# android made an entrance; artoo supplied the voice

- Link: https://tacobout.online/2026/11/05/a-few-things-worth-knowing-november-5-2026/
- Published: 2026-11-05T17:45:00-06:00
- Author: schwegler

**A few things worth knowing · November 5, 2026**

A mobile platform’s birthday, a conspiracy with misleading top billing, and the 
human behind a very opinionated robot.

## on this day: android made the announcement before the apps

![Google’s current green Android robot head with two antennae and black eyes.](https://
i0.wp.com/tacobout.online/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/android-robot-official-google.
png?resize=303%2C183&ssl=1)

Android™ was announced on **November 5, 2007**, nineteen years ago today. Google’s
Dan Morrill later recalled hearing Andy Rubin and Eric Schmidt introduce it, with
the first early-look software development kit still a week away. This anniversary
belongs to the platform’s announcement, not the arrival of a finished handset in
stores. Even its birthday comes with a version distinction. [Source: Android Developers.](https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2010/05/on-android-compatibility.html)

## on this day: guy fawkes was not the project manager

The Gunpowder Plot targeted the opening of Parliament on **November 5, 1605**, but
Robert Catesby was its central organizer. Guy Fawkes was guarding the explosives
beneath the House of Lords when the plot was uncovered the night before. He had 
been posing as a servant under the name John Johnson. History kept the better stage
name, while Catesby’s leadership became the part that needs explaining. [Source: UK Parliament’s account of the plot](https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/the-gunpowder-plot-of-1605/overview/the-plot-and-its-discovery/conspiracy-and-deception/)
and [Fawkes biography](https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/parliamentaryauthority/the-gunpowder-plot-of-1605/overview/people-behind-the-plot/guy-fawkes-/).

## evergreen: artoo was half synthesizer, half man making noises

Ben Burtt’s first attempts at R2-D2 sounded too electronic to convey much feeling.
The solution was a roughly equal blend of synthesizer sounds and Burtt’s own vocal
inflections, giving the droid a performance rather than just a collection of beeps.
Chewbacca took the opposite route: Burtt assembled animal recordings, including 
bears, badgers and walruses, into emotionally organized pieces. One character needed
a human; the other needed a small zoo. [Source: StarWars.com.](https://www.starwars.com/news/5-iconic-star-wars-sound-effects-and-how-they-were-made-starwars-com)

Burtt explains the Chewbacca process in the official archive interview:

Image credits: current Android robot artwork, Google, via [Android Developers](https://developer.android.com/distribute/marketing-tools/brand-guidelines);
it is not a 2007 illustration. The Android robot is reproduced or modified from 
work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the [Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
Artwork unmodified. Android is a trademark of Google LLC. Video: Lucasfilm/Star 
Wars, linked from [its official sound-effects feature](https://www.starwars.com/news/5-iconic-star-wars-sound-effects-and-how-they-were-made-starwars-com).