This Timeline was developed from several sources in an attempt to paint a complete, realistic picture of the events which lead up to the founding of the Federation and the years beyond. The Terran history of 1990 through 2370 was largely derived from W. Warren Wager's A Short History of the Future, a history of Earth's post-modern times told by Peter Jensen, who leaves the account of the world from the 1990s to the opening of the twenty-fifth century as a gift to his granddaughter.
15 Billion Years Ago Big Bang. The Milky Way galaxy is formed.
6 Billion Years Ago The Guardian of Forever is created. In the 23rd Century, it becomes the guardian of and portal into time for the Federation.
5 Billion Years Ago The Sol star system and surrounding stellar systems form.
4 Billion Years Ago The Progenitor species scatter DNA codes on many worlds. The codes were designed to direct evolution on those planets to produce Humanoid intelligences. In addition, a goodwill message was included in the codes.
2 Billion Years Ago First single cell organisms evolve on Terra.
4.4 Million Years Ago Earliest evidence of pre-human hominid species in East Africa
4-2 Million Years Ago Hominid species (australopithecus afarensis) in Ethiopia
1.8 Million Years Ago Homo habilis or tool-making man
1.7 Million Years Ago Homo erectus or erect man
~1 Million Years Ago Homo erectus begins to migrate to Europe and Asia
600,000 Years Ago The T’Kon Empire vanishes when the primary of their home system goes nova during the ‘Age of Makto’. The T’Kon were very technologically advanced. The Arretians explored much of the Milky Way and planted colonies on several planets, most likely including Vulcan.
500,000 Years Ago The ancient Bajorans flourish. Sargon's homeworld is all but destoryed as its atmosphere is ripped away.
400,000 Years Ago The Talosian War.
250,000 Years Ago First signs of Iconian civilization.
200,000 Years Ago The vast Iconian interstellar empire collapses. Rigellians begin large-scale space exploration.
100,000-40,000 Years Ago Neanderthal Man, in Africa and Europe
100,000+ Years Ago Homo sapiens, or wise man
50,000 Years Ago Two unknown extra-galactic powers fight a war with ‘Doomsday Machines’ Both powers are destroyed in the conflict, but one on their war machines survives until 2272 when it is destroyed by the USS Constellation and the USS Enterprise.
50,000 Years Ago The previous cycle of rebirth of the Horta of Janus IV begins.
40,000 Years Ago First Rigellian Empire destroyed by a wave of robotic planet-killers.
25657 BC City of B'hala founded, according to Bajoran legend.
27,000 Years Ago Earliest known Klingon settlements.
25,000 Years Ago The Trill begin living as symbionts.
23,000 Years Ago The Curved Rodinium Culture (either the Seventh or Eighth Rigellian Empire, depending on the archaeologist) dominates much of the Orion Arm.
12064 BC Bajoran First Republic founded.
10362 BC First Hebitian Period begins on Cardassia with founding of Hebitian League; first permanent Cardassian time-keeping records lead to establishment of caledar.
10,000-6,000 Years Ago Shift from Hunter Gatherer to food producer in some areas (West Asia initially, Egypt by 6,000)
8000 BC Twelfth Rigellian Empire expands into the Alpha Quadrant; oldest Rigellian merchant houses can trace their lineage to this period.
7500 BC Construction and launch of the Yonada by the Fabrina, built to ensure the survival of their species as their sun prepared to nova.
The Ferengi adopt capitalism as the basis of their society; the Rules of Acquisition are codified by Gint, the first Grand Nagus.
6000 BC End of First Habitan Period on Cardassian.
5500 BC Earliest large-scale Klingon nations result as Klingon "houses" begin to form alliances.
4500 BC Founding of Fort Aba'kur, Vulcan
3742 BC Bajoran First Republic falls; beginning of Tolan Hesp'rel (Tolan Interregnum); Bajor balkanized.
c.5000-3000 BC Yangshao culture in China.
c.5000 BC Mangoes cultivated in SE Asia.
5000 BC Domestication of corn in Mexico.
4000 BC The first large scale human civilizations form on Earth.
c.3750 BC First evidence of cotton weaving. Mohenjo-Daro, India.
c.3500-2500 BC Longshan culture in China.
c.3500 BC Several humans are taken from Earth by an unknown group of aliens, in order that their descendants might be trained to return to Earth covertly to ensure its survival.
c.3400 BC First evidence of wheel-made pottery. Sumeria.
c.3200-1600 BC Indus Valley civilization.
c.3200-2340 BC Cities in Mesopotamia.
c.3200 BC Wheeled transport develops in Mesopotamia.
c.3200 BC Lunar calendar in Mesopotamia.
c.3200 BC Cuneiform in Sumeria.
3200 BC Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
3100 BC Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.
3000 BC Egyptians develop weaving from plant fibers (flax).
c.3000-2000 BC Anthropomorphic religion in Mesopotamia.
3000 BC Silk manufacturing. China.
2972 BC Second Hebitian Period begins on Cardassia.
2701 BC Bajoran Second Republic founded.
2770-2200 BC Old Kingdom in Egypt.
2650 BC Construction of first pyramid in Egypt, first monumental columnar forms .
2500-1500 BC Indus Civilization in India.
~2500 BC Basic forms for furniture, wind instruments in Egypt.
Earth is visited by a race of interstellar travelers who are mistaken for gods by the ancient Greeks. The last of these, known as Apollo to the Greeks, dies in 2270, when he realizes that humans have grown beyond the need for such ‘gods’.
2334-c.2200 BC Akkadian Empire.
c. 2200-1750 BC Hsia (Xia) Dynasty in China.
2050-1786 BC Middle Kingdom in Egypt.
~2000 BC Terra-cotta pottery in Egypt.
~2000 BC Solar Calendar in Egypt.
c.2000 BC Minoan worship of the Mother Goddess.
c.2000 BC Extensive commerce between Egypt and Crete.
c.2000-1500 BC Height of Minoan Civilization.
c.2000-1800 BC Mathematical advances in Old Babylonia.
c.2000-1600 BC Old Babylonian Empire.
c.2000 BC Horse introduced to W. Asia.
c.2000 BC "Personal" religion develops in Mesopotamia.
2000 BC Potatoes cultivated in Andes.
c.1900 BC Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.
1800 BC Egyptian belief in personal immortality.
c.1790 BC Code of Hammurabi in Babylon.
c.1750-1100 BC Shang Dynasty in China
c.1700-1500 BC Evidence of ideographic script in China.
c.1600-1200 BC Mycenaean civilization on mainland Greece.
c.1600-1200 BC Hittite Empire in Asia Minor (Anatolia).
c.1600 BC Invention of alphabet (consonants only). Syria.
~1580-1090 BC Temple building in Egypt.
1560-1087 BC New Kingdom in Egypt.
c.1550 BC Kassites overthrow Babylonians.
c.1523-1027 BC Shang dynasty and invention of writing.
c.1500 BC-300 AD Olmec civilization in Central America.
c.1500-500 BC Arrival of the Aryans and development of Vedic society (India). Hinduism developed from indigenous religions of India in combination with Aryan religions brought to India around 1500 BC, and codified in the Veda and the Upanishads, the sacred scriptures of Hinduism. Hinduism is a term used to broadly describe a vast array of sects to which most Indians belong. Although many Hindus reject the caste system-in which people are born into a particular subgroup that determines their religious, social, and work-related duties-it is widely accepted and classifies society at large into four groups: the Brahmins or priests, the rulers and warriors, the farmers and merchants, and the peasants and laborers. The goals of Hinduism are release from repeated reincarnation through the practice of yoga, adherence to Vedic scriptures, and devotion to a personal guru. Various deities are worshipped at shrines; the divine trinity, representing the cyclical nature of the universe, are Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the destroyer.
1500 BC Lima Beans Cultivated in Peru.
c.1500-800 BC Dark Ages of Greek history
c.1500-1400 BC Mycenaean dominance on Crete
c.1400 BC Destruction of Knossos and end of Minoan Civilization
c.1400 BC Development of alphabet by Phoenicians
~1375 BC Akhenaton introduces monotheism in Egypt
~1375 BC Naturalistic art in Egypt
~1300 BC Transparent glass invented in Egypt
~1300 BC Use of Papyrus, pen, and ink for writing in Egypt
~1300-1100 BC Increasing use of iron in Western Asia
c.1250 BC Trojan War
c.1250 BC Moses unites Hebrews in worship of Yahweh. Stemming from the descendants of Judah in Judea, Judaism was founded c. 2000 B.C. by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Judaism espouses belief in a monotheistic God, who is creator of the universe and who leads His people, the Jews, by speaking through prophets. His word is revealed in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), especially in that part known as the Torah. The Torah also contains, according to rabbinic tradition, a total of 613 biblical commandments, including the Ten Commandments, which are explicated in the Talmud. Jews believe that the human condition can be improved, that the letter and the spirit of the Torah must be followed, and that a Messiah will eventually bring the world to a state of paradise. Judaism promotes community among all people of Jewish faith, dedication to a synagogue or temple (the basic social unit of a group of Jews, led by a rabbi), and the importance of family life. Religious observance takes place both at home and in temple. Judaism is divided into three main groups who vary in their interpretation of those parts of the Torah that deal with personal, communal, international, and religious activities: the Orthodox community, which views the Torah as derived from God, and therefore absolutely binding; the Reform movement, which follows primarily its ethical content; and the Conservative Jews, who follow most of the observances set out in the Torah but allow for change in the face of modern life. A fourth group, Reconstructionist Jews, rejects the concept of the Jews as God's chosen people, yet maintains rituals as part of the Judaic cultural heritage.
c.1200-1100 BC Collapse of Mycenaean civilization in Greece
c.1200s BC Moses leads Hebrews from Egypt to Palestine
c.1200-1025 BC Hebrew occupation of Canaan
c.1200-800 BC Vedas in India
c.1100-250 BC Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China
c.1100-771 BC Western Zhou (Chou) Dynasty in China
c.1025-933 BC Unified Hebrew monarchy, Saul, David, and Solomon
c.1000 BC Rise of caste system in India
933-722 BC Kingdom of Israel
933-586 BC Kingdom of Judah
c.800-600 BC Upanishads in India
c.800 BC Beginning of city-states in Greece
771-c.250 BC Eastern Zhou (Chou)
c.753 BC Rome founded
c.750-612 BC Height of Assyrian Empire
c.750-600 BC Concentration of landed wealth in Greece
c.750-600 BC Greek overseas expansion
c.750-550 BC Hebrew prophetic revolution
c.750-400 BC Astronomical observation and record-keeping by New Babylonians
c.750 BC The Iliad and The Odyssey
c.700 BC Earliest Greek settlement in Egypt's Nile delta
c.650 BC Shift from cavalry to infantry in Greece
c.650-500 BC Doric architectural style
c.625 BC Zoroaster formulates religion in Persia
612-539 BC New Babylonian Empire
c.600 BC Invention of coinage by Lydians
c.600 BC Thales of Miletus
c.600 BC Deuteronomic code among the Hebrews.
600 BC The Hebrew Bible is written, it will become the basis for Judaism and its daughter religions, Christianity and Islam.
594 BC Reforms of Solon in Athens
586 BC Nebuchadnezzar conquers Jerusalem
c.563-483 BC Life of Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha (Enlightened One): The Buddha achieved enlightenment through meditation and he gathered a community of monks to carry on his teachings. According to Buddha, meditation and the practice of good religious and moral behavior can lead to Nirvana, the state of enlightenment, although before achieving Nirvana one is subject to repeated lifetimes that are good or bad depending on one's actions (karma). Existence, for Buddhists, is a realm of suffering. Desire, along with the belief in the importance of one's self, causes suffering. Achievement of Nirvana ends suffering. And Nirvana is attained only by meditation and by following the path of righteousness in action, thought and attitude.
c.551-479 BC Confucius
c.550 BC Laozi
c.540-468 BC Life of Mahavira, founder of Jainism in India
539 BC Conquest of Babylon by Persians
525 BC Cambyses, the Persian ruler, conquers Egypt
c.530 BC PythAgoras
525-456 BC Aeschylus
c.513 BC Persian conquest of northwestern India and Indus Valley
508 BC Reforms of Cleisthenes in Athens
c.500-432 BC Phidias
c.500-400 BC Ionic architectural style
c.500 BC Establishment of Roman Republic
c.500 BC Orphic and Eleusinian mystery cults
c.500 BC Crop cultivation in rows in China
c.500 BC Iron plow in China
c.500 BC Royal Road of Persians
496-406 BC Sophocles
492-449 BC Greco-Persian Wars: a series of wars fought by Greek city-states and Persia over a period of almost half a century. The fighting was most intense during two invasions that Persia launched against mainland Greece between 490 and 479. Although the Persian empire was at the peak of its strength, the collective defense mounted by the Greeks overcame seemingly impossible odds to defeat the Persians.
c.490-420 BC ProtAgoras
487-429 BC Perfection of Athenian democracy
c.484-420 BC Herodotus
c.480-406 BC Euripides
478-404 BC Delian League
c.471-400 BC Thucydides
469-399 BC Socrates
c.460 BC The Parthenon
460-c.377 BC Hippocrates
c.460-362 BC Democritus
c.450 BC Hebrew Song of Songs
c.450 BC Law of the Twelve Tables, Rome
c.450-400 BC The Sophists
c.448-380 BC Aristophanes
431-404 BC Peloponnesian War is fought between Sparta and Athens and their allies, encompassing nearly all the Greek world. The war results in the defeat of Athens.
429-347 BC Plato
c.400-300 BC Corinthian style architecture
c.400 BC-70AD Hebrew prophetic revolution
400 BC Parmen of Sahndara and his people sojourn on Earth, become greatly influenced by Platonian philosophy.
c.400 BC Book of Job
c.400 BC Coinage in China
c.400 BC Trace harness in China
c.400 BC Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)
c.400-200 BC Mahabharata and Ramayana reach final form in India
400 BC The star Sahndara explodes, survivors of that disaster visit Earth where they become admirers of Plato. In 200 BC they leave Earth to found a society based on Plato’s Republic.
384-322 BC Aristotle
c.373-288 BC Mencius
c.370-310 BC Praxiteles
342-270 BC Epicurus
338 BC Philip II, king of Macedonia, conquers Greece.
334-323 BC Alexander the Great, son of Philip II, builds an empire that encompasses the Balkans, Egypt, Asia Minor, Persia and nortwest India, exporting Hellenistic (Greek) culture to the civilized world in the process.
323 BC Death of Alexander, division of his empire.
c.323-285 BC Euclid
c.322-183 BC Maurya dynasty in India
c.320-250 BC Zeno the Stoic
310-230 BC Aristarchus
c.300 BC-700 AD Teotihuacán culture in Mexico
300-237 BC Xunzi (Hsün-tzu)
c.300-100 BC Hellenistic international trade
c.300 BC Wrought iron in China
c.300 BC Emergence of Mithraism
c.287-212 BC Archimedes
c.276-195 BC Eratosthenes
c.273-232 BC Reign of Emporer Ashoka in India
264-146 BC Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. Rome defeats the North African power in 146 BC and adds Carthaginian lands to its growing Empire.
c.261 BC Ashoka conquers Kalinga, leading to spread of Buddhism in India
c.250-208 BC Han Fei-tzu and Li Ssu--development of Legalism in China
c.250-100 BC Growth of slavery, decline of small farmer in Rome
c.250-50 BC Oriental mystery cults in Rome
221-206 BC Unification of China under Qin (Ch'in) Dynasty
221-206 BC Destruction of Confucian literature under Legalist regime
221-206 BC Standardization of weights and measures, coinage, writing system under Legalist regime
c.220-150 BC Herophilus
206 BC-220 AD Han Dynasty in China
c.205-118 BC Polybius
c.200 BC Use of the seed drill in China
200 BC Sahndaan Platonians leave Earth
c.200 BC Use of iron in Sub-saharan Africa
c.183-145 BC Greek Invasion of India
c.179-104 BC Dong Zhongsho (Tung Chung-shu)
c.146-60 BC Introduction of Greek philosophy to Rome
c. 145-86 BC Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien)
c.141-87 BC Emporer Han Wudi (Wu Ti) in China
c.140 BC First Chinese ambassadors to India
133-121 BC Reforms of the Gracchi brothers in Rome
111 BC Chinese expansion to S. China Sea and Vietnam
106-43 BC Cicero
c. 100 BC Beginning of Japanese state
c. 100 BC Invention of the Rudder in China
98-55 BC Lucretius
70-19 BC Virgil
65-8 BC Horace
59 BC-17 AD Livy
47 BC Fire destroys the great library at Alexandria, Egypt
46-44 BC Dictatorship of Caesar in Rome
43 BC-17 AD Ovid
27 BC-14 AD Principate of Augustus Caesar in Rome
10 BC The House of Surak establishes its ancestral home in the city of ShiKahr on Vulcan.
9 BC Khrysaros of Betazed grants the Holy Rings to Rixx.
4 BC Christianity established: The birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the teachings, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus become the basis for the Christian religion. Most Christian denominations and sects teach that man is sinful and can never inherit eternal life in the presence of God as a result of the sins of our first parents, Adam and Eve, as well as our own personal sin. It thus became necessary for God to become man in the person of Jesus Christ (known as the Incarnation), who as the Son of God was sinless and unblemished. His purpose was to suffer and die in atonement for the sins of all who accept through faith his sacrifice for sin. Individual salvation is dependent upon the acceptance of this atonement. The Church is the Bride of Christ whose purpose is to spread this message, "the Gospel", to all people before Christ's return to the earth to rule all nations as the heir to the throne of David.
c.1-100 AD Shaka and Kushan invasions in northern India
c.25-300 AD Kushan rule in northwestern India
61. AD Treaty of Samos between Rome and Kush
c.78 AD Kushan emporer Kanishka promotes Buddhism in India
c.80 AD The Colosseum
96-180 AD "Pax Romana" begins as the "Good Emporers" rule in Rome. This period represents the height of Roman power, when the Empire encompassed all of Western Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor.
c.120 AD The Pantheon
c.120-250 AD Height of Roman portrait statuary
121-180 AD Marcus Aurelius
c.200-900 AD Expansion of Bantu speakers in Africa
c.200-300 AD Creation of the Yamato state in Japan
200 AD Completion of Roman jurisprudence by great jurists
c.200 AD Camels first used for trans-Saharan transport
c.200 Porcelain in China
c.204-270 Plotonius
220-589 Buddhism reaches China
221-280 Three Kingdoms Era in China
235-284 Civil war in the Roman empire
c.250 Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) controls Red Sea trade.
250 The rulers of planet 892-IV's "Roman" culture can trace their lineage to approximately this time.
c.251-356 Anthony of Egypt reputed father of hermit monasticism.
258 Begining of the Vulcan "Last War" between Jaleyl and ShirKahr.
279 Birth of Surak.
284-305 Diocletian.
c.300-1500 Mayan civilization in Central America.
c.300-800 Classical age of Hindu culture in India
c.300-500 Barbarian invasions of China
c.300 Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia) accepts Christianity.
306-337 Roman Emporer Constantine I is the first Roman ruler to be converted to Christianity. He was the founder of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), which remained the capital of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire until 1453.
310 Great Awakening on Vulcan: Surak begins to preach his philosophy of logic, stoicism and non-violence.
311 Beginning of toleration of Christians in Roman Empire.
319-596 Sanshiin founds the Way of Kolinahr on Vulcan, blending the doctrines of Surak and of the Kolinahru mindlords; teaches on Mount Kolinahr.
320-467 Gupta dynasty in India.
331 End of the Vulcan Last War with the death of Sudoc
369 Romulan diaspora: proto-Romulans leave Vulcan under S'Task.
c.340 Pachomius draws up code of monastic behavior in Luxor, Egypt
354-430 St. Augustine
372 In the Gamma Quadrant, the shapeshifters that would become known as the Founders of the Dominion flee bigotry and genocide to colonize a planet in the Omarian Nebula.
379-395 Theodosius I is the last ruler of the united Roman Empire. At his death in 395, he left the eastern portion of the empire to his 18-year-old son, Arcadius, and the western portion to his 10-year-old son, Honorius. Despite the nominal unity of this territory, the legacy of Theodosius was, in fact, the final division of the empire. A succession of child emperors weakened the throne, and no emperor ever again successfully controlled both east and west. Constantinople and the Eastern Roman Empire remained strong, while the Western Roman Empire began a steady decline in the face of economic disintegration, weak emperors, and invading Germanic tribes.
c.380-450 Kalidasa, India's greatest poet.
380 Christianity becomes the official Roman religion.
387 Selok promulgates the Theorems of Governance; Vulcan unified.
399 Vulcan Science Academy founded.
c.405 Adoption of Chinese writing in Japan
410 Visigoths sack Rome
c.450 Rise of Ghana in West Africa
476 Deposition of last Western Roman emporer.
481 Death of Surak of Vulcan.
493-526 Theodoric the Ostrogoth king of Italy
c.500-700 Decline of towns and trade in Western Europe
500 Manufacture of glass and magnetic compass in China
c.520 Benedictine monastic rule
527-565 Justinian extends Byzantine rule in the West, beautifies Constantinople, and completes the codification of Roman law.
532-537 Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia
c.550-1250 Great stone temple architecture in India
c.552 Spread of Buddhism in Japan.
557 Proto-Romulans end their years of wandering through space and settle on the beautiful twin worlds of Romulus and Remus.
589-618 Sui dynasty in China
582 S'Task dies; Romulan Clan Wars begin.
590-604 Pope Gregory I
c.600-1500 Extensive slave trade from sub-Saharan Africa to Mediterranean
c.600-1000 Sanskrit drama in India
c.600-1000 Tiahuanaco culture in South America
c.600 Manufacture of bark paper in Mayan civilzation
604 Shotoku's Seventeen Article Constitution in Japan
c.606-648 King Harsha in India
610-641 Byzantine Emperor Heraclius
610 Muhammad preaches reform, monotheism in Arabia
618-907 Tang Dynasty in China, economic, political and artistic brilliance
622 Muhammad's Hijrah
625 The Prophet Muhammad writes the Quran, which becomes the basis of Islam. Islam's central teaching is that there is one all-powerful, all-knowing God, who is referred to by the Arabic name, Allah. In Arabic, Islam means "surrender," or "submission," to the will of God. Islam was founded by the prophet Mohammed, who was born in Mecca around A.D. 570 and settled in Medina around 622. Muslims believe Mohammed was the last and most important in a series of prophets, including Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The holy book of Islam is the Koran, which means "the timeless words of God." The core practices are known as the Five Pillars -- daily prayer, faith, fasting, pilgrimage and alms giving.
630 Muhammad enters Mecca in triumph
632-661 Caliphate emerges as an institution in the Islamic Empire
636-651 Muslims conquer Syria, Persia and Egypt
641 Muslim conquest of Egypt
645 Taika Reform Edict
651 Publication of the Qu'ran, sacred book of Islam
c.656 Split in Islam between Shiites and Sunnites: Sunnis constitute the vast majority of the world's Muslims. They believe that the first four supreme religious leaders, or caliphs, were the rightful successors of the Prophet Mohammed. Sunni Islam draws its name from its identification with the importance of the Sunnah, which literally means "the path." The Sunnah is the example set by the life of the prophet Mohammed. The written document based on the teachings and practices of Mohammed, known as the Hadith, serves as a supplement to the Koran.
While Sunni Muslims recognized the first four caliphs as the Prophet Mohammed's legitimate successors, the followers of the Shii (or Shi'a) branch of Islam place authority solely in the hands of the fourth caliph, Ali, and his descendants. The Shi'ites accept some of the the Hadith (books that supplement the Koran) that the Sunnis accept, but not all of them. The Shi'ites also have some Hadith of their own. Persia (twentieth-century Iran) and Babylon (twentieth-century Iraq) contained a majority Shii population. The differences in the two braches of Islam lay mainly in methods of leadership.
661-750 The Umayyads dynasty (Islamic kingdom)
661 Umayyads move Muslim capital from Medina to Damascus.
664 Romulus unified under Jo'rek; Kimara codifies D'era.
673 Romulan conquest of its sisterworld, Remus.
674 Romulan Age of Expansion begins.
692 Romulan settlers in Jubel Sector brought into the Empire.
c.700-1300 Height of Islamic commerce and industry
c.700-1050 Predominantly agrarian economy in the West
710 Nara establised as Japan's first capitol (and first city)
711 Muslims conquer Spain
c.715-754 Missionary work of St. Boniface in Germany
717 Muslims unsuccessfully attack Constantinople
726-843 Iconoclastic controversy in Byzantine Empire
732 Charles Martel of Gaul defeats Muslims at Poitiers
735 Death of the Venerable Bede
750-1258 The Abbasid dynasty (Islamic dynasty)
c.750 Beowulf
c.750 Book of Kells (Ireland)
751 Battle at Talas River ends Islamic penetration of Central Asia
751 Pepin the Short annointed king of the Franks
762 Abbasids move Muslim capital from Damascus to Baghdad
768-814 Charlemagne, as king of the Franks, builds a kingdom that includes almost all of western and central Europe and presides over a cultural and legal revival that came to be known as the Carolingian Renaissance. His empire did not long survive his death, but its two main territories, East and West Francia, later became the major parts of two important European entities: West Francia became modern-day France, and East Francia became first the Holy Roman Empire and then the modern state of Germany. Charlemagne's close alliance with the popes, the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, also established a precedent for subsequent ties between medieval popes and kings, as the Church replaced the disintegrated Roman Empire as the unifying force of Medieval Europe.
790 Klo'ris is born on Qo'noS.
794-1185 Heian era and literary flowering in Japan
800-1000 "Time of Troubles" in Mesoamerica
c.800-1000 Height of Byzantine commerce and industry
c.800-850 Carolingian Renaissance
800 Charlemagne crowned emperor
810 Kahless the Unforgettable rises to defeat Molor and found the First Klingon Empire.
822 Klo'ris dies saving Kahless the Unforgettable in a glorious battle on Qo'noS.
c.850-911 Carolingian Empire distintegrates
863 Kahless departs from Qo'noS. According to legend, he journeyed to Sto-Vo-Kor, but promised that he would one day return.
871-899 Alfred the Great of England
c.880-911 High point of Viking raids in Europe
c.900 Woodblock printing of books in China, Japan, and Korea
907-960 The Era of the Five Dynasties in China--warfare
910 Foundation of Cluny.
935 Romulan Civil War begins.
936-973 Otto the Great of Germany
938 Romulan Senate founded; the Romulan Star Empire is organized.
945 Buyids occupy Baghdad
c.950 Foundation of the Kievan state
c.950 Death of Al-Farabi
960-1279 Song (Sung) dynasty in China
c.988 Byzantine conversion of Russia to Christianity
1000-1500 Muslim invasions of India
c.1000-1500 Consolidation of states in Africa.
c.1000-1500 Inca civilization in South America
c.1000-1200 Romanesque style in architecture and art
c.1000-1300 Toltec hegemony in Mexico.
1000-1200 Development of neo-Confucianism
1021-1086 Wang An-shih, political reformer and author in China
c.1025-1100 Destruction of Byzantine free peasantry
c.1050-1300 Agricultural advance, revival of towns and trade in the West
1037 Death of Avicenna
1046 Beginning of Reform Papacy
1051 Medaran theocracy unifies Betazed.
1054 Beginning of Schism between Roman and Eastern Orthodox Churches
1055 Baghdad falls to the Seljuk Turks
1066 Norman conquest of England
1071 Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert
1073-1085 Pope Gregory VII
1077 Penance of Henry IV at Canossa
1079-1142 Peter Abelard
1090-1153 St. Bernard of Clairvaux
November 1095 Pope Urban II, in a speech at Clermont in France in November 1095, calls for a great Christian expedition to free Jerusalem from the Seljuk Turks, a new Muslim power that had recently begun actively harassing peaceful Christian pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem. The pope is spurred by his position as the spiritual head of Western Europe, by the temporary absence of strong rulers in Germany (the Holy Roman Empire) or France who could either oppose or take over the effort, and by a call for help from the Byzantine emperor.
1095-1099 First Crusade is successful in its explicit aim of freeing Jerusalem. It also establishes a Western Christian military presence in the Near East that lasts for almost 200 years.
c.1095 Song of Roland
c.1100-1897 Kingdom of Benin in West Africa
c.1100-1500 Bantu, Arab, and Indian cultures blend in Swahili civilization along eastern coast of Africa.
c.1100-1300 Origins of universities in the West
c.1100-1220 Troubadour poetry in Europe.
1107 In a conflict with Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, King Henry I of England wins the power to appoint church officials.
1108-1137 Louis VI of France spends most of his reign waging war against Henry I, the third Norman king of England, and against Henry's son-in-law, Holy Roman Emperor Henry V; he successfully repelled an invasion by Henry V in 1124. Louis greatly strengths the royal power in France, grants benefactions to the church and privileges to towns, and becomes known as the protector of the peasants and as a fearless military leader.
c.1115-1153 Height of Cistercian monasticism
1122 Concordat of Worms ends investiture struggle and and sets a pattern for future relations between the church and temporal rulers in Western Europe.
c.1140-1260 Translation of Aristotle's works into Latin
1141-1279 Height of landscape painting in China
c.1150-1500 Gothic style in architecture and art
c.1150 Explosive powder used in weapons in China
1152-1190 Frederick I (Barbarossa) of Germany
1154-1189 Henry II of England, first monarch of the house of Anjou, or Plantagenet, an important administrative reformer, who was one of the most powerful European rulers of his time. Henry added vast territories in southwestern France to his possessions and establishes free courts presided over by judges.
c.1155-1157 Peter Lombard's Sentences
c.1162-1227 Genghis Khan, Mongol conqueror and founder of the Mongol Empire, which spanned the continent of Asia by the time of his death.
c.1165-1190 Poetry of Chrétien de Troyes
c.1168-1253 Robert Grosseteste
1180-1223 Philip Augustus of France
c.1180 Windmill invented
1185-1333 Kamakura Shogunate and Japanese feudalism
1187 Crusaders lose Jerusalem to Saladin
1192 Establishment of Shogunate in Japan
1192 Destruction of Buddhism in India
1198-1216 As pope, Innocent III exercises considerable power over the European political rulers of the day, launches the Fourth Crusade (1204), and summons the Fourth Lateran Council (1215).
1198 Death of Averroës
c.1200 Zen Buddhism in Japan
c.1200 Innoculation for smallpox in China
1204 Crusaders sack Constantinople
1204 Death of Maimonides
1206-1526 Turkish Sultanate at Delhi
1208-1213 Albigensian Crusade
1210 Founding of Franciscan Order
1212 Spanish victory over Muslims at Las Navas de Tolosa
1212-1250 Frederick II of Germany and Sicily
c.1214-1294 Francis Bacon
15 June 1215 Magna Carta is sealed by King John of England, in which he makes a series of promises to his subjects that he would govern England and deal with his vassals according to the customs of feudal law. Over the course of centuries, these promises have required governments in England (and in countries influenced by English tradition) to follow the law in dealing with their citizens.
1215 Fourth Lateran Council
1216 Founding of Dominican Order
c.1224 Decline of the Kingdom of Ghana in Africa
1225-1274 St. Thomas Aquinas
1226-1270 Louis IX (St. Louis) of France. During the latter years Louis was in the Holy Land on the Seventh Crusade. Louis and his forces were defeated and captured in Egypt in 1250, and the king remained in Palestine for four years before returning to France. In 1258 Louis signed the Treaty of Corbeil, relinquishing to the kingdom of Aragón all French claims to Barcelona and Roussillon, in return for which the ArAgonese renounced their claims to parts of Provence and Languedoc. In 1259 he signed the Treaty of Paris, by which Henry III of England was confirmed in his possession of territories in southwestern France and Louis received the provinces of Anjou, Normandy (Normandie), Poitou, Maine, and Touraine.
c.1235 Development of Chinese drama.
1245 On Andoria, Krotus the Conquerer (born 1226), rises to lead a small group of Enessi clans in defense against the ravages of an Onshoman warlord.
c.1250-1277 Height of Scholasticism
c.1250 Poetry of Sadi
1251 Batu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, advances far into Eastern Europe and establishes the Empire of the Golden Horde in Russia. As a result, Russia experienced a cultural decay and isolation from Europe, with the exception of northern Russia, around Novgorod, where Alexander Newski was able to preserve some of the north's identity.
1255 Krotus' conquest of eastern Ka'Thela on Andoria is complete. Unsatisfied, he moves his armies into the lands beyond the Enessi Mountains.
1258 Mongols destroy Baghdad and kill the last Abbasid Caliph
1261 Krotus unifies the Ka'Thelan clans and nations of Andoria and turns toward the Tharan Mountains.
1270-1478 Imperial revival in Ethiopia
1272-1307 King Edward I of England, called Longshanks, summons a parliament, called the Model Parliament by historians because it was a representative body and in that respect was the forerunner of all future parliaments, to generate support to squash rebellions in Wales and opposition in Scotland. Although he was never successful, the conquest of Scotland was his passion.
1273 The dynasty of the Habsburgs begins when Pope Gregory X, in order to find support for a new crusade and to secure a counterweight to the king of Sicily, persuades the German princes to elect the Count Rudolph of Habsburg emperor in 1273.
1274 Mongols unsuccessful attempt to invade Japan
1279-1368 Mongol (Yüan) dynasty in China
1281 Mongols second unsuccessful attempt to invade Japan
1284 Krotus' conquest of Andoria is complete, ushering in a fired but impressive Golden Age.
1285-1349 William of Ockham
1285-1314 Philip IV (the Fair) of France. The great event of Philip's reign is his struggle with Pope Boniface VIII, which grew out of Philip's attempt to levy taxes against the clergy. By the bull Clericis Laicos (1296) Boniface forbade the clergy to pay taxes to a secular power, and Philip replied by forbidding the export of coins, thereby depriving the pope of French revenues. A temporary reconciliation was ended by a fresh outbreak of the quarrel when Philip arrested the papal legate in 1301 and summoned the first French Estates-General. This assembly, which was composed of clergy, nobles, and burghers, gave support to Philip. Boniface retaliated with the celebrated bull Unam Sanctam (1302), a declaration of papal supremacy. Philip's partisans then imprisoned Boniface. The pope escaped but died soon afterward. In 1305 Philip obtained the election of one of his own adherents as pope, Clement V, and compelled him to reside in France. Thus began the so-called Babylonian Captivity of the papacy (1309-77), during which the popes lived at Avignon and were subjected to French control.
c.1290 Mechanical clock invented
1290-1320 Sultanate of Delhi
1291 Fall of last Christian outposts in the Holy Land
1294-1303 Pope Boniface VII
1298 Victory of Edward I over the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk. Scottish opposition lead by William Wallace.
c.1300-1500 Mali empire in middle Niger region
1300-1500 Rise of the daimyo in Japan
c.1300-1327 Period of Master Eckhart's activity
c.1300-1450 European economic depression
c.1300 Marco Polo travels in China
1300 Andorians develop industrial-level techonology.
1305-1378 Babylonian captivity of papacy
c.1305-1337 Paintings of Giotto
c.1310 Dante's Divine Comedy
1315 Floods throughout western Europe
c.1320-1500 Height of nominalism
c.1325 Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) founded by Aztecs
c.1325 Ibn Battuta, famous North African traveler, begins 29-year, 75,000 mile world tour
c.1330 University of Tmbuktu
c.1330-1384 John Wyclif
1332 The elderly Krotus is murdered by his daughter.
1336 The city of Vijayanagar is founded and in time it becomes the capital of the greatest empire in southern India.
1337-1453 Hundred Years' War is fought. A series of short conflicts between England and France, fighting is broken intermittently by a number of truces and peace treaties. It resulted from disputes between the ruling families of the two countries, the French Capetians and the English Plantagenets, over territories in France and the succession to the French throne. The English defeat at the Battle of Castillon marked the end of the Hundred Years' War. The English retained Calais in the far north until 1558, but were never again able to mount a serious threat to France. In France, the war encourages the emergence of centralized governing institutions. In England, the loss of French territory forces the government to focus on domestic issues. By the end of the war both the French and English peoples begin to view themselves as separate and distinctive nationalities, and not merely as members of a feudal empire.
1345 The Great Starvation begins on Cardassia; Second Hebitian Period ends.
1347-1350 Black Death
c.1350-1450 Height of Hanseatic League, a commercial alliance of German merchants and cities. At its peak, the league comprised at least 80 cities and another 100 or so affiliated towns, and it monopolized all trade in the North and Baltic seas.
c.1350-1450 Political chaos in Germany
c.1350 Boccaccio's Decameron
1368-1644 Ming Dynasty in China.
c.1370 Persian poetry of Hafiz.
1372 The Klingons, enjoying the early years of primitive industrial period, are invaded by the Hur'q.
1378-1417 The Great Schism of the papacy begins with the contested election of Pope Urban VI. The cardinals who elect him, dismayed at his erratic behavior, withdraw their obedience, declare Urban's election invalid because it was made under the duress of rioting in Rome, and select a new pope, Clement VII. Urban retaliats by excommunicating Clement and his followers and by creating a college of cardinals of his own.
1381 English peasant's revolt
c.1390 Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
1397-1494 Medici Bank
1398 Sack of Delhi by Timur the Lame (Tamerlane)
1400-1441 Paintings of Jan van Eyck
1411 Romulans invent the magnetic bottle drive.
1400-1550 The Italian Renaissance: Meaning "rebirth," the Renaissance saw a rekindling in interest toward the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. This movement quickly spreads throughout Europe as the elite seek to become educated.
1400-1600 Epoch of the Warring Countries almost destroys the Japanese state, as the Daimyo become hereditary princes and fight each other in civil wars.
c.1408-1415 Jon Hus preaches in Bohemia
1414-1417 Council of Constance resolves the Papal Great Schism with the election of Martin V. The turmoil within the Roman Catholic Church intensifies calls for reform which eventually errupt in the Protestant Reformation.
1420-1434 Hussite Revolt
1429-1431 Appearance of Joan of Arc
1431-1449 Council of Basel, defeat of conciliarism
1440 T'Vran of Vulcan develops warp drive, Vulcans begin observing other planets, taking on developing planets such as Earth, Andoria and Tellar as protectorates.
c.1450-1500 Rise of princes in Germany
c.1450 Printing with movable type
c.1450-1550 In the fifteenth century the Mongol rule in Asia collapsed and the overland trade they had encouraged fell off sharply. At the same time Arabic transit trade became more costly, because of heavy custom fees levied by the Ottoman Turks, who controlled the Black Sea trade. The search for an alternative route to the Orient was initiated by the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator, who planned to outflank Islam with a circumnavigation of Africa. In 1488 the Portuguese rounded the cape of Africa and in 1498 Vasco da Gama reached the lucrative Indian market. In Spain - only recently reconquered from the Moslems - European scholars had re-discovered ancient Greek texts which had been preserved by the Moslems. The new interest in Greek writing introduced the long forgotten idea of the global shape of the earth. An enthusiastic supporter of this theory was Christopher Columbus, who advanced the idea of sailing westwards around the world to China. In 1492, after a journey of 61 days, Columbus landed in the Bahamas; in 1497 the Florentine John Cabot discovered the North American continent. Proof of the global shape of the earth was provided by the first circumnavigation by Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain. The Pacific coast was explored by the English naval hero Francis Drake, while the French came into action through the exploration of the St. Lawrence river by Jacques Cartier.
1500 Widespread use of heavy industry and electrical power on Andoria.
1452 Frederick V, the Habsburg king of Germany from 1440, is crowned Holy Roman emperor as Frederick III; this title remains in the family until 1806.
c.1453-1513 Reassertion of royal power in France.
1453 Heavy artillery (cannons) helps Turks capture Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire collapses.
1454-1485 Peace among Northern Italian states.
1455-1485 Wars of the Roses in England, a series of dynastic civil wars in England fought by the rival houses of Lancaster and York between 1455 and 1485. The struggle was so named because the badge of the house of Lancaster was a red rose and that of the house of York a white rose.
1456 Failed Siege of Belgrade by the Ottoman Turks. Europe gains an important rest from Islamic attacks.
1462-1505 Ivan III lays foundation for Russian Empire
1469 The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand V of Aragón initiates the developments that consolidate Catholic power on the Iberian Peninsula and makes Spain a great power.
1478-1541 Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro.
1480 Moscow gains its independence. The Mongols (or Tartars as the Russians called them) had used the Grand Duke of Moscow to collect taxes for them. This contributed to the rise of the grand dukes of Moscow, and it was eventually a Moscow-led alliance that broke the power of the Tartars after the advent of artillery and guns had made the Tartar cavalry archers of the steppes ineffective. Protected by an impregnable citadel (the Kremlin) which was defended by artillery, Ivan III renounced his allegiance to the Mongols and assumed the title of tsar, which meant that Moscow became the capital of an independent Russian state.
1483-1530 Babar or Babur - a descendant of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane - founds the Mogul Empire in India, which lasts until 1858.
1485 The Lancastrians, under the leadership of Henry Tudor (Henry VII) score a decisive victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, ending the Wars of the Roses. The major impact of the wars were to increase the power of the English Crown.
1485-1547 Spanish conquistador Harnan Cortez
1485-1603 Strong Tudor dynasty in England
February 1488 Bartolomeu Dias of Portugal rounds the southern end of the African continent (the Cape of Good Hope) as far as the estuary of what was later named the Great Fish River. Dias thus opened a sea route from Europe to East Asia, which European merchants and statesmen considered essential to the prosperity of Europe.
3 August 1492 Christopher Columbus secures funding from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain to find a westward sea route to the spices of India. Columbus sets sail with his three ships - the Santa Maria, the Nina, and the Pinta.
12 October 1492 Columbus spots land. Although the explorer thought he had found India, he really had discovered the Carribean island, Hispaniola in the New World. This begins the era of European global expansion and colonialism.
1492 Treaty of Tordesillas between Spain and Portugal divides the world between the two powers. As a result, Brazil becomes a Portuguese possession and Spain lays claim to the rest of Latin America, Florida, Texas, California, and the North American desert lands.
c.1493-1582 Expansion of Songhay in Africa
1494-1566 Suleiman the Magnificent rules the Ottoman Empire. He developed the power of the Ottomans to its greatest extent - from Asia Minor to North Africa. He captured Belgrade, subjugated Hungary after the battle of Mohacs (1526) and besieged Vienna (1529). After his fleet became the dominant power in the Mediterranean Sea he conquered Tripolis in North Africa. After the abdication of the last Abbasid Caliph he took Persia (1534); Baghdad declined subsequently to the rank of a provincial city; and the Persian Shiites became the Ottomans' bitter enemies.
c.1500 Founding of Sikh religious sect
1500-58 Spanish Habsburg king Charles V reigns over an empire over "which the sun never sets." This is the height of Habsburg power.
1501-1736 The Safavids, an Iranian dynasty, rule Persia. The establishment of the Safavi Empire by Shi'ite Ismail Safavi was disturbing to the rest of the Moslem world, because the shah's followers thought him to be the rightful head of the entire Moslem community. This brought the Safavids into conflict with the Sunni Ottoman sultans who claimed the leadership of the Islamic community for themselves. In 1514 Ismail was defeated by his Sunni rival, the Ottoman sultan Selim I. The continuing struggle against the Ottomans cost the Safavids much territory and also their capital Baghdad. The Safavid capital was thereafter relocated at Isfahan, a city that achieved much fame during the reign of Shah Abbas I.
1517 Selim I of Turkey defeats the Malmuk Dynasty of Egypt. Egypt is absorbed into the Ottoman Empire.
1517 The Reformation begins when Martin Luther posts 95 theses at the castle church of Wittenberg calling for a disputation on the abuses of the traffic in indulgences by Tetzel, the business-wise commissary of the Archbishop of Mainz. The break with Rome occured following a famous disputation in Leipzig (1519), at which Luther denied papal primacy, the tradition of the Church and the infallibility of councils. The Reformation was a many sided movement, but in the main, it was a revolt of the northern nations against the dominion of Rome. The princes perceived that, if the Church in their territories became merely national, they would be able to dominate it. Therefore Luther's theological innovations were welcomed by rulers and peoples alike throughout the greater part of northern Europe.
1518 Spanish conquistadors Cortez and Diego Velazquez conquer Cuba.
1521 Cortez and a Spanish army from the West Indies conquers the Aztec Empire in Mexico.
1522 Rise of the Vegan Tyranny.
6 September 1522 Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan becomes the first to circumnavigate the world, a voyage he started in September of 1519.
1530-1584 Ivan IV, the Terrible, is czar (Latin "caesar") of Russia. He initiated the opening of Sibiria, established commercial links with England, centralized the administration of Russia, and created an empire that included non-Slav states.
1532 Pizarro conquers the Inca Empire in Peru, adding its possessions to the growing Spanish Empire and sending the vast treasures and resources of the region back to Spain.
1542-1858 Mogul Period in India. Akbar (1542-1605) is the greatest of the Mogul emperors. During his long reign he controlled most of north and central India.
1549-1551 Introduction of Christianity to Japan.
1554-1618 Sir Walter Raleigh is one of the most colorful figures in English history. After receiving a land-grant in Ireland, Raleigh becomes interested in exploration and mounts several expeditions to America to establish an English colony. His settlers land in North Carolina and explor the coast as far as Florida. Raleigh named the region 'Virginia' in honor of Elizabeth, 'The Virgin Queen'. He also leads an expedition to Guiana, in South America, to search for El Dorada, a legendary land of gold.
1558 The dynastic division at the death of Charles V initiated the Spanish Habsburg line (until 1700) and the Austrian line which ruled the Habsburg possessions in central Europe until 1918.
1558-1603 Elizabeth I rules in England, reigning in the Elizabethan Age, a time of unparalleled wealth and high culture.
1562-1598 Huguenot Wars: The Huguenot were the Protestants of France. The French kings, who allied themselves with the Protestant princes of Germany against the Habsburg emperors, none the less often persecuted the French Protestants. An attempt of conciliation was made when the Edict of Amboise sanctioned the existence of two different forms of Christianity. The massacre of Huguenots at Vassy in 1562 began the Wars of Religion between the Catholics under the leadership of the Duke of Guise and the Huguenots under the leadership of Prince de Conde and the King of Navarre. The war was interrupted briefly, but flared up again after the infamous 'St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre' in 1572 when nearly all leading Huguenots in Paris were slain, and thousands were killed throughout France. After both, the king of France and the Duke of Guise were assassinated Henry of Navarre, a Protestant, became the legitimate heir to the throne. In order to pacify the nation Henry converted to the Catholic faith uttering the words: 'Paris is well worth a mass'. In 1598 the new king promulgated the Edict of Nantes, which granted the Huguenots their religious and political freedom. Almost hundred years later, Louis XIV pronounced the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and it was not before the French Revolution (1789) that religious freedom was restored.
1564 William Shakespeare born.
1565 Battle of Talikota is fought. The Moslems defeat the Hindus in southern India, leading to the collapse of the Vijayanagar Kingdom in 1614.
late 1500s-1784 The Iroquois League is formed between six Amerind nations in what will be the northeastern United States. The League was an novel association of sovereign nations held together by a constitution based on the structure of the confederation and its decision-making apparatus rather than on the power of individuals. This formed much of the basis for the American invention of government and it became the model that the framers of the U.S. Constitution would turn to in designing a nation that was, in theory, a set of sovereign nations: the United States. During the American Revolution, the League split apart; some siding with the Americans, while others allied themselves with Britain. This led the United States, in 1784, to disband the League.
1582-1610 Matteo Ricci in China.
1588 Spanish Armada is dispatched by King Philip II of Spain in an unsuccessful attempt to invade England in 1588. The defeat of the armada was one of the great achievements of Queen Elizabeth I of England and helped bring about the subsequent decline of the Spanish Empire.
1590 Hideyoshi Toyotomi (1537 - 1598), Japan's most brilliant commander, breaks the reign of the Daimyo.
1590 First Bajoran lightship launched; Bajorans begin exploring Bajor-B'hava'el system and reach Cardassia.
1591 One world government declared on Cardassia; Urrent Gar becomes de facto ruler of Cardassian Union.
c.1591 Decline of Songhay afer defeat by Moroccans
1592 Hideyoshi invades Korea, his passage to China. His armies overrun almost all of Korea, but are stopped when they meet the armies of China, which had come to the aid of its Korean satellite.
1595 Bajoran Orb of Time discovered in Denorios Belt.
1597 On Andoria, the first of the attacks on Tarsk begin the Tharan Civil War and Andoria's Age of Lament.
1600-1873 British East India Company
1601 Russian Time of Troubles begins when a defrocked monk in Poland claimed to be Dmitry, a son of Ivan IV, challenging the reign of Boris Godunov, whom Ivan IV had left in power at his deathbed in 1584 (Ivan had no capable sons to rule Russia). The Pretender raised a Polish Army and invaded Moscow.
1603 The rule of the Stuarts begins when King James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary (Queen of Scots), is crowned James I of England after the death of Queen Elizabeth I. King James becomes famous for passing an act of parliament in 1611 to have the Latin Bible translated into English, and for granting permission to the Puritans to found a colony in Virginia, America.
1603-1867 The Tokugawa Period in Japan. Also known as the Edo Period because its capital was Edo (modern-day Tokyo)
1606 English explorer Janz discovers Australia.
1609 Galileo Galilei constructs Earth’s first astronomical telescope. He is convicted of heresy by the Roman Catholic Church for challenging the Terra-centric cosmology that is the official teaching of the church. The church later (in 1992) admits that perhaps Galileo was right and the Earth orbits the sun and not vice versa.
1613 The British East India Company obtains permission from the Mogul Jahangir to set up a trading post in India.
1613 After the Poles are expelled from Moscow, a new czar is elected from the Romanov family, an event that establishes the Romanov dynasty and rules Russia for the next 300 years.
1618-1648 Thirty Years' War begins as a religious civil war between the Protestants and Roman Catholics in Germany that engaged the Austrian Habsburgs and the German princes. The war soon developed into a devastating struggle for the balance of power in Europe. When the Catholic forces seemed likely to win, first the Danes, then the Swedes, and finally the French intervened against the Habsburg Imperial cause. In the course of the war all Germany was ruined and half its people were killed. The German emperor was reduced to a shadow and for more than two hundred years, Germany remained divided among local rulers and France emerged as the dominant power in Europe.
1620 The Mayflower carries the first English settlers to the east coast of North America, landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Prior to their landing at Plymouth, the Pilgrim leaders persuad 41 male adults aboard the ship to sign the 'Mayflower Compact'. The compact resulted from the fear that some members of the group might leave and settle on teir own. This document became the first plan for self-determining government ever put in force in America.
1619-1645 Opening of Siberia: In 1558, the Russian Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible), provided the Stroganovs - a family of merchants - with a document granting them possession of Siberia, but obliging them to open up the continent through colonizing it. The Cossacks were escaped Russian serfs, who had established 'free steppe' communities under elected military leaders. From the 15th century the Cossacks were recognized by the Tsars and used to protect the frontiers against the Turks. Commissioned by the Stroganovs in 1581, the Cossacks advanced to the river Irtysh; in 1610 they reached the mouth of the Yenisey. From 1619 this river marked Russia's eastern border. Central Siberia was penetrated within 30 years and in 1645 the explorer Deshnev reached the Pacific Ocean. A Russian / Chinese border conflict was settled by the first Chinese - European agreement, the Treaty of Nerchinsk (1689).
1642-1648 English Civil War: The war between the Crown (Cavaliers) and Parliament (Roundheads: closely cropped hair) was caused by an uprising of Irish Catholics after the massacre of Ulster in 1641, and the arrest of John Pym (one of the king's parliamentary opponents). Decisive factors in the war were the intervention of Scotland in 1643 and the new Parliamentary army under Oliver Cromwell. After Cromwell's victory charges of treason were brought against king Charles I. The trial was followed by the execution of the king and the abolition of the monarchy.
1644-1911 Ching Dynasty in China, established by Manchu troops from South China which restored order to Peiking and returned stability to the crumbling Chinese Ming Empire.
1648 Oliver Cromwell becomes first chairman of the new English Commonwealth.
1650-1700 Perfection of French Absolutism. The king of France goes on to the most successful of all the European kings in perfecting absolute monarchy. Two great ministers, Cardinal Richelieu, and Cardinal Mazarin, build up the power of the crown, and in the process are aided by the long 72-year reign of Louis XIV. His words 'L'etat c'est moi' ('I am the state') express the spirit of a rule in which the king held all political authority. His opulent palace of Versailles became as much European fashion as the French language, customs and culture.
1650-1750 Height of the Spanish Colonial Empire.
1652 Dutch colony of Cape Town is established in South Africa.
1653 Cromwell dissolves Parliament and becomes Lord Protector of the new puritanical republic. As Lord Protector he concludes the Anglo-Dutch War, sends an expeditionary force to the Spanish West Indies and destroys the Spanish fleet at Teneriffe.
1658 Cromwell dies and England falls away from his attempt to realize a puritanical commonwealth of free men.
1660 The English Restoration. The English Crown is restored by the accession to the throne of King Charles II after the fall of the Commonwealth and the Protectorate.
1672-1725 Peter I the Great establishes Russia as a major European power through a rapid program of Westernization.
1680s The final Ottoman Turk attempt to invade Europe ends in failure.
1681-1761 Marathi Raids in India. The Marathi people originated from a region that extends from Bombay to Goa. As Hinds the Marathi fought endless wars against the Moslem rulers of the Mogul empire. They became celebrated as unsurpassable guerrilla fighters under their leader Sivaji (1627-80), who established a strong kingdom in the 1600's. From 1681 the Moguls conducted annual raids against the Marathi, who became a major power extending their influence across central India. In 1737 the Marathi raided as far as Delhi, which they later succeeded in occupying. More trouble for the Mogul rulers came from the Afghan invaders who occupied the Punjab in 1739. Afghans and Marathi began to penetrate each others territories; sometimes the Afghans occupied Delhi then the Marathi advanced to the Indus. In the historic battle of Panipat (1761) a superior Afghan army defeated the Marathi decisively. The constant wars against Marathi and Afghans broke the power of the Mogul Empire and made possible the British conquest of India.
1688 The Glorius Revolution transpires in England. The Stuart king James II (1685-88) attempted a Catholic restoration which brought a severe resistance from the Anglican Church. The unexpected birth of an heir to the throne brought about the threat of a permanent Catholic dynasty for England. In 1688 Whig and Tories summoned William of Orange, James II's son-in-law, from Holland. In panic James II fled to France. William III was declared King of England, which he ruled, not by hereditary rights, but by the grace of Parliament. England came to be governed by a Parliament organized into competing parties. In passing the Bill of Rights Parliament assumed the authority to define by what right any future king might constitutionally act. To secure the personal liberty and property John Locke provided the theoretical justification for the division of powers of the state into legislative and executive branches.
1692 Lor'Vela's followers organize the renewal of Andoria in the wake of the Age of Lament, including the systematic destruction of the recorded history of the world.
1696 Valkis XIV overthrown on Romulus; rule of the Praetor established.
1700-1721 The Great Northern War is fought between Russia and Sweden. Peter's victory at Poltava in 1709 is followed by attacks on the Swedish possessions along the Baltic Sea with the result that Russia supplanted Sweden as the major power in the Baltic area.
1701-1714 The War of Spanish Succession, the first world war of modern times with theatres of war in Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, and at sea. Charles II, king of Spain, died in 1700 without an heir. In his will he gave the crown to the French prince Philip of Anjou. Philip's grandfather, Louis XIV of France, then proclaimed him king of Spain, and declared that France and Spain would be united. French power was already feared in Europe and a Grand Alliance of England, Holland, Prussia, and Austria aimed to put the Archduke Charles of Austria on the Spanish throne instead of Philip. War broke out and the French were defeated in several battles. The English general, the Duke of Marlborough (Churchill), and the imperial general, Prince Eugene, commanded the forces of the Grand Alliance. In 1711, Emperor Joseph I of Austria died. His successor as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was the Habsburg Archduke Charles of Austria. Immediately it became obvious that the European balance of power would be even more seriously threatened if Charles got Spain as well as Austria than it would be if Philip became king of Spain. The renewed threat of Habsburg world power enabled Louis XIV of France to obtain favourable Peace terms in the Treaty of Utrecht (1713). His grandson, Philip, became after all king of Spain on the condition that Spain and France would never be united. Great Britain received Gibraltar, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Hudson Bay territories and the monopoly of the slave trade with Latin America. The Austrian emperor at first refused to sign but a year later recognized the new order in the Peace of Rastatt (1714).
1701 Prussia becomes a kingdom. The Prussian king still owed allegiance to the Holy Roman Emperor in Vienna, but rivalry between the two rulers was growing increasingly bitter, cumlinating in the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756 when Prussian King Frederick the Great seized the Austrian province of Silesia.
1707 The Act of Union is passed by the English Parlaiment, Scotland to England and Wales in one kingdom named Great Britain. England and Scotland had been ruled by the same kings for more than 100 years.
1728-1779 Captain James Cook, British explorer and navigator, famous for his three voyages of exploration in the South Pacific Ocean and the coastal waters of North America. Although Cook is best known as the discoverer of the Hawaiian Islands, his greatest achievements were the broad scope of his exploration and his detailed, careful documentation of his discoveries.
1742-1757 The British/ French Colonial War in India is fought between the English East India Company and the French Compagnie des Indes Orientales. Victory of the East India Company under Robert Clive ends French colonial dreams in India.
1750 The Preservers visit Earth and transplant a group of American Indians to Epsilon Corvis III.
1754-1763 The French and Indian War is fought in North America. Constant border conflicts between the numerous British settlers and the thinly settled but well-fortified French colonial territories became open warfare in the Ohio Valley. In the war, Britain conquers French Quebec.
1756-1763 The Seven Years' War, a conflict between the major European powers with France, Austria, and Russia on one side and Great Britian and Prussia on the other. The war coincided with the French / British colonial struggle in North America (the French and Indian War) and India (the Indian Colonial War). As a result of the conflict Great Britain became the leader in overseas colonization and Prussia emerged as a powerful force in Europe.
1757 Beginning of the British Indian Empire. After the break-up of the Mogul Empire in India during the 18th century a time of division and instability followed that forced the East India Company to raise troops and arm their ships. The Company, led by Robert Clive, began to form alliances with Indian states in order to fight their French rivals for dominion over India. In 1757 Clive concluded an alliance with Siraj, the Indian ruler of Bengal who feared an attack by the Afghans who had seized Delhi. Siraj, however, was intriguing with the French and Clive decided to support Siraj's internal rivals. Clive defeated the much larger army of Siraj at the Battle of Plassey.
1763 Treaty of Paris ends the French and Indian War. By its terms, all French North America east of the Mississippi was ceded to Britain, while the Louisiana Territory was given to Spain. During the Seven Years War Britain occupied Havana in Cuba and, on the other side of the globe they seized Manila in the Philippines. To get them back Spain had to surrender Florida to the British.
1763-1783 American War of Independence. The American Colonies fight Britain for their independence.
1765 The Vulcans chart Quadrant 6, the surrounding regions of the Alpha Quadrant, and mark the region as "p'laaka" as it is prone to unpredicatable events. The region, encompassing the Crossroad Nebula, will remain largely unexplored until the early yars of the twenty-fourth century. The anomaly will later be determined to be a Turtledove Anomaly Point.
1768-1774 First Russo-Turkish War. The Russian Baltic fleet entered the Mediterranean to destroy the Ottoman fleet and foment rebellion among the Greeks in the Peloponnesus. The Russians were unable to coordinate their operations with the rebel Greeks on land, but won a decisive victory at Cesme where the Ottoman fleet was burned. The Ottomans suffered further setbacks when the Russian fleet sailed into the Black Sea, and - with the aid of English officers - defeated the Turkish galley fleet. As a result Russia obtained Azov and became the protector of the Orthodox Christians in the Balkans.
1772 First Partition of Poland between Russia and Austria to avoid war between Russia and Austria.
1775-1817 The Maratha Wars between the British and the Maratha confederacy in India. This series of three wars ended with the British annexation of the Marathi territory, thus completing the supremacy of the British in India.
1776 Adam Smith publishes Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
4 July 1776 The United States of America declares its independence from Great Britain, making the first modern human attempt at large scale republican government.
1787-1792 The Second Russo-Turkish War. After obtaining Crimea and building a Black Sea fleet, Russia, allied with Austria, advanced into Ottoman territory. The Russian commander, General Suvorov, used his tactics (surprise attacks with coordinated artillery and infantery) successfully. The Dniestre and Bug rivers became Russian, and Ottoman power declined.
1789 The Constitution of the United States is ratified. The American Constitution becomes one of the most beloved and influential documents in history.
14 July 1789 The French Revolution begins with the Storming of the Bastille in Paris. This is followed by peasant uprisings in all of France.
26 August 1789 'Rights of Man' declaration in France.
June 1791 Flight and return to Paris of the king.
3 September 1791 New French constitution proclaimed
April 1792 French declaration of war on Austria. Beginning of the wars against foreign coalition.
10 August 1792 Storming of the Tuileries in France and internment of the royal family. (King beheaded 21 Jan, 1793)
September 1792 France proclaimed a republic.
1793 Second Partition of Poland which results in more loss of Polish land, leading to a Polish uprising under the national hero Kosciuszko. The uprising was suppressed by Prussian and Russian troops.
1793-1794 Reign of Terror in France. Jacobins establish dictatorship. Uprisings in the Vendee.
1794 Keth Ivari launches the Lolis Vanir, Andoria's first manned orbital spacecraft.
28 July 1794 Fall of Robespierre in France. 'White Terror' of the royalists.
1795 Third Partition of Poland leads to the dissolution of the state.
1795-1799 The French Directory. In response to the Terror a new constitution establishes a government of 5 directors. Campaigns of Napoleon in Italy (1796-7) and Egypt (1798-9).
1799 - 1804 The Consulate in France. Napoleon returns from Egypt and overthrows the directory in a coup d'etat. Napoleon chosen first Consul for 10 years.
1799-1802 War of the Coalition (Britain, Austria, Russia) against France, fought in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, the Mediterranean, and the Baltic.
1800-2000 Industrial Revolution, a widespread replacement of manual labor by machines that began in Britain in the 18th century and continued in some parts of the world well into the 21st century. The Industrial Revolution was the result of many fundamental, interrelated changes that transformed agricultural economies into industrial ones. The Industrial Revolution led to the growth of cities as people moved from rural areas into urban communities in search of work.
1815-1914 The "Pax Britanica."
1801-1803 English navigator Cliver becomes the first to circumnavigate Australia.
March 1802 Peace of Amiens. England surrenders many colonial conquests, the French, in turn, leave Egypt.
1803 Louisiana Purchase: vast region (800,000 sq mi) in North America purchased by the United States from France.
1804 Coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the French in the presence of Pope Pius VII in Paris.
1804-1814 The Napoleonic Empire in Europe and Napoleonic Wars throughout the world.
1805 Resumption of warfare against the coalition joined by Sweden and Naples. Napoleon defeats an Austrian army at Ulm and enters Vienna.
1805-1848 Mohammed Ali rules Egypt. (Egypt breaks away from the Ottoman Empire).
10 October 1805 British Admiral Nelson wins the naval Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon abandons plans for an invasion of England.
December 1805 Napolean defeats Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz.
1806 Napoleon forces Francis II to give up the German imperial crown; end of of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (began in 1232). German states form Confederation of the Rhine under French protectorate.
October 1806 Prussian army destroyed by Napoleon at the Battle of Jena. Prussia loses Polish territories. Proclamation of the Continental System (embargo) by Napoleon to isolate England.
July 1807 Peace of Tilsit. Division of Europe into French and Russian spheres of influences. Duchy of Warsaw established.
1808-1809 Spanish campaign. Madrid occuppied but fierce guerrilla war ties up French forces.
1809-1823 The end of the colonial era in South America came with the fall of Spain to Napoleon in 1809. Chile and Buenos Aires, two of the provinces furthest from the center of Spanish control, declared themselves independent. Next, the revolutionaries attacked the stronghold of Spanish colonial power which was in Peru. Under the leadership of the Argentinian Jose San Martin they entered Lima and declared Peru's independence in 1821. The following year San Martin had a conference in Ecuador with Simon Bolivar, who had driven the Spanish out of the northern part of South America. The meeting was unsuccessful and when San Martin left Peru, Bolivar occupied Lima on Jan 1. 1823.
1810 Greatest extent of the Napoleonic empire which contains 50 million of the 175 million inhabitants of Europe.
1812 Russia discontinues embargo on England. Napoleon invades Russia. Russian Campaign by the Grand Army ends in a catastrophic retreat from Moscow, and with the loss of 500,000 men.
1813 Prussia and Austria declare war and defeat Napoleon in the Battle of Nations at Leipzig.
1814 Napoleon abdicates and is exiled to the island of Elba.
1814 Cape Colony in South Africa ceded to Britain by the Netherlands.
1815 Napoleon returns for 100 days but is again beaten in the Battle of Waterloo by the combined armies of England and Prussia. Napoleon surrenders to the English and is exiled to St. Helena.
1812-1814 The War of 1812 is fought between the United States and Britain for the conquest of Canada and its elimination as an ally of the Indians. The war was a stalemate, but it confirmed the boundary line between the United States and Canada.
21 Aug 1813 The Preservers transplant colonies of Amerinds to a distant class M planet.
c. 1816-1828 Shaka rules Zulu nation in South Africa.
1821 Greek Independence War: A rebellion of Greeks within the Ottoman Empire leads to Greek control of the Peloponnese peninsula. Greek independence was declared, but internal rivalries led to a civil war and the Turks were able to invade the Peloponnese with the help of Egyptian sea power. The Greek cause was saved by the intervention of the European powers. Great Britain, France and Russia sent their naval fleets to Navarino where they destroyed the Egyptian fleet. A Greco-Turkish settlement at a conference in London (1830) resulted in the establishment of an independent Greek kingdom.
1822 Liberia founded in West Africa as home for freed slaves.
1822 Andorian scientists perfect a primitive version of the cryonic sleep-capsule, laying the foundation for the "sleeper ship" program. Keth Ivari begins immediate production of sleeper vessels.
1824 Mexico achieves independence from Spain and establishes a Repulic.
1830 French invade Algeria.
1830 The first of a handful of "sleeper ships" are launched by the Andorians, establishing the Thalassa, Quardis, Cimera III, and Trilith VII colonies over the following 75 years. Initial contact with the Vulcans also occurs during this period and leads to centuries of hostilities.
1832-1847 Abd-al-Kadir leads Arab resistance to France in Algeria
1836-1937 The Great Trek of Boers (Dutch farmers) away from British in South Africa; they establish the Republic of Natal in 1838 and the Orange Free State in 1854.
1839-1842 The Opium War: In the late 18th century British merchants built up a flourishing traffic in opium from India to China, for they had been unable to find any other product to import into China in quantity, as the country was almost self-sufficient. The Chinese government tried to curb the opium trade and the emperor appointed a radical patriot, Lin Tse-hsu, as Imperial commissioner for an anti-opium campaign. In 1839 Lin arrived in Canton, which was the main port for foreign trade. He confiscated and destroyed more than 20,000 chests of opium. The British merchants appealed to their government and in 1840 16 British Warships arrived in Hongkong and sailed to the mouth of the Pei Ho river. Next year they attacked the walled city of Canton. The local militia and the Imperial troops were powerless against the navy guns. In 1842 the British received reinforcements and they seized several cities including Shanghai and Nanking.
1842 The Treaty of Nanking concludes the Opium War. China cedes Hongkong to Great Britain, and opened several ports to British trade. It also fixes the customs duties on imports at such a low level that China is prevented from protecting her new industries from competition of cheap imports. This treaty was the first in a series of 'unequal treaties' which gave foreigners special rights in China. U.S. and French treaties soon followed, and the economy of China experienced a breakdown of self-sufficiency in the traditional system of agriculture and craftsmanship.
1846-1848 Mexican War between the United States and Mexico, stemming from Mexican anger at the United States' annexation of Texas in 1845 and from a dispute over whether Texas ended at the Nueces River (Mexican claim) or the Rio Grande (U.S. claim). The war - in which U.S. forces were consistently victorious - resulted in the United States' acquisition of more than 500,000 square miles of Mexican territory extending westward from the Rio Grande to the Pacific Ocean.
1847 Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish their Communist Manifesto.
1848 Revolutions of 1848, series of violent uprisings in European countries where legal attempts at economic and political change had proven unsuccessful. The revolutions were initiated by members of the middle class and nobility who began demanding constitutional and representative governments, and by workers and peasants who revolted against developing capitalist practices that were resulting in greater poverty. Participating in the revolutions were Poles, Danes, Germans, Italians, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Croats, and Romanians who demanded self-determination from the empires that dominated them. Although governmental changes achieved by the Revolutions of 1848 were short-lived, the revolutions influenced the course of European government in the long term by undermining the concept of absolute monarchy and establishing an impetus for liberalism and socialism.
1850-1864 The Taiping Rebellion in China is by far the bloodiest war of the nineteenth century. The revolt was a radical political and religious uprising that ravaged 17 Chinese provinces and cost 20 million lives. The Taiping capture Nanking for a time, but the Mancu, supported by the Western powers, defeat the Taiping in 1864. But the Manchu government is so weakened by the rebellion that it never again is able to effectively rule China.
1852 Tukolor leader al-Hajj 'Umar launches Jihad war along Senegal and upper Niger rivers to establish an Islamic state.
1852 In South Africa, Britain recognizes Transvaal's independence.
1853-1856 Dr David Livingstone crosses Africa and reaches Victoria Falls.
1853-1856 Crimean War between Russia and the allies (Britain, France, Ottoman Turks, joined by Sardinia - Piedmont). Russian demands for protection of Orthodox subjects of the Ottoman sultan and Russian occupation of Danubian land on the Russo-Turkish border lead the Turks to declare war on October 4, 1853. After the Russian Black Sea fleet destroys a Turkish squadron, Britain and France enter the war in order to preserve the Turkish sultan as a counterbalance to Russia. In 1854 the allies land troops in the Crimean peninsula on the north shore of the Black Sea, and begin a siege of the Russian fortress of Sevastopol. The siege lasts over an entire year before the Russians blew up the forts, sank the ships, and evacuated Sevastopol. The war became notorious for high casualties due to disease and questionable leadership on both sides. Losses amounted to 250,000 men on each side. Although a peace settlement was worked out in 1856, it did not settle the relations of the big powers in eastern Europe, but it stimulated the Russian czar Alexander II to reform the Russian army in order to compete with the other European powers.
1854 For over two centuries Japan had been closed to all foreigners until U.S. warships force Japan to open her ports to foreign trade.
1855-1868 Reign of Emperor Theodore of Ethiopia.
1857 The Sepoy Mutiny leads the British government to deprive the East India Company of political control and fortifies British control of the entire Indian subcontinent.
1861-1865 North American War Between the States: During the 1800's the South and the North of the United States became different in many ways. The northern States had a free and individualistic spirit; the southern spirit made for great estates where a slavery system prevailed. After the Mexican War, when Texas was annexed, the slavery question began to divide the nation even more. Under Mexican law slavery had been forbidden in Texas, but now the south claimed Texas for slavery. Meanwhile a growing swarm of immigrants from Europe began to swell the population of the northern states and an anti-slavery movement began to agitate for abolition of slavery in the whole country. A new Republican party arose in the North and succeeded in electing their leader Abraham Lincoln President of the United States. The South, irritated by the threat of the Abolitionist movement, began to talk of secession from the Union. South Carolina seceded late in 1860; other eleven states followed soon. Together they organized the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Ala., with Jefferson Davies as President. The war began on April 12, 1861 when Southern troops bombarded Fort Sunter in South Carolina. President Lincoln's Union forces suffered several military defeats early in the war. Led by the best strategist of the war Robert E. Lee the Confederates were victorious at Bull Run 1861 and 1862. A move of the Union forces towards the southern capital Richmond was stopped by the Seven Days' Battles in 1862. But Southerners had less success when they invaded the North, especially after the battle of Gettysburg (1863) proved decisive when Lee was forced to retreat. Union forces under Ulysses S. Grant moved down the Mississippi valley in an attempt to split the enemy territory. General Sherman's 'scorched earth' campaigns through Georgia and Carolina caused famine and unrest. Grant took over the general command of all Union forces in 1864. After many bloody battles, he forced Lee to surrender on April 9, 1865.
1866-1890 The American Indian Wars are fought between the Indian tribes in territory claimed by the U.S. and the U.S. Army. The United States defeats the Indian tribes one by one, exterminating them or rounding them up and removing them to Reservations set up across the nation. The fighting largely ended with the massacre at Wounded Knee, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890, when Sioux warriors, women, and children were slaughtered by the U.S. cavalry.
1865-1868 Wars between Orange Free State and Basuto people, in South Africa.
1866 Slavery is abolished in the United States, the last western power to do so.
1867 Ranx, the first Tellarite astronaut, builds a rocketship of his own design.
1868 Meiji reform in Japan. The Japanese blamed the Tokugawa shogun - the military leader who had ruled Japan in place of the emperor - for the humiliation of 1854 when the West forced the opening of Japanese ports. (The Tokugawa line of shoguns had ruled Japan for 250 years and had enforced the seclusion of Japan.) In 1867 the shogun was forced to resign and Emperor Mutsuhito announced that he had taken his traditional powers back from the shogun. The Emperor moved the capital from ancient Kyoto to Edo, which he renamed Tokyo and he assumed the name Meji meaning "enlightened rule".
1868-1912 Meiji Period in Japan. The feudal system was abolished, and Western ideas and business contacts gained wide acceptance. The abolition of pensions to the samurai and of the ancient code of the sword led to the samurai uprising in 1877. Following its defeat the samurai caste disintegrated.
1870-71 Franco-German War: French aspirations for prestige and Bismarck's (chancellor of Prussia) desire to unify Germany under Prussian leadership set the stage for the war. Paris capitulates in January 1871. As a result of the war King William I of Prussia was proclaimed German emperor, French prestige declined, and a period of 40 years of unstable peace between the major powers of Europe ensued.
1870 Detapa Council founded on Cardassia.
1872 Cape Colony in South Africa granted self-government by Britain.
1877-1878 Third Russo-Turkish War: Drought (1873) and floods (1874) produced discontent and famine among the peasantry in the Balkans which culminates in several uprisings against Ottoman rule. Ottoman suppression of the revolts leads to war with Serbia in 1876. To free the Christians of the Balkans Russia initiates war with the Ottomans. The war ends in defeat for the Ottomans. Austria and England opposed increased Russian influence, so Bismarck mediates terms at the Congress of Berlin, as a result of which Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro become independent; Russia obtains Bessarabia; England receives Cyprus; and Austria is given administrative rights over Bosnia and Herzogevina.
1879 Zulu War with the British.
1880-1881 First Boer War, Transvaal in South Africa defeats Britain.
1885 Conference in Berlin: The major European powers carve the African continent amongst themselves. The "Scramble for Africa" ensues in which the European empires add African lands and tribes to their holdings.
1885 The Mahdi (Muslim leader) takes Khartoum from Egypt.
1887-1893 France forms the Indochinese Union out of its holdings in Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
1888 The British occupy Egypt.
1894 Sino-Japanese War. Superior Japanese forces conquered Dairen, Shantung, and Seoul. China ceded Formosa to the Japanese.
1896 France takes Madagascar.
1896 Ethiopian ruler Menelik crushes Italian army at Adowa.
1898 Spanish-American War: A conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.
1899-1901 Boxer Rebellion in China. It is a peasant uprising that attempts to drive all foreigners from China. In 1900 an international force lands at Tientsin and fights its way to Peking. In August the siege is raised, the city looted, and the imperial palaces are sacked. The court flees to Sian, and representatives of the Dowager Empress sue for peace. The terms of the agreement signed in 1901 were the harshest imposed on China by Western powers.
1899-1902 Second Boer War in South Africa. The British subjugate the Boers and annex the Orange Free State and Transvaal as British colonies.
1901 The British and Australians establish the Commonwealth of Australia.
1902 The U.S. grants independence to Cuba.
1904 France creates Federation of French West Africa.
1904-1905 Russo-Japanese War. Japan felt itself strong enough to object when Russia expanded its claims to rights in Korea and Manchuria. In 1904 Japanese forces pushed the Russians deep into Manchuria and Japanese ships attacked and defeated the Russian fleet at Port Arthur without declaring war. Russia sent its Baltic and Black Sea fleets around Africa to the Far East to relieve the troops, but the Japanese fleet caught the Russians in the straits between Japan and Korea and annihilated the entire fleet. Russia had to accept Japan's rights in Korea and had to give up the southern half of Sachalin. Japan's victory over Russia proved to other Asian nations that a European power could be defeated by an Asian country and Japan emerged as the dominant force in the Far East.
1904-1914 The United States builds the Panama Canal.
1905 Maji-Maji rebellion begins in Tanzania (German East Africa).
12 Jan 1905 Albert Einstein publishes his Theory of General Relativity.
1908 Belgium takes over Congo Free State.
1910 Union of South Africa.
1911 Revolution in China leads to abdication of Manchu dynasty.
1912 Voice Wars erupt on militarized Tellar over rival linguistic economic theories.
1912 French make Morocco a Protectorate.
1912 Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese National People's Party (Kuomintang), proclaims a Republic in Nanking. Mongolia and Tibet declare independence.
1912-1913 First Balkan War starts as the Balkan states attack their former oppressor, the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans lose most of their remaining European holdings as a result of the war.
30 May 1913 The Treaty of London is signed to end the First Balkan War. By the treaty's terms, the Ottomans ceded the island of Crete (Kríti) to Greece and relinquished all territories in Europe west of a line between the Black Sea port of Midye and Enez, a town on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Boundary questions and the status of Albania and the Aegean Islands were referred to an international commission.
1913 Second Balkan War: The Treaty of London created friction among the Balkan allies, especially between Serbia and Bulgaria. Among the causes of the friction was the Bulgarian refusal to recognize the Serbian claim to certain Bulgarian-held portions of Macedonia. In addition, Serbia was resentful because it failed to obtain territory along the Adriatic Sea. On June 1, 1913, Greece and Serbia concluded an alliance aimed against Bulgaria. The Second Balkan War began on June 29. On that date a Bulgarian general, acting without orders from his government, launched an attack on Serbian defensive positions. The Bulgarian government disavowed this attack, but on July 8 Serbia and Greece declared war. Within the next two weeks Montenegro, Romania, and the Ottoman Empire entered the war against Bulgaria. On July 30, Bulgaria, unable to withstand this coalition, asked for and received an armistice. By the ensuing peace agreement, signed at Bucharest, Romania, on August 10, Bulgaria lost considerable territory, including nearly 7770 sq km. (nearly 3000 sq mi) allotted to Romania. The agreement, among other things, awarded most of Macedonia to Serbia and Greece. By later agreements Bulgaria also yielded a large territory to the Ottoman Empire. The Balkan Wars profoundly influenced the subsequent course of European history. By creating a strong and ambitious Serbia, the peace settlements engendered fear and anti-Serbian sentiment in neighboring Austria-Hungary. The dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria created equally dangerous tensions in southeastern Europe. These conditions greatly intensified the contemporary forces in shaping a general European conflict.
28 July 1914 The Terran First World War begins in the aftermath of the assassination of Austria’s Archduke Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist.
1914-1918 The competing colonial ambitions of the European powers come to a head and erupt into World War I. The military alignment at the beginning of the war : The Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey) were opposed by the Allies (Russia, France, Great Britain, Belgium, and Serbia) joined by Japan, Italy, and the USA. The war which ended in November 1918 involved the mobilization of 65 million men; nearly nine million died and about 22 million were wounded. It is estimated that the loss of civilian life due to war exceded that suffered by the armies in the field. The First World War was the bloodiest that had been fought up to that time, and caused losses both to victors and vanquished out of all proportions to the issues involved.
1914 Britain and France occupy German colonies in West Africa.
1916-1926 Wars of the Warlords in northern China.
6 April 1917 The United States enters World War I on the side of the Allies. Although the reasons were varied and complex, the one having the greatest emotional impact was Germany's introduction of unrestricted submarine warfare which followed the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. The entry of the U.S. proceeds to break the three-year stalemate between the Allies and Central Powers in the trenches of northeastern France, and the Allies are able to start their final offensive into Germany.
October 1917 Bolsheviks, lead by Lenin (a follower of Karl Marx), overthrow the Russian czar and seize power in the Red Revolution. Seventy-four years of communist rule begins as the Russian Empire is replaced by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
11 November 1918 The Terran First World War ends when the Allies impose the Treaty of Versailles on Germany. The Allies proceed to dismantle the Ottoman Empire and replace it with Middle Eastern states after their own image. Field Marshal Earl Wavell presciently obeserved it was "a peace to end all peace."
1919 Demonstrations in Peking against signing of Peace treaty. The treaty ignored the annullment of the 'unequal treaties' about foreign spheres of influences in China.
10 January 1920 The League of Nations is founded in Geneva. It marks the first Terran attempt at global government. Its effectiveness is hampered, however, by the refusal of the United States, whose president proposed the league, to join.
1921-1926 Abd-el-Krim leads Berbers and Arabs against Europeans in North Africa.
1922 Egypt becomes independent from Britain under King Fuad.
1923 Cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist party of China after Soviet Russia drops all czarist claims in China.
1923 Mustafa Kemal declares the creation of the state of Turkey and obtains the abolition of the sultanate. Under his presidency (1923-38), the Turkish Republic promotes Turkish nationalism and secularism. The Islamic courts of law are abolished and a new constitution in 1928 removes all references to religious life. After 1935 Kemal Mustafa assumed the name of Ataturk.
1927-1936 Rule of the Kuomintang in China.
1928 Chiang's march to Peking. Unification of China. However, Mao Tse-tung and Chu Teh establish Communist peasant bases in southern China and create the Red Army in Hunan.
29 Oct 1929 A huge stock market crash in the United States plunges the entire industrialized world into economic depression. Poverty is widespread even in the great powers of Earth.
1933 Economic chaos and increased German frustration over the extreme terms the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany makes way for the election of the Nazi Party to a majority in the Reichstag (German Parliament), whose leader, Adolph Hitler, dismisses the Reichstag, assumes all deputy powers, eliminates his political opponents, and begins to rebuild German military power. Hitler had long argued that the future of the German race could only be assured by colonizing large territories in the East and settling them with Germans.
1934 Elas and Troyius in the Tellun system begin the first of a series of interplanetary wars.
1 May 1934 The very first Dixon Hill story, by Tracy Torme’, The Big Goodbye appears in Amazing Detective Stories Magazine.
1935-1936 Italians under Mussolini invade and annex Ethiopia.
1936 Hitler and Mussolini form the Rome-Berlin Axis.
1 August 1936 The last Dixon Hill story, by Tracy Torme’, The Long Dark Tunnel appears in Amazing Detective Stories Magazine.
1937-1945 Sino-Japanese War. In an effort to expand into the mainland of Asia, Imperial Japanese troops seize Peking, Nanking and Shanghai, and establish a pro-Japanese government under Wang Ching-Wei in Nanking. Chiang's headquarters in Chungking; Mao's in Yenan.
1937 The slave-raiding Briori abduct 300 people from Earth, invluding aviator Amelia Earhart.
1938 The expansion of German territory begins when Hitler's army marched first into Austria, and then into Czechoslovakia. Britain and France work to appease Hitler, in an attempt to avoid another world war.
1939-1945 World War II.
3 September 1939 The Terran Second World War begins, when Germany, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, invades Poland. Britain and France declare war on Germany.
28 September 1939 Soviet occupation of Eastern Poland. Baltic states forced to admit Soviet garrisons.
30 November 1939 Russia invades Finland.
April 9 1940 Germany attacks Denmark and Norway.
10 May 1940 Germany attacks France. (Germans attack through Belgium and the Netherlands)
26 May - June 4 1940 British evacuation from Dunkirk.
10 June 1940 Italy declares war on Britain and France.
22 June 1940 France surrenders to Germany.
8 August 1940 Battle of Britain begins. (London Blitz from Sept. 7 until May 11, 1941)
17 August 1940 German U-Boat war begins.
September 1940 Japan joins the Axis Powers.
September 1940 Italian forces advance from Libya into Egypt.
29 October 1940 Italy invades Greece from Albania. Greeks counterattack.
20 November 1940 Hungary joins the Axis.
23 November 1940 Romania joins the Axis.
1941 Ethiopia liberated from Italians by Ethiopians and British, and recognized as independent.
1 March 1941 Bulgaria joins the Axis.
6 April 1941 Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece.
22 June 1941 Germany invades Russia.
2 October - December 1941 Battle of Moscow.
6 December 1941 Soviet counterattack begins. (First defeat of German troops)
11 December 1941 After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S.A.
5 June 1942 German troops seize Tobruk in North Africa.
2 July 1942 The British stop the Germans at El Alamein.
16 September 1942 German troops enter Stalingrad.
23 October - 3 November 1942 Battle of El Alamein.
7-8 November 1942 Allied forces land in Morocco.
12 November 1942 British capture Tobruk.
16 September 1942 - 2 February 1943 Battle of Stalingrad. (Soviet counter attack in Stalingrad begins on Nov.18)
1943 The Allies give up all privileges gained by the 'unequal treaties' in China to prevent a separate peace of the Kuomintang with Japan
12 May 1943 Axis resistance in Africa ends.
5-12 July 1943 Tank battle of Kursk. (Last major German offensive in the East fails)
12 July 1943 Allied forces invade Sicily.
3 September 1943 Allies land in Italy. Italy signs armistice.
3 October 1943 Italy declares war on Germany.
6 November 1943 Russians recapture Kiev.
28 November - 1 December 1943 Teheran conference (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin)
27 January 1944 Russians break siege of Leningrad.
19 March 1944 German troops move into Hungary.
11-18 May 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy.
6 June 1944 D-Day: Allies land in the Normandy.
25 July 1944 U.S. forces break out of Normandy.
July 1944 Soviet forces advance into Poland.
15 August 1944 Allied forces land in southern France.
20 August 1944 Soviet forces advance into Bessarabia in Romania.
24 August 1944 Paris liberated.
25 August 1944 Romania declares war on Germany.
5 September 1944 Bulgaria declares war on Germany.
8 September 1944 First V-2 rockets launched against London.
18 October 1944 Tito's partisans enter Belgrade.
10 September 1944 Finland signs armistice with Russia.
16 December - 16 January 1944 Battle of the Bulge (Last German offensive in the West fails)
11 January 1945 Soviets enter Warsaw.
21 January 1945 Hungary declares war on Germany.
4-11 February 1945 Yalta conference (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin)
13 February 1945 Soviets reach Budapest.
23 March 1945 British forces attack into Germany.
April 1945 U.S forces sweep across Germany.
13 April 1945 Soviet troops in Vienna.
25 April 1945 U.S. and Russian forces meet at Torgau.
16 April - 2 May 1945 Battle of Berlin.
30 April 1945 Hitler commits suicide.
2 May 1945 Capitulation of Berlin.
7 May 1945 Germany surrenders to Allies.
8 May 1945 Germany surrenders to the Soviet Union.
9 August 1945 The Terran Second World War ends when the United States detonates a second nuclear weapon over the Japanese city Nagasaki. During the war the Germans systematically murdered over 11 million non-combatants, most of them Jews, in a system of death camps across Europe. The Allied powers, lead by the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union began a series of trials, over the objections of the major European churches, of the German leadership for ‘Genocide and other Crimes Against Humanity’ and executed most of them. Adolf Hitler was not among those tried, he committed suicide to avoid capture by the Soviet Army. In total, the Second World War cost the lives of over 50 million people and devastated the economies of every nation, except that of the United States.
1945-2015 The "Pax Americana."
12 October 1945 The United Nations Organization is chartered in San Francisco, CA. The UN is Earth’s second attempt at unified government. Unlike the League of Nations, it enjoys the participation of all of Terra’s great powers. Prospects for a unified, "open" world are dashed, however, as tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union rise. The Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin, proceeds to install Communist governments throughout the states of Central and Eastern Europe in order to create a "buffer zone" between the Soviet Union and Germany.
1945 Vulcan survey ships begin a period of close observation of Earth, debating whether to initiate first contact. It is decided after several decades of watching human progress, however, that without warp drive and a unifying world government, contact with extraterrestrial species would do more harm to Humans than good. Vulcan forecasters estimate it will be about two centuries before the Earth is ready for First Contact.
1945-1949 Civil War in China between Communist and Nationalist forces.
1946-1954 First Indochina War: Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia win their independence from France. Vietnam emerges from the conflict divided into separate North and a South states. Communists take control in the North.
1946 The United States grants independence to the Philippines.
1947 Korean unification talks between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. break off in mutual distrust, and each power establishes a government in the respective zones they had occupied since the end of World War II (the Soviets in the North and the U.S. in the South).
1947 Ferengi spacecraft crashes near Roswell, New Mexico following a time displacement.
12 March 1947 U.S. adopts the Truman Doctrine, which calls for the containment of communism, as it sends aid to Turkey and Greece in order to quell communist rebellions in those nations.
15 August 1947 Britain withdraws from India, granting independence to India and Pakistan. This act is generally recognized as the end of the British Empire and the Colonial Age.
June 1947 The United States offers the Marshall Plan, an economic aid package to stimulate industrial rebuilding and production in countries decimated by World War II, to all interested European nations. Although Russia and its Eastern European satellites reject the plan, sixtenn Western European states eagerly participated. By the end of 1950, European industrial production had risen 64 percent and communist strength in member nations had declined.
1947-1948 First India-Pakistan War over Kashmir. India retains control of most of the region, which it annexed in 1957.
14 May 1948 Israel proclaims its state based upon a UN mandate calling for a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. More than a century of conflict ensues between the Israeli state and its Islamic neighbors, as an alliance of Arab states invaded infant Israel. Israeli forces quickly rebuffed the invaders, however, expanding Israel's borders beyond the UN mandate and absorbing Palestine.
24 June 1948 Stalin imposes a tight blockade around the western-occupied sectors of Berlin in response to Britain, France and the U.S. merging their zones of occupied Germany into a new West German republic. Stalin wanted the West to abandon its outpost in Soviet-occupied East Germany; however, the Western powers proceed with massive airlifts to supply Berlin with food, fuel and supplies for more than ten months, when Stalin lifted the ineffective sanctions.
1949 Rise of the Ukora Segment ends Tellarite Voice Wars after Melbonit of Lura resigns following mass Ukora protests.
4 April 1949 The U.S., Canada, and ten Western European nations form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to defend against further Soviet aggression. The Soviet Union responds in 1955 with the formation of the Warsaw Pact, an alliance between the U.S.S.R. and its Eastern and Central European satellites. So, the division of East and West solidifies as the Cold War begins in earnest.
September 1949 The Soviet Union successfully explodes its first atomic weapon.
1 October 1949 The Communist Party of China, lead by Mao Zedong, overruns the Chinese Nationalist Party and establishes the People's Republic of China (Red China). The Nationalist Government is exiled to Taiwan. The U.S. turns to its defeated foe, Japan, as its new ally in Asia.
1950-1953 Korean War: The communist rulers of North Korea attack their southern neighbor in an attempt to effect Korean reunification. The United States intervenes, reverses the North Korean invasion, and invades North Korea. Red China, in turn, intervenes to push the U.S. forces back out of North Korean territory. A three-year stalemate ensues near the original border between the two Koreas. A cease-fire formalizes the stalemate in 1953.
1951 Libya gains independence from France.
1952-1959 Mau-Mau guerrilla war against British in Kenya.
28 April 1952 U.S. occupation of Japan ends and a parlaimentary democracy is established. In the next three decades, Japan grows to become the second largest economy in the world, behind that of the U.S.
1954-1962 War for independence from France in Algeria.
July 1956 Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal, which had been controlled by Britain and France.
29 October 1956 The Suez War between Israel and Egypt starts as Israeli, British and French forces strike Egypt in retaliation for Egyptian President Nasser seizing control of the Suez Canal. Israel captures the Sinai Peninsula, but the United States compelled the Jewish state to return it to Egypt.
4 October 1957 The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, Terra’s first artificial satellite.
1959 Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba and becomes a Soviet ally.
1960-1968 African nations gain their independence from their European rulers.
1960 Rigellian raids into the collapsing Vegan Tyranny make interstellar travel and communication in the region hazardous for the next eighty years.
12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 1. The craft orbits for 108 minutes (one revolution) at an apogee of 176.3 km. This historic first keeps Russia in the lead in the 'space race'.
13 August 1961 The Soviet Union directs the East German government to build the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin to stop East Berliners from migrating into the Western half of the City.
1961-1973 Second Indochina War: The United States enters Vietnam to prevent the fall of South Vietnam to the communists in the North. Ultimately, however, the United States failed to achieve its goal, and in 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Communist control, but the U.S. was able to use its fighting of the brutal war to show the Soviet Union it was serious about containing communism.
October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world closer to nuclear confrontation than at any time since World War II. The Soviet government agrees to remove its nuclear missiles from Cuba if the United States will not work to overthrow the newly-installed government of Fidel Castro.
1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed.
June 1964 The Arab League forms the Palestinian Liberation Organization to channel Palestinian efforts to reclaim their state from Israel.
1965The first 'space walk' is accomplished by Aleksei Leonov aboard the Voskhod II spacecraft.
The accelerated United States space program has five successful Gemini missions this year.
April 1965 Second India-Pakistan War begins. Tashkent Declaration effects a cease-fire after intervention by China is opposed by the U.S. and Britain.
June 1967 The Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. In a spectacular military victory, Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
1968 In an historic first, the 3-man crew of Apollo 8 journeys around the moon, observing and photographing the natural satellite and viewing 'Earth rise'.
2 March 1968 Agent Gary Seven engineers the destruction of a United States Orbital Nuclear Weapons Platform 120 km over the Soviet Union in order to frighten the superpowers of Earth into not destroying each other.
1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Signed.
1969-1970 President Nasser of Egypt, frustrated by the standstill on the diplomatic front, began the War of Attritio, a series of artillery duels across the Suez Canal intended to dislodge Israel from the Sinai Peninsula. When Nasser died in September 1970, Anwar el-Sadat, his successor, engaged Israel in peace talks.
20 July 1969 The first manned moon shot, Apollo 11 consisting of three astronauts, is launched on Wednesday, 6 A.M. E.S.T. Humans first set foot on Earth's moon, Neil Armstrong being the first. It is the first of twelve successful landings on the Moon prior to the building of Base One. This is the start of Human manned interplanetary exploration.
As interplanetary travel is perfected, Earth's moon will be heavily colonized over the coming centuries. By 2373, 50 million people will live on the moon. Tycho City, New Berlin, and Lake Armstrong will be visible from Earth.
November 1969 Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) negotiations begin between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to regulate nuclear arms competition between the two nations.
1970-2020 Africa suffers badly from tribal conflict, the AIDS epidemic, chronic malnutrition, and economic depression.
1970 The Vegan Tyranny dominates space outside of the Local Group of Stars.
The Ferengi enter the galactic community.
Disaster is averted as Apollo 13, which experiences a power failure on route to the moon, is skillfully swung around the satellite and brought safely back to Earth.
1971 Third India-Pakistan War errups as Indo-Pakistani relations deteriorated when civil war erupted in Pakistan, pitting the West Pakistan army against East Pakistanis demanding greater autonomy. The fighting forced 10 million East Pakistani Bengalis to flee to India. When Pakistan attacked Indian airfields in Kashmir, India attacked both East and West Pakistan. It occupied the eastern half, which declared its independence as Bangladesh on Dec. 6, 1971. Under great-power pressure, a UN cease-fire was arranged in mid-December, after Pakistan’s defeat.
January 1972 SALT I talks completed between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
2 March 1972 The United States space probe Pioneer 10 is launched, and becomes the 1st man-made object to leave the Sol system in 1983. In 2287, Captain Klaa of the Klingon Bird of Prey Okrona will destroy the probe.
1973 The U.S. orbits the Skylab space station and sets a record for duration in space. Among the experiments performed is evaluation of long-term weightlessness on Man.
5 June 1973 Gordon Sinclair's broadcast of "The Americans" from Toronto, Canada.
October 1973 Yom Kippur War. Another invasion of Israel by Egypt draws superpower intervention to stop hostilities.
1974 The Chrysalis Project: An international consortium of the world's top scientists have conspired to create the Chrysalis Project, a top-secret experiment in human genetic engineering. The project's goal is nothing less than the creation of a new, artificially improved breed of men and women: smarter, faster, stronger than ordinary human beings, a super-race to take command of the entire planet. Chrysalis' attempts to improve the human genome take place in a secret complex beneath India's Great Thar Desert, under the guidance of a brilliant scientist named Sarina Kaur. Unfortunately, Kaur has a megalomaniacal streak to go along with her belief in aristocratic government; as she works to breed a better sort of human, she also tries to develop a flesh-eating streptococcus bacterium to wipe out the billions of lesser men and women cluttering the planet.
Kavis Alpha, a neutron star, explodes.
On Earth, Element 106 is discovered in Russia.
May 1974Gary Seven, along with Roberta Lincoln and Isis, infiltrate and destroy the underground base of the Chrysalis Project in Rajasthan, India. Dozens of genetically engineered children are rescued, including four year-old Khan Noonien Singh, the son of the project director Sarina Kaur.
1975 Apollo 18 and Soyuz XIX link-up in space thus culminating two years of cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union.
1976 The Enterprise (OV-101) orbiter is commissioned. This first reusable space shuttle is used as a test vehicle. It is named "Enterprise" because one of the project managers for Rockwell International, the builder of the vehicle, had lost a brother stationed aboard the aircraft carrier of the same name during World War II.
Viking 1 softlands on Mars and begins transmitting photographs, climatic measurements and soil composition data. Designed for 90 days, the lander remains functional for two years.
4 July 1976 The United States of America celebrates its Bicentennial and becomes the longest lived republic in the history of mankind, surpassing the longevity of the Roman Republic. The United States robot lander Viking 1 lands on Mars.
1977 On Earth, Colladium (Element 114) is discovered in the United States.
The unmanned space probes Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 depart for the outer planets of Sol, following up on the earlier "Pioneer" missions. These more sophisticated probes will encounter first Jupiter (in 1979) and then Saturn (1980-81), eventually flying by Uranus (in 1985). At least four more "Voyager" series probes will be launched before the end of the century. "Voyager 6" will be the first Human-built artifact to fall into a black hole. It will emerge on the far side of the galaxy and be repaired by a machine world for its long return to Earth. In 2281 Kirk and Spock will come to the conclusion that it was not a black hole but a transwarp conduit, and that the machine world was the Borg homeworld. V'ger was reconfigured by a different branch of the Borg collective--that assimilated by direct conversion to patterned energy rather than by physical means.
1978On Earth, Element 107 is discovered in Russia.
Ten probes arrive at Venus in the largest research assault to date. Among the mysteries to be solved are understanding the atmospheric composition and the internal mass distribution of the planet.
15 December 1978 Washington and Beijing resume formal diplomatic relations.
1979 On Earth, Element 108 is discovered in Germany.
January 1979 Iranian Revolution sweeps the highly unpopular Shah out of power in Iran and brings Islamic fundamentalists, lead by the Ayatollah Khomeini, to power. Because of the support the U.S. gave the Shah during his years in power, intense anti-American sentiments sweep the nation. The Ayatollah Khomeini successfully channeled Muslim energy and frustrations into reclaiming the lost glory of Islamic civilization: current Muslim society was a failure because his people had abandoned their faith to the secularizing pulls from the West and the West, Khomeini preached, had the deliberate intention of destroying Islam. The United States was the leading nation of this force, and this force, this "Great Satan," had to be detsroyed through war. Terrorist activities by Muslim radicals all throughout the Middle East begin to build over the next two decades. This period is generally referred to as the Islamic Jihad.
January 1979 SALT II talks completed between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.
26 March 1979 Peace treaty is signed between Israel and Egypt, ending 31 years or war and returning the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
24 December 1979 The Soviet Union invades neighboring Afghanistan in order to prop up the failing communist Afghan government. Although the Afghan communists had only been on power for 18 months, their reforms had already touched off rebellions and guerilla actions by Islamic fundamentalists.
1980 Space Shuttle flights begin as available payload space is booked full. Early missions will demonstrate the many uses of the gravity-free vacuum of space.
1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War: Squabbles over the border area Shatt al Arab lead to full scale war between Iran and Iraq. Iran is able to repel initial Iraqi incursions before the two armies sit in stalemate for six years. A UN cease-fire is adopted in 1988 and pre-war boundaries are restored.
1982 Israel invades Lebanon in an attempt to destroy the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Syrian army. The result was merely to send Lebanon into decades of civil war and turn it into a hotbed of terrorist acitities.
On Earth, Element 109 is discovered in India.
Project Galileo departs from Earth orbit for Jupiter. It will descend into the Jovian atmosphere behind a heat shield, radioing back data until the increasing pressure crushes the hull, about 30 minutes after entry.
The Lunar Polar Orbiter transmits data concerning the surface chemistry and heat flow on the moon.
Construction begins on Starlab, Earth's first permanently manned space station. Though inhabited mainly by Americans, the space station will utilize many foreign scientists on its civilian staff.
June 1982 King Khalid of Saudi Arabia dies, and Fahd becomes king and prime minister in a smooth transition.
1 August 1982 Phoenix Enterprises Limited is established as a Terran seagoing shipping firm operating out of Sydney, Australia. One of the few corporations to survive World War III relatively intact, Phoenix Enterprises will be instrumental in maintaining the tenuous seaborne contacts between survivors during Earth's reconstruction. After the development of warp drive in the 21st Century, Phoenix will will become a space-based transportation firm. It will eventually become one of the major U.F.P.-wide commercial carriers in space, with offices in Salazaar, Sol, Betelgeuse, Argelian, and Antares systems.
1983On Earth, Element 110 is discovered in India. A highly fissionable and unstable material, Element 110 will be used against Odo in late 2371 by the High Gul to immobilize the Changeling and prevent him from morphing.
1984 The United States begins directing and focusing the revolutionary Freedom Fighters of Afghanistan (the "mujahidin") in their fight against the Soviet occupation forces. Supplying the Afghan rebels with arms, supplies, and battle tactics, the U.S. is able to use the local resistance to bring the communist government in Kabul to its knees and bring the Soviets the same frustration that the U.S. military had experienced in Vietnam a decade earlier. Arming and training these Islamic militants proved a double-edged sword, however, as many of the Freedom Fighters of the 1980's turned into anti-American terrorists in the 1990's.
With Starlab completed, full operations begin.
1 November 1984 Gary Seven rescues Khan from the rioting in Delhi following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
2 December 1984 Khan accompanies Gary Seven to Antarctica to confront atmospheric researcher Dr. Wilson Evergreen, who is discovered to be immortal when Khan stabs him.
1985 A probe flies by Halley's Comet with a battery of instruments that measure its tenuous tail, and continues on to encounter the comet Tempel 2 in 1988.
1986 Multiple asteroid rendezvous missions view these bodies in space close-up with an eye on the future mining of these interplanetary travelers.
28 January 1986 The crew of the United States space shuttle Challenger is killed when the orbiter explodes 73 seconds after launch. This is the worst tragedy to date in Terra's fledgling space program.
March 1986 The success of Starlab prompts its backers to begin plans for an even larger space station which will house over 10,000 permanent inhabitants and be Man's first true colony in space. The station is to be built in sections, and as each section is completed, it will become immediately operational, thus allowing the station, in effect, to build itself. If sucessful, this ambitious project will represent Man's greatest space achievement. It will not only include scientific and industrial sections (making such items as frictionless ball bearings, which can be produced only in weightless conditions), but will also grow its own food and provide reliable solar energy via microwave to a power-hungry Earth. This concept is eventually given birth in the Space Station Alpha One in 2003, on a much larger budget, over a much longer period of time, and on a much smaller scale than the original planners had planned. While the space station was successfully completed through international cooperation, the length and time and amount of resources the Station takes to complete shows just how far Humans still had to come in their technological advancement. It is also a testimony to Humanity's urge to push forward and to fulfill its dreams.
1988 The Mars Sample Return Probe is launched. It will retrieve soil and rocks for analysis back on Earth when it returns in 1991.
1989 The Cold War ends with the beginning of the World Revolution. Twenty years of political and economic tranformation fundamentally reshape the world order. The early 1980s witnessed a final period of friction between the United States and the USSR, resulting mainly from the Soviets' invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and from the firm line adopted by U.S. president Ronald Reagan after his 1980 election. Reagan saw the USSR as an "evil empire." He also believed that his rivals in Moscow respected strength first and foremost, and thus he set about to add greatly to U.S. military capabilities. The Soviets initially viewed Reagan as an implacable foe, committed to subverting the Soviet system and possibly willing to risk nuclear war in the process. Then in the mid-1980s Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in the U.S.S.R. Gorbachev was determined to halt the increasing decay of the Soviet system and to shed some of his country's foreign policy burdens. Between 1986 and 1989 he brought a revolution to Soviet foreign policy, abandoning long-held Soviet assumptions and seeking new and far-reaching agreements with the West. Gorbachev's efforts fundamentally altered the dynamic of East-West relations. Gorbachev and Reagan held a series of summit talks beginning in 1985, and in 1987 the two leaders agreed to eliminate a whole class of their countries' nuclear missiles--those capable of striking Europe and Asia from the USSR and vice versa. The Soviet government began to reduce its forces in Eastern Europe. In 1989 Communist regimes begin to topple in the countries of Eastern Europe and the wall that had divided East and West Berlin since 1961 was torn down.
Apartheid ends in South Africa and President de Clerk abolishes the all-white government apparatus and frees Nelson Mandella, the voice of the dispossed black majority. Mandella is subsequently elected president of the nation.
15 February 1989 The Soviet Union completes its withdrawal from Afghanistan, which had started with the signing of the Geneva Accords in 1988. Also under terms of the accords, the U.S. and U.S.S.R. agreed to stay out of the internal affairs of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
15 April 1989 People from all over China come to the Tiananmen Square in Beijing to protest against official corruption, demand further reforms, and call for more freedom and democracy.
4 June 1989 Tianenmen Square Massacre: The students’ refusal to leave pitted against the Chinese Communist Party's desire for control led to a confrontation that resonates as one of the most emblematic standoffs of the 20th century. In the early hours, Chinese soldiers enter the square and open fire on the unarmed students. While no official figures are said to exist on the number of students killed that day, it is safe to say many were killed.
10 October 1986 Seven and Lincoln succeed in foiling an assassination attempt upon Mikhail Gorbachev. Khan arrives to assist Seven, thus repaying his life debt.
9 November 1986 Khan invades Seven's office to obtain information regarding the whereabouts of the other children from the Chrysalis Project.
1990-2100s The Information Revolution changes communication and transportation patterns all over the developed world. The explosion of the Internet and e-commerce revolutionize business and consumer activity through tele-commuting, on-line shopping and delivery, and just-in-time inventory management. The world continues to grow more interdependent even as the roots to allow for the decentralization of society are planted. Between these factors and the destruction caused by World War III, cities are largely abandoned by the middle of the twenty-first century.
1990Hubble Space Telescope is placed in orbit around the Earth by NASA. Hubble orbits 600 Kilometers above Earth, working around the clock to unlock the secrets of the Universe. It uses pointing precision, powerful optics, and state-of-the-art instruments to provide stunning views of the Universe that cannot be made using ground-based telescopes or other satellites. Hubble is the first scientific mission of any kind that is specifically designed for routine servicing by spacewalking astronauts. It has a visionary, modular design which allows the astronauts to take it apart, replace worn out equiptment and upgrade instruments. The views provided by the orbiting telescope revolutionizes Man's view of the Universe.
2 August 1990 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait. The United States begins deployment of troops in subsequent days to protect Suadi Arabia from further Iraqi incursions.
3 October 1990 East and West Germany formally unite, the way to unification beign paved by the fall of the communist government of East Germany.
1991 The Saturn Dual Probe arrives at the planet, with the satellite going into orbit as the descent stage relays information as it enters the planet's atmosphere.
16 January 1991 Persian Gulf War between the United States-led UN force and Iraq leads to UN forces repelling the invasion of Kuwait. U.S. President George Bush boasts of a new world order, one in which the integration of the world economy can proceed unencumbered by war and trade barriers. Saddam Hussein is allowed to remain in power, however, and continues to present problems for the U.S. in the years to come.
August - December 1991 The U.S.S.R. dissolves, and Russia and the other Soviet republics emerge as independent states. The ex-Soviet republics join in a loose alliance known as the Confederation of Independent States (C.I.S.).
26 June 1991 The Third Balkan War breaks out. Nationalist feelings among the republics of Yugoslavia--started by the disintegration of the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1989 and 1990--come to a head on this day as Slovenia declares its independence. Other republics in the Serbian dominated federation soon follow suit: Croatia, Vojvodina, Macedonia, and Bosnia. The Third Balkan War starts as President Slobodon Milosevic sends in the Serb Army to keep these nations in the federation. The war results in the disintegration of Yugoslavia as the seceding republics quickly gain international recognition.
1992 China shifts gears: the pace of economic reform accelerates with a number of younger and pro-reform leaders coming to power. Communism in China is dead in all but name only.
The Eugenics Wars: Khan Noonian Singh assumes behind-the-scenes control of the Indian government. Other engineered supermen assume similar control in the Balkans, North Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. Throughout the 1990's, the wars are limited to brushfire skirmishes, border conflicts, and "police actions" by NATO and the UN.
"Chicago Mobs of the Twenties," by Billings and Torgelson is published in New York on Earth. This single book will serve as a guide for the society on Sigma Iotia II in the next two centuries. The specific book affecting Iotian civilization may have originally been a part of Emick's collection.
8 September 1992 The article "Eugenic Supermen: Saviors or Dictators?" appears in The New York Times.
13 September 1993 Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Peace Accords are signed, setting forth principles for the gradual establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories occupied by Israel since the Six Day War.
1 November 1993 The nations of Western Europe establish the European Union. It is the most recent in a series of European cooperative organizations that originated with the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) of 1951, which became the European Community (EC) in 1967. The members of the EC were Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
1994 Austria, Finland, and Sweden join the EU, bringing the total membership to 15 nations.
The Islamic Jihad continues as a Pashtun militia force called the Taliban sweeps across Afghanistan, seizing power and installing a fundamentalist Islamic government. Initially, many Afghans welcome the Taliban as a force to reunite the war-torn country. Many opinions are changed over the course of the year, however, as harsh punishment (including executions) is employed to enforce strict conformity to fundamentalist Islam.
The published research of Miguel Alcubierre shifts the conception of faster-than-light travel from totally impossible to possible. At the University of Wales, his letter 'The warpdrive: hyper-fast travel within general relativity' is published.
1995 The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is ratified by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, implementing the largest free trade zone in the world.
The last DY-100 series sleeper vessel is built by the E.U. The series now consists of ten ships--only eight of these will be officially accounted for over the next few centuries. The uniform insignia for this class might be represented by the ship's outline overlaying the Earth and Moon in a circular patch, with the ship's name in a lower lip.
21 November 1995 The United States brokers the Dayton Accords, ending the Third Balkan War and the civil war between the Croats, Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina. NATO troops are dispatched to Bosnia to keep the peace.
1996As the last of the brushfires in India die out, Khan and the other supermen are finally captured by UN-sponsored special forces operations. The genetically-engineered supermen which started the wars are secretly tried by an international tribunal and sentenced to exile from Earth. Execution would have drawn too much attention, and imprisonment would have allowed the supermen to regenerate a following. The supermen are cryogenically frozen (despite the experimental stage of the technology), put aboard the DY-100 sleeper ship S.S. Botany Bay, and set adrift by a NASA shuttle away from the Sol System.
Earth scientists discover signs of ancient life on Mars.
Microscopic fossilized traces in meteorites are the first physical evidence that humans are not alone in the universe.
1 January 1996 Geoffrey Marcy and Paul Butler announce the discovery of planets orbiting the stars 70 Virginis and 47 Ursae Majoris. 70 Vir is a G5V (main sequence) star about 78 light-years from Earth; 47 UMa is a G0V star about 44 light-years away. These were discovered using the same doppler shift technique that found the planet orbiting 51 Pegasi. This discovery of extrasolar planets is but the first of many to follow, confirming the long-held suspiscion among Terran scientists that most stars do indeed have planets in orbit about them.
1998 India and Pakistan test nuclear weapons and join the club of nuclear powers (the United States, Russia, Great Britain, France, and China).
1999 The Asteroid Belt Lander reveals asteroids to be rich in important raw materials for further space industrialization by Earth.
15 Feb 1999 Voyager 6 is launched to investigate alien transmissions detected by NASA.
early 2000s Europe at peace: The eventual, if sometimes bloody, sorting out of the numerous ethnic rivalries in the land of the Danube and the Volga leaves a Europe scarred but at peace with itself as the European Union starts to grow eastward with the admission of Poland in 2012.
1 January 2000 The U.S. hands control of the Panama Canal and the surrounding territory over to the government of Panama.
26 June 2000 The U.S. announces completion of the initial mapping of the DNA sequence of the human genome. Known as the Human Genome Project, the blueprint of life is laid open for scientists and doctors to begin a revolution in medicine and eugenics research. With their ever-increasing body of information, doctors are able to effectively eliminate diseases such as cancer and AIDS by 2030, and scientists work feverishly in the area of eugenics and cloning to refine processes, with an eye toward overcoming the pitfalls which lead to the Eugenics Wars of the 1990's.
September 2000 Dreams of a Greater Serbia are put aside by Serbians as Slobodon Milosevic is defeated at the polls by his opposition, Vojislav Kostunica. The new Serbian government turns Milosevic over to the Hague to face war crimes charges for ethnic cleansing in Bosnia.
1 October 2000 Peace talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel break down after Palestinians reject a Comprehensive Peace Plan offered by Israel and the U.S. in August. Hard-line Palestinian groups declare an intifada (uprising) against Israel.
2001 The Mercury Rover sends back the first soil sample information from its location at the terminator. The data obtained is from both the dark side and the light side of the planet.
11 September 2001 Terrorists attack the United States when nineteen members of the radical Islamic group, al Qaeda, hijack four U.S. jetliners, crash two into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City and another into the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. The fourth jetliner crashes in western Pennsylvania when several passengers in that plane fight with the hijackers. The death toll from the attacks tops 3,300. This was the largest in a growing number of attacks against U.S. and Western interests carried out by fundamental Muslim terrorists. Al Qaeda (meaning "the Base" in English) was a world-wide network of loosely affiliated terrorist cells lead by Saudi fugitive and millionare Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden and his debuties gained their fighting experience as members of the "mujahidin" during the Afghan resistence to the Soviet occupation. During the 1990's, bin Laden grew increasingly dismayed at U.S. support for Israel, continued U.S. troop presence in Saudi Arabia following the Persian Gulf War, and perceived hypocrisy in U.S. foreign policy towards the Middle East in general. Carrying forward the Islamic Jihad started by the Iranian Revolution of 1979, al Qaeda, based in Afghanistan and under Taliban protection, recruited dispirited and down-trodden Muslim youths from throughout the world during the 1990's. Terrorist attacks that claimed several hundred lives throughout the late 1990's were not enough to get the full attention of the U.S. government; however, the attacks of 9/11/2001 were the first foreign attacks on U.S. soil since the Japanese attack of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, and the sleeping giant awoke once more.
September 2001 - 2009 The Terror Wars: In response to the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001, the U.S. builds and leads an international coalition of European, North African, Middle East, and Asian nations which work together to purge the globe of terrorist activity. Coalition efforts to root out the terrorists of al Qaeda carried on for several years, but these activities reveal the strains policing the world has put on the resources of the United States. Spread too thin and with investment in the future at a minimum, U.S. leaders start talking with world powers and the UN about extending the concept of the new world order spoken of by U.S. President George Bush in 1991--one which guarantess international peace with other nations acting as equals and partners of the U.S. The result of these talks will be the Vienna Accords of 2008.
October 2001 The U.S. throws its support behind the creation of a Palestinian state, with the proviso that Israel's right to exist and right to self-defense are not compromised. The Palestinian intifada intensifies, however, as Israel siezes on the new international disgust with terrorism and cracks down on the Palestinian Authority through air strikes and tank blockades. Arafat is consigned to house arrest.
NASA's Mars Odessy probe enters Martian orbit in a mission to seek the presence of hydrogen for the potential presence of water on the planet's surface.
November-December 2001 In its first campaign of the Terror Wars, the U.S.-led Anti-Terrorism Coalition aids the Afghan-rebel group Northern Alliance in overthrowing the Muslim-fundamentalist Taliban from power. The Taliban had been providing safe-harbor to Osama bin Laden since 1996 after his expulsion from the Sudan, and the Taliban leadership had refused to turn al Qaeda members over to the U.S. for trial. The U.S. and Britain send in Marines and Special Forces to begin the manhunt for Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda leadership, trapping many al Qaeda forces in the eastern Afghan region of Tora Bora. Although these forces are rooted out of the mountainous caves, bin Laden is nowhere to be found. Many suspect he has fled into neighboring Pakistsan. Rebuilding efforts begin in Afghanistan as an interim government is established under the symbolic leadership of the Pashtun King Mohammad Zahir Shah.
26 November 2001 President George W. Bush puts Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on notice that he will be the next focus of the Terror Wars if he does not allow UN inspectors back into his country to ensure compliance of UN resolutions demanding the dismantling of Iraq's program developing weapons of mass destruction. Although Bush's words have the potential of widening U.S. targets in the Terror Wars to include those small to medium-sized nations with active nuclear and biological weapons development programs, Hussein rejects Bush's demands.
19 December 2001 U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield informs NATO Defense Ministers that Somalia will be the next target of the Terror Wars. An Islamic nation in east Africa, Somalia is governed by regional warlords and crime syndicates. The U.S. participated in a UN humanitarian relief effort to Somolia in 1992 and 1993, but when American Marines were killed and drug through the streets of Mogadishu by soldiers of a local warlord, U.S. President Bill Clinton withdrew the United States from the region. Since the late 1980's, Somalia has served as a breeding ground and safe harbor for members of the al Qaeda network.
January 2002 The U.S. sends troops to the Philippines to aid that government;s efforts to irradicate al-Qaeda activities.
29 January 2002 In his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Bush labels Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an "axis of evil," broadening the targets of the Terror Wars to include national governments which seek to create weapons of mass destruction.
20 August 2002 Nomad 1 is launched by NASA.
January 2003 The International Space Station, Alpha One, is completed.
February 2005 At the initiative of Japan, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan form the Pacific Community.
August 2005 Iranian moderates gain the upper hand in their struggle against the Islamic conservative clerics when they win two-thirds of the seats in Iran's Parliament and the presidency. Reforms to loosen hard-line Islamic laws are pushed through and quickly accepted by the populace. Many historians speculate that the downfall of the anti-Western regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq prompted the Iranian people to seek a more moderate government in an effort to avoid the war moving to their lands.
November 2006 - April 2007 Subcontinental War between Pakistan and India. India fires two small nuclear shells at an advancing Pakistani army, sent in reponse to fresh tensions over Kashmir. These were the first nuclear weapon deployed in war in sixty-one years.
April 2007 The Subcontinental War threatens to spin out of control as the Sikhs of Punjab declare their independence.
March - May 2007 UN forces intervene to halt Subcontinental War through air strikes and the seizure of Indian and Pakistani nuclear weapons. An African delegation is sent in to dictate peace.
2007 Much of the al-Qaeda network has been destroyed, but bin Laden still elludes the Coalition. New regimes have been installed in Afghanistan because of the Taliban's early insistence on harboring bin Laden and Iraq because of Saddam Hussein's nuclear and biological weapons program.
1 April - May 2007 An alliance of Arab countries issues an ultimatum to Israel, demanding withdrawal of Israeli forces from several occupied territories. If no such withdrawal took place, the alliance warned, there would be a nuclear attack on Tel Aviv. Thanks to strong diplomatic pressure from other nations, the threat was not carried out, even thought Israel stook firm.
March 2008 Seven years of secret negotiations known between the developed nations of the world, collectively as the Vienna Conference, leads to signature of comprehensive arms limitation protocol (CALP) and division of the developing countries into zones of "legitimate special influence," Third World areas the developed countries partitioned among themselves to patrol and keep order so that free markets could work uninhibited by war, famine, disease, and lack of infrastructure. The developed nations agree that nonsignatory nations will never again be allowed to possess nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. Canada and the United States takes responsibility for Latin America; the European Union and Russia agree to police Africa and the Middle East; and China, Japan under authority of the Pacific Community, and Australia receive Asia and Oceana as their sphere of influence.
July 2008 Founding of the Global Trade Consortium (GTC) in Zurich by megacorporate businessmen in the advanced countries.
March 2009 Creation of the Arab Islamic Republic in Cairo.
April - May 2009 The European Union and Israel invade Egypt when it is discovered by the U.S. that Osama bin Laden is being hidden in Cairo. The Egyptian army is routed and most leaders of the fundamentalist Islamic regime are captured.
May 2009 The Terror Wars comes to an end when the Coalition overthrows the fundamentalist Islamic regime in Egypt and French intelligence assassinate Osama bin Laden in Cairo. Bin Laden was found and killed by a French Algerian undercover operative who had penetrated al-Qaeda and become one of bin Laden's trusted deputies. There was no one left who could take bin Laden's place, and the remnants of al-Qaeda broke apart. While radical Islamic terrorist activity continue throughout the period governed by the Vienna Conference, its back had effectively been broken and it never reached the level of organization and effectiveness it had known under bin Laden. The Islamic Jihad did not pose a serious threat to the world order again until World War III.
May 2011 Japan acquires nuclear weapons to help fulfill its "responsibilities" under the Vienna Accords.
June 2011 First Arab-Israeli conflict: The Israeli air force attacks installations in Iran, Syria and Libya on 7 June where, allegedly, nuclear missiles are being readied for launch. The attack used only conventional weapons. On 9 June, the forces of six Islamic nations begin a massive invasion of three disputed areas. Within four days, after fierce fighting and heavy casualties on all sides, the Israelis were retreating on all fronts. Jerusalem falls on 13 June; on 15 June Tel Aviv is threatened from the south. On that day, Prime Minister Solomon Thanesar declares that unless the invaders immediately withdrew he would order a nuclear strike against an unnamed target. At 4 am on 16 June, a 50-kiloton nuclear warhead was detonated 800 meters above the Libyan city of Sabha. The destruction was limited--less than 100,000 people died--but no one in the world doubted the seriousness of the situation.
President Austen immediately warns that the U.S. will not tolerate any reprisal against Israel, and the Russian President issues a strong statement to the effect that further Israeli use of nuclear missiles would provoke "severe repercussions." The two nations push a resolution through the UN Security Council to order all fighting in Israel to cease. There is no clear declaration of what will happen if the resolution is ignored, but the UN's resolve is not tested. In the negotiations to draw up acceptable boundaries for the state of Israel which follow, however, it is noticeable that both the U.S. and Russia take an active role, arguing that when the adherance of nations or peoples to the principle of self-determination led them to use nuclear weapons, that principle had to be set aside in favor of enforced arbitration.
August 2011 Brazilian Revolution is crushed with the help of U.S. forces.
2012 Founding of the International Data Storage Center in Zurich.
The Acts of Cumberland are passed.
The S.S. Copernicus DY-100 ("Savannah" class variant) is the first mass produced Terran spaceship capable of short interplanetary travel (Earth-moon). In an uprated mode, this 22 man 100-meter craft will be able to take Man to Mars. Some 5 meters short of the original "Savannah" DY-100 series, possessing only 44% the maximum velocity, this craft features vertical fins on its radically different engine section adding an additional 3 meters to its draught, and has 25 meters less beam
June 2012 North and South Korea unite into the Republic of Korea, extending South Korea's government to be government over the united peninsula and moving the capital to Pyongyang. U.S. forces withdraw from the Korean Peninsula.
2013 The GTC wins a precedent-setting confrontation with Japanese authorities over its operatives in Tokyo. This incident proved to everyone that the balance of power in international order had titled decisively to the international corporations (megacorps). While national governments never lost complete sovereignty, never again could nations act out of concert with the megacorps and GTC interests.
12 September 2014 First manned mission to Mars launched by the U.S. Unlike the first lunar flights, all of the Martian crew will visit the surface. The main mission ship, the "Willy Ley" (named after a pioneer rocket experimenter), will remain in orbit while its three shuttle crafts, the Issac Asimov, the Ray Bradbury, and the John Carter (evidence that the Martian mission crew remember earlier "visitors" to Mars), ferry the astronauts and their experimental devices to and from the surface. This will allow the crew to explore much of the Martian surface--more, in fact, than the total surface of the Moon explored by all of the "Apollo" missions combined. At the end of their three-month stay, the astronauts will board a recently arrived ship (the John F. Kennedy), which has been launched unmanned from Moon orbit for this purpose. The Willy Ley will remain in Mars orbit, along with the three shuttles and permanent experimental and informational devices on Mars' surface, to serve as a base for future missions. Thus, following journeys to Mars needn't be encumbered by a large ship and can be launched for much less money.
2015-2054 Dominated by the politics of the UN and the economics of the GTC, this period is generally referred to as the "Pax Nipponica." Under the Roman emperors Constantine and Theodosius in the fourth century AD, Christianity underwent a great shift. Christianity, the faith, evolved into the imperial church. A shift in the reverse direction took place during this period. Christianity had arrived at the end of its sojourn as the official, or established, religion of the Western world. Christianity laregly returned to its original, first century form, the disciple community described by the Scriptures. Although many opposed to the Christian message heralded the religion's demise; nevertheless, its detachment from the state and politics actually increased its lure and appeal, pointing people to what they were missing in a fast-paced, materialistic world run by the cold, heartless rules of capitalism.
2015 Terra's first interstellar probes, the Stellar series, are launched toward nearby stars by the U.S. Designed to gather data necessary for interstellar spaceships, these probes utilize elementary program-independent thought computer technology, with a cruising velocity of 0.104c via advanced fission powered ion drives
October 2015 Turkey is admitted into the European Union, completing the secularization and democratization of the nation its leaders had started in the mid 20th century.
2016 The drug Coradrenalin is developed on Earth from Adrenalin, to treat severe exposure and frostbite after its unsuccessful use in cryogenic labs.
2017 The U Thant, one of the Stellar series probes, reports large amounts of antimatter in the interstellar void at a distance of 120.4 A.U. from Pluto (Sol IX). This startling discovery subsequently changes the course of spaceflight technology decades later.
22 November 2017 First commercial fusion plant opens in Tokyo.
2018 Advances in sublight propulsion technologies make the sleeper ships obsolete.
September 2018 The U.N. Charter is amended to create the United Earth Space Probe Agency (UESPA), creating the first international agency responsible for the exploration and exploitation of space.
2019 The GTC authorizes project to design improved human type by gene surgery.
2020 The American government, reacting to serious problems of homeless and jobless people, creates special Sanctuary Districts in most cities where such people can be cared for. Unfortunately, while established with benevolent intent, the Sanctuary Districts quickly degenerate into inhumane internment camps where the unemployed, the mentally ill, and other outcasts are imprisoned.
January - March 2020 The United States, Russia, England, France, Germany, Japan, and Australia, under the coordination of the UESPA, establish a permanent base on the Moon, known as Moon Base One. The purpose of the base is two-fold: first to prove that different nations can indeed cooperate on a large-scale space project (thus helping to relieve political tensions); and second, to demonstrate the practical value of space exploration by mining heavy metals from beneath the lunar surface.
2021 The U.S. fleet of Space Shuttles complete their forty-one year series so successfully, Man will forever be in space. With the Shuttles wearing down due to age and the U.S. no longer able to afford the responsibility of carrying such a fleet or the cost of their missions, the Shuttles will be replaced by UESPA's fleet of Earth-to-orbit Space Ferries, propelled by high-performance chemical boosters whose waste products are water and carbon dioxide.
The existence of the subspace domain is confirmed by physicists on Earth. Subspace is found to provide an additional electromagnetic polarization plane perpendicular to the planes in normal space which could be used for signal transmission. Signal particles are observed to tunnel into the subspace domain; however, all attempts in the next 50 years to transmit nonrandom signals through subspace will fail.
July - October 2022 Second Mexican Revolution. Occupation of northern Mexico by the United States.
December 2022 Suppression of fundamentalist Islamic rebellion in Indonesia by Japanese forces.
2023-2024 First satellite colony of Moontown is built.
2024 Georgia is admitted into the European Union, the last of the old Soviet republics east of Russia to gain membership. With Georgia's admission, the European Union's eastern border reaches the frontiers of Russia.
Student unrest in Europe makes France an undesirable tourist destination for Earth's elite. Although France's neo-Trotskyist government tries to quell the protests, they have no more luck than the earlier Gaulist government.
Rumors of unrest are also filtering out of Sanctuary District A in San Francisco.
1 September 2024 The Bell Riots: Tensions in Sanctuary District A continue to mount, and district residents, lead by Gabriel Bell, take over an administrative processing center, holding six center employees hostage.
2 September 2024 Residents of Sanctuary District A manage to gain access to Earth's planetary computer network, the Internet, and many residents are able to tell their stories of imprisonment to the outside world. As a result, the American public becomes aware of the great injustice that had been hidden from them. The Bell riots end when the governor of California orders Federal troops to retake the processing center by force. Hundreds of sanctuary residents are killed, although none of the hostages are harmed. History records that Gabriel Bell sacrificed his life to save the hostages.
2025 In the wake of the Bell Riots and the senseless death of so many people, American public opinion turns against the Sanctuary Districts. The sanctuaries are abolished as the United States finally begins to face serious social problems it has struggled with for over a century.
17 March 2025 Reunification of Ireland by the Treaty of Rotterdam between the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and the European Union.
4 July 2025 Puerto Rico becomes the 51st U.S. State.
23 November 2025 After decades of talks, China and Taiwan sign a comprehensive agreement which resolves the differences which have plagued their relations since the Communist Party took control of the mainland in 1949: Taiwan retains its de-facto independence but acknowledges the suzerainty of China.
26 December 2025 Taiwan is admitted to the UN under the sponsorship of China, under the model of the Soviet Union and the Ukraine and Belorussia in 1946.
2026 The "Aventeur" class explorer enters service. It is the first ship to be entirely assembled in Earth orbit, with a complement of 109 and the most powerful onboard radio transceivers to date. The ship's clean fusion engines double the efficiency of early fission power packs. The most famous ship of this class will be the Lewis and Clark (perhaps justifying this class being later referred to as the "Clark" class). Three ships of this class will be instrumental in opening up the outer planets for development and colonization.
May 2026 Second Vienna Conference reconstitutes the United Nations as the New United Nations. The General Assembly remains as it did under the UN, but the Security Council is reformed so that only India, China, Japan, the EU, the US, Russia, Canada, and Australia would have seats and majority vote (one vote per nation) decided every question (the old veto system was abolished). The GTC was also given a seat on the Council, but it could vote only in case of a tie. The "special zones of influence" which were established under the original Vienna Accords are made trust territories of the developed nations under the New United Nations.
12 October 2026 Matsuo Bokai of the London Kings breaks Joe DiMaggio’s (NY Yankees) hitting record.
2027 Despite enormous set-up costs, fifty fusion generations are in operation in eight countries, supplying as much energy as all the hydroelectric plants in the world put together.
7 June 2027 Mysterious, intelligent signals are received at Project Argus outside of Socorro, New Mexico. Emanating at 38 degrees toward the star Vega, from a distance of 26 light years, they are the first extraterrestrial communications ever heard by Humans. This is the first success of Project SETI after 60 years. Blueprints for a machine are discovered beneath the focal transmission of primary numbers. The UN coordinates the establishment of the International Machine Consortium, which builds the machine. Unfortunately, the Machine was destroyed by radical religious terrorists before its function could be discovered. The Machine has never been rebuilt.
2029 In what is probably the low point in Middle Eastern sovereignty, it is doscovered that Arabian foreign oil minister, Faroukh al-Khalida, is actually U.S. megacorp executive Frank Calhoun. Russian and E.U. troops continuously patrolled the regions of the Middle East during the first half of the 21st century in order to ensure the unrestricted flow of cheap oil. The megacorps demanded this and the UN gave the operations in blessing, in accordance with the Vienna Accords. Although fusion plants were spreading, the fixed costs necessary to build and operate a plant kept the demand for oil high across the world, adding to the growing Greenhouse Crisis in the process. Eda, working out of the University of Oxford in London, publishes his findings on superunification--one elegant theory which includes as special cases physics that ran the gamut from gravitation to quarks. It is an achievement comparable to Isaac Newtons or Albert Einstein's, and Eda is almost immediately compared to both. He had been born a Muslim in Nigeria, not unusual in itself, but he was an adherent of an unorthodox Islamic faction called the Ahmadiyah, which encompassed the Sufis. The Sufis were to Islam what Zen was to Buddhism. Ahmadiyah proclaimed 'a jihad of the pen, not the sword.' After the horrors their fundamentalist leaders had helped to propogate in World War III, many Muslims of the late twenty-first and twenty-second centuries turned to Ahmadiyah in search for more peaceful and tolerant ways to apply the tenants of the Koran in a very diverse world.
August 2029 The first manned mission to Saturn, the U.N.S.S. Lewis And Clark (IBS-3 "Aventeur" class explorer) under the command of Colonel Shaun Jeoffrey Christopher reports evidence of alien visitation. Mine shafts and tread marks are found on the Saturnian moons. This remarkable find begins to forever change Man's perspective of himself in the universe. Following this mission, Christopher will become Chief of Staff of UNSF. In the future, Earth's largest permanent outpost in near-Saturn space on Titan, Christopher's Landing, will be named in honor of Shaun Christopher.
2030s Many diseases have been brought under control by this time due to molecular and genome research. Because scientists find countless numbers of undeniable marks left by the Creator in human DNA, a great many in the scientific community started to abandon the theories of evolution started by Charles Darwin in the mid-1800's and embrace the Theory of Intelligent Design. This general move caused ripples all through Terran society: restrictions on abortion and euthanasia, which had become more and more lax over the previous century, were tightened again; all eugenics work, including cloning, was made illegal (these restrictions are still in place today); and a new balance was found between theology and science. While religion would never again be allowed to have the kind of sway it held over government in Medieval Europe of the twentieth-century Middle East, it is again realized that religion (of all forms) does play a positive role in the welfare of society and should be nurtured and encouraged.
early 2030s Nuclear weapons are developed to be "cleaner." More than half the conventional nuclear warheads had been replaced by lithium hydride weapons detonated by minute pellets of antimatter instead of fissile materials. As a result, their explosions are relatively free of radioactive fallout. War offices ordered the new antimatter bombs so that armies could invade devastated areas without delay, not to save civilian lives or the environment.
Micah Brack (a.k.a. Flint the Immortal) begins to "waste money" on inertial damping research. He will be unsuccessful until the early 2060s.
2030 A famous Orion novelist writes a classic on the theme "Let me help." He recommends these words even over "I love you."
2031 UESPA begins construction on the Utopia Planetia Fleet Yards in orbit around Mars. Initially designed to provide a construction / assembly plant for ships to use on missions to the outer planets, the fleet yards are built with state-of-the-art technology and techniques. This label becomes somewhat of a tradition for Utopia Planetia as it has undergone four major overhauls and numerous upgrades of its capabilities and systems, allowing it to consistently remain one of the highest producers of ships for Earth and the Federation.
Topaline (Element 117) is discovered on Ganymede, the third moon of Jupiter (Sol V). It will in later years become vital for the life support systems of planetoid colonies and starships
5 May 2031 The UN's Secretary-General proclaims: "The deployment of nuclear weapons by the United States, the European and Pacific Communities, and Russia is humanity's shield against world war."
1 April 2032 Zephram Cochrane is born.
27 April 2032 The first spacechild is born at Moon Base One when Shuttle Technician First Class Rita Ashworth with UESPA gives birth to a 3.2 kg. boy, named Jules after Jules Verne. This event is heralded the Earth over as a new generation of Man has begun.
2033 Lily Sloane is born on Earth. After aiding Dr. Zefram Cochrane build the "Phoenix" in the mid-21st Century, Sloane will receive her engineering doctorate, develop amazing innovations on Cochrane's basic warp drive design, and found one of the galaxy's finest educational establishments for those studying warp drive and space travel: the Sloane Institute.
4 July 2033 The Virgin Islands become the 52nd U.S. state.
2035 Tellarite Space Elevator completed.
The first Earth/Space Census shows that 1,500 people are living off the Earth. As many as 7,500 could be in space by the year 2050, the UN study shows.
2036 Hovercars come into popular use on Earth.
The first Earth-Moon liner enters service with a ship's complement of 60.
14 March 2036 The Islamic Republic of Palestine is proclaimed in Amman.
12 Oct 2036 The New United Nations on Human Rights is adopted by every major power. Among its provisions is that no Terran citizen may be held accountable for the crimes of an ancestor.
April 2037 Second Arab-Israeli conflict: On 4 April, Israel again attacks her Arab neighbors with nuclear weapons, this time without warning, a preemptive strike in response to a perceived threat of further invasion. This time, Benghazi, Riyadh, and Aleppo are all hit, and the loss of life is enormous. The response of the Aran nations seemed likely to be uncontainable, leading to all-out nuclear war, but the E.U. and Russia issued an undertaking in the New United Nations that they would supervise not only the nuclear disarmament of all Middle Eastern nations, but also draw up definitive borders for Israel.
Borders are subsequently drawn up without the input of any Middle Eastern representatives and pushed through the UN as something not open to negotiations. Israel and the Arabs objected strenuously, but the settlement is imposed. Although nuclear war was averted in the short-term, many historians credit this conflict and its aftermath as the "sraw which broke the Muslims' back." Seeing no other way to break the yoke of "Western oppression," the entire Islamic world started to talk of and prepare for one last great jihad to restore the honor of Allah and His prophet Muhammed.
23 July 2037 The NASA Interstellar Probe S.S. Charybdis, commanded by Colonel Steven G. Richey, departs the Sol system. Utilizing Block II gas-core fission reaction propulsion and a crew of 15, this is the third manned interstellar ship to depart Earth's solar system. The mission objectives: survey of the deep extrasolar environment to the distance of 100 A.U., study of the inter- action of the solar magnetic field at heliopause, long-duration crew habitation, and a USAF electric-fields experiment module adaptability study (Interagency Co-op Program). The ship's telemetry will fail in 2044 ,and it will never be heard from again.
late 2030s-2040s Political dissent movements in the developed nations, whose beginnings can be traced back to the 1990's and protests over globalization, begin to rapidly spread and cause periods of rioting and civil unrest.
2038 The Church of the Purification, a fundamentalist Christian organization, is founded in the United States.
Twelve probes are sent into Jupiter's Red Spot which send back data showing it is the result of its inner core, and not merely atmospheric, processes. Dr. Lloyd Elkins, science supervisor a the Ganymede Temporary Research Outpost, reports the data in his science log
2039 Aided by a cyclone and tidal wave, rising sea levels inundate ten percent of Bangladesh. Other coastal areas around the globe are hard hit in this and succeeding years as the Greenhouse Crisis becomes acute.
March 2039 Formation of the League of the Dispossessed in the U.S. The League's Party platform preaches redirecting of federal tax dollars to cities with colored-people majorities to rebuild the worn and delapidated infrastructures and education systems.
c. 2040 Advances in holography render television obsolete.
2042 The world economy suffers relapse. Bankruptcy of Standard Energy Corporation triggers an international depression. Toxic feelings of nationalism, largely suppressed since the inception of the Vienna Accords, start to reer their ugly heads.
September 2042 The charismatic leader of the Sons and Daughters of Liberty, a protest movement which demanded the restoration of full national sovereignty and laissez-faire economics, is assassinated.
October 2042 The sport of baseball has its demise after the last World Series is held. Baseball great Harmon "Buck" Bokai, a former shortstop for the London Kings, now playing third base, hits the winning home run. Interest in the "national pastime" of the Americas has fallen to the point where only 300 spectators are in attendance at the final game. The disappointed Bokai feels he could have played for at least five more years.
2044 The mysterious loss of the Charybdis brings an end to the first attempted wave of Human extrasolar space exploration after a series of failures. As political tensions worsen, funding for purely scientific endeavours becomes less popular and harder to attain.
Autumn 2045 The World Party is formed. By far the most radical of the period's protest movements, the World Party is organized in Hicksville, New York by a young graduate student of State University Center at Binghamton named Mitchell Greenwald. It soon flowers into a true international political party, operating both in the open and underground, with the most improbable of political aims: the creation of a democratic socialist world republic.
July 2045 Moon Base One is abandoned because of a lack of resources and the worsening depression.
April 2047 In a special election, the voters of Quebec decide overwhelmingly to withdraw from the federation with the rest of Canada. The Canadian Constitution had been amended to allow for provincial secession if a treaty of secession could be struck between the seceding province and the remaining provinces. A convention is called to discuss Quebec secession.
1 May 2048 Fast sub-light propulsion ends the need for sleeper ships and opens the Asteroid belt and the Jovian Moons to exploitation.
2050-2051 Despite the worsening global depression, the colony world ("Beltworld", later renamed "Atlantis") is built in the Asteroid Belt by the GTC.
2050 The World Party has grown throughout Latin America, Europe and Russia, where it has managed to form an alliance of sorts with the Old Bolshiviks.
New techniques in advanced field theory indicates that, under certain conditions, an electromagnetic-gravitic coupling could be achieved. This coupling would produce a local distortion in the space-time geometry which could, in theory, be used to propel a spacecraft. Called the Gravitic Distortion Field Drive (DFD), CosmoDyne Unlimited tests the new principle on two prototypes: the XA-1 "Firecracker" and the XA-2 "Popcorn" 13 meter long cylinders called Flying Pills. Designed only as surface to orbit test vehicles, the DFD as a propulsion system will be superceded by impulse drive technology. However, the DFD tests incorporate inertial dampers and artificial gravity for the crew, and study of the DFD's theoretical problems will eventually lead Zefram Cochrane to his major breakthrough.
1 January 2050 Quebec officially becomes an independent nation and adopts "New France" as its new name. Although its government and citizens had long looked forward to closer cooperation with their French brethren in Europe, France had long Ago become very tightly integrated into European Union affairs. New France, culturally and economically isolated from the rest of English-speaking North America, suffered a startling economic decline. The outbreak of disease and starvation were not far behind.
November 2050 Election of Mary Chavez as President of the United States under the party platform of the League of the Dispossessed. Although faced with a hostile Congress, Chavez uses the considerable power of the presidency to direct federal tax dollars and the aid of non-profit organizations to the dilapidated inner cities, particularly Detroit, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Since the American inner cities are overwhelmingly populated by Hispanics and blacks, many whites see Chavez's efforts as the first stage in the "taking of their country."
3 December 2050 Chairman Li Kuan of China deserts the system of the Vienna Accords, largely because of its poor relations with the Pacific Community. Weary of playing second fiddle to the Western-dominated UN and the GTC, China sets about building an antisystemic alliance of poor nations. China also announces it will resume selling military hardware and nuclear specifications to Iran, Kenya, and Nigeria.
2051-2054 UN agents started to grow suspiscious of the World Party's activities and started to gather intelligence on its underground operations. Fearing its revolutionary agenda, the Security Council outlawed the World Party in 2053 and many of the Party's leaders were arrested. By 2054, the Party's membership had dwindled to fifty thousand worldwide, and Greenwald, its founder and leader, was working in a small factory outside of Christchurch, New Zealand. He had chosen a fortunate latitude.
2051 Cochrane's Factor, the curvature of space-time by the presence of mass in subspace, is discovered.
early 2051 Feeling empowered by the election of a Hispanic to the White House and angry with the continued U.S. occupation of northern Mexico, Hispanics in California demand that Spanish be recognized as an official language of the State of California.
August 2051 Founding of the Muslim World Union (MWU), the first true political union of Islamic nations from North Africa to Southeast Asia since the fall of the Arab Caliphate in the first millennium. The MWU offers itself as an alternative world government for Muslims, offering the same services to the Islamic world as the UN. The call for the Islamic Jihad against the imperialist West, silent since its defeat in the Terrorist Wars, is again sounded across the lands of Islam.
November 2051 California voters defeat Proposition 324 by a margin of 2 to 1. The Proposition was offered by conservative whites who felt threatened by the Hispanic calls for a bilingual state. Its preamble read: "Whereas California is a state of European heritage and was founded on Christian values . . . " It went on to make English the official language of California and Christianity the official state religion. While no one doubted this Proposition would have been struck down by California State courts as unconstitutional, the rhetoric behind the Proposition and those who campaigned for its passage caused the frustrations of the Hispanic community to explode. Calls for the secession of southern California from the Union ensued almost immediately following the election.
December 2051 - June 2052 Events in California start to spiral out of control. The Asian community of California felt hurt and betrayed by the offering of Proposition 324, so they allied themselves with the Hispanics calling for secession. Between them, the Asians and Hispanics controlled sixty percent of the California vote. The drums of secession beat louder and stronger until, in June of 2052, the California Secretary of State called an election to be held in August of 2051 in order to consider the question of the secession of southern California from the United States. This election was of questionable constitutionality: while the state constitution had been amended in 2010 to allow for secession, the federal constitution had never explicitly allowed states to secede from the Union and the 1868 Supreme Court case, Texas v. White, had declared the U.S. a "perpetual Union." Secession supporters pointed to the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to support the legality of their call.
6 May 2052 "The Service of Being", the "bible" of the World Party, is published by Mitchell Greenwald and Carolina Ocampo. The book promotes a resolutely secular, materialistic worldview, full of piety for creation, but finding no place for the Creator or a supernature. While orthodox Muslims, Jews and Christians banned together to denounce the book's message, Hindus and Buddhists found it almost palatable.
1 August 2052 Southern California votes to secede from the U.S. Although black and white voters teamed up to vote to keep southern California in the Union, the Asian/Hispanic voting block out-numbered them 60 to 40 percent.
August - September 2052 Reaction to the California secession vote is nearly instantaneous throughout the rest of the U.S. Many call for the deployment of U.S. troops to prevent the secession, but a century of preaching self-determination across the world and in the universities has influenced many that it would be immoral to force a state to remain in the Union against its wishes. The Chavez Administration decides that it is not worth another U.S. Civil War to keep the Union entact, and the U.S. Secretary of State starts to hold talks with the California Governor to negotiate a Treaty of Secession.
29 September 2052 U.S. divisions stationed in the Midwestern states, under the command of Colonel Green, rebel against the authority of President Chavez after Green denounces Chavez as betraying the Constitution and interests of the United States. The President and her supporters were trying to "South Africanize" America. Capitalizing on the racist suspiscions of affluent white Americans, Green points to the squandering of the wealth that the black government of South Africa supervised over the first-half of the 21st Century and accuses the Chavez Administration of similar goals. A civil war ensues.
18 November 2052 Secret Service agents loyal to Colonel Green fail in an attempt to assassinate Mary Chavez.
December 2052 Led by China, the First World Congress of poor nations is held in Lagos. UN troops fail to overthrow the revolutionary government in Algeria, marking the first failure of this kind by the member nations of the Vienna Accords.
April 2053 U.S. troops loyal to President Chavez capture the remnants of the Green Divisions, as they had come to be known. Although Green's troops made some slight gains in early fighting, their supply lines were quickly cut off by loyal U.S. troops and the Air Force as they trapped the Green Divisions in the cities and laid siege. With no power and no water or food and the cold winter months having taken their toll, the rebels started to surrender throughout April, ending the challenge to Chavez's presidency.
November 2053 Secession of Texas from U.S. The secession of South California and the resultant U.S. civil war did not leave the vast Hispanic population of Texas unaffected. In late 2052, calls for the establishment of the Republic of Texas were under way. The drive for secession made for strange alliances as many whites joined with Hispanics in calling for an independent Texas. The state had a tradition of independence anyway having been a separate nation from 1835 to 1845 and clinging to a culture its own even as a state within the Union. The cattle drives of the 19th century, oil fields of the 20th century, and the technological boom of the 21st century had made Texas the eighth largest economy in the world, and many white Texans felt the bloated, spend-happy government in Washington, D.C., no longer represented their conservative values and culture. The vote for the secession of Texas from the Union wins by a landslide.
January - March 2054 The secession of two of its largest economies left the United States' economy reeling. Already weakened by the persistent global depression, the loss of Texas and South California dealt a fatal blow to the U.S. With Canada also on the brink of collapse, the two nations naturally looked to one another for mutual assistance. Four conferences are held in Vancouver, British Columbia between the U.S. and Canada in the first months of 2054. The two parties agree to form a confederation of their states and provinces, making their existing economic and cultural union a political one as well. Adopting the name of the North American Confederation of the United States and Canada (USCAN), the new entity is a mixture of the U.S. presidential system and Canada's parlaimentary system. The United States ends its 278 year history dedicated to its ideals of freedom, liberty and justice, inspiring later generations and serving as a model of government for peoples everywhere.
2054-2055 World War III between the Allies and the Eastern Coalition results in 600 million deaths (37 million as a direct result of the nuclear exchanges), the destruction of most cities, and the collapse of all governments in the Northern Hemisphere. Many areas of Earth become a nuclear wasteland as environmental degradation threatens the biosphere of the entire planet.
May 2054 China attacks: Emboldened by the fall of the United States and the failure of the UN to overthrow the Algerian revolutionary government, China capitalizes on Western weakness and announces that it will take full control of the South China Sea, an area over which they had always claimed sovereignty. China seizes control of the oil rigs operated by American companies in Vietnam and the Vietnamese (a full member of the Pacific Community by this time) resists. Clashes between Chinese and Vietnamese warships ensue, and the Red Army invades Vietnam. USCAN and the Pacific Community say it cannot support this and send their remaining carriers into the region.
5 June 2054 In the Battle of the South China Sea, China destroys the Japanese / USCAN carrier fleet.
June - November 2054 Fighting spreads across East Asia. China marches into Hanoi and occupies large portions of Vietnam. India takes advantage of China's preoccupation and launches a major invasion of Pakistan, with the hope of subjugating their arch-enemy for good. The Indian invasion is initially successful, but the military alliance between Pakistan, Iran, and China is activated and Iran comes to Pakistan's assistance with modern and sophisticated military assistance. India becomes bogged down in fighting Iranian troops and Pakistani guerillas from several different ethnic groups.
16 July 2054 ECON is formed. China successfully capitalizes on anti-Western feelings in the MWU and Iran's successes against India to forge a military alliance with the entire Muslim Union. The Eastern Coalition (ECON) is formed by a pact signed in Baghdad.
July - October 2054 Moscow becomes concerned by China's quick military incursions and the prospect of Chinese dominance of the Asian theatre. Russia mobilizes troops to protect its territory in Sibera and East Asia. The numerous Chinese settlers in Siberia interrupt the Russian troop movements as China intervenes militarily to protect its countrymen. Chinese forces occupy Vladivostok, the Amur River valley, and other key parts of eastern Siberia. As fighting spreads between Russian and Chinese troops in central Siberia, uprisings occur in Mongolia, which China had earlier placed under a "protectorate."
2 August 2054 Invasion of Israel: Military forces of the MWU launch a massive attack on Israel, which the much-reduced USCAN Sixth Fleet is unable to stop.
12 August 2054 Allies come together: With the Chinese and Muslim armies on the offensive across Asia, the Pacific Community, Russia, and USCAN appeal to the European Union to join the fight on their side. The four powers, along with Brazil, Mexico, and some African nations form a mutual defense pact in Geneva. This coalition of nations is generally referred to as the Allies.
August - September 2054 Lines are drawn in the sand: Access to and control of oil is of prime concern to all participants. Despite extensive investment in fusion reactors worldwide, the developed world is still dependent on oil. During the course of the war, the remaining pro-Western Arab governments fall to Muslim extremists, cutting off the Western supply oil from the Persian Gulf. This increases the West's and Japan's dependence on oil from Central Asia and the Caucasian areas, making Russia's eastern front against the Chinese vital for Allied forces to hold. Along with troop reinforcements, the Allies forward tactical nuclear weapons to the eastern front in Siberia. The Chinese, in retaliation for Europe's entry into the war on the side of the Allies, moves antimatter bombs into North Africa and Asia Minor. From here, events quickly spiral out of control.
3 October 2054 Allies invade the Middle East: In an effort to split the ECON lines and repel the MWU invasion of Israel, the Allies launch a major offensive into the Middle East. Meanwhile, a missile with a nuclear warhead, launched from Algeria, explodes outside Marseilles, and NATO retaliates with massive air strikes against North African targets.
October 2054 - January 2055 Allies push back: Allied forces in the Middle East and central Siberia start to push the ECON armies back in one pitched battle after another. Having reached the holy cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina, in Arabia and the Chinese border with Russia in Siberia, nuclear destruction might have been avoided if the Allies would have called a halt to their offensive and negotiated a settlement. Cries for vengance and justice were louder than pleas for peace, however, and the Allied invasion of China and defilement of Islamic holy sites proceeded.
5-7 January 2055 Last ditch peace efforts: The world holds its breath as the GTC and the UN Secretary-General plea for a cease-fire and shuttle to capitals all over the world in a last-ditch effort to negotiate a peace which will save the world from falling off the cliff. They fail.
8 January 2055 The Catastrophe: Refusing to surrender and faced with a worsening situation, ECON dispatches lithium salvos against every military target of USCAN, Russia, Japan, and Europe. ECON made one mistake: while it neutralized the air and space defenses of the targeted countries, two USCAN Siren submarines disguised as Sea Star intelligence subs had taken to sea only one hour before the attack on the order of President Chavez. They appeared on ECON surveillance monitors as lightly armed and essentially harmless Sea Stars. When the nukes reached their targets, the Sirens survived. These Sirens were war-maidens of almost limitless offensive capabilities, each equipped with twenty missiles and each missile with ten lithium warheads. During the two seconds between the first and second wave of nuclear attacks on the Presidential bunker in Maryland, Chavez nodded her head to her secretary of defense. Before the bunker was eliminated by the second wave of antimatter missiles, the secretary of defense spoke one word into his screen: "Go." The Sirens sang their lethal song. In a blink the military assets of China and the MWU were no more. Most of their military and naval bases were demolished, along with a dozen cities, targeted as military command centers. By 1135 Zulu time, both sides were levelled.
January 2055-2057 The Great Convulsion siezes the world: Not knowing how to proceed, the remaining military commanders on both sides responded in confusion and disbelief. In a few short hours, their world had been irreparably destroyed: twenty major cities had disappeared, most military bases and orbiting stations had been decimated, and nearly 80 million people had lost their lives. Many commanders tried to retreat back to their command centers and await further orders; some did what they could to turn control over to the local government; still others joined their batallions and companies together for survival. However, a determined few decided to carry the war on under their own authority. Some of these had ICBMs at their disposal; some had AI tanks, cruise missiles, or nuclear shells and rockets. Some were stationed in Europe, some on the high seas, some in Asia. At least 100 spaceplanes survived the nuclear exchange while on missions in the upper atmosphere or in space, and many were heavily armed. With communications down everywhere, these commanders had no idea the war was over, why they were fighting, or who the enemy was. They just lashed out blindly all over the globe. The random ruin of civilization by invertebrate armies went on for months. Most of North America and Europe was destroyed, together with many parts of East Asia and North Africa. A vicious nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan, initiated by India once it realized their was no world authority to stop it, devastated the Indian subcontinent north of the Tropic of Cancer. Not much survived north of the twenty-fifth parallel, and normal bright sunshine was a rarity until one reached lower Brazil, central Australia, and South Africa.
April 2055 UN headquarters move from New York City to Buenos Aires and GTC headquarters move to Capetown in the Republic of South Africa.
2055-2060 The World Party begins its rise to power. Taking advantage of the confusion and disorder caused by the Third World War, Party leaders mobilize their cells around the world. With agents in eighty-five governments on every continent, the secretariats of the UN, and at GTC headquarters in Zurich, the World Party begins attracting the support of massive numbers of workers worldwide through messages of humanism and economic equality: the "democracies" and "socialisms" of the past did not work because the people had been given the vote and jobs, but they did not possess the self-generated political consiousness necessary to govern themselves; the old Lords of Capital had, in fact, used the Old System to keep the masses subjugated and enslaved. The World Party's answer was to give every person the chance to acquire and employ marketable skills and to strive for equality of wealth worldwide. This, the Party advocated, would lead to a populace with a developed sense of purpose, direction, and sacrifice, able to govern society in a wise, constructive manner. Also part of the Party rhetoric was an appeal to the relatively healthy and unaffected South: the tables had been turned and it was now the Southern nations which were "enlightened" and "advanced." For the South to resurrect the old world order, Party activists claimed, would be like "suckling the brawny child of a fallen giant." In due course, the child would no doubt grow up and take the parent's place.
late 2050s The former United States has broken up into several hundred statelets and there are thousands of political units in Europe, mostly drawn along ethnic lines.
2057 Official UN ban on World Party activities is lifted.
2057-2063 As armies ran out of munitions and disbanded or joined local constubalaries, the planet's ecosystem finally starts to recover and cleanse itself. A few nations in the Northern Hemisphere are able to survive because their infrastructures are not totally collapsed and local governments are effecient at providing enough nutrients from crops of edible algae to replace at least some of the field crops and livestock destroyed by the war. Australian demographers that began surveying the North in 2047 report more than half the people in Mexico, Central America, the Middle East, and Indonesia survived in this way. Most of southwestern China and southern India (including the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu) survive. Australians and several Latin America countries mount international recovery efforts during this period and start talking of rebuilding the world infrastructure.
27 April - 2 May 2059 Coming of the Commonwealth: The World Party holds a congress in Santiago and issues the Declaration of Human Sovereignty, the new party platform. Among its provisions is a promise to eradicate inequality among nations by 2100 and the adoption of a strategy of "mundialization," i.e., winning or seizing power in every country where it had the opportunity and then declaring that country a component device of the nascent world commonwealth.
2061 Completion of the second beltworld ("Lemuria").
February 2062 Mundialization of Chile.
April 2062 Mundialization of Australia.
January 2063 Mundialization of South Indian Federation.
5 April 2063 First successful warp drive demonstration by Zephram Cochrane. Cochrane had retrofitted an old ICBM and named his ship Phoenix. Out of the seeds of his destruction, mankind would rise again. A Vulcan survey ship (Vulcan is in the Epsilon Eridani System, ten light years from Earth) under the command of Sevak which had been passing through the Sol System near Pluto notices the warp signature left by the Phoenix and changes course to Earth. Humanity's first contact with an alien race takes place in central Montana, Cochrane's base of operations.
First contact sparks a remarkable turning point in the difficult recovery from Earth's terrible nuclear war, and marks the beginning of humanity's interstellar age. Mankind is drawn together like no one ever thought possible with the discovery that humanity is not alone, and in fifty years, war, famine and disease will be but a fading memory on Earth.
2064 Mundialization of Angola, Nambia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and Finland.
Application of Cochrane's warp drive technology results in the advanced "Hawking" class ships. These cruisers are the most popular of the early warp spaceships, used for both interplanetary and interstellar missions.
12 October 2065 SS Valiant launched on a deep space exploration mission and is destroyed near the galactic rim, by her captain, to prevent psionic enhanced crewmen from returning to Earth.
c. 2067 The Great Awakening on Argelius II.
Emperor Kagga, the last Klingon Emperor is assassinated in a power struggle on Qo'nos. His privy council assumes control of the Empire, electing one of their number as Chancellor pending the location of a legitimate heir to Kahless and establishing the "Second Klingon Empire".
12 June 2067 Sir John Burke of the Royal Academy discovers Sherman’s Planet.
2068 With thirty-five countries mundialized, the UN disbands. UESPA continues to coordinate all space activity.
2069 End of the GTC, formation of the Provisional Trust. The Trust is chartered to oversee the restoration of international trade until the Commonwealth is established.
2070 Pitched battles between Crusaders of the Church of the Purification and World Party defense battalions in North America. Mundialization of China (the western half of the former China state) and the Russian Confederacy (a crazy patchwork of autonomous regions centered in Siberia).
2071 Mundialization of Argentina.
February 2072 Mundialization of Algeria and Brazil.
1 May 2072 Commonwealth proclaimed: Although civil and regional wars still wage in North America and Europe and Islamic Southwest Asia is sullen and withdrawn, the World Party issues the proclamation of the Terran Commonwealth.
25 June 2072 UESPA is brought under the authority of the Commonwealth, which allows the Space Agency to continue in its work, granting it a great deal of autonomy to execute space explorations while significantly increasing its funding.
September 2072 Commonwealth scientists reoccupy Moon Base One. In an effort to show that Earth is moving beyond its past, the People's Congress authorizes the settlement of a colony around Moon Base One. People the world over quickly volunteer to become colonists and waiting-lists form. While an initial population-seed for the new lunar colony is set at 200 souls, the colony quickly grows and expands, becoming the lunar city of New Berlin.
21 January 2073 The Great Experiment: In yet another symbolic gesture of humanity moving beyond its past, the Commonwealth unleashes an ambitious plan known as the Great Experiment: while man had a colony on the Moon, mining operations and two colony worlds in the Asteroid Belt, fleet yard plans for Mars, and successfully manned missions to all the Outer Planets, he still had not ventured outside of his own solar system. A habitable planet had been found by Earth astronomers orbiting the star Procyon, eleven light years from Earth. Travelling at maximum warp, it was figured that a ship would need nine years to reach the planet. Naming the colony world Terra Nova (New Earth), a colony ship was built which was designed to be dismantled upon arrival and its parts used to build the structures of the colony. Fifty seed colonists are chosen for the mission, a UESPA captain is put in command, and their ship, the Conastoga, leaves Earth orbit on 21 January.
December 2073 The World Militia moves throughout the planet to restore order and quell resistance to the Commonwealth by armed force whereever necessary. Although six years of counterrevolutionary wars are fought, the World Militia successfully defeats all opposition forces. These actions put an end to the ‘Post-Atomic Horrors,’ as some areas experience the first peace its people have known since the outbreak of the Third World War.
2074 Taking advantage of the mixing of the races across the globe the aftermath of World War III brought, the Commonwealth abolishes national frontiers and arbitrarily carves the world up into one thousand districts known as "departments." Each department was the home of 8.5 and 9 million people, who might be of a single ethnicity or a half dozen. The one thousand departments of the Commonwealth wielded no greater powers than the 95 department of the former French Republic and were, in some respects, modeled after them. Each had a governor, appointed by the Commonwealth, and a consultative assembly elected by the people of the department, but no legislative authority, no independent judiciary, and no army or militia. The central institution of the Commonwealth was the People's Congress, which consisted of two popularly elected delegates from each department. The Congress made the laws and appointed the Executive Council, a body of fifty senior ministers, all of whom served at the pleasure of the Congress and could be removed by simple majority of the Congress. Heading the Council was a president, selected by the Council itself from its own membership. The president could dismiss any minister on the Council, but the Congress retained the power to appoint the fallen minister's successor. There was also a system of world courts of original jurisdiction and appeal. Its judges were chosen for life by the president with the consent of Congress, and they in turn appointed the judges of the departmental courts, which tried local civil disputed and criminal cases. To enforce the laws of the Commonwealth, the World Militia was granted a monopoly of armed force, except for UESPA in space and lightly armed departmental police units. In the years to come, the Commonwealth is run by free and fair elections, despite the dominance by the World Party in the years if recovery.
An economic alliance is declared between Vulcan and Terra, and the first interstellar trade missions begin. Commercial space lanes with convenient transfer points are set up to encourage trade
The 15-man MD1075 Multi-dock enters service. Used as a central receiving point for material transfer between starships and as a temporary drydock for vessel repair, 115 docks of this general series will be located along the more frequently traveled space routes in the years to come.
2075 The Drake is one of 15 Well's series probes launched from Earth's Moon. The series has a four-fold increase in effective range and a ten-fold improvement in data gathering and analyzing capability over the earlier "Stellar" series, employing significantly increased artificial intelligence enabling them to make much more complex decisions on their own sending back whatever pictures and data they deemed important.
2077An Earthquake hits Southern California, sinking the entire region. The region is transformed into a great coral reef, home to thousands of different marine species by the 24th Cenutury.
2079 First year which no fossil fuels are burned.
September 2079 Last skirmishes between Commonwealth and local resistance groups.
2080 Representatives of all nations ratify the Declaration of Human Sovereignty in Melbourne.
2081 The first joint scientific project between Terra and Vulcan shows tangible benefits when the first of a new series of Milky Way research probes are launched from these two worlds.
6 December 2081 The colonists of the Great Experiment reach Terra Nova and begin the construction of their colony. Reports of a lush, green tropical planet rich in resources delight the world. UESPA begins to draw up plans to send up to 200 more colonists to the planet; however, the new inhabitants of man's first extrasolar colony wanted nothing to do with a fresh wave of humans. This was their world now and they wanted to build it according to their own dreams and desires. Relations become strained between UESPA and Terra Nova, messages between the two parties growing quite heated over the next five years.
August 2082 First electro-magnetic pulse beam weapon is introduced.
2083 Planetary Restoration Authority created by the People's Congress to oversee the Great Housecleaning, the Commonwealth initiative to restore Earth's ecosystem and preserve wildlands.
The fad of surgically implanted cranial plugs which appeared in the aftermath of World War III is outlawed by the People's Congress. The plugs, connected to electrodes in their brains, allowed people (known as "wireheads") to experience unlimited ecstasy.
2085 Islamic guerilla force in the Middle East disarmed by swift action of the World Militia.
13 November 2086 A message is received from Terra Nova which ends up being the last. The fate of the colony will not be known until 2151 when it finally becomes feasible to mount a rescue mission. The loss of Terra Nova becomes one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the century.
2088 Establishment of the tribunate, charged by the Congress to hear compaints of violations of civil liberties of individuals or co-ops by public authorities.
The Goddard Moonbase is constructed by UESPA engineers and space construction contractors. It is designed to provide accomodations for 70 in the fields of space research and industry. Consisting of three double-skinned geodesic domes, the Moonbase provides generous living quarters for up to 70 persons, and features a comprehensive research and astronautics area, and a dome used for space industries. Commonwealth President Sevron dedicates the base.
2089 Commonwealth engineer's reclaim flooded portions of Florida.
The "Columbus" class explorers enter service. These ships will be capable of traveling at Warp 1.8 utilizing antimatter 'spiked' fusion. The "Columbus" class will be the most advanced warp-capable fusion ship of the 21st Century and the first spaceship class with on-board shuttlecraft for extravehicular excursion. The C.S.S. Icarus will be the most famous ship of this class when it carries the first wave of colonists to Alpha Centauri. The ship will be preserved in the Moon's Spaceflight Museum. Each ship carries a complement of 40 and an armament of 4 forward lasers and 25 fusion torpedoes, and will quickly supercede the "Columbia" class for interstellar flight.
2090Terra's Farside Moonbase begins operations, specializing in radio telescope observations. In the decades to come, astronomers employing liquid vacuum telescopes on the moon's farside will resolve three planets in the Alpha Centauri system. One is the size of Mercury, locked in an eccentric orbit around Alpha Centauri A. The other two are Earth-sized worlds in interweaving orbital paths around Alpha Centauri B.
12 February 2091 Centaurus Colony founded: Jumping on the discovery of the habitable planet Alpha Centauri VII (Centaurus), UESPA coordinates the launching of a new colony ship to establish a second extrasolar Human world. The trip to the Alpha Centauri system, only 4.6 light years from Earth, is completed in a little less that four years. Learning from its mistakes with the Terra Nova colonists, UESPA includes a platoon of World Militia soldiers in the first wave of colonists whose mission in to keep order until subsequent waves of colonists can arrive. Relations between the Centaurus colony and Earth never encounter the bumpy relations the Great Experiment wrought, perhaps because dozens of ships carrying hundreds of colonists arrive for many years after the original seed ship, perhaps because Centaurus was not as welcoming of a world as Terra Nova. While Centaurus was habitable for humans, its soil did not yield edible crops for the colonists and fresh water supplies were limited. The Centaurus colony would not have survived without resupply and reinforcement from UESPA, so the Centaurans never developed the mind of independence and proprietorship which the Novans had. Centaurus eventually becomes a thriving Human world, however, and becomes a full voting member of the Federation soon after its founding.
2092 Vulcan School of Diplomacy founded.
The "Belmont" class 12-man interplanetary tug enters service, with chemical/fission propulsion. They bear a resemblance to salvage craft which will be utilized in Star Fleet salvage yards in the next couple centuries to reclaim fuel, atmospheric gases, and vital components from abandoned or damaged spacecraft.
2095 Melbourne's last year as permanent capital city of the Commonwealth. No successor is appointed, but various other cities are designated as temporary ceremonial capitals by rotation.
2097 Completion of the biomap project.
2098 Antimatter is produced in minute quantities on Earth.
The first major expansion of Earth's Goddard Moonbase.
The Mass Driver is in use at the Clavius Mines. Raw materials are shot back to Earth orbit for processing to feed the burgeoning industry.
2099 The Space Homesteading Act affords enterprising pioneers the opportunity to acquire property in the Solar System and beyond. From its beginnings, the Act proves to be popular and workable. Under its provisions, several independent investors coordinate the building of macroworlds, hollowed out asteroids retrofitted with propulsion systems. The ships contain their own ecosystem, producing food, water and power indefinitely; they will eventually build up speeds near the speed of light and travel to planets newly discovered by Farside Moonbase (all of which are forty or more light years from Earth). These macroworlds are populated with many who want to escape the Commonwealth and (what they view as) enfringements upon their liberties through the "equalization" of society, i.e., the Commonwealth's elimination of poverty program through the global redistribution of wealth. Defeated resistance fighter and nationalists of various sorts also join the projects. Wanting the ability to build their own societies according to their own rules, these investors and attendant colonists launch their macroworlds in search of worlds in neighboring star system which they can colonize. Within the next fifty years, five or six Human colonies are established by these efforts.
2100s A paradigm shift that represents a narrowing of the perceived chasm between the various Christian traditions (particularly Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism), a trend which started in the harrowing years of the twenty-first century, picks up full steam in the opening decades of the twenty-second century. In a world with many problems, it is realized that Christianity need not be polarized, as differences in theology are often artificially accentuated by the political and structural context. The new paradigm is an ecumenical one, but without sacrificing distinctions of faith and tradition. In many cases, this attaitude extends this to include solidarity with all of the world's religious traditions, always searching for a common ground in solving mankind's problems.
2100 On Earth, the Centenary Conference looks at what the 22nd century will bring. Authorities trace the evolution of propulsion, communications, and electronics and the development of political and economic alliances. Other speakers look to the future with forecasts ranging from the prophetic to the short-sighted.
Satellite solar power collection system (the "Sun Ring") begins operation. Proclamation of Energy Day. Death of Mitchell Greenwald and Carolina Ocampa.
Early 22nd Century Western neo-classical symphonies will influence the dominant music on Tyrtaeus II.
2101 Reclamation of coastal Bangladesh concludes world program of restoring areas lost to rising sea levels. Meeting in Chongqing between delegates of the League of Space Cooperatives and the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth's Scientific Council releases a 15-year projection estimating offworld and space-oriented industry to grow at an exponential rate.
2102 Free Trade Party, founded by Gina Mascagni and associates, captures 11 percent of the vote in congressional elections. Preamble to annual report of the ministry of arts and letters declares war on cultutal avant-gardes.
2103 Goal of two to one ration between rich and poor citizens in all departments of the Commonwealth achieved.
12 October 2103 UESPA begins construction on the giant spaceship "Martian Genesis," planned to carry over 1,000 people, all specially trained volunteers who will begin the task of making the Martian surface habitable for Man. Instead of remaining in orbit around Mars, the "Martian Genesis" is designed to land on the surface, serving as a temporary home for the colonists until permanent facilities can be constructed. The "Genesis" will then serve as a power source for the colony with its nuclear generators. Mars will eventually be terraformed and possess a breathable atmosphere by the early 23rd Century. Technological breakthroughs made since contact with the Vulcans had made the project feasible and warming of the planet would be accomplished in a fraction of the time predicted by 21st Century scientists. Water and oxygen will be liberated from the subterranean permafrost and genetically engineered bacteria will be introduced into the terrain. The earliest colonists will utilize local Martian resources including basaltic regolith.
2105 An armed patrol/escort version of the CIE-07 is introduced and used by UESPA's Space Defense Force for the next 30 years.
April 2105 Five women are knifed to death in Kennedyport, Mars. This is the first serious crime in the history of the Colonies.
2107 Goal of two to one ration between rich and poor departments achieved in world economic system.
2109 Proclamation of Earth Festival Day. Scientists confirm falling CO2 levels, end of desertification, air and waters and soil free of industrial contamination, forests replinished.
The five interstellar ships are launched from orbit around the outer planets. These include the "Forty Families" generation ship which is the first Earth interstellar ship to use a Bussard ramjet for propulsion (not counting two robot probes). The "Forty Families" will be lost. Two more ramjet generation ships will be launched. One ship, the "Marilee," com- manded by Captain Wayne Perry, will colonize Perry's Planet. One such vessel, carrying colonists from Earth's Asian continent, may colonize Pai and form the Dragon Empire. Another generation ship, the "Alamo" will probably be launched during this era.
2111 The Small Party is founded, based on the belief that humankind had reached the point in its history when it communities no longer needed the carapace of a global polity. Their battle cry was heterogeneity.
2113 Mankind enters a golden age. Due to the technology developed in the colonization of the Moon and Mars, the standard of living goes up radically the world over. The Martian colony flourishes and grows to over 10,000 in population. UESPA establishes new bases on Europa, Ganymede, two moons of Jupiter found to have abundant supplies of water, and Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, and colonies quickly grew up around those bases. More colonies are also planted in the Asteroid Belt as mining of the valuable minerals there becomes a lucrative business with the development of maneuverable long-range cargo craft capable of interplanetary travel. An automated station is landed on the surface of Jupiter to "mine" the rare chemicals from the atmosphere. The Martian colony, augmented by new arrivals from Earth, splits into three more locations. Three more Starlab-type space stations are established, one of which is devoted solely to farming. With no seasons, droughts, diseases etc. to affect growth yields, the farm satellite produces three times the foodstuffs an equal area of land on Earth does. World famine is greatly reduced, and the promise of more farm satellites gives Humanity freedom from the fear of hunger. The Sun Ring now supplies more than 75 percent of Earth's power needs. Public support for exploration and utilization of space has never been higher.
June - November 2113 Oppositional movements in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent are crushed by Commonwealth rapid deployment troops.
2115 Commercial interplanetary travel begins for the Terrans with the inaugural flight of Solar Spacelines. And a new species will soon inhabit the Solar System: the tourist. The "Magellan" class spaceliners enter service, each carrying 260 passengers from Earth to the Asteroid Belt. The Prince Of Whales will be the most famous ship of this class, commanded by Captain Lars Olmstead. The C.S.S. Magellan will be instrumental in the colonization of the moons of the gas giants within the Sol system and carries the distinction of being the first to carry lifeboats.
19 October 2116 Aries IV is close to completing its survey mission of Mars when consumed by a graviton ellipse in Mars orbit, leaving two astronauts, Rose Kumagawa and Andrei Novakovich, stranded on the surface for weeks before a rescue vessel arrives. This is Mankind's first encounter with a spatial anomaly. The Aries IV was a 46 meter, 92 metric ton ISA vessel powered by a third generation ion drive, and equipped with a transpectral imager.
March - July 2117 Passive resistance campaigns instigated by the Small Party cadres worldwide.
1 May 2117 Man now has a foothold on most of the inhabitable planets in the solar system. His manned ships have explored the inner and outermost planets, as well as the deepest reaches of the seas. Advances in weather-control techniques and the influx of foodstuffs from the space stations have ended Earth's food problems. The standard of living throughout the world has never been higher. Power and raw materials are abundant and luxuries once considered beyond the reach of most of Earth's population are now commonplace. Major wars, which a few short years ago seemed unavoidable, are now unthinkable. With his immediate needs satisfied, Man turns his attention and major efforts to reaching the stars. Without faster-than-light travel, i.e., greater than the Warp 2 capabilities based upon Cochrane's initial superimpeller design, interstellar expeditions must be considered a one-way trip. The Warp 5 Institute is founded, led by Zefram Cochrane. The ultimate goal of this group is to develop Earth's first Warp 5 engine, which will be incorporated in the Enterprise NX-01, thereby dramatically increasing the speed of human spacecraft and bringing the local region of stars within his reach.
2119 Sabbatical Law takes effect, guaranteeing all workers twelve months of paid educational leave every seven years.
Construction begins on the first Terran city in space. This is by far Man's largest undertaking off the Earth.
12 March 2119 Zephrem Cochrane departs the Centauri colony for parts unknown.
2120s UESPA begins the construction of twelve starbases strategically located throughout the space which the Commonwealth claims, including Starbase 11, one of three planet-side bases.
The Andorian Empire is at its height, with 13 colonized worlds outside the Andorian home system.
2120 Transition to zero population growth worldwide is complete.
2121 The second L-5 city in space opens. Five more will be built in the following decade.
1 January 2123 SS Mariposa departs bearing colonists bound for the Ficus sector.
2124 Coalition of Free Trade and Small Parties wins 31 percent of the vote in congressional elections.
An Interplanetary Communications Network guarantees reliable communications throughout the Solar System. Mohammed Kahlil, President of the Commonwealth, makes the inaugural transmission from the L-4 Communications Platform.
First known outbreaks of Rigelian fever sweep Rigel IV.
13 June 2129 UESPA scraps the planned launch of the first warp-equipped manned-exploratory vessel at the behest of the Vulcans. This continues the pattern of the Vulcans using their knowledge of surrounding space and influence among world leaders and scientists to convince the Commonwealth administration that humans were not yet ready for space travel beyond their own space.
2130 The first Space Ark generation ship is built. Originally conceived as a huge interplanetary industrial spaceworks, its design flexibility was too narrow to keep pace with the rapidly evolving technology of the 22nd Century. Instead it was cheaply purchased by a consortium of like-minded people who refitted it as a multi-generational colony ship. Ten such ships will be built and launched although only one of which (Terra Ten) is known to have survived.
2131 The Andorians discover the fabulous weath of the Orion Homeworlds.
March 2131 Outlawry of the Small Party.
April 2131 A break-through teleporter research paper is released from a group of partical scientists working at MIT.
2132 Death of Buck Bokai, one of the greatest baseball players in Earth's history.
23 November 2132 No-confidence vote in the People's Congress. Council president Lyell-MacKenzie declares a state of emergency and dissolves Congress.
2135 Second wave of popular resistance and demonstrations against the Commonwealth: Lyell-MacKenzie suspends the constitution, rules by martial law.
March 2137 The People's Congress authorizes the creation of Starfleet "to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before." UESPA is absorbed into the ranks of Starfleet.
2138 Rise to prominence of Betazed reformer Dainara.
2139 First objects larger than a two or three molecules are successfully teleported.
Betazed ship Avandar breaks warp barrier; first contact between Betazed and the Terabian.
21 October 2140 Assassination of Lyell-MacKenzie in Esfahan. The Small Party is allowed to function again. Global elections are held and constitutional law is restored.
2141 Dura Valley unified Axanar following the Rectification War.
2142 New Terran elections. The Small Party elects 48 percent of representatives to the People's Congress.
May 2144 The "New Scientific Journal" releases an article which details successes in teleporting large animals on a routine basis. Although human trials are still years in the futute, Starfleet gets involved in teleporter research.
September 2144 Model EM-33 weapon is introduced.
2146 "The Starship's Medicine Chest and First Aid in Space" is published for the first time.
21 October 2147 The Small Party elects 67 percent of representatives to the Congress and forms its first government. The flag of Commonwealth is lowered in ceremony in Krasoyarsk.
2148 First permanent human trading presence in Rigel system on Rigel IV.
January 2148 Disbandment of the World Militia.
2150 The Autonomy Laws vest all governmental authority in chartered local communities, dismantling the departmental system as "arbitrary and inhumane". The Martian Colonies publish their Fundamental Declarations and secede from Terran control. It is used as a precedent-setting document for worlds wanting to declare governmental autonomy and signed by John Hammerlich, governor of the Martian Colonies. Matthew Turnbull Knox is one of the authors of the Fundamental Declaration and eventually will become one of the Martian governors in the early 22nd Century. It gives form to Humankind's first government independent of Terran control.
Al-Qahira is the name for Mars in Arabic. The Arabs who live out of Arabia are called Mahfaris, and the Arabs who came to Mars, the Qahiran Mahjaris. When they arrived on Mars a good number of them began to wander Vastitas Borealis ('The Northern Badia') and the Great Escarpment. These wanderers were mostly Bedouin Arabs, and they traveled in caravans, in a deliberate re-creation of a life that had disappeared on Earth. People who had lived in cities all their lives went to Mars and moved around in rovers and tents. The excuses for their ceaseless travel included the hunt for metals, areology, and trade, but it seemed clear that the important thing was the travel, the life itself. In practical terms, Al-Qahira was the pan-Arab dream come alive, as all the Arab regions had contributed money and people to the Mahjaris. The mix of Arab nationalities was complete, but in the individual caravans it separated out a bit. Still, they mixed; and whether they came from the oil-rich nations or the oil-poor ones didn't seem to matter. Here among the foreigners they were all cousins. Syrians and Iraqis, Egyptians and Saudis, Gulf Staters and Palestinians, Libyans and Bedouins. All cousins here.
Solar System activity booms as new industrial methods continually raise the Gross Solar Product.
During this period, military salutes go out of style on Earth.
2151Starfleet introduces first handheld phasers and begins equipping its starships with teleporters.
April 2151 The Enterprise NX-01, under the command of Captain Jonathan Archer, embarks on its first mission, despite attempts of the Vulcan ambassador to Earth to stop it. Designed by warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane and the father of the ship's first captain, Jonathan Archer, this Enterprise had a revolutionary warp propulsion system. It had a maximum speed of warp 5, an amazing feat for the time period. This shortened most travel times and allowed humanity to reach out past its local region of stars. The vessel served with distinction from the day of its first mission, when it was called into service during Earth's first encounter with the Klingons. Despite Suliban interference along the way, Enterprise was able to return a Klingon marooned on Earth back to his home planet of Qo'noS and also took humanity's first look at the Klingon Homeworld, which would become so important over the succeeding centuries.
June 2151 The Enterprise is sent to investigate the fate of the colony on Terra Nova on its way out to deep space. It is discovered that an asteroid hit the northern hemisphere of the planet in 2086, and the radiation fallout killed all the adult colonists. Children under five were generally able to develop an immunity to the radiation and survive in the local latticeowrk of caves. The Enterprise re-establishes contact with the Novans and helps them rediscover that their parents were Human and destroyed by an asteroid, not by ships from Earth bent on taking Terra Nova away from them.
July 2151 Starfleet makes first contact with the Andorians (natives of the Epsilon Indii star system, 11 light years from Earth), as a militant group takes over a sacred Vulcan monastery on P'Jem, accusing the Vulcans of using the monastery to spy on their homeworld and demanding to know the location of any sensor array facilities used by the Vulcans. The crew of the Enterprise, visiting the monastery and stumbling upon the hostage situation, uncovers a massive Vulcan sensor array deep underground which the Vulcans were using to watch the Andorian homeworld, in violation of the Vulcan/Andorian Tau Ceti Peace Accords. Earth soon becomes torn between the continuing hostilities between its Vulcan allies and the xenophobic, expansionist Andorian race.
August 2151 Fortunate Son.
15 August 2151 The Free Trade Party disintegrates.
October 2151Andorian commando fighters, supported by a fleet of twenty warships, destroy the Vulcan monastary and listening post at P'Jem. In protest of Enterprise's actions which lead to the Andorian discovery of the listening array, the Vulcan High Command cuts all ties with Starfleet.
100 light years from Earth, by far the longest distance any Earth starship had traveled to date, the Enterprise visits Coridan, a planet with which Vulcan had been visiting for decades and possessed several mining agreements, upon the invitation of the planet's Chancellor. A rebel faction takes Captain Archer and T'Pol, the Enterprise's Vulcan Science Officer, hostage and demands 40 phase pistols. The Vulcan ship, N'Var, arrives to retrieve T'Pol and finds the Enterprise crew attempting to deal with the hostage crisis.
Starfleet discovers that the rebel movement is in opposition to the planetary government which Vulcan helped to install. Andorian operatives were assisting the rebellion in an effort to undermine Vulcan interests on the Coridan and secure rights to the Coridian mineral wealth. Both the Vulcans and Andorians were in violation of their Tau Ceti Accords, and the Enterprise is once again caught in between. Andorian and Vulcan raids clash in mutual efforts to free the Enterprise officers. The Coridan rebels are killed and the hostages freed, but T'Pol is shot in the process of saving the life of the Captain of the N'Var. Because of this action and to avoid losing all influence with humans, the Vulcan High Command agrees to allow T'Pol to remain assigned to the Enterprise as Science Officer.
2152 First contact is made with the Tellarites. Under the command of Admiral Abel Niwen of the "Liberty" class U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard, ten Starfleet ships on patrol in the Sol system meets a single, intruding Tellarite ship. After an unusual confrontation, the Tellarite commander accepts an offer of peaceful coexistence between the two races. Terran contact with the planet Tellar (61 Cygni V) will be by the U.S.S. "Earickson" and will throw the planet into panic, nearly destroying their economy. A worldwide broadcast shows a benevolent meeting between Captain Harland Anders and the Tellarite monarch Gartov. This incident is an early inspiration for the Prime Directive.
Contact with the Rigellians pulls Earth into the widening conflict with the Orions. Ignoring Vulcan warnings to steer clear of the situation, Starfleet issues standing orders to its starships to aid Andorian, Tellarite, and Rigellian vessels if they are under attack from Orion ships.
2153 Last Congress of the World Party is held by the shores of Lake Louise; leaders agree to dissolve the Party. First successful tests of matter/antimatter blender.
29 November 2153 An encounter with the Andorians nearly ends in disaster when an Andorian starship fires on a Terran exploratory vessel. Terra prepares for war, but cooler heads on Vulcan convince Terran leaders to negotiate with the growing Andorian Empire.
2154 Earth, Regulus plant colonies in Vega System.
The military might of the "Five Powers" (Earth, Tellar, Andoria, Rigel and Cygnus) overwhelms the Orions and breaks their resistance. The Orion Conflict comes to an end, as the Rigellians agree to withdraw their claim to the Orion Homeworld and pursue the expansion of their empire in other sectors. With the Orion space fleet in shambles and the Homeworld in ruins, many Orions flee and take up piracy. These original pirate clans evolve into the Orion crime syndicates which cause so many problems for Federation worlds today.
March 2154 The First Alpha Centauri Conference preserves interstellar peace when Vulcan diplomats convince Andor that it has nothing to gain and everything to lose by fighting Terra and her allies.
2155 Starwide Merchants, Inc. is founded in Grinitaine, Alpha Centauri to finance and equip colonial expeditions.
14 Aug 2156 - 21 May 2160 Romulan Wars between Earth and the Romulan Star Empire. These "wars" are more skirmishes than true battles, but historians consider them to be true space wars in keeping with the technological capabilities of the day. The skirmishes are fought completely in deep space with atomic weapons, and Humans and Romulans never see one another face to face. While the wars are brutal, the pace of action is slowed down by the fact that the Romulans do not possess warp capabilities. In several battles, entire Terran fleets are lossed, but with months in between engagements to recover, Earth is capable of slowly pressing the advantage warp drive gives it. The wars end after the Battle of Cheron, which is a humiliating defeat for the Romulans. The Treaty of Algeron, negotiated entirely by subspace radio, establishes an armistice and creates the Romulan Neutral Zone. Earth agrees never to implement cloaking technology in its ships in exchange for the Romulans renouncing their claims to dozens of planets Starfleet had captured in fighting.
2157 The House of Earth: When the chartering process is complete, the Executive Council reports that 41,525 autonomous communities exist on Earth and in space, ranging in size from Nihon to a tiny group of 250 Druse in the mountains of the former Al-Jabal District in the Middle East and an equally small band of self-styled Apocalyptic Bible Baptists settled along the banks of the Yazoo River near Vicksburg in southern North America. Each community was required to select a form of government, economy, and soical structure. Orthodox Muslims were at last able to live strictly by the shari'a, although only a few Muslim commuities chose to do so, thanks to the resourceful opposition of women in the Muslim lands. Capitalism on a small scale was introduced in many communities. More than 85 percent of all communities opted for direct democracy. The larger ones had to settle for representative democracy, including "demarchy." A few of the newly designed intentional communities practiced matriarchy or patriarchy, while some attempted to get along without any government at all. At the other end of the spectrum, one community in twenty chose hereditary ot elective monarchy. Uniquely, Nihon contrived a complex system of indirect democracy resided over by a hereditary emporer. The first man to serve as emporer was a collateral descendant of the last emporer of Japan, discovered in a sea-farming village near Toyohashi by a team of enthusiastic genealogists. In certain unusually heterogeneous regions with histories of ethnic or religious conflict, intercommunitarian peace councils were formed to keep an eye on relations between communities.
1 Jan 2161 UFP is established: To bring order and cooperation to the interstellar upheaval into which humans had ventured and to avoid repeating the horrors and destruction which had resulted from the Romulan Wars, the United Federation of Planets is founded by Terra and Vulcan. The new Federation is a voluntary union for trade, exploration, diplomacy, and mutual protection. A Supreme Assembly, consisting of representatives from all members worlds, is established as a general debating chamber. While not exacly a legislature in the traditional sense, the Assembly wields considerable influence over the direction of Federation government and acts as a coordination point of sorts for all Federation agencies. The Federation is governed by the Federation Council, whose members are elected by the Supreme Assembly from among its members. It is headquartered at San Francisco, Terra. Presiding over the Federation Council is an elected Federation Council President, who makes his office at Paris, Terra. Each member world is entitled to retain its own form of government, its own military, and its own intelligence agencies. Ever since its establishment, the Federation has brought order to a section of the galaxy in which several expansionistic, territorial races acquired space-faring capabilities at about the same time. Tempered by the logic and experience of the Vulcans, these races were able to avoid the inevitable war and form the Federation, the first union of its kind in known to interstellar history. And the experiment has succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Today, the Federation uses a non-monetary economic system of "credits" to govern trade. Interstellar trade is largely free and unregulated, apart from certain contraband things such as slaves, drugs, and weapons of mass destruction. Because of its freedom and diversity, the Federation is wealthy and prosperous. Within the interstellar borders of the Federation there are many non-member worlds. Most of these are less-developed worlds, declared off-limits by the tenants of the Prime Directive. These planets are being left to develop as they will under the protection of a Federation whose existence they are unaware of. When a world has reached the appropriate phase of cultural development, it is contacted and strongly encouraged to join the Federation. Other non-member worlds are neutral or are allied to the Federation. The Federation is an enlightened entity, an oasis in a sea of autocracies. It is peaceful, but expansionistic.
Over a hundred people, accompanied by staffs totaling more than a thousand assistants, begin to draft the Articles of Federation of the U.F.P. on Babel (Wolf 424).
Vulcan Fleet Commander Savaj, commanding the V'Kreeth, opens up a whole quadrant of space and single-handedly attempts to keep Vulcan from joining in forming the United Federation of Planets.
Note that when the Vulcans who opposed the U.F.P.'s ambitious exploration plans are rebuffed, the Symmetrist movement will begin. The Symmetrists will view the interference in galactic ecology of worlds as a crime, and they will oppose terraforming of life-bearing worlds. At first a loosely-knit academic group, committed to compiling the data necessary to prove their case to the Federation Council, the Symmetrists will later align with other scientists on other worlds in the decades to come.
The Federation sphere of influence is a 293 light-year diameter sphere centered on Sol, approximately 380,000 cubic parsecs.
Earth transfers control of Starfleet to the Federation. Starbase 11 becomes the only Terran starbase to transfer to Federation control. Starfleet retains the right to use the space stations of any member race of the Federation and also gains unfettered access to the coveted Vulcan star charts for the first time.
2162 U.S.S. Daedalus, designed by Gnarr of Tellar, commissioned.
1 January 2162 Elimination of the Terran Commoncent.
April 2163 The Terran solar power satellite system is disconnected.
May - July 2163 Dissolution of all remaining governmental institutions of the Commonwealth. Self-abolition of the Small Party. World politics, as they had been known, cease to exist.
2165 Starfleet conducts the first test of the matter-antimatter blender in spacecraft warp engines.
Sarek of Vulcan, son of Skon and grandson of Solkar, is born.
The Earth colony Deneva is established.
2166 The "Vanguard" class transports enter service. This is the largest commercial/industrial ship of the 22nd Century and will serve as the primary multipurpose starship in the early years of the U.F.P. Its side loading bays and adaptable cargo interior makes for ready accommodation of different payloads, from small craft to raw ore to nearly 1,000 passengers (standard crew complement: 94). Later models will be uprated to keep pace with advances in warp technology. Based upon this vessel's design, an automated tug series will later enter service, used to move large space structures while in space construction yards and drydocks. At least one of these tugs will be assigned to each starbase and salvage yard
2167 The Archon is destroyed by Landru at planet Beta III.
The U.S.S. Essex is destroyed in an electromagnetic storm above the moon of Mad-Bu VI.
Outbreak of war between Betazed and the Terabian.
2168 Earth colonists settle on Moab IV in a sealed biosphere. The Horizon's visit to Sigma Iotia II includes leaving behind a copy of Chicago Mobs of the Twenties, a mistake resulting in massive cultural contamination; the Horizon itself was destroyed, with all hands lost, shortly thereafter, preventing knowledge of the Iotians from reaching Starfleet for a hundred years.
2169 Engineering breakthroughs result in the design for Starfleet's impulse engine technology that will remain essentially unchanged for centuries. Grave-robbers steal many priceless artifacts from Hebitian burial vaults on Cardassia.
2170 Moderates in the Andorian Supreme Cooperative petition the Federation for membership in an attempt to unite their people and draw Andoria into the mainstream of interstellar affairs, affairs which are becoming increasing dominated by the fledgling Federation.
A U.F.P. census indicates Earth has a population of ten billion, with over eight million Terrans residing in space.
Plans are made for a Federation-wide news-gathering and reporting agency. As a result, the United Federation of Planets Infonet is created.
March 2170 Katowa's group of American Indians leave Earth to seek a planet to colonize.
2171 Space buoys are deployed to improve navigation and security within Federation boundaries.
Earth discovers that ranching is the only way to keep some species from going extinct.
2173 Andoria is admitted as the third member of the Federation and is granted founding world status.
2174 Tellar is admitted as the fourth member of the Federation and is granted founding world status, the last world to be given this honor.
2179 Izar becomes a member of the Federation.
2180 Starfleet Command issues its famous White Paper: 'The Future Fleet: A Blueprint for the 23rd Century.' The report lays down the goals of Starfleet as an instrument of exploration, research, and defense. Among the goals included in the White Paper is a greatly enlarged Fleet by the year 2200, as increased security concerns assume greater importance with additional worlds joining the U.F.P.
2181 Terran ships establish the Orion Colonies in the Beta Orionis system (775 light years from Earth) after learning of the existence of vast dilithium mines within the system from Tellarite traders. The U.F.P.'s electronics and space metals are discovered to be more advanced than many others.
2183 The network of subspace ground-based transmitters and deep-space signal boosters is completed, connecting Earth with the Inner and Outer Colonies and with the existing member worlds of the Federation. These early subspace signals can travel at nearly warp 8, much faster than any ships of this time. Subspace transmitters and receivers are extremely large, requiring enormous amounts of power, and accordingly, are extremely expensive to build and operate.
17 January 2186 Pan-Galactic Productions is founded in London, Terra as a major producer of tri-dimensional films and will be part owner of several theme parks and recreation centers on Imagination and Wrigley's Pleasure Planet.
2188 Resumption of Terran Olympic Games.
1 February 2188 Chiokis Starship Construction is founded in Thelavor, Andor. This joint Andorian/Terran venture will produce more vessels and independent vessel designs than any other shipyard in U.F.P. history. This firm will be noted primarily for the unique saucer-shaped design used to construct military and exploratory vessels.
2191 Starfleet's initial network of manned and automated outposts along the Neutral Zone becomes operational, made possible in part by the "Atlas" series tug: the first of the warp-driven heavy transport tugs. The system is expanded and improved during the next 30 years, until most military theorists consider it impossible for a ship to cross the Zone undetected. It is assumed that the Romulans created a similar network. This is supported by the fact that none of the 17 Federation space vessels known to have penetrated the Neutral Zone have returned.
October 2192 Starfleet Command originates the Citation of Conspicuous Gallantry. It is a small emerald triangle with three diamonds in the middle and a silver semi-circular bar above inscribed "For Gallantry." This citation commends acts of heroism in defense of U.F.P. citizens and their property in which the recipient disregarded clear risk to personal safety.
2193 The "Glenn" class spacebus enters service. Over 200 of these principal surface-to-orbit carriers will be built, each with a complement of 28 and with the ability to carry up to 450 passengers. Their convertible interiors make them useful for both industrial transport and passenger service around Earth, orbital satellite-cities, Mars, and the Asteroid Belt. A much later "Glenn" class spacebus with Cosmodyne APT300 warp drive and a maximum capacity of 3,600 passengers will become the primary mode of transport by Federation and Starfleet personnel in the centuries to come. This newer "Glenn" class will have a cruising speed of warp 4.2.
2195 The fourth-dimensional (second-level) nature of dilithium crystals is discovered. On Earth, a mad dilithium rush occurs when it is discovered that dilithium crystals have a dozen different three-dimensional physical configurations which can make them resemble common crystals. Many Earth museums become incredibly well-funded overnight simply by tearing apart their geology exhibits to find dilithium crystals which had been misidentified as quartz for generations. It will be some time until the crystals are used to their full potential in warp drives.
1 January 2196 The last "Daedalus" class starship is withdrawn from service.
2197 The flagship of Federation bases, Starbase 1 is positioned in Earth orbit where it will remain for over a century. This structure will be dwarfed by future starbases which will be manufactured but many of the design elements found in Starbase 1 will be incorporated into these newer bases. The design of Starbase 1 has its roots in the original Starbase 1 of 2147.
1 January 2199 Deneb (Alpha Cygni) becomes the 8th U.F.P. member.
2200 The most obvious shift in the social culture of Earth since the days of the Commonwealth has been the virtual abandonment of the neomaterialist worldview. Its replacement is often referred to as ecomysticism: not one belief but an overarching pattern which characterizes the values of most Terran societies. While Christianity and the other ancient religions (i.e., Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinuism) have decreased to around twenty percent of Earth's population (about ninety percent of Earth's people claimed one of these religions at the close of the twentieth century), they comprise an astonishing forty percent of the Federation's citizenry. Revealing the massive influence human culture and thought have had on this sector of the Galaxy, these numbers remain relatively unchanged today.
The early 23rd Century will often be called the "imperial era" of Terran history, when territorial expansion was pursued whatever the cost. Whenever new star systems are surveyed, they are immediately subject to exploitation and colonization, regardless of official approval by the Federation Council or prior claims by other powers. However, once colonies are established, the Terran-controlled Starfleet fulfills its popular mandate to protect Federation citizens from danger, even if the danger is of their own making. As a group, the "Lancaster" warship captains will probably be the most aggressive in the history of Starfleet, their leadership style perfectly suited to the spirit of the times.
2203 The construction of the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards and the included Utopia Planitia stations at the beginning of the 23rd century was the direct consequence of the continually faster procession of space exploration by Starfleet. This organization surveyed and colonized dozens of planetary systems in its first 40 years under Federation control, using the antiquated, fusion-powered ships of the "Valiant" class inherited from Terra, which were still based on the first Earth warp ship, the Phoenix, and the newly-developed "Daedalus", "Federation" and "Seleya" classes. With the increasing spreading of mankind and its allies in space, the demand for starships rose - starships which would be faster and more reliable than the established classes. First, this lack of modern ships lead to the institutionalization and centralization of starship construction and the foundation of the Advanced Starship Design Bureaus (ASDB) in the year 2184, which was tasked to drive forward the development of new starship technologies and coordinate the building up of Starfleet at many production locations within the Federation, and, as a consequence, tasked with the construction of new yards inside and outside the Sol System. In 2203 the go-ahead was given for the construction of the first extensive, planetary / orbital combination starship construction center of the still young Federation. While all formerly constructed Starfleet yards were exclusively ground or space stations, the ASDB superiors hoped the newly-developed transporter technology would facilitate a easy and quick production process. A few years after the completion of the facility the metal ores extracted from the Martian mines would be processed to starship components on the spot, beamed to orbital fleet yards, and then assembled into complete starships in space - without expending the time required for a conventional orbital transport. Together with further breakthroughs in starship construction techniques, which were realized for the first time with the Utopia Planitia Yards, this concept led to production rates which nobody considered possible at the end of the 22nd century. The work on Utopia Planetia was mankind's largest construction project in space up to this time and proved to be a special challenge for the constructors of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers (SFCE). In fourteen years, the Utopia Planitia administration facility and a construction center for Starfleet equipment and starship components were built, while in geosynchronous orbit 16626 m above the Martian surface, the first of three dry docks was constructed, based on the already thirty year old San Francisco Yards in orbit over Earth. Also completed in this timeframe were two special stations for the orbital maintenance of the newly-developed saucer-design starship classes, which would replace the "Daedalus" class ships decommission in 2196, and two smaller starbases, the Utopia Planitia Stations for ASDB planning and observation tasks. Because of the acute lack of (modern) vessels, the production at Utopia Planitia, itself only 41% completed, was put under the command of the ASDB command staff member Admiral Tiron Narsu in 2208, the son of the legendary first commander of Starbase 12. One of the first projects was the large-scale production of the "Icarus" class, a pioneering design which was followed by many other revolutionary developments which have been planned in the Utopia Planitia Stations and constructed in the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards.
2207 The Federation's major space development complex, the huge Centauri Spaceworks, opens with contracts from many member worlds.
2210 Produced since the early 23rd century, the "Icarus" class represents one of the most important advances in the history of Starfleet: with the introduction of this class, starships with the now-omnipresent saucer design were used for the first time beside the early classes of the 22nd century, which were remarkable for their spheroid primary section (e.g. the "Daedalus", "Federation" and "Seleya" classes), as well as the very first Earth warp ships, which lead the first wave of space exploration and were transferred to the Federation upon its incorporation in 2161. The new design proved so successful that within a few decades, it replaced the old classes. However, the series production of the "Icarus" class, the connecting link between the "Daedalus" class and the legendary original "Constitution" class, which sealed the lead of the saucer-starships in the 2240s, was preceded by a lengthy prototype phase with many setbacks, first making a success of the class quite improbable. Basic outlines for a saucer-shaped (rather than spheroid) primary hull already existed since the first days of Starfleet. Concrete models weren't developed, however, until the 2184 founding of the Advanced Starship Design Bureaus (ASDB) of Starfleet. Early simulations showed that the warp field geometry of the new design would differ considerably from the matrices used up to then and had to be much more complex to realize the desired maximum FTL speed boost predicted by the subspace physicians for a smaller vertical dimension of the primary section. The research moved forward quickly, so that five years later, the theoretical groundwork and the schematics for a planned successor of the out-of-date "Daedalus" class could be finished and the construction of a prototype could be started. Since this warp ship, named Icarus, was intended to be about the same size as former starship classes and was to be solely equipped with already successfully tested experimental technologies, the new vessel was estimated to be completed shortly before the decommissioning of the "Daedalus" class in the year 2196. It was planned that within one decade, the new class would compensate for the lack of fast starships, which had resulted from the quick expansion of the Federation to regions far away from Earth and from the more and more frequent foundation of new colonies. Unfortunately, the Icarus prototype proved to be more worthy of its name than originally thought: the first space-worthy version completed in 2194 after 4 years of construction nearly faced destruction, which would have meant a delay of at least one decade for the whole project, when during the first test flight of speeds above warp 4, phase variances in the warp field geometry occured that nearly led to the shredding of the ship due to the resulting gravimetric shears. A rework of the subspace field coil arrangement and the general nacelle design from scratch finally brought the breakthrough, so that in 2199, four years after the original schedule, the prototype was put into service, named USS Icarus. The early construction of additional space frames for later series vessels, which were not influenced by the revisions, and the accelerated start of construction even before the completion of the modified prototype, however, made it possible for the second produced "Icarus" class vessel was put into service by 2210. Because of the limited number of adapted construction locations, large-scale producton wasn't possible before 2210. After that time, however, the accelerated completion of additional dry docks optimized for construction of the new ships in the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards over Mars added the needed facilities for the triumphal march of the saucer design and the "Icarus" class.
5 December 2217 USS Valiant (NCC-221) is lost of Eminiar VII in the NGC-321 star cluster.
27 March 2224 Dr. Richard Daystrom is born.
2225 The planet Cochrane I (Zeta Riguli VII) is settled by Humans and Centaurians. Rich in dilithium and radioactives, Cochrane I will quickly become a thriving industrial planet, hosting the central administrative center for the Federation's Department of Colonization and numerous subsidiary agencies and organizations.
2227 Federation credit becomes standard UFP unit of currency.
2229 Marriage of Sarek to Amanda Grayson of Earth. Tiburon joins the Federation.
2230 Spock, son of Sarek and Amanda, is born. Betelgeuse becomes a member of the Federation.
2231 An unknown disease spreads through Terra's 200-man research base on Pluto, leaving no survivors. The disease is later linked to a contaminated souvenir brought in by a careless Orion trader.
2233 James Tiberius Kirk is born.
2236 The inhabitants of Talos IV encounter their first human, Vina, when the S.S. Columbia crashes on their world, leaving her as the only survivor.
2239 Battle of Delta Doradus breaks the Orion pirate fleet, preserving Federation commerce.
2241 T'Pau turns down a seat on the Federation Council.
2242 The Battle of Donatu V, fought near Sherman's Planet, curtails Klingon advancement into the Alpha Quadrant continues a series of Klingon/Federation border wars.
2245 U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701) is launched with Captain Robert April in command. First rumors of Tholians encountered by Vulcan survey ships.
1 January 2245 The first "Constitution" class starships are laid down.
2247 U.S.S. Eagle commissioned as an all-Andorian starship under Captain Igrilan Kor.
2248 Klingons and Federation negotiate the Seldonis IV Convention on the treatment of prisoners; later every major space-faring power in the region becomes signatory to it.
12 February 2248 Dr. Richard Daystrom invents duotronic computer systems.
17 July 2248 Kodos the Executioner seizes power on Tarsus IV during a fungal plague that causes a food shortage and systematically murders 4000 colonists in order to ‘preserve the more valued members of the colony’ those chosen to die are selected in accordance with Kodos’ own personal prejudices.
2249 In an attempt to counteract Orion slave-trading, the Federation annexes the human Rigel IV colony.
2251 The Enterprise begins its second five-year mission, commanded by Captain Christopher Pike.
2252 First contact between the Federation and the Bolians. Axanar conquers the Herar Cluster, demands Federation membership.
2253 The Axanar Rebellion occurs; many member worlds threaten to secede from the Federation; Fleet Captain Garth of Izar defeats the Axanari in the U.S.S. Constitution.
2254 Captain Pike and the crew of the Enterprise encounter the inhabitants of Talos IV, resulting in a Federation decree that world is off-limits.
2255 The Treaty of Armens is established between the Federation and the Sheliak Corporate, establishing firm boundaries between Federation space and Sheliak controlled worlds; the Federation and the Sheliak have no further contact until 2366.
The Orion Colonies offer to join the U.F.P., provided that they are paid ten trillion credits "in compensation." Their request is rejected, and so they remain outside the Federation.
2257 Following a year-long hiatus and refit, the Enterprise returns to service in its third five-year mission, again commanded by Christopher Pike. Pike destroys the surface of the planet Eridios to abort the disintegration of space-time; origin of General Order 24.
2258 U.S.S. Coronado discovers Cestus III.
1 January 2261 (SD 0000.00) Stardate System adopted.
2264 The Omicron Ceti II colony is established by Elias Sandoval and 150 others from Earth.
The Federation Council creates the Starfleet Marine Corps.
10 February 2264 (SD 1136.75) Capt. James Kirk assumes command of the USS Enterprise as it embarks on its on it fourth five-year mission. It is the only ship of twelve in its class to return.
2265 Axanar is admitted to the Federation.
An earthquake sinks the Vulcan city of K'lan.
The El-Aurian homeworld is destroyed by the Borg; the few surviving El-Aurians become refugees.
The Enterprise encounters a dangerous energy barrier beyond the galactic rim capable of creating dangerous mutations in humans.
23 July 2265 (SD 1709.1) Romulans violate the Neutral Zone for the first time since the Treaty of Algeron.
3 August 2266 (SD 2817.6) Kodos the Executioner, masquerading as the actor Anton Karidian, is killed following his discovery aboard the USS Enterprise.
2267 Fleet Captain Garth of Izar goes insane, orders the destruction of Antos IV.
23 June 2267 (SD 3141.9) Khan Noonian Singh discovered aboard the sleeper ship SS Botany Bay and is marooned on Ceti Alpha V by Capt. James Kirk after an attempted takeover of the Enterprise.
19 August 2267 (SD 3198.4) Organian Peace Treaty imposed upon the Federation and the Klingons, ending the threat of open war between the two powers.
2268-2270 A brief alliance between the Romulans and the Klingons brings cloaking technology to Klingon warships and warp drive to Romulan birds of prey. The Klingons break off the alliance after they decide the Romulans are not honorable and cannot be trusted.
2268 Romulan first encounter with the Breen.
Lorne McLaren becomes President of the Federation Council.
24 May 2268 (SD 3842.3) Second Babel Conference, called to consider the admission of Coridan to the Federation, is nearly disrupted by Orion terrorists. The conference, which resulted in the admission of Coridan into the Federation, was a devastating economic blow to local Orion dilithium smuggling operations.
6 November 2269 (SD 4372.5) USS Enterprise accidentally intrudes on Tholian Space and is nearly captured by Commander Loskeen of the Tholian Defense Forces.
30 December 2269 (SD 4657.5) The experimental M-5 synaptic computer malfunctions and kills over 600 Starfleet personnel at the Starbase 12 weapons range.
Construction completed on Federation Central Hospital on Altair IV.
28 October 2270 (SD 5031.3) Enterprise Incident: A secret operation conducted by the USS Enterprise results in the Federation acquiring a working Romulan cloaking device.
2274 The Enterprise completes its fifth five-year mission under Captain Kirk, who is promoted to Admiral and accepts assignment as Chief of Starfleet Operations. The Enterprise is retired from exploratory service and reassigned to Starfleet Academy as a training vessel under the command of Captain Spock. The Enterprise emblem is adopted as the universal symbol of Starfleet itself.
2275 The Tau Cygna IV colony is settled by a group of colonist that had been heading for Septimus Minor, in inadvertent violation of the Treaty of Armens.
Breen-Federation first contact.
20 September 2276 (SD 5725.3) Memory Alpha, slated to be the main repository of Federation knowledge, is destroyed by an alien intelligence just before its completion.
2278 The U.S.S. Bozeman is trapped in the Typhon Expanse temporal loop.
2279 Death of T'Pau.
2281 Sarek becomes Vulcan Ambassador to the Federation.
18 April 2281 (SD 7412.6) V’Ger Incident. Following further refits, the Entprise returns to service in response to investigate the threat represented by V'ger after it destroys three Klingon starships and a Starfleet station. Originally intended to be placed under the command of Will Decker, the Enterprise if assigned to a temporarily reinstated Admiral James Kirk. Decker is reported MIA, and Kirk takes the helm for the fifth five-year mission of the Enterprise. His crew includes Spock and McCoy, both of whom returned to service to deal with the V'ger emergency.
2282 Admiral Kirk retires from Starfleet.
2283 Brief Federation-Breen clash.
9 March 2283 (SD 8130.3) USS Reliant lost in combat with USS Enterprise in the Mutara Nebula, after the USS Reliant is hijacked by Khan Noonian Singh. The Genesis Device is detonated in the nebula, and a new class M world is created. Captain Spock is killed in the fighting with Khan.
19 May 2283 (SD 8201.3) USS Enterprise lost to a Klingon raider off the ‘Genesis Planet’. Tectonic instability caused by the presence of proto-matter in the original matrix caused the planet to explode only 71 days after its creation. The Genesis Terraforming Project is declared to be a failure. Admiral Kirk destroys the Enterprise in an illegal mission to recover Spock, reborn in the Genesis planet's formation.
21 December 2283 (SD 8390.0) Earth is threatened by a powerful space probe that does not relent until it communicates with two humpback whales brought from Earth's own past. The U.S.S. Enterprise-A enters service. Captain James T. Kirk, recently demoted from Admiral following hearings for his violation of nine Starfleet regulations, commands it. Klingon-Cardassian War begins in the wake of the Betreka Nebula incident.
22 February 2284 (SD 8454.1) Transwarp Development Project declared unsuccessful by Starfleet
25 January 2287 (SD 9521.6) Klingon moon Praxis explodes, posing such a threat to the Klingon Homeworld of Qo'noS that the Khitomer Accords are signed with the Federation, ending more than a century of cold warfare.
2289 A Klingon armada destroys the Tribble homeworld as apart of a massive effort on the part of the Empire to eradicate the species.
15 February 2293 (SD 11734.0) USS Enterprise (NCC-1701A) is decommissioned after suffering severe damage in an encounter with a superior Romulan force off Colony 6.
2294 Betazed joins the Federation.
1 January 2294 (SD 12053.25) USS Enterprise (NCC-1701B) ("Excelsior" class) is commissioned at the Starfleet Antares Shipyard under the command of Captain James Harriman. Captain James T. Kirk on board for the christening ceremony, is killed in an explosion resulting from the Enterprise-B's contact with a ribbon of energy called the Nexus, encountered when the ship responds to a distress call from El-Aurian refugees. Kirk's modifications to the ship's deflector system saves the lives of all those remaining on board.
2295 The Federation, Klingons, and Romulans agree to abandon the failed "planet of galactic peace" project on Nimbus III.
Son'a and Ba'ku split.
31 May 2296 (SD 12934.75) The government of Rutia IV denies a bid by the Ansata separatists for independence. The Ansata embark on a terror campaign that is finally crushed in 2366.
2298 Darvash Crisis leads to the formation of the Department of Temporal Investigations.
From the Vulcan Science Academy comes proof that we live in a pulsating universe, from senior astronomer Herbert Samuelson working with senior Vulcan scientists. Many details of the Big Bang are fleshed out, leading to the discovery of the nature of our universe: The Big Bang formed the universe, theoretically triggered by the Omega Molecule. A collapse of a monobloc of 10 dimensions, leaving 4 readily accessible. Dark matter particles are the First Things to fill all universes. Three minutes after creation, the universe consists of a 3:1 hydrogen-helium ratio in a super-hot medium. In the 23rd Century, the Enterprise will encounter duplicate conditions in the Beta Castellini system (Sector 79F) resulting from an emerging mini-universe. Herbert Samuelson's discovery that the universe is "pulsating" means that after the Big Bang, the universe is expanding, then it will fall back into a 'cosmic egg,' then expand again with a new Big Bang. The growing-dying-growing cycle will be an old Tellerite worldview, and possibly form Schlezholt's theory of multiple Big Bangs.
2300 Starfleet begins to change the focus of its force structure to reflect a far more defensive posture. While the Fleet has never been intended as an instrument to impose Federation policy, the decommissioning of battleship and dreadnought class vessels will significantly alter the combat capabilities of the Fleet
1 January 2302 (SD 14975.25) Last Federation contact with Angel 1 prior to 2364.
2303 Starfleet begins employing combadges utilizing the decades-old uniform insignia pin. The badges appear identical to the old insignias but incorporate communicators.
2304 Grazerites join Federation.
Starbase 200 abandoned.
Escape of Commander Michael Lawrence and his Perfectionist allies from DTI custody.
2306 Beta Orionis becomes a member of the Federation, specifically the Rigel Colonies (Rigel II and IV).
21 April 2311 (SD 18373.5) Tomed Incident between Federation and Romulans. Thousands of Federation lives lost in a Romulan attack. Romulans enter a phase of extreme isolationism. The USS Endeavor, last of the "Constitution" class starships, is decommissioned.
2312 Starfleet establishes Qualor II ship depot.
2319 The development of the multiplex pattern buffer eliminates the risk of "transporter psychosis" in Federation and allied transporter systems.
Covert violation of the Prime Directive by Captain Jameson of the U.S.S. Gettysburg leads to forty years of civil war on Mordan IV.
2320 The Zakdorn "artifical homeworld" is completed; the result of 150 years of effort.
Bolarus IX joins the Federation
2322 Daystrom Institute Planetary annex founded on Galor IV.
2323 Jean-Luc Picard in his first year at the Academy, becomes the first freshman in Academy history to win the Academy marathon.
2327 Jean-Luc Picard graduates from Starfleet Academy as class valedictorian and is assigned to serve on Starbase Earhart.
Alesia applies for Federation membership.
1 May 2328 (SD 24591.75) Cardassian Union annexes occupy Bajor; Vedek Assembly abolishes D'jarra cast system to allow all Bajorans to fight the Cardassians; Bajoran resistance begins.
2330 Napeans join the Federation.
2331 Starbase 315 orbiting BeTau IV commissioned.
2332 The Andorian Affair leads to the Peresylva truce between DTI and the Tal Shiar.
2333 Jean-Luc Picard is promoted to Captain and given command of the U.S.S. Stargazer.
2335 Drs. Noonien and Juliana Soong successfully create two positronic-based androids, Lore and Data.
First Contact between the Federation and the Cardassians.
1 May 2337 (SD 27879.0) The government of Turkana IV begins to fall apart after violent disputes arise over general election returns.
2339 Increased difficulty with Andorian renegades attract the active attention of Starfleet Command.
1 January 2339 (SD 28489.5) Renewed Starfleet interest in TransWarp Drive results in the first deployment of TransWarp equipped Starships (so called 2nd generation X-technology).
2340s The Romulan intelligence agency, the Tal Shiar, works undersground in the Klingon Empire in an attempt to destabilize the High Council.
1 January 2340 (SD 28854.75) USS Enterprise (NCC-1701C) ("Ambassador" Class) is launched at Earth Station McKinley under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett.
15 April 2344 (SD 30420.75) Narenda III Incident. Romulan warbirds attack the Klingon outpose during negotiations for a separate Klingon-Federation peace. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701C) comes to the aid of the Klingon outpost on Narenda III under Romulan attack. Federation forces are decimated, but their sacrifice helps cement Federation-Klingon relations.
2345 Data becomes the first android to graduate from Starfleet Academy, doing so with honors.
1 March 2346 (SD 31105.25) Khitomer Massacre. Romulans attack Khitmoer outpost, slaughtering 4000 Klingons. The attack was achieved with the aid of codes provided to them by a threacherous Klingon. The U.S.S. Intrepid provides humanitarian aid to the wake of the massacre, leading to the Klingon-Federation Treaty of Alliance.
2347 Enlightened Mind Movement begins to agitate for Betazed withdrawal from the Federation.
1 January 2349 (SD 32142.0) Isolinear computer chip perfected.
2350 Benjamin Sisko enters Starfleet Academy.
Andorian Umarinite art and drama comes into vogue across the Federation.
Civilization disappears on planet Minos.
1 June 2350 War between the Federation and the Cardassians begins as Cardassian forces launch an attack against the Federation colony on Setlik III.
2351 The U.S.S. Mizar is destroyed, its warp core used as a bomb to repel an attacking Tholian fleet.
1 June 2351 (SD 33023.5) Terek Nor mining station built by Cardassians is placed in orbit around Bajor.
2352 Federation and Klingon delegates attended a conference on Narendra III, where the formal Treaty of Alliance is signed.
2353 War breaks out between the Federation and the Tholians after Tholian attack on Starbase 277.
2355 U.S.S. Stargazer destroyed by Ferengi near Maxia Zeta.
12 March 2357 (SD 35135.0) Talarian forces enter the Cardassian War on the Cardassian side with an attack on the Federation outpost at Galen IV.
2359 Renegade Andorians wipe out the population of Triangula Delta with an interphase dilithium bomb. Admiral Wayne Wiltshire and the U.S.S. Luna City suffer serious embarrassment at their hands before finally defeating them in a bloody battle on the surface of Triangula Beta II.
2360 Tholian War ends in truce. First contact between Benzites and the Federation.
1 January 2361 (SD 36525.0/38000.0) Stardate Reform. Henceforth one year = 1000 stardates. The calendar is arbitrarily reset to stardate 38000.00.
2362 Arteline IV admitted to the Federation.
25 February 2364 (SD 41153.7) Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumed command of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701D) the 5th Federation Starship to bear the name Enterprise.
26 December 2364 (SD 41986.0) Romulans emerge from isolationist phase after their outposts along the Neutral Zone begin vanishing. Later investigations prove this to be the work of Borg infiltrations into the Alpha Quadrant.
5 October 2365 (SD 42761.3) The Federation becomes aware of the existence of the Borg when Q sends the Enterprise-D 7000 light years away into the Delta Quadrant.
2365 Androids awarded full civil rights within the Federation.
2366 The Borg destroy the New Providence colony on Jouret IV.
18 June 2366 (SD 43462.5) Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok defects to the Federation.
1 September 2366 (SD 44665.3) Uneasy truce reached between Federation and Cardassian Union . The Cardassians agree to evacuate Bajor, which will become a Federation protectorate. The Federation concedes 3 contested planets to the Cardassians.
1 January 2367 (SD 44001.4) The Borg enter the Biodor Sector on Romulan fringe. Borg invasion of the Federation culminates in the Battle of Wolf 359 where thirty-nine starships are destroyed and over 11,000 people are killed before the Borg cube is destroyed.
2368 Attempted Romulan invasion of Vulcan foiled by Ambassador Spock. Ambassador Sarek dies at the age of 203 from Bendii Syndrome.
DTI deploys the SADA station orbiting the red dwarf Cassandra.
29 December 2367-18 January 2368 (SD 44995.3 - SD 45050.4) Brief Klingon civil war sparked by attempt of Duras family to seize control of the Klingon High Council.
2369 Romulan Vice-Procunsul M'ret defects. Vulcan Isolationist Movement attempts to reassemble the Stone of Gol.
Benzar becomes a full member of the United Federation of Planets; the Ktarians become probationary members.
1 January 2369 (SD 46001.25) Cardassians withdraw from Bajor; Bajoran provisional government formed; Bajor seeks Federation assistance. Commander Benjamin Sisko discovers the Bajoran wormhole. Terek Nor mining station renamed Deep Space 9.
2370 Federation-wide "speed limit" of Warp 5 is introduced after it is discovered that centuries of warp travel is starting to unravel some sections of space fabric.
Maquis terrorism begins.
First contact with the Jem'Hadar, the military race of the Dominion which enforces the will of the Founders, by personell on Deep Space Nine. Dominion forces destroy the U.S.S. Odyssey and New Bajor in the Gamma Quadrant.
2371 Romulans loan Federation cloaking technology to counter the growing Dominion threat in the Alpha Quadrant; Romulan/Cardassian alliance against the Dominion formed. USS Enterprise-D destroyed at Veridian III. USS Voyager, under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway, is lost in the Delta Quadrant
2372 Detapa Council overthrows Central Command rulership of Cardassian Union. Klingon Empire attacks Cardassia when Klingon intelligence grows concerned about the growing Changling influence within the ranks of the Cardassian leadership. After the Federation protests the Klingon invasions, Qo'noS withdraws from the Khitomer Accords with Federation.
2373 The Borg launch a second attempt to assimilate Earth. Although Starfleet is successful in stopping the Borg attack, a single Borg sphere escapes into a temporal vortex, to Earth's first faster-than-light flight in 2063. The crew of the Starship Enterprise E following the Borg sphere into the past, ensured that Zefram Cochrane was able to make the critical first warp flight. In doing so, the Enterprise E crew destroyed the Borg Queen, the central nexus of the Borg collective.
2374-2375 The Dominion War: Once the Dominion established their alliance with the Cardassians, Jem'Hadar forces conducted a massive buildup of arms and spacecraft at Cardassia Prime throughout 2373. The Dominion incursion continued on diplomatic fronts as well, as the Vorta, the telepathic diplomats and Founder representatives, were successful in negotiating non-aggression pacts with the Romulan Star Empire, the Tholian Assembly, the Miradorn, and the Bajorans. The Federation, fearful an invasion was imminent, established a minefield around the Bajoran wormhole, preventing further Dominion forces from the Gamma Quadrant. Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant responded by launching a massive assault on the Federation starbase Deep Space Nine. Simultaneously, Starfleet and Klingon forces launched a devastating strike on the Dominion shipyards at Torros III. Even with the minefield blockading the wormhole, Dominion forces in the Alpha Quadrant inflicted extremely heavy casualties on the Federation and Klingon fleets through the early months of 2374. Perhaps the greatest Starfleet losses occurred at the Tyra system, where Jem'Hadar forces destroyed some 98 Federation vessels. The war continued badly for the Alpha Quadrant powers until later that year when the Romulan Star Empire abrogated its non-aggression treaty with the Dominion. A massive assault by Federation, Klingon, and Romulan forces that captured the Chin'toka System from Cardassian control represented a major turning point in the war. Nevertheless, aided by Breen forces and sophisticated Breen weaponry, the Dominion overwhelmed the Alpha Quadrant powers, despite the fact that a deadly virus was infecting the Great Link. This biological weapon, a genetically engineered disease developed by the Federation's Section 31 (intelligence), nearly wiped out the Founders. Despite an overwhelmingly powerful military force, the Dominion began to loose ground when the Alpha Quadrant powers developed the means to defend against the Breen technology [energy dampening weapon]. Despite Breen breaches of Federation/Klingon lines to attack Earth, the Dominion, under the guidance of the Founder Leader, retreated to Cardassia Prime and adopted a siege strategy, hoping to hold off the Alpha Quadrant powers long enough to produce more ships and troops. Sensing Dominion vulnerability, the Alpha Quadrant powers launched a desperate final assault that overpowered the Dominion forces when the Cardassian military turned against the Founders. Nevertheless, the Founder Leader refused to surrender. She ordered all Dominion forces to fight to the death, leading the Alpha Quadrant powers to anticipate a high death toll. However, when Odo (Deep Space Nine's Changling Constable) linked with her, curing her of the deadly virus, his gesture helped her understand that the Great Link could indeed live in peace with the solids of the galaxy. The Founder Leader subsequently ordered all Dominion forces to surrender. The Great Link itself was cured when Odo returned to his people in the Gamma Quandrant after the end of the Dominion War.
2376 Starfleet's Pathfinder project establishes contact with the USS Voyager using their new Midus communications array.
15 October 2376 With the admission of Bajor into the Federation, the UFP has 153 member worlds spread out among 8,000 light years.
21 December 2377 USS Voyager returns to Earth: The Voyager encounters a nebula containing 47 Borg ships. A future Admiral Janeway arrives to alter the timestream by getting the Voyager home earlier, and without any more fatalities. Outfitting the starship with future weaponry and defenses: armor and transphasic torpedoes. At the center of the nebula lies a Borg transwarp hub (one of only 6 in the galaxy) and the two Janeways disagree on tactics. The admiral tries to bargain with the Borg Queen, infecting the queen with a pathogen virus while the starship plunges through a wormhole leading home. The pathogen and armor technology is assimilated but the Borg unicomplex is destroyed in a chain reaction along with the Borg queen and network. The Voyager arrives at Earth intact just as Lt. Torres gives birth. A fleet of 27 Star Fleet ships concentrates fire on a pursuing Borg sphere, destroying it. In the original timeline, the Borg nebula is bypassed. It will take until 2394 to return home with the addition of 22 more crew members dying.
2378 The USS Enterprise-E destroys a prototype Romulan warbird equipped with new technology designed for use in a planned invasion of the Federation.