A Star Trek episode involving a robotic war debuted on this day in television history.
On January 15th, 1996, Star Trek: Voyager’s “Prototype” aired on the United Paramount Network. This was a second season episode of Star Trek: Voyager, the fourth live-action Star Trek series.

On January 15th, 1996, Star Trek: Voyager’s “Prototype” aired on the United Paramount Network. (Courtesy: Paramount/UPN/Star Trek)
In the episode, the crew of Voyager discover what appears to be a dormant robot floating in space. After Chief Engineer B’elanna Torres gets it back online, she befriends the robot, but eventually finds herself–and the crew of Voyager–in the middle of a robotic war.
The episode was directed by Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation and went on to direct other TV series and movies after this one.