November 30

In 1803, Spanish physician José de Balmis led the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition from Cádiz with the goal of eradicating smallpox in Spain’s overseas territories. The venture relied on a chain of orphaned children who carried live vaccine material arm-to-arm. Over the next two years, the expedition traveled to the Canary Islands, Spanish America, and the Philippines. Balmis and his team vaccinated thousands, demonstrating the feasibility of mass immunization in distant colonies. They also trained local practitioners to continue vaccination efforts after their departure. The mission laid the groundwork for modern public health strategies and vaccine distribution. Historians regard the Balmis Expedition as a milestone in the fight against infectious disease.

STS-97 lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center with a crew of five astronauts. The mission's primary objective was to install the first American solar arrays on the International Space Station, significantly boosting its power-generating capacity. During two spacewalks, astronauts connected cables and performed intricate assembly tasks, enabling subsequent station expansion. The flight also delivered supplies and equipment essential for ongoing operations. STS-97 represented a critical step in the construction of the ISS, demonstrating the Shuttle's capability to support long-duration assembly missions. The mission lasted 10 days, culminating in a safe landing at Kennedy Space Center. It reinforced international cooperation in space exploration and set the stage for further assembly flights.

Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is based on the GPT-3.5 architecture and trained on vast amounts of internet text to generate human-like responses to user prompts. Within days of its release, ChatGPT garnered millions of users intrigued by its ability to write essays, answer questions, and even craft poetry. The chatbot's interface allowed both casual users and professionals to explore its language generation capacities for tasks such as drafting emails, coding assistance, and creative writing. While praised for its versatility, ChatGPT also sparked discussions on AI ethics, misinformation, and the future of work. OpenAI released usage guidelines and content filters to mitigate harmful outputs and ensure responsible deployment. The launch of ChatGPT marked a significant milestone in conversational AI and accelerated public engagement with generative models. Its success prompted competitors and researchers to pursue similar advancements in natural language processing.