Timeline of Humanity

This is the primary timeline for Humanity, and goes into greater detail in a wider timeframe than the galactic timeline.

While Human history is long and diverse and filled with Notable Humans, the Aurora's timeline diverges in 1969 and this history will focus on events from that date on. For events taking place prior to 1969, it is best to assume that they follow the conventional history of Earth.

The Twentieth Century

Through a period of thirty-one years of technological advances, new materials found across the Earth make great leaps to assist acceleration into the space age. In this timespan, the first true exoskeletal machines are created for Human use. Medical fields make steps toward incredible discoveries, as well as the first instances of genetic cloning in a contained laboratory. Without necessary energy or knowledge to proceed, many growing fields are given only time until the next step is taken. Some major events of the latter 20th century are listed below.

• 1969: The Sino-Soviet border dispute goes hot in July, resulting in a full-scale war with limited nuclear exchanges.

• 1970: The Sino-Soviet War ends in a resounding defeat for the People’s Republic of China. Humiliated by a loss of territory and life, it quickly begins to fall apart internally and collapses into the Second Chinese Civil War. The Soviet Union successfully lands on the Moon.

• 1971: The United States and Soviet Union intervene in the Second Chinese Civil War, leading to a proxy war that quickly eclipses Vietnam.

• 1974: The USSR shifts to an even more hardline stance following the resignation of Leonid Brezhnev and ascension of Yuri Andropov to General Secretary. The Andropov Doctrine, designed to bring the USSR into more prominence on the world stage, rapidly sees the Union involved in proxy wars in Africa and Asia.

• 1977: The Presidency of George McGovern is challenged by a pro-Soviet revolution in Iran, leading to the Iranian War - a massively unpopular U.S. policing action that will eventually see the end of the draft, an action that will lead to a rise in the amount of private military contractors employed by the United States.

• 1979: Escalating warfare in Namibia, Angola, and Zambia sees the Republic of South Africa relying more and more upon mercenary companies to plug gaps in its military.

• 1983: The Iranian War ends in an unexpected defeat for the U.S. and a stunning victory for the USSR, demonstrating to the world that the Soviet Union is here to stay. Anti-communist Democrat Henry M. Jackson wins the 1984 presidential election in a landslide, demonstrating the United States’ continuing commitment to anti-communism abroad.

• 1990: Despite the South African Border War ending in a grinding stalemate, the Republic of South Africa’s growing mercenary and arms sectors continue to expand. Eventually these mercenary companies and their weapon supplies will form the basis of Necropolis Industries (now known as Zavodskoi Interstellar).

• 1997: The death of Mobutu Sese Seko and collapse of Zaire leads to the Second Congo Crisis, the largest war to engulf Africa in its history. Private mercenaries play a large role in the conflict, and postwar Congo is dominated by the interests of business conglomerates backed up by mercenaries. The utter domination of the Congo by corporations would set a precedent for corporate control of unstable regions during the 21st century.

• 1999: As the end of one millennia approaches, the world stands on an arguable brink. Proxy wars between the Soviet Union and United States of America have continued almost unabated for decades, and resources -- particularly fuel -- are beginning to run low. Entire swaths of the Third World lie devastated by the constant back-and-forth of the world's two superpowers, and the twenty-first century seems an uncertain future at best.

The Twenty-First Century

• 2000s: A fully rebuilt and newly invigorated Federal Republic of China re-enters the global economy, and rapidly becomes one of the world’s largest economies. The FRC’s pharmaceutical industry, in particular, becomes one of the Republic’s most profitable industries. Eventually these companies, alongside others from Asian countries such as Japan and Singapore, will go on to form Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals.

• 2010s: A major string of proxy wars in the Middle East between the USA and USSR shakes the international oil market, leading to a drive for alternative sources of power.

• 2025: The European Union votes to unify in response to an increasingly powerful USSR. French scientists successfully activate the first fusion reactor in 2027, shortly after unification. While the technology is expensive, it promises to solve Earth's ongoing energy problems.

• 2028: The EU along with China, the United States, Mexico, and Canada form United Orbital Enterprises in order to counter the USSR's space program (Cosmonaut Enterprises). A push begins to return to the Moon and establish permanent colonies.

• 2035: The Pacific Alliance, an evolution of NATO, is founded in 2035 in response to further Soviet expansion into South-East Asia.

• 2040s: Tensions between the EU and the Soviet Union continue to escalate, coming dangerously close to boiling over during several incidents in the 2040s.

• 2050s: The Cold War seeps further into South America, which will become the primary theater of the Cold War until the Crisis of 2127. The West African Union forms following decades of regional economic success.

The Second Space Age

• 2070: United Orbital Enterprises launches three ships to colonize Venus, Mars, and the Moon. They form small science outposts, with over a dozen residents each officially becoming the first human colonists in space. The USSR's own space agency faces setbacks in colonizing the surface of planets or the moon but finds itself remarkably adept at deep space constructions thanks to its focus on heavy industry.

• 2095: A habitable world is discovered in the Epsilon Eridani system, leading to a brief bidding war over the rights to settle it that the West African Union ultimately wins.

The Crisis of 2127

• 2127: While there has been success in tentatively spreading across the Solar System, Earth itself faced increasingly dire ecological crises throughout the 21st and 22nd centuries. In 2127 Earth's ongoing ecological woes became too severe too ignore for longer when New York City, long the crown jewel of the United States of America, was almost completely flooded during its annual hurricane season. The damage to the city would ultimately cost the United States hundreds of billions of dollars, but there was a far worse consequence: the collapse of Wall Street, then the fiscal hub for humanity. Markets and currencies fluctuated wildly across the Earth, and economic anarchy reigned for much of the rest of the 2120s. Only in the early 2130s did the United Nations manage to restore a modicum of order, though some would instead argue that it was the movement of Earth's fiscal hub to Chicago over the intervening five years that instead helped stabilize the situation.

The Discovery of Warp

The flag of the Alliance of Sovereign Solarian Nations, originally established in 2132.

• 2130: Soviet scientists in orbit successfully prove the existence of practical warp travel, marking the start of the Interstellar Era. With the financing and support of the United Nations -- which had seen its influence grow following the Crisis of 2127 -- the technology is refined and installed on probes that will be sent out to map the stars surrounding Sol. The technology allows travel to other star systems within weeks but the energy required to keep these early warp engines running is massive, and humanity quickly becomes reliant on mining, refining, and shipping vast amounts of Helium-3 from the moon and asteroids within the Oort Cloud. The Soviet Union's early start with Helium-3 will eventually result in it colonizing Pluto.

• 2132: The Crisis of 2127 is regarded by most historians as ending in this year, and its end brought a great amount of prestige to the United Nations. Seen by many as the main force fighting against the disastrous aftermath of the Crisis, the supranational organization had become a key source of deliberation, peacekeeping, and humanitarian assistance to the beleaguered nations of Earth. The rest of the decade would be defined by intense negotiations that ultimate helped to transform the United Nations into the Sol Alliance. Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals, which will eventually become the main medical corporation of the Orion Spur, is founded in 2132.

The Founding of the Sol Alliance

• 2140: The United Nations officially reforms into the Sol Alliance, which becomes the new government of humanity. This new one world government oversees Earth and the colonies in the solar system, effectively bringing all of humanity under one banner. Its early years usher in a new era of optimism, expansion, and greed.

The Discovery of Biesel

• 2147: Biesel is discovered in Tau Ceti by Sol Alliance probes, promising new resources for the desperate Earth. In orbit, colony ships are constructed as efforts begin to colonize this habitable world. With the trip expected to take months with current warp travel technology, it is considered a one-way trip for the colonists.

The First Trans-Stellars

• 2155: Habitable planets closest to Earth see their population steadily increase as colony ships make round trips between the settlements and Sol. A multitude of Chinese industrial firms merge to form Einstein Engines, becoming the first trans-stellar corporation. By the end of the decade Einstein produces most of the warp engines humanity relies upon, giving it unparalleled economic power.

• 2164: In an effort to remain competitive in the face of Einstein Engines' increasing dominance of the inter-stellar marketplace, a conglomerate of American and European defense and heavy industry companies opt to coalesce into a "mega" corporation known as Hephaestus Industries. Despite protests from the Soviet Union, the United States' influence allows the newly-formed Hephaestus Industries to prosper. While it will later be known for its massive orbital stations, most early Hephaestus projects are sea walls intended to stop storm surges from destroying coastal cities and island nations.

• 2172: An effort is undertaken by the Alliance to revitalize the failing biosphere of Earth, and Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals takes the lead. The megacorporation begins reintroducing previously extinct animals back into the wild, using clones created from the animal's genetic information. The climate restoration initiative will last into the 25th century, and some parts of it continue to this very day.

The New Galactic Economy

• 2200: The Martian Terraforming Project begins, transforming the barren surface into lush plains and having ancient riverbeds flow for the first time in millions of years. Mars sees a huge immigration boom, with former inhabitants of Earth craving the perceived freedom and prosperity available on this new frontier.

• 2204: The Sol Alliance creates the Credit, a standardized currency that all of human space will eventually come to use, in an effort to standardize trade between its colonies, many of which still relied upon currencies descended from original colonizers. With interstellar trade now a huge market, the complexities of currency exchanges necessitated such a currency.

The Second Great Depression

• 2260: A massive recession strikes the Sol Alliance as the largest stock exchanges see a sudden collapse, effectively tanking the entire economy. Its trans-stellar corporations nearly go bankrupt, and desperately use their influence to reap massive bailouts.

• 2265: With no end of the "Great Depression" in sight, a desperate and bankrupt Earth establishes extortionary taxes on its colony worlds. This leads to anger, and questions over the credibility of the Sol Alliance's claim of representing all of humanity.

• 2275: Fighting breaks out in the outer colonies, spurred on by extremist elements and anti-Alliance sentiments. The Sol Alliance is slow to respond, paralyzed by confusion and uncertainty. As a result, other Colonies on the fringe begin to break away, forming the Coalition of Colonies.

The Great Interstellar War

The Interstellar War was a massive turning point in human history, and its effects can be seen to this day.

• 2278: The Coalition of Colonies is still not recognized by the Sol Alliance, and in anger the Coalition attacks Sol Alliance military forces who refused to leave systems that had seceded. The Coalition fleet is drastically smaller and less equipped than the Sol Alliance, but the massive size of their territory and the slow response times of Sol means they enjoy a very successful, defensive guerrilla war. Many megacorporations profit from the war, selling arms to one or both sides, trading in dangerous systems and staking claims in otherwise dangerous locations.

• 2287: The Great Interstellar War is said to have ended on this date with a ceasefire between the Sol Alliance and the Coalition of Colonies. Late in the year a formal treaty referred to as the Treaty of Xansan is signed in Geneva, bringing the bloodiest conflict in human history to its official end. But despite the formal peace, skirmishes continue to break out, and the frontier remains untamed.

The New Capital of Humanity

• 2300: The administration of the Sol Alliance is moved to the newly constructed Unity City, a space station in Earth orbit. The new capital is intended to increase ease of access while also better reflecting the Alliance’s stated mission to represent all of humanity, not just any single nation or planet.

First Contact

• 2332: First contact is made with the Skrell, sending shock-waves throughout human space. Over the coming century these two species come closer and begin to cooperate on developing new technology, with Zeng-Hu Pharmaceuticals developing a particularly close relationship.

Formation of Nanotrasen

• 2346: Formation of Nanotrasen by Xavier Trasen. Initially specializes in advanced gene therapy. It eventually becomes a more broadened scientific company, rivaling Einstein Engines.

The Warp Gate Project

• 2355: The Warp Gate project begins with the goal of connecting humanity's most populated and profitable systems with permanent -- and titanic -- structures that cut travel time from weekks to mere days. The work itself is contracted out to Einstein Engines, with the Sol Alliance shouldering most of the cost.

• 2384: The Warp Gate Project is completed. While Einstein Engines now enjoys the immense profits from controlling the most effective and commonly used method of intergalactic travel, the Sol Alliance faces a new economic crisis: the project has put a heavy load on their coffers, and megacorporations -- particularly Einstein Engines -- are more powerful than ever. Desperate and facing a new potential recession, the Sol Alliance grants major concessions to trans-stellar corporations over the next decade in return for financial kickbacks, effectively granting them the ability to operate in many areas without the oversight of the Alliance.

• 2403: NanoTrasen acquires the mining rights to the Romanovich Cloud in the Tau Ceti system. The inhospitable environment of the Romanovich Cloud makes the puchase fairly cheap by the megacorporation's standards.

Modern Robotics

• 2407: Following the discovery of preserved, assumed Glorsh-era, mining drones on the planet Konyang, a Terraneus Diagnostics research team worked in secret inorder to study the drones. In mid-2407 the team successfully deciphered the AI algorithms, granting humanity the secret of artificial intelligence. Months later, the first positronics were manufactured.

Discovery of Phoron

• 2417: In the Romanovich Cloud -- far in the outer edges of Tau Ceti -- NT discovers phoron. This element is revealed to be an immensely efficient fuel source when refined, and presents a practical alternative to long-used Helium-3 warp engines. Further research quickly proved that it could make bluespace travel safe, efficient, and profitable. Phoron quickly becomes a widely-used fuel and energy generating commodity and NanoTrasen becomes excessively wealthy, using its exclusive patents on phoron refining and generation to become a massively powerful corporation.

The Age of Bluespace

• 2425: Bluespace Link gates begin to pop-up in the most developed systems across human and skrell space. The Alliance Sol Warp Gates are upgraded with Bluespace technology, greatly increasing their efficiency and giving NanoTrasen control over significant amounts of travel throughout the Sol Alliance; ending Einstein Engines' longstanding monopoly on faster than light travel.

• 2438: The Scarab fleet, a group of long-lost colonists and pioneers, reappears in Sol Alliance territory. These space adapted humans find it difficult to reintegrate with a humanity that has pushed on in their absence, and align themselves with the Coalition of Colonies.

The Republic of Biesel Forms

The flag of the Republic of Biesel, established in 2452 as part of the Tau Ceti Accords.

• 2450: Tau Ceti, a Sol Alliance system in the inner colonies, has NanoTrasen dominating nearly every facet of life. Sentiment is pro-corporate: politicians praise the corporation's efforts to improve the local economy while ignoring the many morally questionable actions that it has taken. NanoTrasen's stranglehold on Tau Ceti will only increase as time goes on.

• 2452: In the face of growing instability and a worsening recession, the Sol Alliance caves to the pressure of both NanoTrasen and Tau Ceti politicians in the pocket of the mega-corporation. Tau Ceti is officially granted independence and becomes the Republic of Biesel. The Tau Ceti Free Trade Zone is formed as well, giving NanoTrasen considerable power and influence directly in the center of Sol Alliance space. With Biesel seen as little more than a puppet of NanoTrasen, it becomes the target of considerable ire from disaffected citizens.

The Conflicted Frontier

• 2452: The Coalition of Colonies experiences a period of internal strife over a disagreement between the United Syndicates of Himeo and the Xanu Free League on the Coalition's relationship with trans-stellar corporations, with claims of many outer colonies being corporate police states rather than true colonies. Some areas of the frontier of human space become a lawless expanse with pirates and mega-corporations becoming the new law of the lands as some systems depart the Coalition, yet the Coalition itself persists.

Present Day

• 2458: NT is an economic powerhouse which the Sol Alliance relies on for phoron to keep its trade routes to the outer colonies alive and satisfy the energy needs of its largest colonies. Anti-NT sentiment grows in Tau Ceti, but many others continue to support the megacorporation keeping the gears of the (human) galactic economy going. However, many exotic, fantastical elements of the universe such as undiscovered alien life, extremists, even ancient powers beyond comprehension may be moving to strike at arguably the most powerful organization in human space.

• 2458: The Sol Alliance blockades Biesel due to pressure from the Skrellian Federation amid their concerns of Biesel using combat droids for their navy. The blockade fuels not just Sol-Biesel hatred, but synthetic hatred as well. Prices in Biesel skyrocket to accommodate these new economic strains.

• 2459: The Sol Alliance fleet dedicated to the blockade, the 33rd led by Admiral Frost, goes against orders and invades the free Republic of Biesel. In a bloodless invasion, Frost had numerous free synthetics sold back into slavery or scrapped, captured the President of Biesel, and then crushed any opposition towards him. Eventually, the 25th fleet of Sol was sent to stop Admiral Frost. Frost then hid on the NSS Exodus and awaited a raider gang to deliver him to the frontier. 25th Fleet Marines attempted to capture Frost, but were slaughtered by loyalist 33rd Marines. Frost then abandoned his men to flee to the frontier.

• 2461: Admiral Frost returns to the Solarian Alliance to much fanfare following his successful rescue of Solarian civilians taken captive during a recent pirate raid in the Jewel Worlds. He is quickly -- and under suspicious circumstances -- sworn in as Prime Minister despite political opposition from more liberal members of the Solarian Parliament. Frost quickly resorts to harsh political measures to retain his grip, and the Solarian political scene is thrown into chaos by him. The Solarian Navy, long a powerful ally of Frost, gains more political power than it has ever held before.

• 2462: The Alliance's economy buckles under the strain of the 2462 phoron crisis. When attempts to grow synthetic phoron on Mars result in the Violet Dawn disaster, destroying most of the planet's surface, much of the Middle and all of the Outer Rings collapse into anarchy or defect to other human nations as the Alliance retreats inwards to consolidate itself and lick its wounds.

• 2463: With the phoron crisis still ongoing and many human powers in the Orion Spur suffering from its effects, the political climate of 2463 is far from stable. The great powers of humanity await a solution with bated breath, but none can say when one may arrive...