Second Sphere Timeline

20th Century

1951: European Coal and Steel Community established by Treaty of Paris.

1957: Sputnik launched.

1961: Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space.

1969: Apollo 11 mission places men on the Moon.

1986: Mir construction begins.

1991: European Union established by Treaty of Maastricht.

1996: Dolly the Sheep born.

1998: International Space Station construction begins.

21st Century

2002: Prof. Kevin Warwick has the first neural interface implanted.

20XX: First transgenic baby born.

20XX: First commercial fusion reactor built.

20XX: PACT established.

Posthuman Age

2050s: Mind uploading and strong AI lead to the rapid iterative development of the Posthumans, who soon cleave away from mainstream (trans)humanity. Early crude Posthuman FTL systems developed.

2058: First extrasolar expeditions by posthumans.

2050s-2060s: 'Crazy Years' of transgenic advancement, including the south american retroviral therapies that prove so disastrous.

2063: First 'Longshot' expedition launched with 3000 colonists in hibernation and 40,000 frozen ova, plus various plants, animals and artificial life. Others soon follow.

2066: Legal preceedings begin against the retroviral therapy. A number of involved scientists flee on longshot colony expeditions.

2068 (estimated): Precursor delta-dust reverse-engineered by posthumans.

2078: On the 10th anniversary of the Retroviral legal decision, Heron Stauss and Franz-Edward Kaser publish Principles of Responsible Transhumanism. Stauss-Kaserist philosophy soon takes hold in the EU.

2080-2100: Great Exodust; Longshots taper off as first-generation FTL drives built by the Posthumans are used up. Baseline humanity expands aggressively into space with the use of second-generation delta dust FTL drives. Most transgenes leave Earth to found colonies.

22nd Century

Golden Age of Space Exploration

2090-2120: EU and PACT lay out their catapult chains, going as far as Erebus and Londenium.

2119: Eridanus campaign begins, first major engagement against Feral Drones.

2122: The second extinct xenosophonts are discovered, the Velorans.

2130-2150: China's 'golden age'.

The Breakdown

2152: A Posthuman computer virus is released by seperatists in the Expanse, leading to the Breakdown. The Great Firewall seperates the Core/Expanse from the Rim, which already has limited communications with the inner worlds.

2160: Magnates begin seizing nearby worlds, primarily seeking Theta dust, which is the only way to make effective FTL drives until the Breakdown virus is dealt with.

2162: ZOCU founded at the Council of Londenium. Cooperation negotiations begin among the future League nations.

2164: Magnate invasion of the League frontline worlds. Typically taken as the start of the 'Magnate War'.

2165: Magnate invasion of Nidaros based on faulty intelligence.

2169: Major feral drone incursion wrecks massing Minkowskan fleet, but inspires the intensive study of xenotechnology to close the technological gap with the Magnates.

2178: Third Battle of Sarreva ejects the Magnates from the system.

2179: Breakdown virus finally reverse-engineered and repaired. Common FTL travel resumes by the end of the year. Liberation of Finnegan's Folly.

2180: Solomon Armistice signed. Magnates abandon Van der Teega.

ZOCU War

2181-2184: Increasing conflicts between ZOCU and the EU/PACT.

2185-2189: ZOCU war, ending with the Treaty of Sirius.

September, 2194: Operation Whiskey Freedom, a police action launched by PACT forces to put down the rebellion on Zaibatsu-controlled Jameson's World, takes place and immediately bogs down.

2195: Current Day