Timeline of Star Trek

Below is an abridged timeline of events established in the group of television shows and feature films set in the Star Trek universe. Many dates are estimates as the various shows and films are not consistent in their use of dates. More exhaustive timelines are available in both Star Trek reference works and on various fan websites.

Series, books and movie settings

This table shows each TV series and movie, its year of release or broadcast, the year it was set in according to the prevailing Okuda chronology (see below) and the stardate range for that year. The designation Enterprise-based series are the series that featured the various incarnations of the starship USS Enterprise. In universe timeline chronological order Star Trek Enterprise (ENT), Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS), Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS), Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) and all 13 of the Star Trek feature films including the three newest J.J. Abrams alternate reality films, or "Kelvin Timeline" based on the original series.

Timeline

This timeline is based on the Star Trek Chronology model described below, supplemented by data from startrek.com.^[1]

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."

Negative Millennia

• The Big Bang
  • Quinn hides in the big bang to avoid discovery by Q.^[2]
• c. 6 billion years ago
  • The Guardian of Forever is formed.^[3]
• c. 4 billion years ago
  • A humanoid civilization seeds the oceans of many planets with genetic material, which would lead to the development of humanoids on many planets.^[4]
• c. 65 to 100 million years ago
  • The dinosaurs (the Voth civilization) from the episode "Distant Origin" are most likely descendants of Hadrosaurids who lived in the Cretaceous period of Earth's history.
• c. 1 million years ago
  • Sargon's people explore the galaxy and colonize various planets, possibly including Vulcan.^[5]
• c. 600,000 years ago
  • The Tkon Empire, an interstellar state consisting of dozens of star systems in the Alpha Quadrant, becomes extinct.
• c. 200,000 years ago
  • The Iconian civilization is destroyed.
• c. 8,000 BC
  • The Dominion may have been founded in the Gamma Quadrant by the shapeshifting race known as the Changelings around this time, possibly in a different form than is known in the modern timeline.^[6]
• c. 2700 BC
  • A group of extraterrestrial beings landed on Earth and was eventually known as the Greek gods established in the episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?".

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.^[7]
  • The Dominion may have been founded in the Gamma Quadrant by the shapeshifting race known as the Changelings around this time.^[8]
• c. 9th century
  • Kahless the Unforgettable unites the Klingons by defeating the tyrant Molor in battle, and provides his people with teachings based on a philosophy of honor.^[9]

Pre-20th century

• c. 1570
  • The ancient Bajorans use solar sail ships to explore their star system, and at least one reaches Cardassia.^[10]
• 18th century
  • The Suliban homeworld becomes uninhabitable. ("Detained" (ENT))
  • The Preservers transport various Native Americans to a far-away planet.^[11]
• c. 1864
  • The Skagarans abduct humans for use as slaves in their colony world. (as referred to in Enterprise Season 3: North Star)
• c. 1871
  • The Cardassian Union is established.^[12]
• 1888
  • August 31 - Jack the Ripper's first victim is found murdered and mutilated in East London. (as referred to in Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2: "Wolf in the Fold")
• c. 1893
  • "Time's Arrow" (TNG)

20th century

• 1930
  • "The City on the Edge of Forever" (TOS)
  • February 18 - Pluto discovered by Clyde Tombaugh.
• 1937
  • Several hundred humans are secretly abducted by aliens and brought to the Delta Quadrant. Six are cryogenically frozen, including long-lost pilot Amelia Earhart. "The 37's" (VOY)
• 1944
  • "Storm Front" (ENT)
• 1947
  • Three Ferengi (Quark, Rom, and Nog) crash land in the New Mexico desert, and are held by the U.S. government at a secret base for scientific study. "Little Green Men" (DS9)
• 1957
  • A Vulcan scout ship visits Earth, according to a story told by T'Pol (presumably a true story as T'Pol examines a purse which was portrayed as used by her great-great-grandmother during the story; see episode entry). "Carbon Creek" (ENT)
• 1967
  • Captain Braxton's 29th century Federation timeship Aeon crashlands on Earth. "Future's End" (Voyager)
  • January 27 - A launch pad fire during Apollo program tests at Cape Canaveral, Florida, kills astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White II, and Roger B. Chafee.
• 1968
  • "Assignment: Earth" (TOS)
  • October 11 - Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, is launched with astronauts Walter M. Schirra, Jr.; Donn F. Eisele; and Walter Cunningham aboard.
• 1969
  • "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (TOS)
• 1970
  • April 17 - Apollo 13 returns to Earth.
• 1971
  • January 31 - Apollo 14 departs for the moon.
• 1974
  • March 29 - The unmanned U.S. space probe Mariner 10 becomes the first spacecraft to visit the planet Mercury, sending back close-up images of a celestial body usually obscured because of its proximity to the sun.
• 1976
  • July 20 - the Viking 1 lander, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, becomes the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars.
• 1980
  • September 22 - Midtown Stabber kills his first victim in Buffalo, New York, United States. (as referred to in Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2: "Wolf in the Fold")
• 1986 -
  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
  • December 23 - The experimental aircraft Voyager lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the first nonstop flight around the globe on one load of fuel.
• 1992
  • The Eugenics Wars (WWIII) begin.^[13] (WWIII is retconned to be in 2050s by TNG's Encounter at Farpoint and Star Trek First Contact; DS9's "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" retcons the Eugenics Wars as being in the 22nd century)
• 1995
  • June 29 - The American space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian space station Mir to form the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth.
• 1996
  • The Eugenics Wars end.^[13] (WWIII is retconned to be in 2050s by TNG's Encounter at Farpoint and Star Trek First Contact; DS9's "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" retcons the Eugenics Wars as being in the 22nd century)
  • "Future's End" (VOY)
• 1999
  • Voyager 6 is launched^[14]

21st century

• 2000
  • The past events of "11:59" (VOY).
• 2002
  • The interstellar probe Nomad is launched.^[1][15]
• 2003
  • February 1 - The space shuttle Columbia breaks up while entering the atmosphere over Texas killing all seven crew members.
• 2004
  • The past events of "Carpenter Street" (ENT).
• 2009
  • The first successful Earth-Saturn probe takes place.^[1][16]
• 2011
  • July 21 - NASA's space shuttle program completes its final mission when the shuttle Atlantis lands at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
• 2012
  • The world's first self-sustaining civic environment, Millennium Gate, which became the model for the first habitat on Mars, completed in Portage Creek, Indiana. ("11:59", Voyager)
• 2018
  • Sleeper ships are made obsolete.^[17]
• 2024
  • A united Ireland is achieved by republican terrorists (TNG "The High Ground")
  • The past events of "Past Tense" (DS9). Namely the "Bell Riots".
• 2032
  • Ares IV, a manned mission to Mars is launched.^[18]
  • Zefram Cochrane is born
• 2037
  • The spaceship Charybdis makes an attempt to leave the solar system.^[19]
• 2053
  • World War III ends and Earth is left devastated, mostly because of nuclear warfare. Scientific advancement continues, however.^[20] (In TOS WWIII took place in the 1990s^[13] while in DS9's "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" had the Eugenics Wars in the 22st century)
• 2063
  • The past events of Star Trek: First Contact. Zefram Cochrane makes the first human warp flight with the Phoenix. This attracts the Vulcans and they make first contact with humans.
• c. 2065
  • The SS Valiant is launched.^[1][21]
• 2067
  • The unmanned interstellar warp probe Friendship 1 is launched^[22]
• 2069
  • The colony ship SS Conestoga is launched. It would found the Terra Nova colony.^[23]
• 2079
  • Earth begins to recover from its nuclear war.^[24] The recovery is aided and partially organized by a newly established political entity called the European Hegemony.^[1]
• 2088
  • T'Pol is born

22nd century

• 2103
  • Earth colonizes Mars
• 2111
  • Jonathan Archer is born in upstate New York on Earth.^[25]
• 2119
  • Zefram Cochrane, who now is residing on Alpha Centauri, sets off for parts unknown and disappears. Some thought he was testing a new engine. After an exhaustive search, it is believed that Cochrane has died. He becomes one of the most famous missing people in history.^[26]
• 2129
  • Hoshi Sato is born.^[25]
• 2142
  • Warp 2 Barrier broken by Commander Robinson in NX Alpha and Warp 2.5 achieved by Commander Archer in NX Beta
• 2145
  • Warp 3 Broken by Commander Duvall in NX Delta
• 2150
  • Keel laid for Enterprise (NX-01)
• 2151–2155
  • The events of Star Trek: Enterprise take place.^[27]
• 2156–2160
  • The Earth-Romulan War is fought between United Earth and its allies, and the Romulan Star Empire. The war ends in a stalemate though the Romulans are defeated at the Battle of Cheron. The Romulan Neutral Zone is established.^[1]
• 2161
  • The United Federation of Planets is founded by Earth, Tellar, Andoria, and Vulcan.^[28][29]
• 2165
  • Sarek, Federation diplomat and father of Spock, is born on Vulcan.^[30]
• 2160s to 2196
  • The Daedalus class starship is active.^[31]

23rd century

• 2222
  • Montgomery Scott is born in Scotland.^[32]
• 2227
  • Leonard McCoy is born in Georgia, North America on Earth.^[33]
• 2230
  • Spock, the son of Sarek and the human Amanda Grayson, is born on Vulcan.^[34]
  • Hikaru Sulu is born in San Francisco, North America on Earth.^[35]
• 2233
  • James T. Kirk is born in Riverside, Iowa on Earth.^[36]
• 2233 (alternate timeline)
  • James T. Kirk is born aboard a shuttlecraft from the USS Kelvin.
  • James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, is killed.
  • Nyota Uhura is born in the United States of Africa.^[37] This fits with the alternate timeline, unlike her alternate birth date of 2239, for the latter would suggest her only being nineteen in the film.
• 2241 (New Timeline)
  • Pavel Chekov born in Russia on Earth
• 2245–2250
  • The USS Enterprise, a Constitution class vessel is launched under the command of Robert April, on a five-year mission of exploration.^[1] In the alternate timeline created by Nero's attack on the USS Kelvin, the Enterprise is still under construction in 2255 and is not launched on her maiden voyage until 2258.
• 2245
  • Pavel Chekov is born to Russian parents.^[38] In the alternate timeline created by Nero's attack on the USS Kelvin, Chekov is only eight years younger than James T. Kirk, implying a birthdate of 2241.^[39]
• 2250
  • After a refit, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is launched on a second five-year mission under Captain Christopher Pike.^[1]
• 2254
  • The events of "The Cage".^[40]
  • Supposedly, The Events of Star Trek:Discovery Will Take Place
• 2258 (alternate timeline)
  • The events of Star Trek take place. Nero destroys the planet Vulcan – killing billions, including Spock's mother – as well as 38–40 Federation starships. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is launched on her maiden voyage under Captain Christopher Pike. James T. Kirk becomes the ship's new captain shortly afterward. Henceforth, a different timeline is required.
• 2259 (alternate timeline)
  • The events of Star Trek Into Darkness take place.
• 2260 (alternate timeline)
  • Enterprise is launched on a historic five-year mission.
• 2263 (alternate timeline)
  • The events of Star Trek Beyond take place. The USS Enterprise is destroyed - The USS Enterprise-A is commissioned at Starbase Yorktown as its replacement.
• 2261–2264
  • The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) undergoes a major refit, increasing its crew complement from 203 to 430.^[1]
• 2263
  • Boothby, groundskeeper and counselor at Starfleet Academy, is born.
• 2265–2270
  • James T. Kirk is captain of the starship Enterprise on a historic five-year mission.^[1]
• 2265
  • The events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before".
• 2266–2269
  • The events of Star Trek: The Original Series take place.
• 2269-2270
  • The events of Star Trek: The Animated Series take place.
• 2270
  • The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) returns from its five-year mission under the command of Captain James T. Kirk and enters major refit while Kirk is promoted to Admiral at Starfleet Command.
• 2273–2278
  • The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
  • The upgraded USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) embarks on a five-year mission under the command of Admiral James T. Kirk.^[1]
• 2279
  • Around this time the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is retired from active duty and assigned as a training vessel in orbit of Earth.^[1]
• 2285
  • The events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
  • The events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) is destroyed to prevent it from falling into Klingon hands.
• 2286
  • The events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
  • The newly refit USS Yorktown (NCC-1704) is renamed the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) and is launched on its maiden voyage.
• 2287
  • The events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. (Note that this film apparently takes place soon after the events of the fourth film, as evidenced by Scotty's complaints about repairing the ship after its shakedown cruise, which was depicted at the end of Star Trek IV. Star Trek V would then take place in early 2287, with the events of Star Trek IV spanning most of 2286, with several months passing after Kirk's return to the future to account for the preparation of the Enterprise-A and Gillian's training for her space assignment.)
• 2293
  • The events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The Enterprise-A is slated to be decommissioned shortly afterwards.
  • The opening events of Star Trek Generations. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) is launched under the command of John Harriman. James Kirk is presumed killed.

24th century

• 2305
  • Jean-Luc Picard is born in LaBarre, France on Earth.^[41]
• 2311** The Tomed Incident.^[1][42]
• 2324
  • Beverly Howard is born in Copernicus City, Luna.^[41]
• 2332
  • Benjamin L. Sisko is born in New Orleans, Louisiana on Earth.^[1]
• 2333
  • Jean-Luc Picard becomes captain of the USS Stargazer.^[1]
• 2335
  • Geordi La Forge is born in the African Federation, Earth^[41]
  • William T. Riker is born in Valdez, Alaska on Earth.^[1]
• 2336
  • Deanna Troi is born on Betazed.^[41]
  • Kathryn Janeway is born in Bloomington, Indiana on Earth.
• 2337
  • Tasha Yar is born in a failed Federation colony on Turkana IV.^[1]
• 2340
  • Worf, son of Mogh, is born on the Klingon homeworld, Qo'noS.^[1][43]
• 2341
  • Julian Bashir is born.^[44]
• 2343
  • The Galaxy class development project is officially given the greenlight by Starfleet Command.^[45]
• 2344
  • The Enterprise-C, under the command of Captain Rachel Garrett, is destroyed defending a Klingon settlement on Narendra III under attack from Romulans.^[1][46]
  • Due to the Enterprise-C's sacrifice, a new era of more open communication begins between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, leading to a formalized alliance.
• 2345
  • Sela (half-romulan/half-human), daughter of Natasha Yar (alternate reality from "Yesterday's Enterprise") is born.
• 2346
  • Worf's parents are killed by Romulans in the Khitomer massacre. Worf (age 6) is adopted by human parents.^[1][47]
• 2349
  • Annika Hansen is born in Tendara Colony, to Magnus and Erin Hansen.
• 2355
  • Magnus, Erin, and Annika Hansen are assimilated by the Borg while on a research mission in the Delta quadrant.
• 2357
  • Worf is the first Klingon to enter Starfleet Academy.^[1]
  • USS Galaxy (NX-70637), the prototype Galaxy class is launched.^[45]
• 2363
  • USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), the third Galaxy class starship (Following the Galaxy and Yamato) is launched from the Utopia Planitia shipyards in Mars orbit (under the command of Jean-Luc Picard), and becomes the Federation's new flagship.
• 2364–2370
  • The events of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• 2367
  • The Borg assimilate Captain Jean-Luc Picard – the Battle of Wolf 359 is fought 7.7 light years from Earth in Sector 001. The battle results in the loss of 39 Starfleet vessels and over 11,000 lives; the Borg continue to Earth. Picard is rescued and the Borg cube is destroyed via the actions of the crew of the Enterprise-D.
• 2369–2375
  • The events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• 2371
  • The events of Star Trek Generations. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) is destroyed – the stardrive section by a warp core breach; the saucer section containing the crew makes a forced landing on Veridian III. The ship is subsequently declared a total loss. James T. Kirk reappears from the temporal continuum in which he had been since his disappearance in 2293; Kirk is killed on Veridian III (Kirk is resurrected a month later in a subsequent story).
• 2371–2378
  • The events of Star Trek: Voyager.
  • "Caretaker": the USS Voyager is stranded in the Delta Quadrant.
• 2372
  • Sovereign-class USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) launched under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard
• 2373
  • The events of Star Trek: First Contact.
• 2373–2375
  • The Dominion War is fought. After devastating losses on both sides, The Federation, alongside the Romulan and Klingon Empires in 2375 make a final push against the Dominion resulting in the Battle of Cardassia. The Dominion subsequently surrenders to the Federation. With the Klingon military in ruins, and the Cardassian Union shattered, The Federation and Romulan Empire emerge from the conflict as the only major powers with the influence to affect Alpha Quadrant politics.
• 2375
  • The events of Star Trek: Insurrection.^[48] Dialogue in this film and in the DS9 finale "What You Leave Behind" place the chronology of this film as during that episode, after the final battle of the war but before the treaty signing ceremony. Most notable in the film is Worf's ability to leave the station to join the Enterprise, as well as a line about Federation diplomats being involved in Dominion negotiations, and the Federation's willingness to work with the Son'a, who are established as a Dominion ally during the war.
• 2378
  • With the help of a future Admiral Janeway, the USS Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant. ("Endgame")
• 2379
  • The events of Star Trek: Nemesis, resulting in the death of Lieutenant Commander Data.^[49]
  • Discovery of previously unknown Android named "B-4", a prototype android similar in design to Lt. Commander Data but has a notably less advanced Positronic Network.
• 2395
  • The "Future" in the Star Trek: The Next Generation series finale ("All Good Things...")

26th century

• c. 2540-2550
  • The Starship Enterprise-J (presumably NCC 1701-J) is commissioned and takes part in the Battle of Procyon V against the Spherebuilders as shown in Enterprise episode "Azati Prime".

27th century

• Temporal Cold War (With agents from the 31st century) - First established in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise and recurring until the series' fourth season premiere, it is a struggle between those who would alter history to suit their own ends and those who would preserve the integrity of the original timeline.

29th Century

• The Aeon-type timeship is in active service during this century, ("Future's End") as is the Wells-class timeship Relativity. ("Relativity")

31st century

• Episodes with time traveler Daniels from Enterprise
  • "Cold Front", "Shockwave", "Azati Prime"

History of the chronology

There have been several efforts to develop a chronology^[50] 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).

Original series

There are few references setting the original series in an exact time frame, 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". Likewise, in the episode "Space Seed", it is said that the 1996 warlord Khan Noonian Singh is from "two centuries" ago. Both these references place the show in the 22nd century. However, in the episode "Miri", it is said that 1960 was around 300 years ago, pushing the show into the 23rd century. Finally, the episode "The Squire of Gothos" implied that the light cone of 19th century Earth has expanded to 900 light years, which seems to set the show in the 28th century, since light would take nine centuries to traverse that distance.

According to notes in The Making of Star Trek, the show is set in the 23rd century, and the Enterprise was supposed to be around 40 years old. Roddenberry says in this book that the stardate system was invented to avoid pinning down the show precisely in time frame.^[51] Roddenberry's original pitch for the series dated it "'somewhere in the future. It could be 1995, or maybe even 2995".^[52]

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^[53][54]

• The sub-warp ship the UNSS Icarus makes first contact with Alpha Centauri in 2048, and there meets Zefrem Cochran [sic], who has invented warp drive.^[53]
• The first Earth warp ship, the Bonaventure makes its first voyage, to Tau Ceti, in 2059.^[53]
• The first contact with Vulcans is in 2065.^[53]
• The Federation is formed in 2087.^[53]
• The Romulan War occurs in the 2100s.^[53]
• First contact with the Klingon Empire in 2151.^[53]
• The first Constitution-class starship is launched in 2188.^[53]
• The USS Enterprise's five-year mission under Captain Kirk lasts from 2207 to 2212.^[54]
• The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture occur in 2217.^[54]
• The events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan occur around 2222 (dialogue in the film says it is set "fifteen years" after the Season One episode "Space Seed").
• The events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home occur on September 21, 2222.^[54]

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.

TNG era and Okuda

Press materials for The Next Generation suggested it was set in the 24th century, seventy-eight years after the existing Star Trek, although the exact time frame had not yet been set in stone. The pilot had dialogue stating Data was part of the Starfleet "class of '78".^[55] The pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint", also has a cameo appearance by Leonard "Bones" McCoy, who is said to be 137.

In the last episode of the first season, the year is firmly established by Data, as 2364.^[55] This marked the first time an explicit future calendar date had been attached to a Star Trek storyline, and allowed fans and writers to extrapolate further dates. For example, the established date implies McCoy was born around 2227, ruling out the Spaceflight Chronology-derived dating of the original series to the early 23rd century (though the dating had already been effectively overruled by Star Trek IV, which primarily takes place in 1986, where Kirk tells Gillian Taylor that he is from the late 23rd Century, though he does not give an exact date).

A Star Trek Chronology was published in 1993, written by production staff members Denise Okuda and Michael Okuda.^[56] A second edition was issued in 1996.^[1] 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.^[45]

It gives the following dates:

• Zephram Cochrane invents warp drive around 2061 (so 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 (about 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.
  • aired live-action Star Trek episodes are dated from 2266 to 2269. The chronology does not include the events of Star Trek: The Animated Series. This is in keeping also with Gene Roddenberry's concept (discussed in The Making of Star Trek by Roddenberry and Stephen Whitfield) that Star Trek's first season takes place after the mission has been under way for some time.
  • An episode of Voyager—"Q2"—, aired after the Chronology was published, established that Kirk's five-year mission actually ended in 2270.
• the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture take place in 2271 (Kirk has been Chief of Starfleet Operations for two-and-a-half years, according to dialog from Kirk and Decker)
  • The "Q2" dating for Kirk's five-year mission, moves the first film to c. 2273.
• Numerous sources, including the Chronology, postulate a second five-year mission under now-Admiral Kirk's command began soon after the events of the first movie; in part this is to take into account the unproduced revival series Star Trek: Phase II.
• the events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 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 film begins on Kirk's birthday, which is semi-canonically established as March 22, the same as William Shatner.
• the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home take place in 2286
  • This places Star Trek III in late 2285, as Kirk states in his log that the Enterprise crew has been on Vulcan for "three months" since bringing Spock home
• 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"
• The Kirk-era part of Star Trek Generations is set 78 years before 2371 (established by way of an on-screen caption), thus is set in 2293 and soon after Star Trek VI

The gap between 1986's Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home (2286) and the 1987 first season of The Next Generation (2364) is 78 years by this timeline, matching early press materials.

There was a gap of 10 years between the broadcast of the last episode of Star Trek: The Original Series and the release of The Motion Picture. The film skirted round the fact the actors had aged, supposing that only two and a half years had passed since the events of the TV show. For Star Trek II, it was decided to acknowledge the reality of the ageing actors, both by setting the film some 15 years after "Space Seed", and by having Kirk worry about getting old.^[57]

Within the The Next Generation era, episodes and films 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.^[1] The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager television 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 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.

The dating of the final season of Star Trek: Voyager has presented controversy. The standard assumption about stardates, as well as the regular correspondence between seasons and in-universe years, would place the entire season in the year 2377—the season begins with stardate 54014.4 and ends with 54973.4. However, the episode "Homestead" features a celebration of the 315th anniversary of Zefram Cochrane's first contact with the Vulcans, which would set the episode on April 5, 2378. The fansite Memory Alpha thus places the final eight episodes of the season ("Human Error" through "Endgame") in 2378, with other sources following suit.

Enterprise is set in the 2150s, and ties into the Cochrane backstory. The show uses the Gregorian calendar instead of Stardates, making tracking the 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 - though the actual line in the episode referred to hostilities between the two, and in Enterprise Human-Klingon relations, while by no means friendly, clearly do not rise to the de facto state of war shown in TOS). It shows the opening of the Romulan war and the start of a coalition between Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar in the 2150s. The date of the founding year of the Federation, 2161, was revealed in the fifth-season TNG episode "The Outcast," based on an early draft of the Okuda timeline. The final episode of Enterprise, "These Are the Voyages...", is consistent with the establishment of 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.^[58] 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, still gives the date of that movie as 2271.^[59]

Eugenics Wars and World War III

When the original series of Star Trek was produced, the 1990s were considered the distant 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 lasting from 1992 to 1996. The Eugenics Wars are described as a global conflict in which the progeny of a human genetic engineering project, most notably Khan Noonien Singh, established themselves as supermen and attempted world domination. 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 "post-atomic horror" on Earth in 2079. However, the movie Star Trek: First Contact put the contact between Vulcans and humans at April 5, 2063.

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, after 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. First Contact also deliberately describes the warring parties in World War III as "factions," not nations per se.

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.^[60] 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 lifetime 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. According to writer Ronald D. Moore, this was not an attempt at a retcon, but a mistake – when writing the episode, he recalled the already questionable "two centuries ago" line from "Space Seed" and forgot that DS9 takes place over 100 years later.^[61]

Season 4 of Star Trek: Enterprise involves a trilogy of episodes ("Borderland" "Cold Station 12", and "The Augments") related to scientist Doctor Arik Soong, ancestor of Doctor Noonien Soong, and his genetic augmentations of Humans. Numerous historical details of the devastating Eugenics Wars are discussed: the death of 35-37 million people; how Earth's governments could not decide on the fate of the 1,800 genetically enhanced embryos; and how Soong had infiltrated the complex and stolen and raised 19 embryos himself. Soong maintained that he himself and humanity in general had learned the lessons of the Eugenics Wars and should not continue to hide behind those events when there was progress to be made now that the technology had matured and was much more practicable. (The actions of his "children" convince him otherwise, and at the end of "The Augments" Soong declares his interest in cybernetics, beginning the work which would one day bring about Data.)

Greg Cox's two-book series The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh develops the idea of 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; ironically, Los Angeles, whose appearance in "Future's End" helped bring the war's existence into question, is portrayed as an EW "battlefront", the Rodney King riots being one such calamity.

Cochrane

In the episode "Metamorphosis", it is stated that Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri, the discoverer of the space warp, 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 find 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 (even in "Metamorphosis", before Cochrane identifying himself to the landing party, Dr. McCoy had taken a tricorder scan and determined him to be human). 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 suggests a date of 2061, noting that Cochrane would be 31 that year.

The film Star Trek: First Contact prominently features Cochrane's first successful warp flight. 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 disappearance to 2119, making Cochrane instead 31 at the time of First Contact.

See also

• Outline of Star Trek

Notes

References

External links

• Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki: Category:Timeline