@Mark Ollig
As November begins, I’d like to reflect on some of the early historical milestones associated with this month.
First commercial telegraph line
The first telegraph line in North America opened for regular commercial service between Buffalo and Lockport, New York, Nov. 7, 1845.
The single-wire circuit transmitted messages in Morse code over pole-mounted conductors.
The line was built under the direction of Orrin S. Wood, following Samuel F. B. Morse’s system, and marked the start of commercial telegraphy in the United States.
Gemini 12’s spacewalk lessons
Gemini 12 launched on Nov. 11, 1966, with astronauts James Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin aboard.
Aldrin performed three extravehicular activities (EVAs) totaling about five hours and 30 minutes, using handholds and footholds attached to the Gemini spacecraft.
Lovell and Aldrin also completed a rendezvous and docking with the Agena Target Vehicle in Earth orbit.
As the final Gemini mission, Gemini 12 validated EVA techniques and rendezvous procedures later used for Apollo lunar module rendezvous and docking.
Surveyor 6 lands and hops on the Moon
Surveyor 6 launched Nov. 7, 1967, and landed in Sinus Medii Nov. 10. It transmitted 29,952 television pictures of the lunar surface.
Surveyor 6 performed the first remote-controlled “hop” on another world Nov. 17, 1967, rising about 10 to 12 feet above the surface and landing about eight feet away under commands from NASA controllers.
Its data showed the lunar surface could support the Apollo Lunar Module and helped identify future landing sites.
Apollo 4 and the first Saturn V flight
Apollo 4 launched Nov. 9, 1967, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A, marking the first flight of the Saturn V rocket.
This uncrewed mission tested all three stages of the rocket, along with the command and service module.
The mission simulated a high-speed lunar return when the command module reentered Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 25,000 miles per hour, successfully validating the heat shield’s performance.
Mariner 9 arrives at Mars
NASA’s Mariner 9 became the first spacecraft to orbit another planet when it entered orbit around Mars Nov. 13, 1971 (CST).
A global dust storm initially obscured the surface, but once it cleared, Mariner 9 revealed volcanoes, valleys, and ancient riverbeds, including Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris.
The orbiter mapped about 85% of the planet’s surface and returned 7,329 images before the mission completed Oct. 27, 1972.
Voyager 1 Saturn flyby
NASA’s Voyager 1 space probe launched Sept. 5, 1977.
It made its closest approach to Saturn Nov. 12, 1980, at a distance of about 78,000 miles from the planet’s cloud tops and captured images of Saturn’s rings, moons, and Titan.
Now traveling through interstellar space, Voyager 1 is about 15.7 billion miles from Earth and continues to transmit data to NASA’s Deep Space Network.
STS-2: First reuse of a shuttle
NASA launched the Space Transportation System (STS) Space Shuttle Columbia Nov. 12, 1981, marking the first reuse of a space shuttle orbiter since STS-1 April 12, 1981.
Astronauts Joe Engle and Richard Truly spent two days testing shuttle systems, including the Office of Space and Terrestrial Applications (OSTA-1), which carried the first scientific payload aboard the Space Shuttle.
Microsoft announces Windows
Microsoft founder Bill Gates introduced Windows, a groundbreaking graphical user interface, at the Helmsley Palace Hotel in New York City, NY, Nov. 10, 1983.
Windows 1.0 was released to customers in November 1985, marking the launch of a new era in personal computing.
The birth of AOL
Quantum Link (Q-Link) launched Nov. 5, 1985, for Commodore 64 and 128 users.
It featured graphical menus and icons, offering services like email, chat rooms, forums, and file libraries.
Users could play online games, such as Island of Kesmai and Habitat, which included avatars.
Most dial-up connections were at speeds of 300 to 2,400 bits per second.
Q-Link evolved into America Online in October 1989.
AOL discontinued its dial-up service Sept. 30, 2025.
First internet radio simulcast
WXYC-FM 89.3 at UNC-Chapel Hill became the first traditional radio station to stream live on the internet Nov. 7, 1994.
Listeners installed Cornell’s CU-SeeMe program on their computer, typed in the UNC SunSITE server address, and listened through that connection.
WREK 91.1 FM in Atlanta also streamed that day in a beta test. KJHK 90.7 FM at the University of Kansas began broadcasting a public stream Dec. 3, 1994.
Apple iPod goes on sale
Apple introduced the iPod Oct. 23, 2001, with a five-gigabyte, 1.8-inch hard drive. The first model could hold about 1,000 songs.
It went on sale Nov. 10, 2001, and synced with iTunes on an Apple Mac computer over a FireWire cable, which also charged the iPod.
Firefox 1 release
Millions of users quickly adopted Mozilla’s Firefox web browser after its release Nov. 9, 2004.
Its open-source model and tabbed browsing gave people a fresh choice beyond Internet Explorer and revived competition on the web.
Rosetta’s Philae lands on a comet
The Philae lander, carried by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft, touched down on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko on Nov. 12, 2014.
Its grappling-hook harpoons, designed to anchor the lander, failed to fire, and Philae bounced twice before coming to rest in shadow.
Philae returned images and instrument data before its batteries depleted.
Rosetta remained in orbit from Aug. 6, 2014, until a controlled descent concluded the mission Sept. 30, 2016.
Philae became the first spacecraft to land on a comet.
Twitter expands to 280 characters
Twitter increased the character limit on its website from 140 to 280 characters Nov. 7, 2017.
The change was intended to solve “cramming,” a problem where users frequently hit the 140-character limit and needed to shorten the words used in their tweets (posts).
AI web browsers
The Browser Company’s Dia announced an integrated AI web browser Nov. 3, 2025.
Opera Limited, majority-owned by Kunlun Tech, released the Neon AI browser Sept. 30.
In October, there were AI updates to its Opera and Opera GX web browsers.
Major technological milestones have progressed from the first commercial telegraph to space exploration and now AI-powered web browsers.
