Science fiction and other related fields of fiction are often set in the future, or at least involve events in times that have not yet occurred. This list is a chronological collection of significant events from various works of such fiction. It includes some events that were set in the future when the fiction containing them was first written but which have now been overtaken by real history, becoming a form of alternate history or failed prediction in the process.

It is rarely true that science fiction writers are seriously attempting prediction - the needs of the story are usually the primary concern, and science fiction stories are often more about the present in which they are written than the future in which they are supposedly set.

Nevertheless, below are some notable fictional visions of the-future-that-never-was-and-probably-won't-be. See also: Timeline of Star Trek, Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction, and Timeline of fictional historical events.

Contents

1 19th century 2 20th century 3 21st century 4 22nd century 5 23rd century 6 24th century 7 25th century 8 26th century 9 27th century 10 30th century 11 31st century 12 35th century 13 40th century 14 49th century 15 52nd Century 16 61st Century 17 62nd Century 18 Distant Future 19 Links

19th century

• 1900
  • The Astronef stories by George Griffith

20th century

• 1910
  • when the orbit of Comet Halley intersects with the Earth, catastrophe ensues, but the comet gasses cause an alteration of human psychology to a more rational thought-process; as revealed in In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells (written in 1906).

• 1960s
  • Seeds of a semi-nuclear Little War begin to sprout; over decades it will destroy Washington D.C. and surrounding areas (novel version of Logan's Run)

• 1966
  • After stopping in the middle of World War I, and then traveling through World War II, the Time Traveler encounters a nuclear explosion in this year in George Pal's version of The Time Machine.

• 1973
  • Astronaut George Taylor and three other volunteers depart Earth from Cape Kennedy on an important mission 3,000 years into the future. Some months after, another astronaut, Michael Brent, takes off from Earth in an attempt to find his colleague. Weeks later, Taylor's ship returns from the future with three talking apes (one of which is killed almost immediately). After discovering Earth's future fate, the President orders the two surviving apes, Cornelius and Zira captured. Ultimately, a police officer murders them, and the investigation files are ordered sealed (according to the first three Planet of the Apes movies)

• 1976
  • Events of The Bicentennial Man short story.

• 1977
  • Jess Hurch Society founded - The Muller-Fokker Effect.

• 1980
  • USOS Seaview designed by retired Admiral Harriman Nelson

• 1980s
  • Probable setting of Doctor Whos "UNIT Era"

• 1981
  • Kilgore Trout dies - Breakfast of Champions

• 1983
  • A space virus reaches Earth and kills every dog and cat still living (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes)

• 1984
  • April - Winston Smith, a secretly rebellious file clerk in the Ministry of Truth, is arrested and tortured by Big Brother (Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and its two film versions)

• 1991
  • Revolution between humans and enslaved apes occurs on the West Coast of California (Conquest of the Planet of the Apes)

• 1992
  • January 12 - HAL 9000 becomes operational (2001: A Space Odyssey movie)
  • Khan Noonien Singh rises to power, assuming dictatorial control from South Asia to the Middle East. (Star Trek episode Space Seed)
  • Events of Barnard's Planet .
  • Nuclear war ravages the West Coast of California (according to opening prologue of Battle for the Planet of the Apes)

• 1994
  • A runaway planet hurtles between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction. (Thundarr the Barbarian)

• 1996
  • The Eugenics Wars end (Star Trek episode Space Seed)

• 1997
  • August 4 - Skynet goes online
  • August 29 - Human civilization is destroyed by Skynet (The Terminator; Terminator 2. - Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the first sequel released after 1997, claimed that the advent of Skynet had been delayed, but not prevented, by the events of the first two movies)
  • October 16 The Robinson family departs from earth aboard the Jupiter II space craft and becomes Lost In Space.
  • November 5 - The first recorded appearance of the mysterious terrorist known as "Codename V" in Westminster, London. During the next year he launches a series of elaborate attacks against the fascist regime (which had ruled England since the nuclear war of 1988), causing increasing confusion and unstability, which ultimately brings the regime down (V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd ).

• 1999
  • Doctor Samuel Beckett steps into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and vanishes.
  • July 17 - An alien spaceship falls through Earth's atmosphere, levelling part of Mount Everest, destroying Moscow and Stockholm and causing much other damage before finally landing on South Ataria Island. (Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
  • September 13 - Nuclear waste dumps on the far side of the Moon explode, sending the Moon hurtling into deep space carrying Moonbase Alpha along with it (Space: 1999)
• 2000
  • Efficient international flight has been achieved by fleets of dirigibles, controlled by the Aerial Board of Control (With the Night Mail and As Easy as A.B.C. by Rudyard Kipling)
  • Massive overpopulation (Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison and film Soylent Green)
  • September 13 - Second Impact occurs at the South Pole, melting the world's ice, tilting the planet off its axis and killing off half of the world's population. (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

21st century

• 2001
  • A timequake occurs, sending the citizens of the world back to 1991, where they must relive their lives in automatic pilot for ten years - Timequake
  • An extra-terrestrial obelisk found on the moon, prompting an investigation flight to Jupiter, which is sabotaged by HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick)
  • January - The inauguration of the Earth United Nations Government. (Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
  • February - Work begins on converting the fallen alien spaceship into a battleship of the Earth United Nations Forces. (Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
  • June 6 - Shinji Ikari is born. (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  • June 30 - Martians invade Earth in the second War of the Worlds. (Marvel Comics' Killraven)
  • December - Events of Battle For the Planet of the Apes.
  • December 4 - Asuka Langley Soryu is born. (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  • Death of Kilgore Trout (per Kurt Vonnegut's Timequake)
  • Apes and humans reach an uneasy truce (events of Battle for the Planet of the Apes)

• 2003
  • April 7 - Astro Boy created

• 2005
  • The events of Transformers: The Movie

• 2006
  • Pandemic kills 99.9% of all women (Battle Tanx Global Assault ).
  • Beginning of The Bicentennial Man movie (the original short story was set in 1976).

• 2009
  • February 7 - Work is completed on the Super Dimension Fortress Macross. The same day, the Zentraedi army arrives in the Solar System and war breaks out when the Macross' guns automatically fire on the Zentraedi. This is the beginning of Space War I.

• 2010
  • February - Main Zentraedi fleet of 5 million ships annihilates the surface of the earth. (Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
  • March - Space War I ends. (Super Dimension Fortress Macross)
  • Events of 2010: Odyssey Two. David Bowman, now a magnetic being, returns to Earth, and later on merges with HAL 9000. Jupiter explodes, forming Lucifer, a small sun.

• 2015
  • The third Angel attacks Tokyo-3. Shinji Ikari must defend the city in Eva Unit-01. (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
  • October 21 - Marty McFly, Doc Brown and Jennifer Parker arrive in the future from 1985 in the film Back to the Future Part II (1989), and Biff Tannen departs from this year to 1955 with a sports almanac that creates an alternate 1985.
  • Events of Half-Life 2 (Estimated)
• 2019
  • The events of Blade Runner.
  • The events of Akira.

• 2020
  • Arno Stark, the future wearer of the Iron Man armor, travels back in time to battle Spider-Man.

• 2021
  • Hyperspace gates are set up around the solar system. One of them explodes destroying a part of the moon and forcing immigration to other planets. (Cowboy Bebop)
  • P.D. James's dystopian novel The Children of Men (1992) is set in the England of 2021.

• 2025
  • T.C. Boyle's novel A Friend of the Earth (2000) is set in the USA of the year 2025.
  • Ambrosia Software's game Escape Velocity is set in 2025.

• 2026
  • The events of the film Metropolis.

• 2029
  • A T-800 is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor in The Terminator.

• 2036
  • Zenon Kar is born (Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century)

• 2038
  • Launch of the 7th Macross Battleship that will travel to the center of the Milky Way. (Macross 7)

• 2040
  • Death of Caesar the ape. (Battle for the Planet of the Apes)

• 2045
  • The band Fire Bomber performs their first live concert with Mylene Jenius . (Macross 7)

• 2049
  • The events of Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century

• 2050s
  • The decade in which the future crime drama Minority Report takes place.

• 2050
  • The year a game ends (when your time runs out) in Civilization III.

• 2052
  • The story of the game Deus Ex.

• 2053
  • In Star Trek, Earth is devastated by World War III.

• 2061
  • Events of 2061: Odyssey Three.
  • May 14 - "The Last Question" is first asked of the computer Multivac, in the Isaac Asimov story of that title.

• 2062
  • The cartoon series The Jetsons, was originally set in 2062. This is because the series first aired in 1962, and the show was a prediction of what life would be like a hundred years in the future. Jetsons: The Movie(1990) states that The Jetsons is set "Late in the 21st century." Note that no precise date has ever been stated in any episode.

• 2063
  • April 5: In Star Trek, Zefram Cochrane makes the first human warp flight with the Phoenix. This attracts the Vulcans and they make first contact with humans.

• 2069
  • In Star Trek, the Klingon High Council is formed, eliminating the position of Emperor until 2369 .

• 2071
  • The crew of the ship, Bebop, travel around the Solar System, trying to catch "bounty-heads." (Cowboy Bebop)

• 2077
  • World War III starts on October 10, and ends on October 23, with a nuclear war in the computer game Fallout.

• 2080s
  • The Adventures of Pluto Nash

• 2081
  • Kurt Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron takes place.

• 2099
  • Events of Marvel Comics' Marvel 2099 line.

22nd century

• 2122
  • Events of the first Alien movie

• 2145
  • Events of Doom 3

• 2150
  • The Daleks attack Earth.

• 2151-2154+?
  • The events of Star Trek: Enterprise.

• 2155
  • 26 November: Dave Lister found in a cardboard box under the pool table in the Aigburth Arms. (Red Dwarf)

• 2159
  • Terraformers settle on LV-426 . (Aliens)

• 2180
  • Arnld J Rimmer fails to fix a drive plate on the mining ship Red Dwarf. A cadmium II radiation blast kills him and 1,167 people. The only survivor is Dave Lister, who is in statis.

• 2199
  • Estimated date for the events of The Matrix, according to Morpheus.

23rd century

• 2254
  • Space station Babylon 4 disappears shortly after construction is finished.

• 2256
  • Construction is finished on space station Babylon 5

• 2257-2262
  • The events of Babylon 5, starting with the attempted assassination of Vorlon ambassador Kosh upon his arrival on the station.

• 2263-2268
  • The events of the original Star Trek.

• 2274
  • The events of Logan's Run (the movie)

24th century

• 2318
  • The Journeyman Project the year that that extraterrestrials land on Earth to form a permanent alliance.

• 2350
  • Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century

• 2364-2370
  • The events of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

• 2369 -2375
  • The events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

• 2371 -2378
  • The events of Star Trek: Voyager.

• 2376
  • Duncan Makenzie leaves Titan for Earth in Arthur C. Clarke's Imperial Earth

25th century

• 2419
  • Buck Rogers awakens from his coma.
• 2443
  • The second coming of Jesus (Futurama)

26th century

• 2517
  • Firefly, television program.

• 2525
  • In the Year 2525, song by Zager and Evans
  • Cleopatra 2525 television series
  • Armada 2525 computer game, by publisher Interstel

• 2552
  • Halo: Combat Evolved computer game, by Bungie Studios

• 2587
  • Dargo Ktor finds Mjolnir and accepts the role of Thor. (Marvel Comics' Thor)

27th century

• 2611
  • Events of The Night's Dawn Trilogy, by Peter F. Hamilton.

• 2634
  • McAuliffe Ambush , the first major battle of the Terran-Kilrathi War . (Wing Commander).

• 2654
  • The Confederation offensive, spearheaded by the TCS Tiger's Claw, pushes the Kilrathi from the Vega Sector. (Wing Commander)

30th century

• 2999
  • December 31 - Philip J. Fry awakens from cryogenic freezing (Futurama).

31st century

• 3000s
  • Current setting of the Legion of Super-Heroes (Note: the Legion stories are set 1000 years after the "present day", and the exact period changes with the DC Universe floating timeline).

• 3001
  • Frank Poole is revived, and the events of 3001: The Final Odyssey occur.

• 3007
  • The alien Badoon invade Earth and the Guardians of the Galaxy resistance group is formed. (Marvel Comics)

• 3014
  • The Guardians of the Galaxy succeed in liberating Earth from the Badoon (Marvel Comics)

• 3085
  • Events of the Planet of the Apes television series.

35th century

• 3479
  • Events of the Planet of the Apes animated series.

40th century

• 3955
  • Events of the first Planet of the Apes film and its sequel, Beneath the Planet of the Apes; astronaut George Taylor detonates bomb destroying planet Earth. Note: The remaining events in this timeline reflect what might happen in the event Earth is not destroyed.

• 3991
  • The Red Dwarf spend three weeks in this year where time is going backwards (actually in the 20th Century in the year 1993)

49th century

• 4846
  • Comissioning of the starship Andromeda Ascendant. (Andromeda)

• 4858 -4860
  • Commonwealth civil war (Andromeda)

52nd Century

• 5161 -5164 +?
  • Events of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.

61st Century

• 6041
  • Machinery rules the galactic universe, with humanoids and conscious robots in control, the human race is reduced to a state of apathy (TV version of Dune)

62nd Century

• 6100s
  • The Great Revolt, a human rebellion against the machines, forcing human beings to use their minds for development and breeding; this leads to the formation of mental training schools and the discovery of the spice Melange, both of which would be the turning point for the human race (TV version of Dune)

Distant Future

• ~10,000
  • Man's reign on Earth is believed to be finished (the song In The Year 2525)

• 10,191 after the formation of the Spacing Guild (AD 23,391, +/- up to 400 years)
  • House Atreides takes over stewardship of the planet Arrakis (Dune, novel and film).

• ~ 30,000 (?)
  • The events of the Horus Heresy in Warhammer 40,000

• 40,000
  • The setting for Warhammer 40,000

• 50,000
  • The events of the novel, Pebble in the Sky.

• 802,701
  • The Time Traveller arrives and encounters the Eloi and the Morlocks (H.G. Wells' The Time Machine).

• 853rd century
  • The events of DC One Million take place (DC Universe). Vandal Savage is still alive in this century.

• ~1,000,000
  • The Solar System is destroyed as the Human race leaves its cradle for the last time(Babylon 5).

• ~3,002,180
  • Dave Lister released from stasis. He is the last human being alive. His companions are a hologram of his dead bunkmate, a senile computer and a life form that evolved from a cat he smuggled aboard. Events of Red Dwarf.

• THE END OF TIME
  • The Restaurant at The End of the Universe

Links

• Edgar Governo, Historian of Things That Never Were
• Fictional encyclopedia wiki with a section for fictional history