immortalized as a Hot Wheels toy.

Published On: July 5, 1992

Bill & Ted's Excellent AdventuresFox airs the second episode of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, starring Evan Richards, Christopher Kennedy, and Rick Overton (playing the roles played in the 1989 movie by Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, and George Carlin, respectively). Kelly Rutherford (Melrose Place, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.) and Mark La Mura 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: July 5, 1989

LarissaFirst spotted by Earth-based telescope observations in 1981, Neptune’s fourth-largest natural satellite was so tiny and dark that follow-up observations to confirm the discovery were unsuccessful…at least until Voyager 2 sights it on approach to the eighth planet, finding a tiny moon whose orbit corresponds to the theoretical orbit of the body originally sighted in 1981. In 1991, the International Astronomical Union will name this moon Larissa.

Published On: July 5, 1979

Project UFOThe 24th episode of Harold Jack Bloom’s sci-fi series Project UFO airs on NBC, portraying fictionalized investigations into what the show claims are actual cases from the U.S. Air Force’s Project Blue Book investigations. Edward Winter and Caskey Swaim star. Morey Amsterdam guest stars.

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: July 5, 1962

The Andromeda BreakthroughThe second episode of the British science fiction series The Andromeda Breakthrough, created and written by John Elliot and astronomer Fred Hoyle as a follow-up to 1961’s A For Andromeda, is broadcast on the BBC, starring Peter Halliday, Susan Hampshire, John Hollis (The Empire Strikes Back), and Mary Morris. Unlike A For Andromeda, this series exists in the BBC archives in its entirety.

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: July 5, 1959

H.G. Wells' The Invisible ManThe 26th and final episode of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, based on Wells’ story, airs on ITV; this episode will air in December 1959 in the U.S. on CBS. Barbara Shelley stars. The role of the invisible man himself, Dr. Peter Brady, has been played in voice-over by actor Tim Turner without on-screen credit in all 26 episodes.

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.

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

EG