| YEAR |
MONTH |
EVENT |
| Origin | | According
to the Christian and Jewish religions on Earth,
the vast universe, and all that is within it, are created by a loving
and all-powerful God. (Christianity / The Bible)
Many
species throughout the galaxy share a similar creation belief. The
Romulans believe in a mythical, idyllic place, known as Vorta Vor, from
which all life was born. The Vulcans believe in a place called Sha Ka
Ree. And the Klingons are said to have been created in a place known to
them as Qui'Tu. ("Star Trek: The Final Frontier") |
| Ancient | | The Nexus begins its 39.1-year repeating journey through the Milky Way Galaxy.
("Star Trek:
Generations" -- date assumed, Facebook: Starfleet Academy) |
Ancient
|
|
The
first
civilization flourishes on Bajor. It is renowned for it's
accomplishments in science, mathematics, philosophy, and the arts. A
spiritual relationship is developed
beween the people of Bajor and their Celestial Prophets. (TNG:
"Ensign Ro", DS9: "The Emissary") |
| Ancient | | The
First Hebitian civilization thrives on Cardassian Prime. They are a
spiritual and peaceful people. Their burial vaults are magnificent, and
contain many beautiful items made of jevonite, a rare and breathtaking
stone. (TNG:
"Chain of Command") |
| Ancient | | The Ferengi begin to adopt the philosophy of gaining material wealth at all costs.
(Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) |
| Ancient |
|
The Iconian civilization is
destroyed in a large-scale orbital
bombardment of their homeworld. Their interdimensional gateways have
given them the ability to bridge any distance in an instant, thus
surprising their enemies. Iconian influence is still visible in
many languages, such as Dewan, Iccobar, and Dinasian. (TNG: "Contagion, DS9: "To The
Death") |
| Ancient |
|
The Entities of the
Ryalli
Expanse interact with the Yetanni of Gideon IV. They grant the Yetanni
a mystical gift, which later sparks a planetary war. The gift is eventually hidden and lost for thousands of years. (Terra Nova RPG) |
| Ancient |
|
A stone tablet is created at the
place on Bajor later occupied by
B'hala, prophesizing the Emissary's battle with a Pah-wraith. It will
be excavated in 2374. (VOY: "The
Reckoning") |
| Ancient |
|
The Trill begin life
as a joined species. (TNG: "The
Host") |
| Ancient |
|
The Q Continuum
begins a new era of discovery, celebrating learning, dialog, and even
humor from all across the universe. (VOY:
"Death Wish") |
| Ancient |
|
Gint, the first Grand
Nagus, codifies Ferengi cultural values in a book he calls the Rules of
Acquisition. (DS9: "Bar
Association", DS9: "Body Parts") |
| Ancient |
|
The vast city
surrounding the Guardian of Forever is constructed. It stretches out to
the horizon. (TOS: "The City on the
Edge of Forever") |
| Ancient |
|
The first of orb is discovered
by the Bajorans in the sky above
their planet. Over the thousands of years yet to come, a total of nine of these
extraordinary objects will be found, inspiring revelations that
shape Bajorian theology. (DS9:
"Emissary") |
| Ancient |
|
The Borg begin their evolution into
cybernetic beings. (TNG: "Q Who") |
| Ancient |
|
According to
Klingon mythology, Kortar -- the first Klingon -- destroys the gods who
had originally created him. (DS9: "Homefront", VOY: "Barge of the Dead") |
| 3834 BC | | Akharin
is born in Mesopotamia on Earth. He will grow up to be a soldier, and
will eventually be slain in battle. His short life is merely a
footnote in Earth's history.
(TOS: "Requiem for Methuselah" -- alternate) |
| 2560 BC |
|
On Earth, the Egyptians are building
the Pyramids at Giza. (Historical
Archives) |
| c. 2366 BC |
|
Vulcans begin their mental
suppression of emotions. (VOY:
"Random Thoughts")
|
| c. 1600 BC |
|
On Earth,
in ancient Babylon, the Sumerians begin
recording the cycles of the sun, the moon, and the harvest. As their
culture becomes more sophisticated, they build observation towers
called ziggurats. From 300 feet up, they observe the movements of the
sun, Venus, and Mars. As new planets are discovered, they are given
specific characteristics and a mythical god to rule over them. The
heavens are divided into twelve sections, each governing a specific
influence of daily life. This is the historical foundation of both
modern astronomy and astrology.
(Historical Archives) |
| 480 BC |
|
On Earth, the Battle of
Thermopylae is fought between the Spartans and the Persians.
(Historical Archives) |
| 214 BC |
|
On Earth, construction begins on
the Great Wall of China. (Historical
Archives) |
| 33 BC |
|
Starfleet
personnel are reported to have visited the ancient Adarrans of Tempus
IV, in the distant Ryalli Sector. An unsual artifact discovered
in a 2377 archeological dig seems to substantiate these claims. (Terra
Nova RPG) |
| Year 1 |
|
Jesus
Christ is
born on Earth in the small town of
Bethlehem in Judea, Palestine. His teachings become the basis of the
Christian religion. (Biblical Accounts) |
| 33 | | Jesus
Christ is crucified in the city of Jerusalem on Earth. (Biblical Accounts) |
| c. 250 |
|
The inhabitants of Vulcan engage
in terrible and destructive wars, a result of the violent passions and
emotions that govern the Vulcan people. Myths from this period describe
a terrifying weapon of
war, known as the Stone of Gol, that kills with the power of the mind. (TOS: "Balance of Terror", TOS: "Amok
Time", TOS: "All Our Yesterdays", TNG: "Gambit")
After the wars, Surak leads
the Vulcan people on
a path of peace and logic. His writings are collected in an artifact
called Kir'Shara. His katra will be preserved in a special vessel.
(TOS: "Amok Time", TOS: "The Savage
Curtain", "Star Trek II", TNG: "Gambit", ENT: "The Forge", ENT: "The
Awakening", ENT: "Kir'Shara")
|
| 320 |
|
The Vulcans (and Romulans) become warp capable. (Star Trek Star Charts,
p.52,55) |
| c. 360 |
|
Dissenters who don't agree with
Surak's principles of logic leave Vulcan. They settle on various
planets, including Dessica II, Draken IV, Yadalla Prime, Barradas
III and Romulus.
(TOS:
"Balance of Terror", TOS: "The Enterprise Incident", TNG:
"Unification", TNG: "Gambit") |
| c. 372 |
|
In the Gamma Quadrant, The Founders, weary of being
hunted and killed by non-shapeshifters, found the Dominion. This will
later become a vast interstellar empire. (DS9:
"To the Death") |
| 410 |
Aug. 24
|
On Earth, the Visigoths sack the
city of Rome, during the reign of
Emperor Honorius. The Western Roman Empire collapses before
the end of the century. (Historical
Archives) |
| 420 |
|
The Romulan Star
Empire is
founded as rebel Vulcans colonize the twin planets of Romulus and Remus.
(TOS:
"Balance of Terror", TOS: "The Enterprise Incident", TNG:
"Unification") |
| 800's |
|
In the Ryalli
Sector, several hundred
inhabitants of the planet
Tempus IV are abducted by a lizard race known as the Lesillians, and
are transported to a less hospitable planet -- Faele -- for
experimentation. The Lesillians practice genetic manipulation on these
captives, and force them into slave labor. They become known as the
Faelen, and will -- centuries later -- become mortal enemies of the
militaristic Ryalli race, the Qu-Rog. (Terra
Nova RPG) |
| 822 | | Kahless,
the Warrior King and Emperor of the Klingon people dies. Before
passing, however, he promises that he will return one day, and lead
the Empire to glory once again. His teachings of honor and tradition
soon form the basis of Klingon philosophy and culture. He will come to
be revered by the Klingon people as a near-divine figure.
(TNG: "Rightful Heir" -- cut scene, VOY: "Day of Honor") |
| 930 |
|
The Klingons become warp capable. (Star Trek Star Charts,
p.55) |
| 1154 |
|
The Andorians become warp capable. (Star Trek Star Charts,
p.52) |
| 1334 |
|
The
Bubonic Plague breaks out on Earth, and spreads throughout Asia and
Europe. It will eventually wipe out over two thirds of Europe's
population. (Historical Archives) |
| c. 1372 |
|
The Klingon homeworld is raided
by a race called the Hur'q who steal the Sword of Kahless.
(DS9:
"The Sword of Kahless") |
| 1455 |
Feb. 23 |
Johann Gutenburg starts mass
production of his Gutenburg Bible, which is the first mass-produced
type-written book on Earth. (Historical Archives) |
| 1500's | | On Bajor, the First Bajoran Republic is thriving. (DS9: "Explorers") |
| 1570 | | In the Gamma Quadrant, the T-Rogorans become warp capable.
(Star Trek Star Charts, p. 70) |
| 1571 |
|
A Bajoran solar sailing ship may have reached the Cardassian
homeworld.
(DS9:
"Explorers", Star Trek Star Charts,
p.34) |
| 1588 |
Aug. |
On Earth, the
English defeat the
Spanish Armada, ushering in a shift in planetary powers. (Historical
Archives) |
| 1609 |
|
On Earth,
Galileo Galilei builds the first astronomical telescope. His
observations about the moon, planets in the solar system, the sun, and
the individual stars in the Milky Way confirms Copernican theories. The
sky is no longer the sole domain of mystics.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1666 |
|
On Earth, Isaac Newton
formulates his Laws of Motion after an apple falls on his head.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1690 | | The
settlement of Gotham is established in the New Jersey colony in
America on Earth. It is named after William H. Gotham, one of the
first
British settlers. Over the centuries that follow, Gotham will become a
major metropolitan area, and will be known as Gotham City.
(fictional history, Sisko's baseball card prop) |
| 1700 | Jan. 26 | On
Earth, a massive earthquake occurs 60-70 miles off the Pacific
Northwest coast (in what will eventually become the United States).
The violent quake shakes the ground for 3-5 minutes and is felt along
the coastal interior of the Pacific Northwest. It drops the entire
coastline three to six feet. A tsunami also forms, reaching about 33
feet high along the Pacific coast, and travels across the Pacific
Ocean, hitting the east coast of Honshu Island (the main island of
Japan) ten hours later (January 27th). Japanese sources describe the
6-10-foot tsunami and the five towns it washes away along the 600 miles
of Japanese coast. Native Americans living along the Pacific
Northwest coast also incorporate this cataclysmic event into their cultural mythos.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1700's |
|
In the Ryalli Sector, the
Faelen people achieve space travel, but only with the limited and
unproven technology of the Lesillians whom they defeated with their own
technology. The Faelen lack of imagination in improving
their technology, graciously spares other nearby peoples from meeting
the Faelen before those people develop superior technology.
(Terra
Nova RPG) |
| 1776 |
March 28
|
On Earth, The
Presidio -- the future site of Starfleet Command and Starfleet
Academy -- is founded by Spain in the San Francisco Bay area.
(Star
Trek: The Motion Picture, Historical
Archives) |
|
July 4 |
On Earth, the United States of
America declares independence from Great Britain during the American
Revolution. (Historical Archives). |
| 1783 |
Nov. 21
|
On Earth, the
first
recorded manned flight in a hot air balloon takes place in Paris. Built
from paper and silk, this balloon is
piloted on a 22 minute flight by THe Montigolfier brothers, two nobleman from the court of Louis
XVI and Marie Antoinette. From the center of Paris, they ascend 500
feet above the roof tops, before eventually landing miles away in the
vineyards. Local farmers are suspicious of this fiery dragon
descending from the sky. They offer champagne to placate them, and to
celebrate the first human flight -- a tradition carried on to this day.
(Historical
Archives) |
| c. 1800 |
|
After spending centuries
rebuilding their society, Vulcans construct their second era of vessels that will allow them to once again explore the stars. (ENT:
"The Forge") |
| 1802 |
March 16 |
The United States Military
Academy is founded on Earth. The institution will later provide
education for United Earth MACO officers. (ENT:
"Hatchery", Historical Archives) |
| 1821 |
Feb. 23
|
Human writer John Keats dies in
Rome on Earth. (Historical Accounts) |
| 1836 |
March 6
|
On Earth, at the
site of an old mission in San Antonio called the
Alamo, rebelling against the repressions of Mexico's self-proclaimed
dictator Santa Anna, a band of 189 Texas volunteers defy the Mexican
army of thousands. After a 13-day siege, the
Alamo defenders die to the last man. Among them are such storied names
as
William Travis, Davy Crockett, and Jim Bowie.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1859 | | On
Earth, Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, publishes his personal theory of evolution in his book, On the Origin of Species. His views will later be accepted by a segment of the scientific community as the origin of all life. (Historical Archives) |
| 1861 |
April 12
|
On Earth, with
the Confederate attack on the Union-held Fort Sumter,
the American Civil War begins. It will end four years later, as one of
the bloodiest wars ever fought in America.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1864 | June | On
Earth, the
American Civil War Battle of Pine Mountain, Georgia is fought during
Sherman's
March to the Sea. Union Colonel Thaddius Riker, the commanding officer
of the 102 New York Infantry, and an ancestor of William T. Riker, is
rescued from certain death by a fellow soldier. They are photographed
together shortly after the battle. (VOY: "Death Wish") |
| | On Earth, several
thousand Humans in Missouri (as well as
horses and cattle) continue with life as it has always been. One of
these people is a man by the name of Cooper Smith.
(ENT: "North Star" -- alternate) |
| 1865 |
April 9
|
On
Earth, Robert E. Lee, the Confederation commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, surrenders at Appomattox Court
House. This officially ends the American Civil War. An estimated total of 625,000 Americans have died during the conflict. (Historical Archives) |
| Dec. 5 | Slavery is
abolished in the
United States on Earth, the last western power to do so.
(Historical
Archives) |
| 1870's |
|
On Earth, composer Johannes Brahms,
living in the city of Vienna, Austria, writes some of his most
well-known musical pieces. (Historical
Archives) |
| c. 1871 |
|
The Cardassian Union is formed. (DS9:
"Defiant") |
| 1873 |
|
Colt Firearms introduces the Colt
.45 calibur double-action cavalry pistol. (TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| c. 1890 |
|
Guinan (an El-Aurian) settles on Earth,
concealing her alien origin. (TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| 1893 |
Aug. |
On Earth, during a major cholera epidemic, shape-shifting Devidians from the 24th century
have been stealing neural energy from the unsuspecting inhabitants of San Francisco.
(TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| Aug. 13 | Lieutenant
Commander Data
accidently time travels to this date in San Francisco on Earth. He wins
a high-stakes poker game against Frederick La Rouque, a professional
gambler from New Orleans. Data cleans out La Rouque, even winning
the man's expensive vest. With his newfound wealth, and posing as an inventor, Data obtains a room
at the Hotel Brian.
(TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| Aug. 14 | On Earth, Monday. Lieutenant
Commander Data discovers Guinan at a social event in San Francisco. He is baffled by her presence in the 19th Century. (TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| Aug. 15 | USS
Enterprise-D crewmembers Geordia La Forge, Deanna Troi, Will Riker,
Doctor Crusher and Captain Picard arrive in San Francisco, on Earth,
after passing through a 2368 time portal on the planet Devidia II. (TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| Aug. 18 | In
a cavern underneath the city of San Francisco, on Earth, a Devidian time portal
is opened to the year 2368. Geordi La Forge, Deanna Troi, Will Riker,
Doctor Crusher, and Data's headless body return to their own time.
Samuel Clemens goes through as well, leaving Captain Picard behind to
tend a wounded Guinan. A few hours later, Samuel Clemens reappears on
Market Street in San Francisco (having traveled back in time through
the Devidian gateway), and arrives at the cavern where Picard and
Guinan are located. Clemens gives Captain Picard instructions from
Riker on how to reactivate the Devidian gateway, and Picard returns to 2368. Shortly after, the gateway is sealed.
Guinan and Samuel Clemens leave the cavern, although, Clemens makes
certain to leave his 500-year-old pocket watch behind (next to Data's
head), so that history can repeat itself in 500 years. (TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| Aug. 19 | On Earth, a
newspaper article is published in the San Francisco Chronicle
that claims a band of five outlaws attacked the Sisters of Hope
Infirmary the day before. In addition, reports indicate that two
well-dressed individuals vanished into thin air. Witnesses also claim
to have seen one of the outlaws holding a strange device that shot a
beam of light at one of the well-dressed individuals (before that individual
disappeared). The outlaws then fled the scene on a horse-drawn carriage
driven by an albino. The article suggests that noted writer, Samuel
Clemens, claimed these five outlaws to be invaders from the future. Days later, Clemens recants his statement, claiming that he
was "disoriented by all the excitement". (TNG:
"Time's Arrow") |
| 1903 |
Dec. 17 |
On Earth, at
10:35 am, the Wright brothers participate in the first ever powered
manned flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. (Historical Archives) |
| 1912 |
April 15 |
On Earth, the
steamship RMS
Titanic, a famously "unsinkable" passenger sea vessel, sinks after
colliding with an iceberg in the north Atlantic Ocean.
1,514 Humans drown.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1914 |
July 28 |
World War 1 begins on Earth.
It is a savage conflict, and becomes known as the "War to End All Wars". (Historical Archives) |
| 1918 |
Nov. 11
|
World War 1 ends on Earth.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1920 |
Jan. 10
|
On Earth, The
League of Nations
is founded. This
marks the first human attempt at global government. It's effectiveness
is hampered, however, by the membership refusal of the United States -- whose
president proposed the league. (Historical Archives) |
| 1923 | | Civil war breaks out on planet Xindus between the six species of Xindi. (ENT: "The Shipment") |
| 1925 |
|
The Cardassians become warp capable. (Star Trek Star Charts,
p.35) |
| 1927 |
May |
Aviator Charles
Lindbergh makes the first non-stop, solo,
transatlantic airplane flight, and galvanizes Earth interst in avionics.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1929 |
Oct. |
On Earth, a huge stock
market
crash in the United States plunges
the entire industrialized world into poverty and economic depression. (Historical Archives) |
| 1930 | May | On Earth, Pacifist Edith Keeler dies in an automobile accident in New York City.
(TOS: "City on the Edge of Forever") |
| May | Miles
O'Brien and Major Kira Nerys beam into San Francisco from the future --
June 14, 2371. They are attempting to find Commander Benjamin Sisko,
Jadzia Dax, and Doctor Bashir who were lost sometime in their past.
O'Brien and Kira spend about a minute in this time before beaming back
to 2371. Before they leave, however, they run into a well-dressed
couple who are leaving a party in a nearby building. The couple chuckle
rudely, and run off.
(DS9: "Past Tense") |
| 1933 |
|
On Earth, Adolf Hitler's Nazi
movement takes power in Germany. The Nazis begin to establish a
dictatorship, using the SS and the secret
police to further their agenda.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1934 |
|
The first short story featuring
fictional detective, Dixon Hill, is published in Amazing Detective
Stories Magazine. (TNG:
"The Big Good-Bye") |
| 1937 |
July 2 |
On Earth, aviator Amelia Earhart
and her navigator Fred Noonan disappear over
the Pacific Ocean. Their bodies are never found. (Historical
Archives) |
| 1939 |
Sept. 1 |
The Second World War begins on
Earth as Nazi Germany invades Poland.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1941 |
Dec. 7 |
On Earth, naval
air forces
of the Japanese Empire attack the United States Navy base at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii. More than 2,400 Americans are killed, with
more than 1,100 wounded. The attack sinks four U.S. Navy battleships
and damages four more. It also damages or sinks three cruisers, three
destroyers, one minelayer and damages or destroys 188 aircraft. The
surprise attack causes the United States to declare war on Japan and
join the Allies in World War II.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1942 | March 14 | The Nexus passes within three light years of Earth.
("Star Trek:
Generations" -- date assumed, Facebook: Starfleet Academy) |
| 1944 | | A
young African-American woman named Alicia Travers is living in
Brooklyn, New York on Earth. Her husband is serving on a US Navy
destroyer in the Pacific Ocean. Two men named Sal and Carmine work as
delegates for the Construction Workers Union. They moonlight as
gangsters and loan sharks. A young man named Nicky Jorjo is a car
mechanic.
(ENT: "Storm Front") |
| 1945 |
June 26 |
The United
Nations is chartered in San Francisco, California. The UN is
Earth's 2nd attempt at a unified government. Unlike the League of
Nations, however, it enjoys the participation of all of Earth's great
powers. (Historical Archives) |
|
Aug. |
World War II comes to an
end on Earth when the United States detonates a nuclear bomb over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. During the war, the
Germans systematically murdered over 11 million non-combatants, most of
them Jews, in a system of death camps all across Europe. (Historical Archives) |
| 1947 |
July 8 |
The
U.S. Army at Roswell Army Air Field in Roswell, New Mexico on Earth,
issues a press release regarding the discovery of what many believe to
be an alien spacecraft that crashed in the area. They claim the debris
is nothing more than a weather balloon, and deny the existence of
aliens. Humans of the time begin to
believe that aliens from outer space are visiting Earth.
(Historical Archives) |
|
Oct. 14
|
Test pilot Chuck
Yeager travels faster than the speed of sound in a
new rocket-powered plane. Yeager's supersonic flight begins the Jet
Age. (Historical Archives) |
| 1953 |
|
The Andorians
and Vulcans encounter each other for the first time. This meeting will begin two centuries of border conflict.
(ENT: "Proving Ground") |
| 1955 | June 2 | The
Soviet Scientific-Research Test Range No. 5 is established in Russia.
It will later been known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and will serve as
the test center for Earth's first intercontinental ballistic mission,
the launch of Earth's first man-made satellite (Sputnik 1), as well as
the construction location for smaller Starfleet vessels. A supporting
town is built around the facility to provide
housing, schools, and support infrastructure for facility workers. It
will be raised to city status in 1966, and eventually renamed Baikonur.
(Historical Archives; TNG: "Up The Long Ladder", TNG: "The Naked Now") |
| 1957 |
Oct. 4 |
While
observing the launch of
Sputnik, the first Human-made object to enter space, a Vulcan ship
crashes on Earth, near Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. The captain of the
vessel dies, and the three remaining survivors (T'Mir -- ancestor of
T'Pol, Stron, and Mestral) are forced to make a life for themselves
among the local Humans. (ENT: "Carbon Creek") |
| 1958 | Feb. | A
Vulcan ship, the D'Val, under the command of Captain Tellus, arrives on
Earth, and rescues the stranded Vulcans T'Mir and Stron. Mestral is
claimed to have died in the crash, but in reality remains on Earth,
having developed a certain fondness for Humans. Before
leaving, and in order to help fulfill the college fund of a young
student, T'Mir sells the patent for
a Velcro-like material to Big Creek Manufacturing and Sales Company. (ENT: "Carbon Creek") |
| March 17 | On
Earth, the United States Navy launches satellite Vanguard 1 into orbit.
It is the fourth artificial Earth orbital satellite launched, and the
first satellite to be solar powered. Although, communication is later
lost in 1964, Vanguard 1 remains the oldest man-made satellite still in
protected Earth orbit. The historic 400+ year-old object remains above
Earth in the 24th Century as a memorial to Humanity's early attempts to explore beyond
their atmosphere.
(Historical Archives) |
| Oct. 1 | The
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) becomes
operational on Earth. It's mission is to pioneer the future in peaceful
space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research. (Historical Archives) |
| 1959 | Sept. 14 | Luna
2 -- the second Earth spacecraft in the Soviet Union's Luna program --
successfully impacts the surface of the moon. It is the first human
spacecraft to reach the lunar surface.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1960 | | On
what will be known centuries later as Miri's World (an exact copy of
Earth), a failed life prolongation experiment creates a disease that
kills the entire adult population of the planet, leaving only the
children. These feral children begin to age very slowly, and come to
know themselves as Onlies. When they eventually reach puberty, they
succumb to the disease just as their adults did in this decade. (TOS: "Miri") |
| 1961 |
April 12
|
Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, becomes the first
Human to achieve orbital space flight. His craft, Vostok I, circles the
earth once. (Historical Archives) |
| May 5 | On
Earth, NASA astronaut, Alan Shepard, becomes the first American to
reach orbital spaceflight aboard Mercury-Redstone 3 (also known as
Freedom 7). His entire flight lasts only 15 minutes and 22 seconds,
during which his spacecraft tavels 302 miles from its launch point.
Years later, Freedom 7 is placed on display in the lobby of the visitor
center at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. It remains there to
this day. (Historical Archives) |
| 1962 | Feb. 20 | On
Earth, NASA astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit
Earth aboard Friendship 7 (Mercury-Atlas 6 mission). After three
successful orbits, and four hours and 56 minutes in flight, the
spacecraft successfully re-enters Earth's atmosphere, splashing down
into the Atlantic Ocean. The 400-year-old Friendship 7 is still on
display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. (Historical Archives) |
| Dec. 14 | NASA's
unmanned Earth probe, Mariner 2, successfully performs the first
planetary encounter of a space probe when it passes within 35,000
kilometers of the planet Venus. The probe reveals that Venus has a very
hot surface blanketed by a thick cloud cover. (Historical Archives) |
| 1963 |
Oct. 10
|
The Nuclear Test
Ban
Treaty is adopted on planet Earth. The
agreement represents a significant early step toward the control of
nuclear weapons. (Historical Archives) |
| 1964 | July 31 | After
six failed missions, NASA's Ranger 7 reaches the moon and begins to
transmit high-resolution photographs of the the lunar surface. A total
of 4,308 excellent quality photographs are transmitted back to Earth
during the final 17 minues of flight. Ranger 7 then impacts the
surface of the moon -- as intended -- and is no more. It's mission is
a resounding success, and helps pave the way for future manned and
unmanned missions to the moon.
(Historical Archives) |
| 1965 | July 14 | NASA's
unmanned Earth probe, Mariner 4, successfully performs the first flyby
of Mars, returning the first pictures of the Martian surface. It
captures the first images of another planet ever returned from deep
space. The depiction of a cratered, seemingly dead world changes the
scientific view in regards to life on Mars. (Historical Archives) |
| 1966 | Feb. 3 | The
Soviet unmanned spacecraft, Luna 9, becomes the first spacecraft to
land on the moon, and transmit photographic data back to Earth. (Historical Archives) |
| March 1 | The
unmanned Soviet space prove Venera 3 becomes the first Human spacecraft
to land on another planet's surface when it crash-lands on Venus.
Unfortunately, its communication systems failed before it could
return any information about the planet. (Historical Archives) |
| Sept. 8 | The
first episode of a science fiction television series known as "Star
Voyage" airs on the American NBC television network. The show is
created by a man named Jim Riddenberg and will air for three seasons
(until 1969). It tells the story of Jason Cole, captain of the UCP
starship DSS Enterprise as it explores space, seeking out new alien
species and civilizations. The show develops a strong fan following
over the years, and has a strong impact upon 20th and 21st Century
culture -- including the name of America's first Space Shuttle,
Enterprise. "Star Voyage" will later inspire six spinoff television
series' and seventeen movies. It will become the longest running
science fiction franchise in Earth history. (Facebook: Starfleet Academy) |
