Though SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence) research has been around since 1960, the institute of the same name was founded on Nov. 20, 1984. The SETI Institute lost it’s government funding in 1993, but the work continues…read more.

Miriam Makeba passed away on Nov. 10. We unearthed an episode of the late 60s/early 70s show Soul! from the WNET archives, including a number of songs performed by Makeba, an in-depth interview with her about her political activities, and a little about her then-husband, Black Panther Stokely Carmichael. Watch… (originally aired: January 5, 1972)

Denis Belliveau and Francis O’Donnell took a wild idea – retrace Marco Polo’s entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice to China and back – and spent two incredible years of their lives filming the trip. Watch full documentary. (airs on Thirteen on Dec. 10, 2008 at 8:00 pm).

This week, NOW looks at two “green” projects keeping furniture, paint, cabinets, and other building supplies out of landfills and getting them into the hands of those who need them most. Will they be devastated by the economic meltdown, or do they signal a possible way out? Watch. (Originally aired: 11/14/2008).

Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick about the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, is published by Harper & Brothers in New York, on Nov. 14, 1851. While Moby-Dick is now considered America’s greatest epic, the book about Captain Ahab and the white whale, was initially considered a flop.