A Speculative Fiction Timeline
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This timeline is not complete, nor is it comprehensive. It is a work in progress. Currently, it is focused on science fiction, but I’ll be adding more information in regards to fantasy and horror as I continue my research.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 850-600 B.C. | Iliad and Odyssey by Homer |
| 700-730 | Beowulf |
| 1000 | Christian’s expect the end of the world |
| 1100s | Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes |
| 1298 | Spinning wheel |
| 1300s | Gunpowder introduced in Europe |
| 1321 | The Divine Comedy by Dante |
| 1347 | Black Death strikes Europe |
| Top
Age of Exploration begins |
|
| c. 1450 | Printing press, Gutenburg |
| 1492 | Columbus discovers America for Europe |
| Top | |
| 1520 | Rifle |
| 1589 | Knitting machine |
| 1589-1592 | Laws of motion, Galileo |
| 1590 | Microscope, Jansen |
| Top | |
| 1605 | Don Quixote by Cervantes |
| 1608 | Telescope, Lippershey |
| 1609-1619 | Laws of planetary motion, Kepler |
| 1628 | Circulation of blood |
| 1638 | The Man in the Moone by GodwinMicrometer |
| 1657 | Voyage to the Moon by De Bergerac |
| 1661 | Reflecting telescope |
| Top | |
| 1703 | Iter Lunareor A Voyage to the Moon by Russen |
| 1726 | Gulliver’s Travels by Swift |
| 1741 | A Journey to the World Underground by Holberg |
| 1764 | The Castle of Otronto by Walpole (1st Gothic Novel) |
| 1765 | Condensing steam engine |
| 1767 | Spinning jinny |
| 1771 | Memoirs of the Year Two Thousand Five Hundred by Mercier |
| 1775 | Mesmerism |
| 1776 | Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (scientific method applied to political economy) |
| 1777 | Circular saw |
| 1780 | Steep pen |
| 1783 | Age of Flight beginsBalloon and parachute
Steam boat |
| 1784 | Iron plow |
| 1789 | French Revolution |
| 1793 | A Voyage to the Moon by AratusCotton gin |
| 1798 | Mass production |
| Top | |
| 1800 | Electric battery |
| 1802 | Atomic theory, Dalton |
| 1812 | Storage battery |
| 1813 | A Flight to the Moon by Fowler |
| 1817 | Frankenstein by Shelley |
| 1822 | Camera, NiepceElectric motor |
| 1824 | Electromagnet |
| 1826 | The Last Man by Shelley |
| 1827 | A Voyage to the Moon by Atterley (Tucker) |
| 1830 | The Moon Hoax by Locke |
| 1832 | Electric generator |
| 1833 | “Ms. Found in a Bottle” by Poe |
| 1835 | “Hans Pfaall” by PoeTelegraph |
| 1836 | “Three Hundred Years Hence” by Griffith |
| 1838 | Arthur Gordan Pym by Poe |
| 1839 | ElectrotypingVulcanized rubber |
| 1846 | Nitroglycerine |
| 1848 | Communist Manifesto by Marx & Engels |
| 1849 | Safety pinRifle bullet |
| 1850s | Science of spectroscopy, Kirchshoff & Bunsen |
| 1852 | Passenger elevator |
| 1854 | Firearm magazine |
| 1855 | First submarine telegraph cable |
| 1856 | Baseline process of turning iron into steel |
| 1858 | “The Diamond Lens” by O’Brien Railroad sleeping car |
| 1859 | Origin of the Species by DarwinInternal combustion engine
Spectrascope |
| 1860 | Steam warship |
| 1862 | DynamiteMachine gun |
| 1863-1864 | Smokeless powderPlayer piano
Typewriter Five Weeks in a Balloon by Verne |
| 1864 | A Journey to the Center of the Earth by Verne |
| 1865 | From the Earth to the Moon by Verne |
| 1866 | Alice in Wonderland by Carroll (Dodgson)Trans-Atlantic Cable |
| 1868 | The Steam Man of the Prairies by EllisRefrigerator car |
| 1869 | The Brick Moon by Hale |
| 1870 | Celluloid, HyattTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Verne |
| 1872 | Motion pictures, Muybridge & Isaacs |
| 1874 | Barbed wire |
| 1876 | Frank Reade and His Steam Man of the Prairies by Enton |
| 1877 | Off on a Comet by Verne |
| 1879 | Frank Reade, Jr. and His Steam Wonder by no name (Senarens) |
| 1885 | Flatland by Square (Abbott) |
| 1888 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Stevenson |
| 1889 | Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Twain |
| 1895 | The Time Machine by Wells |
| 1896 | The Island of Dr. Moreau by WellsRadioactivity in uranium, Becquerel |
| 1897 | War of the Worlds by WellsThe Invisible Man by Wells |
| 1898 | Edison’s Conquest of Mars by Serviss |
| 1899 | When the Sleeper Wakes by Wells |
| Top | |
| 1900 | Quantum theory, PlanckCellophane
Dirigible Caterpillar tractor “The Lost Continent” by Hyne |
| 1901 | The First Men in the Moon by WellsMercury vapor lamp |
| 1902 | Radio telephone |
| 1903 | Heavier-than-air machine flown by Wright brothersThe Food of the Gods by Wells
A Round Trip to the Year 2,000 by Cook |
| 1904 | Vacuum tube diode |
| 1905 | Einstein announces Theory of Relativity |
| 1906 | Vacuum tube triodeBritain launches the Dreadnaught, the first large battleship
In the Days of the Comet by Wells |
| 1907 | HelicopterBahelite
Vacuum cleaner |
| 1908 | Model T — “The Universal Car,” “tin lizzie” — costs $850 |
| 1909 | A Columbus of Space by Serviss |
| 1911 | Ralph 1Z4C41+ by GernsbackCombine
Air conditioning Gyrocompass |
| 1912 | Under the Moons of Mars by Burroughs |
| 1913 | Hot filament X-ray tubeMultimotored airplane |
| 1914 | Panama canalWorld War I begins
Tank invented At the Earth’s Core by Burroughs |
| 1915 | Radio-tube oscillatorArc search-light |
| 1916 | Stainless steelModel T now costs only $360 |
| 1918 | The Moon Pool by MerittMass spectascope
Automatic electric toaster |
| 1921 | R.U.R. by Capek (where we get the word “robot” from)Einstein wins the Nobel Prize for his General Theory of Relativity |
| 1922 | U.S.S.R. establishedRadar |
| 1923 | Weird Tales founded by GernsbackIconoscope scanner
Bulldozer |
| 1924 | Existance of other galaxies, HubbleThe Land that Time Forgot by Burroughs |
| 1926 | Amazing Stories founded by Gernsback |
| 1927 | Metropolis directed by Lang |
| 1928 | TV image pickup tube, FarnsworthSkylark of Space by Smith
Electric shaver Differential analyzer computer |
| 1929 | Science Wonder Stories founded by GernsbackPerfection of the rocket engine by R.H. Goddard
Penicillin |
| 1930 | Astounding Stories founded by LawrenceCyclotron |
| 1932 | Brave New World by HuxleyWhen Worlds Collide by Balmer & Wylie
Pirates of Venus by Burroughs |
| 1934 | The Shape of Things to Come by WellsThe Legion of Space by Miles J. Breuer |
| 1935 | Synthetic rubberNylon |
| 1937 | Campbell named editor of Astounding StoriesThe first planned SF convention takes place in Leeds, Britain |
| 1938-42 | Boom in SF magazines |
| 1938 | The first American SF convention, held in NYXerography |
| 1939 | Lest Darkness Fall by DeCampThe First world SF convention (Worldcon), held in NY
Betatron FM broadcasting Electron microscope |
| 1940 | “The Roads Must Roll” by Heinlein |
| 1941 | “Nightfall” by Asimov”Microcosmic God” by Sturgeon |
| 1942 | Foundation by AsimovControlled fission of uranium |
| 1944 | The Pocket Book of Science Fiction by Wollheim |
| 1945 | Atom bomb, Oppenheimer and others |
| 1947 | The Best of Science Fiction by Conklin1984 by Orwell
Adventures in Time and Space by Healy & McComas |
| 1948 | Worldcon held in CanadaWestercon started
“Mars Is Heaven” by Bradbury |
| 1949 | Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction founded by Boucher & McComus |
| 1949-53 | Boom in SF magazines |
| 1950 | Galaxy Science Fiction founded by Gold”Coming Attraction” by Leiber
Midwestcon started Disclave started |
| 1951 | New Tales of Space and Time by HealyEastercon started in Britain |
| 1952 | The Space Merchants by Pohl and Kornbluth |
| 1953 | Star Science Fiction created by PohlChildhood’s End by Clarke |
| 1954 | Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury |
| 1957 | Sputnik launched, U.S.S.R.Worldcon held in Britain
Lunacon started in New York |
| 1960 | A Canticle for Leibowitz by Miller |
| 1961 | First man in orbit, GargarinStranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein |
| 1963 | Deepsouthcon started |
| 1964 | Boskone started in Boston |
| 1965 | Dune by HerbertWorldcon held in Britain |
| 1966 | Orbit founded by Knight |
| 1967 | Dangerous Visions by Ellison |
| 1969 | First men on the moon, Armstrong, Aldrin & CollinsThe Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuin |
| 1970 | Worldcon held in GermanyRingworld by Niven |
| 1971 | Novacon started in Birmingham, EnglandEurocon started |
| 1972 | The Gods Themselves by Asimov |
| 1973 | Wordcon held in CanadaRendevous with Rama by Clarke
Sept. - Oct. Moonbase III on BBC |
| 1974 | Windycon started in Chicago |
| 1975 | Worldcon held in Australia |
| 1976 | Eurocon held in Poland, the first SF convention in the Communist block |
| 1979 | Star Wars directed by LucasWorldcon held in Britain |
| 1982 | Blade Runner directed by Scott |
| 1984 | The Terminator directed by Cameron |
| 1986 | Enemy Mine directed by Peterson |
| 1990 | Total Recall directed by Verhoeven |
| 1991 | Terminator 2: Judgement Day directed by Cameron |
| 1992 | The Sci Fi Channel is launched on cabelAsimov dies |
| 1999 | 50th Anniversary of WorldconPanic spreads of the Y2K bug in computers |
| Top | |
| 2000 | The Y2K bug doesn’t create as big a problem as anticipatedThe world does not end
Some people erroneously think this is the first year of the new Millennium |
| 2001 | The 22nd Century BeginsTerrorist attack and destroy the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11 |
| 2002 | Largest planetary object since Pluto discoveredEnron scandal |
| 2003 | World’s first brain prosthesis tested — an artifical hippocampus hooked to slices of living rat brainFirst nearby dark matter galaxy discovered
First person from China in orbit, Yang Liwei, orbits 14 times, making China the third country to achieve this goal First Interstellar Age begins |
| 2004 | Fahrenheit 911, a film bashing President Bush and directed by Moore, borrows its name from a Bradbury classic without prior permission, causing some difficultly between Bradbury and Moore |
