Timeline of Star Trek

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The below is an abridged timeline of events established in the group of television shows and feature films set in the fictional Star Trek universe. More exhaustive timelines are available in both Star Trek reference works and in various fan websites.

Contents

[edit] History of the chronology

There have been several efforts over the years to develop a chronology for the events depicted by the Star Trek television series and its spin-offs. This matter has been complicated by the continued additions to the Star Trek canon, and the scarcity of Gregorian calendar dates given in the show (stardates instead being used).

[edit] Original series

There are few references setting the original series in an exact timeframe, and those that exist are largely contradictory :

  • In the episode, "Tomorrow is Yesterday", a 1960s military officer says that he's going to lock Captain Kirk up "for two hundred years", to which a bemused Kirk says, "That ought to be just about right".
  • In the episode "Space Seed", it is said that Khan is from "two centuries" ago (1996), placing the episode in the late 22nd century
  • In the episode "Miri", it is said that 1960 was around 300 years ago
  • The episode "The Squire of Gothos" implies that the light cone of 19th century Earth has expanded to 900 light years, setting the episode in the 28th century.
  • The episode "Metamorphosis" establishes that Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive, went missing around 150 years ago, at the age of 87.

According to notes in The Making of Star Trek, the Enterprise is supposed to be around 40 years old, and that the show is set in the 23rd century. Roddenberry says in this book that the stardate system was invented in order to avoid pinning down the show precisely in terms of timeframe.[1] Roddenberry's original pitch for the series dated it "'somewhere in the future". It could be 1995, or maybe even 2995".[2]

[edit] Early chronologies

The Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology and FASA, a publisher of the first licensed Star Trek role-playing game, chose to take the Space Seed figure, adding a few years to make sure the events of the original series were in the 23rd century. This dating system is followed by other spin-off works in the 1980s, including Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. This timeline system gives the following dates [3][4]

The Star Fleet Battles game was published in 1979, with a license only covering the original series. It has since diverged into an entirely separate fictional universe, new additions to which continue to be published. It does not tie into the Gregorian calendar, instead using a "Year 1" of the invention of Warp on earth. Its version of the original series backstory is

  • Y1 - warp drive is developed on Earth
  • Y4 - Federation is formed by Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, Alpha Centauri
  • Y40-Y46 - Romulan war
  • Y71 - Starfleet is formed
  • Y126 - the Constitution-class is launched (an upgrade from the Republic-class)
  • Y154-159 - the events of the original series

See Star Fleet Universe timeline.

[edit] TNG era and Okuda

Press materials for TNG suggested it was set around in the 24th century, seventy-eight years after the existing Star Trek, although the exact timeframe had not yet been set in stone. The pilot had wording saying Data was part of the Starfleet "class of '78".[5] The pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", also has a cameo appearance by Leonard McCoy, who is said to be 137.

In the last episode of the first season, the year is firmly established by Data, as 2364.[5] This implies McCoy was born around 2227, ruling out the Spaceflight Chronology-derived dating of the original series to the early 23rd century.

A Star Trek Chronology was published in 1993, written by production staff members Denise Okuda and Mike Okuda.[6] A second edition was issued in 1996.[7] Okuda originally drew up a timeline for internal use by writers, based on his own research and assumptions provided by Richard Arnold. The dates in the Chronology are consistent with the earlier Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual.[8]

It gives the following dates:

  • Zephram Cochrane invents warp drive around 2061 (in order that the SS Valiant can be constructed and go missing two hundred years before "Where No Man Has Gone Before", dated to 2265; the first edition gives 2061, the second edition moves this to 2063 per Star Trek: First Contact)
  • the Romulan War takes place in the 2150s (approximately a hundred years before "Balance of Terror")
  • the Federation is formed in 2161, after the Romulan War, on the basis that "Balance of Terror" says that it was an Earth-Romulan war, not a Federation-Romulan War
  • the first Constitution class starship is launched in 2244, followed by the Enterprise in 2245
  • Kirk's five year mission lasts from 2264 to 2269, based on the assumption that the original series is set exactly 300 years after its original broadcast.
  • the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture take place in in 2271 (Kirk has been Chief of Starfleet Operations for two-and-a-half years, according to dialog from Kirk and Decker)
  • a second five-year mission takes place from 2271 to 2276 (speculation)
  • the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and III take place in 2285
    • The Wrath of Khan is a sequel to the episode Space Seed, which Okuda dates to 2267. In Okuda's timeline there is a gap of eighteen years rather than the fifteen years established in dialog. The film was released in 1982, fifteen years after the episode's broadcast in 1967.
  • the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home take place in 2286
  • the events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier take place in 2287
  • the events Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country take place in 2293, based on McCoy's statement that he had served on the Enterprise for 27 years, and his absence in "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
  • Star Trek: Generations is set "78 years" before 2371, thus is set in 2293 and soon after Star Trek VI

There was a gap of 10 years between the broadcast of the last episode of TOS and the release of The Motion Picture, which is supposed to represent 2.5 years: the gap between the release of TMP and the next film was 3 years, but by this chronology the characters have aged 14 years.

Within the TNG era, episodes are easier to date. Stardates correspond exactly with seasons, with the first two digits of the stardate representing the season number. Okuda assumes the start of a season is January 1 and the end of the season is December 31.[7] The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager televison series and movies have roughly followed "real time", and are set around 377 years after their release.

Since the Chronology was published, it has been generally adhered to by the producers of the show. The Voyager episode "Q2" establishes 2270 as the end of Kirk's five year mission.

The film Star Trek: First Contact and prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise both revisit the early era. In First Contact, Zephram Cochrane is confirmed as having invented warp drive on Earth, but the date is moved forward slightly to 2063, and it is revealed that Earth's official first contact with an alien species: the Vulcans took place immediately afterwards as a result of this.

Enterprise is set in the 2150s, and ties into the Cochrane backstory. The show uses the Gregorian calendar extensively, making dating easier. Its pilot, "Broken Bow", depicts first contact with the Klingons occurring much earlier than the Okuda chronology anticipated (it suggested a date of 2218, based on a line in "Day of the Dove", noting that dialog in First Contact makes this problematic). It shows the opening of the Romulan war and the start of a coalition between Earth, Vulcans, Andor and Tellar in the 2150s. The final episode, "These Are The Voyages...", finally confirms 2161 as the founding year for the Federation.

No version of the Chronology or the Encyclopedia has been published since 1999. A 2006 book by Jeff Ayers contains a timeline which attempts to date all of the many Star Trek novels.[9] This timeline has The Motion Picture in 2273, to account for the two-and-a-half-year gap between the end-date of 2270 established in "Q2" and the events of the movie. The official website startrek.com gives the date of that movie as 2271.[10]

[edit] Eugenics Wars and World War III

When the original series of Star Trek was produced, the 1990s were in the future, and so various elements of the backstory to Star Trek are set in that era, particularly the Eugenics Wars. The references to the Eugenics Wars and to a nuclear war in the 21st century are somewhat contradictory.

The episode "Space Seed" establishes the Eugenics Wars, and has them last from 1992 to 1996. Spock calls them "your last so-called World War", and McCoy identifies this with the Eugenics Wars. In the episode "Bread and Circuses" Spock gives a death toll for World War III of 37 million. The episode "The Savage Curtain" features a Colonel Green, who led a genocidal war in the 21st century. The TNG episode "Encounter at Farpoint" further establishes a "postatomic horror" on Earth in 2079.

The Star Trek Concordance identifies the "Bread and Circuses" figure as the death toll for a nuclear World War III, in the mid-21st century. Star Trek: First Contact firmly establishes World War III ended in a nuclear exchange in 2053, but with a body count of 600 million. The figure of Colonel Green is elaborated on in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Although the back-story of Star Trek contains numerous minor elements that did not occur in history, the Eugenics Wars marked a substantial deviation. The Voyager episode "Future's End" saw the Voyager crew time-travel to Los Angeles in 1996, which, as the Encyclopedia notes, seems entirely unaffected by the Eugenics Wars, which ended that year. The episode acknowledges the issue only by featuring a model of Khan's DY-100-class ship on a 1996 desk. [11] Khan's spaceship is another anomaly for the timeline, which has a variety of long-lost spaceships being launched between 1980 and 2100, with inconsistent levels of technology (caused by the increasing real life time and also decreased optimism about the pace of space exploration).

A reference in the Deep Space Nine episode "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" suggests that the Eugenic Wars instead took place in the 22nd century. This was apparently not an attempt at a retcon, but a mistake, as confirmed by Star Trek: Enterprise episodes.

Greg Cox's non-canon two-book series The Eugenics Wars explains the Eugenics Wars in the context of real-life history by representing it as a secret history, and that the truth behind the various civil wars and conflicts in the 1990s was not generally known.

[edit] Cochrane

In the episode "Metamorphosis", it is stated that Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri, the inventor of warp drive disappeared 150 years ago, at the age of 87. Given Okuda's date of 2267 for that episode, this puts Cochrane's disappearance in 2117 and birth in 2030. 1980s spin-off material such as the Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology posit that Cochrane was from Alpha Centauri originally, and that a sub-warp ship the UNSS Icarus arrived at Alpha Centauri in 2048 to discover he had discovered the theory behind warp drive. The Icarus then relayed its findings back to Earth, the first prototype warp ship was launched in 2055.

The Star Trek Chronology does not hold with this theory, and asserts that Cochrane was an Earth native, who moved to Alpha Centauri later in life. The first edition Chronology notes that Cochrane's invention of warp drive must have been at least 200 years before "Where No Man Has Gone Before", and posits a date of 2061, noting that Cochrane would be 31 that year.

The movie Star Trek: First Contact prominently features Cochrane's first warp attempt. The film is set in 2063, two years after the Chronology suggestions, and therefore by the timeline Cochrane is 33. The actor who played Cochrane in that movie, James Cromwell, was 56 at the time of the film's release. The Encyclopedia notes the age issue, and claims that the Cromwell Cochrane had suffered from radiation poisoning, causing his aged appearance. Enterprise pins down Cochrane's disapperance to 2119, making Cochrane instead 31 at the time of First Contact.

[edit] Ordering of episodes

The production order of original series episodes differered greatly from the original broadcast order. The Chronology assumes the correct chronological order is production order. Episodes of the original series tend to be largely standalone and rarely make references to other episodes.[7]

For later series, the Chronology follows this model, except for obvious exceptions, such as "Symbiosis", an episode shot after Tasha Yar's death in "Skin of Evil" had been filmed, but featuring her. After the debut of DS9 (and therefore the start of a period where there were two ongoing series of Star Trek), the Chronology instead adopts ordering by airdates. The latest edition of the Chronology was published in 1996, and thus does not cover Star Trek episodes or films released after then.

[edit] Series and movie settings

This table shows each TV series and movie, its year of release or broadcast, and the year it was set in.

Year Enterprise-based series Deep Space Nine Voyager
2151 Enterprise season 1 (2001-2002)
2152 Enterprise season 2 (2002-2003)
2153 Enterprise season 3 (2003-2004)
2154 Enterprise season 4 (2004-2005)
2254 "The Cage" (1964)
2265 "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (1965)
2266-2267 Star Trek season 1 (1966-1967)
2267-2268 Star Trek season 2 (1966-1967)
2268-2269 Star Trek season 3 (1966-1967)
2271 The Motion Picture (1979)
2285 II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
III: The Search for Spock (1984)
2286 IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
2287 V: The Final Frontier (1989)
2293 VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Generations (1994)
2364 The Next Generation season 1 (1987-1988)
2365 The Next Generation season 2 (1988-1989)
2366 The Next Generation season 3 (1989-1990)
2367 The Next Generation season 4 (1990-1991)
2368 The Next Generation season 5 (1991-1992)
2369 The Next Generation season 6 (1992-1993) Deep Space Nine season 1 (1993)
2370 The Next Generation season 7 (1993-1994) Deep Space Nine season 2 (1993-1994)
2371 Generations (1994) Deep Space Nine season 3 (1994-1995) Voyager season 1 (1995)
2372 Deep Space Nine season 4 (1995-1996) Voyager season 2 (1995-1996)
2373 First Contact (1996) Deep Space Nine season 5 (1996-1997) Voyager season 3 (1996-1997)
2374 Deep Space Nine season 6 (1997-1998) Voyager season 4 (1997-1998)
2375 Insurrection (1998) Deep Space Nine season 7 (1998-1999) Voyager season 5 (1998-1999)
2376 Voyager season 6 (1999-2000)
2377 Voyager season 7 (2000-2001)
2378
2379 Nemesis (2002)

[edit] Timeline

This timeline is based on the Star Trek Chronology model described above.[7]

Note: Many of these dates are rounded-off approximations, as the dialog from which they are derived often includes qualifiers such as "over," "more than," or "less than."

[edit] Billions of years ago

[edit] 65 million years ago

  • c. 65,000,000 years ago
    • One of Earth's dinosaur species, eventually known as the Voth, begin their mass exodus taking them to the Delta Quadrant after Earth is devastated by an asteroid. (Voyager, "Distant Origin")

[edit] 1st millennium

  • c. 4th century
    • The Vulcan Time of Awakening. In the midst of horrific wars on Vulcan, the philosopher Surak leads his people, teaching them to embrace logic and suppress all emotion. Those who do not embrace this philosophy leave Vulcan and found the Romulan Star Empire. (The seventh-season TNG episode "Gambit Part II" established the Time of Awakening as 2,000 years prior.)
    • The ancient Debrune, an offshoot of the Romulans, established an outpost on Barradas III. Other planets settled by Romulans or other Romulan offshoots included Calder II, Yadalla Prime, and Draken IV. (This was described in "Gambit part II".)
    • The Dominion is founded in the Gamma Quadrant by the shapeshifting race known as the Changelings. (Weyoun described the age of the Dominion as 2,000 years old in the fourth-season DS9 episode "To the Death.")
  • c. 9th century
  • Kahless the Unforgettable unites the Klingons by defeating the tyrant Molor and the Fek’lhri in battle, and provides his people with teachings based on a philosophy of honor. (The sixth-season TNG episode "Rightful Heir" said this event was 1,500 years prior.)

[edit] Pre-20th century

  • c. 1570
    • The ancient Bajorans use solar sail ships to explore their solar system, and at least one even reaches Cardassia. (This was described as 800 years prior to the third-season DS9 "Explorers".)
  • 18th century
    • A group of interstellar anthropologists called the Preservers visit Earth and fearing the Native Americans to be in danger of extinction, transplant a small group of Lenape, Navajo and Mohicans to a distant planet near an asteroid belt, and provide a powerful obelisk-shaped deflector beam generator to protect them. The natives referred to these aliens as the Wise Ones. (This was described in the early third season TOS episode "The Paradise Syndrome." The date, according to The Star Trek Chronology, is derived by the Native American culture seen in the episode.)

[edit] 20th century

[edit] 21st century

[edit] 22nd century

[edit] 23rd century

[edit] 24th century

[edit] References

  1. ^ Whitfield, Stephen E and Roddenberry, Gene (1968). The Making of Star Trek. Ballatine Books.
  2. ^ Asherman, Allan (1987). The Star Trek Compendium. Titan Books. ISBN 0-907610-99-4.
  3. ^ Goldstein, Stanley and Fred (1980). Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology. ISBN 0671790897.
  4. ^ Johnson, Shane (1987). Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise. Titan Books. ISBN 1852860286.
  5. ^ a b Nemeck, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
  6. ^ Okuda, Mike, Okuda, Denise (1993). Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671796119.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Okuda, Mike, Okuda, Denise (1996). Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future. Pocket Books. ISBN 0671536109.
  8. ^ a b c Okuda, Michael and Sternbach, Rick (1991). Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-70427-3.
  9. ^ (2006) Voyages of the Imagination: The Star Trek Fiction Companion. Pocket Books. ISBN 1416503498.
  10. ^ Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Synopsis. startrek.com.
  11. ^ Okuda, Mike, Denise, Okuda with Mirek, Debbie (1999). The Star Trek Encyclopedia. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-53609-5.
  12. ^ The Chronology speculates on the year, noting the episode "The Changeling" does not give an exact figure.
  13. ^ The Chronology speculates on the year, noting the episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday" does not give an exact year.
  14. ^ According to the episode "Space Seed". The year is clearly specified by Lt McGivers, ship's historian.
  15. ^ The year is stated in "The Royale"
  16. ^ The war ends 10 years before Star Trek: First Contact, set in 2063.
  17. ^ The Chronology dates this exactly 200 years before the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
  18. ^ Established in the episode "Friendship One".
  19. ^ Established the episode "Terra Nova"
  20. ^ "Encounter at Farpoint" features a Q-induced flashback to this era.
  21. ^ a b From a computer screen in "In A Mirror, Darkly"
  22. ^ McCoy is 137 years old in "Encounter at Farpoint", set in 2364.
  23. ^ a b c d A biography shown in "Conundrum" establishes the birth-year and birth-place.
  24. ^ This incident, the last contact between the Romulans and the Federation is said to be 53 years prior to "The Neutral Zone"
  25. ^ The Chronology derives this figure from working backwards from the Khitomre massacre of 2346.
  26. ^ This is said to occur twenty-two years before "Yesterday's Enterprise" (2366)
  27. ^ The Chronology derives this figure by subtracting 20 years from 2366 ("Sins of the Father". The Chronology notes an inconsistency, as the episode "Birthright", which it sets in 2369, gives a figure of 2344.
  28. ^ Biography: Anji. startrek.com.
  29. ^ Biography: Data. startrek.com.
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