 The
Pre-Human Era
13.7 billion to 5.0 million years ago
In the beginning, there was nothing. Or
rather, there was everything, but what would all eventually come to comprise
the universe, from every galaxy to every star to every blade of grass, was
contained within a space nearly beyond microscopic. With the Big Bang,
however, the Universe came into being and began to evolve into its present
form. This era includes the early formative period of the Milky Way,
as well as the formation of the Solar System, Earth, and all of her life
forms. Even more specifically, this is the period that saw the rise of
those creatures and beings that would, one day, lead to the rise of Mankind.
Last updated May 29, 2007 |
June 19, 2007
June 12, 2007
May 30, 2007
May 29, 2007
May 28, 2007
February 20, 2007
February 18, 2007
February 15, 2007
September 27, 2006: A brief but quick completion of the Timeline revamp is achieved with the finishing of the Long Dark section. Periods following the Long Dark are still being considered (see the contradictory dates presented), and will probably be worked on at some point in the future. September 22, 2006: Completed the revamp of the Hegemony and Dominion Periods, and the League of Worlds. September 18, 2006: Completed the revamp of the Commonwealth Period, and began the revamp of the Hegemony Period. September 17, 2006: Completed the revamp to the Expansionist Period. September 8, 2006: I've updated some sections throughout the site, per the new Tsubar'ey write-up over at the Shostak Institute. August 31, 2006: I'm still working on updating the Timeline pages, as well as changing my listed email to the proper address. August 30, 2006: Continued to update the Timeline pages. August 18, 2006: Continued work on the Timeline updates. August 17, 2006: I've completed the Pre-Human Era, the Early Man Era, and the Rise of Civilization re-vamp. August 16, 2006: Completed, largely, the updates to this page. I still need to reorder some dates and events in the times following the Long Dark, but that will happen as I create the secondary pages. And speaking of which, I've begun that process as well. August 15, 2006: Continued to update this page's format. August 14, 2006: Added some minor entries dealing with the Big Blue Civilization. August 2, 2006: Continued work on updating the format of this section. July 29, 2006: Began an update to this page's format and organization. July 20, 2006: Added some entries in accordance with ongoing Big Blue write up details. July 7, 2006: Added entries pertaining to the terraforming of Mars and Venus. July 3, 2006: Some updates pertaining to the Big Blue Civilization. June 28, 2006: Some updates pertaining to the Lost Civilization. June 19, 2006: A minor update to some location names. June 16, 2006: Added a bit of data to the post-League era. Keep in mind that much of this is unexplored, undeveloped territory, and subject to massive change. I've also added some entries dealing with the history and rise of the Amasha Unity. |
 The
Early Man Era
5.0 million to 10,000 years ago (8000 BCE)
While the ultimate line of Man's ancestors dates
back to the very end of the Mesozoic Era, the first known hominids appeared
on the surface of Earth some seven million years ago. From this time
on, an entirely family of beings rose and fell, branching off into cousins
and uncles, while all the while an inexorable biological push towards the
modern species of Homo sapiens sapiens continued. During this
time otherworldly events were playing out as well, even to the extent that
some of our ancestors fell under the influence of alien civilizations.
But in the end, Humans spread across the face of the Earth and began on the
path of making that world, and many others, their own.
Last
updated May 30, 2007 |
|
 The
Rise of Civilization
10,000 (8000 BCE) years ago to 1945 CE
With the end of Earth's last Ice Age, Humans
discovered the secrets of agriculture and all that went with it. The
first primitive farms began a process that would eventually lead to the
first industrialized cities. Populations began to expand, wars were
fought over resources and ideologies, and periods of darkness came and went
as various influences toppled nations and peoples. But always
Humankind strove to improve his world and his standing, and the nations of
the world began to industrialize and to achieve technological mastery over
their environment. It was the mastery of the atom, however, and its
massive potential for destruction that not only ended the Second World War,
but it ended an age of innocence. The Earth had become a global
community, fractured and divisive, and it teetered on the edge with the
abyss of total destruction on one side, and a sudden surge of technological
development on the other.
Last
updated May 30, 2007 |
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 The
Pre-Expansionist Period
1945 CE to 2010 CE
Perhaps
the shortest of the divisions that chronicle Human history, this was
nevertheless a period of intense and remarkably strident cultural, social,
and technological evolution. Beginning with the post-World War Two
era, technologies developed from this war spurred forward Man's mastery of
his environment. The greatest of new technologies came with rocket
development. Begun as weapons of war, these instruments eventually
allowed for the move into orbital space, and the creation of a network of
satellites which literally turned the planet into a global village.
Man swiftly followed, eventually moving out as far as the Moon, however
briefly. At the same time, other technologies were leaping forward,
including computer, industrial, and biological technologies. But the
direction of Man's development, always upward, took on a new urgency and
purpose when he began to move off of the Earth with the idea of permanent
colonization and resource development in mind.
Last
updated May 30, 2007 |
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 The
Expansionist Period
2010 CE to 2163 CE
Beginning
with the first mission to the Moon, whose express purpose is to act as the
vanguard of even minimal colonization, this period saw a veritable
explosion of technological innovation and advancement. Nationalism,
always rampant, expanded to new heights as the peoples of the world raced
to gain footholds off world. Science advanced by leaps and bounds,
especially in the areas of nanotechnology and genetics. Computer
technology reached a point where everyone carried a powerful processor on
their belt, and the development of practical fusion power literally opened
up the Inner Solar system to colonization, exploitation, and scientific
exploration. But at the same time Earth was facing a crisis as
decades of environmental abuse by Humans, coupled with a natural trend
towards global warming, saw the swift melting of polar regions and the
alteration of global weather patterns. As life on Earth suffers,
Mankind attempts everything from wide scale Solar System colonization to
even the first attempt to travel to another star, in order to escape the
chaos. But the stresses are too great, and eventually war embroils
both the colonies and Earth herself.
Last
updated June 12, 2007 |
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 The
Commonwealth Period
2163 CE to 2370 CE With
the aid of the New Church Ascendancy the nations of Earth and the rest of
the inhabited Solar System were consolidated into the Inner System
Commonwealth. While still fractured by infighting and bitter
disputes, Mankind was in general at a greater level of peace than he had
ever been before. The opportunities for true expansion and
colonization of the Inner System appeared, and entire new cultures began
to be born. Further attempts at interstellar colonization were
initialized, and those peoples of Earth slowly attempted to rebuild all
that had been lost following the thawing of the planet. However, the
climate was not done, and the planet began to move from a semi-tropical
climate to one of slow cooling. The poles were reforming, and it was
recognized that the planet was, at long last, falling back into a new ice
age. But in the end, old Human nature won out as rivalries between
various nations erupted anew in the face of greater profit to be had, and
this time even the New Church could not stop all out war as the
Commonwealth fell apart.
Last
updated June 19, 2007 |
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 The
Hegemony Period
2370 CE to 2942 CE
It was
the New Church which began to gather the splintered remnants of the
Commonwealth, and which founded the New Church Ascendancy Hegemony, the
most successful and prosperous political organization in the history of
Humankind. During this period, the Earth continued to sink into its
new glacial age, and habitation on its surface was low, but directly
protected by the New Church. The rest of the Solar System, however,
saw Humanity's population explode. Further steps into the
interstellar sea were initiated, and discoveries of the Lost Colonies and
alien life were made. It was a time of scientific refinement, when
remarkably few new innovations were made, but that technology which was
already in existence was perfected. It was also towards the end of
this period that the ArcWays were discovered, and the Local Neighborhood
was opened wide to colonization. But this greater freedom of
movement initiated the Unity War with lost cousins of Humanity, and worse
yet it fostered the slow but definite corruption of the Hegemony
itself. Fueled by xenophobia, the fascism that the New Church fought
against during the Unity War would come to fruition within the leadership
and bring low the entirety of Human civilization.
Last
updated September 22, 2006 |
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 The
Dominion Period
2942 CE to 2985 CE
The Dominion's announced purpose was the
preservation of mankind. In truth it was a fascist regime that held
no tolerance for non-Human or altered Human forms. Utilizing and
expanding on the technology of the previous period, the Dominion utilized
the ArcWays to move across the worlds of man, instituting their own
governors and strict law. The enlightenment of the last millennium
began to evaporate as intolerance grew. Humans who were born into
genetically altered lines, Humans who had been medically modified for
various reasons, and Humans who voiced their discontent, all were rounded
up and sent away to Exile Colonies, while many more simply disappeared.
At least two alien species were driven into extinction, while others were
seriously damaged by the Dominion military. But the Dominion itself
was unstable, held in place by the deranged but brilliant mind of one
man. By the time that the rebellion had begun, the Dominion had
already prematurely aged and was beginning to crack. In the end it
fell, and the difficult task of repairing the shattered Local Space had
begun.
Last
updated September 22, 2006 |
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 The
League of Worlds
2985 CE to 9501 CE Planned
by rebels and initiated by three separate planetary governments, the
League of Worlds was the first interstellar organization of its kind ever
utilized by Humans. During its time, most of the older colonized
worlds experienced intensive cultural, technological, and social growth.
Interstellar commerce was intensified thanks to the ArcWay network, while
slower interstellar travel was largely reduced to colonial or exploratory
ships investigating new systems that held the promise of offering new worlds
for settlement. In time, the League became a literal web, with the Sol
System close to its ultimate center, where many different cultures arose and
spread out among the stars. By the time of the League's collapse, the
ArcWay network was so integrated that its removal could only have toppled
this mightiest of Human polities.
Last
updated February 20, 2007 |