Wolf 359 is a real star. It's an extremely faint red dwarf, approximately 7.8 light years from Earth, and the 5th nearest star to our sun.
This episode is the first time the Borg's iconic catchphrase, "Resistance is Futile", is uttered.
This is the first episode which established Earth as being in sector 001.
This 2-part episode contained 'graveyard' scenes, full of wrecked and/or damaged starships. These scenes were populated with study models which were considered for use in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) (as possible versions of the Enterprise), and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) (as the Excelsior). Some of the other wrecked ships were created via "kit-bashing," or by quickly mixing starship parts from various models.
Michael Piller was initially hired as a freelance screenwriter for only one year, with his last script being The Best of Both Worlds: Part 1 (1990). The episode ends with a major cliff-hanger, leaving him knowing that he'd not be responsible for resolving it in The Best of Both Worlds: Part 2 (1990). However, this episode alone garnered huge ratings and, in general, helped push the series from its lower ratings ranking to become the highest syndicated series during this time, the late 80s-early 90s). As a result, Gene Roddenberry was so satisfied with Piller's work during the 3rd year of the series, that he personally asked Piller to stay on. This required Piller write a resolution, the episode which kicked off the series' next season.