History of Humankind
(Note: most people in the galaxy use a combination of local calendars and a new numbering of years called the Stellar Era (SE), which starts after the destruction of Earth. Thus, present day is 6996 SE. The dates below use CE for consistency.)
- 2030 CE: first settlement of another world (moon) that would remain permanent.
- 2050 CE: number of humans in permanent space habitats exceeds 1000. Fusion power made practical.
- 2075 CE: first drone flyby of another solar system at low relativistic speed (laser-pumped solar sail)
- 2100 CE: moon, Mars, asteroid belt, and Earth langrangian points all have permanent human habitation.
- 2200 CE: space population exceeds 1,000,000 humans.
- 2286 CE: humans foil attempt to eradicate their civilization with kinetic kill weapon, fail to recognize intelligent design behind attack.
- 2500 CE: first practical demonstration of Quantum Gravity manipulation. Space population is over 1,000,000,000, with all planets and major dwarf planets colonized.
- 2555 CE: first attempted contact of humans by Il'um; unable to establish meaningful communication.
- 2700 CE: humans set foot on an extrasolar planet for the first time.
- 2900 CE: solar system population exceeds 100 billion, with billion+ colonies on all planets and large moons, and innumerable space habitats. Construction of Dyson Ring begins. Meanwhile, human population outside solar system exceeds 1 million.
- 2991 CE: first contact made successfully between humans and Il'um. Infrequent talks scheduled to resolve diplomatic matters.
- 2996 CE: the Great Adversary arrives in-system, annihilates all major settlements and space habitats with surprise attacks from kinetic kill weapons. Population reduced from 100+ billion to less than 1 billion in first hour of assault.
- 3874 CE: Argo Navis reaches Tion Prime after more than 800 years of flight. The expedition predated the destruction of Earth, and its inhabitants are unaware of their homeworlds' fate.
- 4000 CE: dozens of extrasolar worlds settled with million+ humans, mostly independent. Earliest traces of modern "noble houses".
- 4400-5000 CE: sporadic, slow-paced wars gradually intensify, culminating in First Throne War. Ultimate victor is House Andromedes, establishing rule of majority of human settlements from Tion Prime.
- 5000-8609 CE: Pax Andromedae. Mostly successful rule by series of Andromedae queens. Human population increases from less than 10 billion to almost 1 trillion across thousands of star systems. Small-scale wars erupt between rival factions or separatists from time to time, but none last long on a grand scale.
- 8344 CE: first scientific observations of the dimming of Tion Prime's sun. Pessimistic estimates allow less than 1000 years to the cooling of the world. reality would prove more cruel.
- 8562 CE: Final evacuation of Tion Prime. a fraction of the population refuses to leave, begins constructing underground dwellings.
- 8609 CE: The Koronus Treason. Royal family betrayed, last queen murdered by her own trusted guard. Incites existing tensions, overwhelms weakened state apparatus, leads to succession wars.
- 8609-9001: New Throne Wars. widespread chaotic fighting. ends with armistice between twelve surviving houses.
- 9993: present day