Actually, the DC-X did it first, in 1993. The DC-X was the first vertical rocket landing, Blue Origin was the first vertical landing of a rocket that went to space, and SpaceX was the first vertical landing of an orbital rocket.
This Honda landing neither went to space nor was orbital, so it was a similar test to the DC-X test.
Actually, retropeopulsive landing was demonstrated during the Apollo program, both on the moon with the LM and with LM trainers on the earth. Those systems were human controlled, of course.
This Honda landing neither went to space nor was orbital, so it was a similar test to the DC-X test.