Timeline of fictional future events

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, Timeline of fictional historical events, and Timeline of fictional contemporary events.

19th century

 * 1868
 * A fantastic submarine boat, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo (who eventually gets lost and has to be found by his father), creates havoc amongst shipping in the South Seas - Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, 1870.
 * 1877
 * A passing comet rips people, land and air off the Earth. The small group takes refuge in a volcano on Comet Gallia. Calculating passing Saturn and a return to Earth in two years, the group begins to build a makeshift balloon and gondola - Off On a Comet by Jules Verne.
 * 1880
 * Prof. Von Hardwigg and his party descend into an Icelandic mountain in search of missing explorer Arne Saknussem and discover an unknown sea world with monsters - Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, 1864. *(In the 1959 film, he is known as Prof. Lindenbrook)
 * 1894
 * The Time Traveler sets the levers on his machine in motion, for his journey to the future - The Time Machine by H. G. Wells, 1895.
 * 1900
 * The Astronef stories by George Griffith.

20th century

 * 1902
 * In a gun-launched capsule, French astronomers take A Trip to the Moon and escape from Selenites - Georges Melies' B&W fantasy, 1902.
 * 1905
 * Martian three-legged ' fighting machines ' invade southern England in The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells (written in 1898).
 * 1910
 * When the orbit of Comet Halley intersects with the Earth, catastrophe ensues, but the comet gases cause an alteration of human psychology to a more rational thought-process - as revealed In the Days of the Comet by H. G. Wells (written in 1906).
 * 1917
 * March 5 - British RFC Flt. Lt. Decker is lost over France - and flies through a white cloud - but returns unexpectedly, a changed man. The Twilight Zone episode The Last Flight.
 * September 9 - George, the Time Traveler, encounters his friend Filby, but it's actually Filby's now grown son James, who advises his father was lost in the Great War - George Pal's production The Time Machine, 1960.
 * 1920
 * Events of Pirates of 1920, a film from 1911.
 * 1925
 * The U.S. Postal Service faces air piracy from the Death Head Aerial Squadron. (The Great Air Robbery, a film from 1920).
 * 1932
 * The Eternals change the course of human history to allow the creation of the Galactic Empire. (The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov).
 * 1939
 * Global Airlines 33 leaves the Jurassic Age in its hope to return to 1961. Instead, the jet airliner is flying over the 1939 New York World's Fair. The Twilight Zone episode The Odyssey of Flight 33.
 * 1940
 * At the home of Everytown resident John Cabal, his contemporaries discuss the prospect of war. But Cabal interjects ' If we don't end war, war will end us '. Then over the wireless, reports announce that enemy bombers are approaching - H. G. Wells' film Things to Come, 1936
 * June 10 - Thinking he's having a problem with his machine, George halts his progress in time-travel and is stunned to witness ' flying machines ' battling above London - George Pal's production The Time Machine, 1960.
 * 1950
 * Politicians and engineers battle themselves, deception, and nature in the quest to build an undersea tunnel from England to the US - Transatlantic Tunnel, 1935.
 * 1951
 * An air force crew and scientists at Polar Expedition Six, the Arctic, discover a crashed saucer and fight for their lives against an 8-foot, plant-based, humanoid alien - The Thing From Another World.
 * A saucer suddenly lands in a Washington D.C. field, and a humanoid visitor steps out, with a message for Humanity. He's preceded by a towering silver robot, whom the visitor calls Gort - The Day The Earth Stood Still, based upon Harry Bates ' short story Farewell to the Master, 1940.


 * 1952
 * The Battle of Trafalgar Square between the "civic bourgeois guard" and the workers triggers social reform in Great Britain (News from Nowhere, 1890).
 * The U.S. government adopts the designs of von Braun and Willy Ley, establishing the National Council of Astronautics and the US Space Force - Man Conquers Space 2006.
 * 1955
 * November 15 - Doc Brown falls and hits his head. He then has a vision of a mechanism allowing for time travel, the Flux Capacitor - Back to the Future, 1985.
 * 1959
 * British RFC flyer Decker emerges from a cloud to land his SPAD XIII at a modern USAF base in France, unprepared to encounter an old friend he'd deserted - The Twilight Zone episode The Last Flight.
 * 1960s
 * Ingsoc comes to power and forms the state of Oceania (George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four) (approximate date).
 * 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).
 * 1961
 * Capt. Farver and the New York-bound flight of Global Airlines 33 find themselves drastically increasing speed in The Twilight Zone episode The Odyssey of Flight 33.
 * The winged Saturn launch vehicle completes Wheel Space Station 1, operational with a crew of 45. Eagle One lands on the Moon July 1963, followed by Eagle Two and Eagle Three - Man Conquers Space, 2006.
 * 1964
 * Trent, a man with a glass hand and no memories, is hunted by aliens from a thousand years in the future - Harlan Ellison's Demon with a Glass Hand, episode of The Outer Limits
 * 1966
 * August 11 - The Time Traveler encounters his old friend's son James again, now elderly, just prior to a nuclear explosion - George Pal's production The Time Machine, 1960.
 * After three decades of global war, a great plague wipes out most of the people on Earth. (Things to Come film, 1936)
 * 1967
 * A computer malfunction sends a group of American nuclear bombers on an attack course toward Moscow. (The novel version of Fail-Safe)
 * 1970s
 * A possible setting of Doctor Who's "UNIT Era". It is also possible that it takes place during the 1980s.
 * 1970
 * An older John Cabal, a member of the global 'Wings Over the World', lands his flying wing aeroplane in world-war torn Everytown. He advises that peace has arrived, but the town's head, 'The Boss', does not approve. (Things to Come film, 1936)
 * 1972
 * February - Astronaut George Taylor and three other volunteers (John Landon, Dodge and Stewart) depart Earth from Cape Kennedy on a mission that will take them 2,000 years into the future. (Planet of the Apes)
 * 1973
 * Designed by Adm. Harriman Nelson (USN-Ret), the nuclear supersub USOS Seaview, with its transparent hull-plating 'window' nose section, undergoes radio silence and deep-diving trials in the Arctic Ocean.
 * 1974
 * Seven Days in May: Attempted military coup against the President of the United States.
 * 1980s
 * A possible setting of Doctor Who's "UNIT Era".
 * A manmade superflu breaks out and kills 99.4 percent of the population of the planet (The Stand by Stephen King).
 * 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).
 * The first T-800 series Terminator arrives, sent back in time by Skynet in an attempt to prevent the birth of resistance leader John Connor by killing his mother Sarah before he is even conceived. The John Connor of 2029 sends Kyle Reese back to defend Sarah from the Terminator. He knows that Reese, though doomed, will fall in love with his mother and is, in fact, his father (The Terminator).
 * 1986
 * March 25 - An on-course NASA never embraces the shuttle program. Leaving from the orbiting Aries command module, the Challenger excursion module lands in Mangala Valley, Mars - Voyage by Stephen Baxter, 1997.
 * The planet Mondas approaches Earth orbit with an invading force of Cybermen, but they are stopped by the Doctor and his companions (Doctor Who: "The Tenth Planet").
 * 1987
 * November: Civilization on Earth is devastated by a nuclear war, cause unknown. (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century television series)
 * 1988
 * A flying saucer carrying enslaved aliens ("Newcomers") crashlands in the Mojave Desert. (Alien Nation movie)
 * A wall is built around Manhattan Island, creating the one maximum security penitentiary for the entire country. (Escape From New York)
 * 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.
 * The year in which the living energy structure called the Mandragora Helix will be in a position to attack Earth again, as predicted by the Fourth Doctor (Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora).
 * 1993
 * The Jurassic Park is constructed at Isla Nublar.
 * 1994
 * The first British space station, while under construction, narrowly avoids destruction by a Soviet missile. (The Outward Urge)
 * 1995
 * Doctor Samuel Beckett steps into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and vanishes. (show ran from 1987 to 1993)
 * Solid Snake disbands Outer Heaven and defeats his commander, Big Boss. (Metal Gear)
 * T-1000 is sent by Skynet to kill John Connor, and a reprogrammed T-800 is also sent to protect him. John, Sarah Connor and T-800 blow up Cyberdyne Systems Corporation and destroy the remains of the "original" Terminator, supposedly preventing Judgment Day (Terminator 2: Judgment Day- supposed date, since John is 10 years old).
 * 1996
 * The Eugenics Wars end. (Star Trek episode Space Seed)
 * Todd, the main character of Soldier, is born.
 * Rogue's Malady kills hundreds of thousands of postpubetal human females. (Crimes of the Future)
 * 1997
 * Events of Escape from New York.
 * October 16 The Robinson family departs from Earth aboard the Jupiter II space craft and becomes Lost In Space.
 * In the 2001 book HAL 9000 is activated.
 * 1998
 * The Umbrella Corporation conducts experiments on the citizens of Raccoon City using the Tyrant Virus, or T-Virus for short, which is a mutagenic virus developed to create Bio-Organic Weapons, or BOWs for short. (Resident Evil)
 * 1999
 * September 13 - Nuclear waste dumped on the far side of the Moon explodes, sending the Moon hurtling into deep space carrying Moonbase Alpha along with it (Space: 1999)
 * December 31 - The Earth is nearly pulled inside out when the renegade Time Lord known as the Master opens the Eye of Harmony in the newly regenerated Doctor's TARDIS (Doctor Who television movie).
 * Astronauts discover an alien monolith on the Moon (the prologue of the film 2010: The Year We Make Contact).
 * Dr. Sam Beckett begins to time travel through his lifetime (Quantum Leap)
 * 199X
 * All Year - The world is saved from the alien menace known as Giygas by 4 young children, led by Onett native, Ness, with PSI powers and friendship. (EarthBound)
 * 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 has occurred (Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison and film Soylent Green)

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 extraterrestrial obelisk found on the Moon, prompting an investigation flight to Jupiter (Saturn in the book), which is sabotaged by HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick] The film's sequel, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, offers a slightly different timeline, placing the discovery of the lunar monolith in 1999, and the Discovery voyage in 2001.
 * 2002
 * Eighteen months after the finding of a buried lunar anomaly, the manned nuclear spacecraft USSC Discovery XD-1 continues to Jupiter to investigate another anomaly - 2001: A Space Odyssey
 * 2004
 * Supposedly the year that Max Headroom takes place.
 * Also supposedly the year in which the global warming events of The Day After Tomorrow occur.
 * July - T-850 and T-X arrive, sent by the resistance and Skynet, respectively. Judgment Day occurs in July 24. (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
 * 2005
 * The events of Transformers: The Movie.
 * March 6 - the Autons attempt to invade London. (Rose)
 * April - The house of Usher II opens. (The Martian Chronicles)
 * August - Elder people come to Mars. (The Martian Chronicles)
 * September - A Martian lives among the humans. (The Martian Chronicles)
 * November - Nuclear siege befalls Earth. (The Martian Chronicles)
 * 2006
 * March - A spaceship crashes into the River Thames, triggering a worldwide red alert as part of a scheme by the alien Slitheen to turn the Earth into a radioactive fuel dump (Doctor Who - Aliens of London/World War Three).
 * September 28 - Lex Luthor uses a Kryptonian crystal embedded in kryptonite to create a new landmass in the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in blackouts and earthquakes along the East Coast. (Superman Returns)
 * December 25 - the Guinevere One probe is due to land on Mars, but goes missing as the alien Sycorax invade Earth - Doctor Who - The Christmas Invasion.
 * 2009
 * Max Guevera and 11 other transgenics escape from the government facility code-named Manticore; months later, terrorists detonate an electro-magnetic pulse device which devastates civilization. Dark Angel
 * June 1 - The Pulse, the deployment of an EMP weapon, destroys a significant amount of the computer-based infrastructure in the U.S., in turn leading to economic and social breakdown across the country. (Dark Angel)
 * October 19 - The giant solar flare destroys the planet Earth. (Knowing)
 * 2010
 * 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.
 * John Boone becomes the first human to set foot on Mars at age 38. (Mars trilogy)
 * 2012
 * In an underground bunker in Utah, a Dalek, the last of its race, gets loose and kills 200 people before it is stopped (Doctor Who - Dalek)
 * December 22 - Alien colonization begins on Earth. (The X-Files)
 * 2013
 * Events of Escape from L.A.
 * 2015
 * October 21 - Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel forward in time from the year 1985 to the year 2015. (Back to the Future Part II, made in 1989)
 * 2017
 * The Great Awakening in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
 * 2019
 * The events of the first season of the TV series Dark Angel.
 * The year the microprocessor becomes obsolete, being replaced by SMT — Single Molecule Transfer technology, according to the 2005 Doctor Who episode The Long Game.
 * November - In polluted, rainy L.A., former Blade Runner officer Rick Deckard is picked up by Gaff in a flying Police Spinner, to do one more job - Blade Runner, 1982
 * 2020
 * Arno Stark, the future wearer of the Iron Man armor, travels back in time to battle Spider-Man.
 * 2021
 * P.D. James's dystopian novel The Children of Men (1992) is set in the England of 2021.
 * In The Terminator (1984), while under LAPD interrogation in 1984, Kyle Reese (played by actor Michael Biehn) states that 2021 was the year he joined the human resistance.
 * 2022
 * New York City has become overpopulated with 40 million starving citizens. (Soylent Green)
 * Mars 2 Recovery is en route to investigate the non-response of the Mars-1 Crew - Mission to Mars
 * 2025
 * T.C. Boyle's novel A Friend of the Earth (2000) is set in the USA of the year 2025.
 * 2026
 * The events of the film Metropolis, 1927.
 * 2029
 * Events of Ghost In The Shell
 * A T-800 is sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor in The Terminator.
 * 2030
 * Zefram Cochrane, inventor of the warp drive, is born (Star Trek).
 * May 24 - Time Traveler Alex Hartdegen stops briefly to find answers in future NYC - Simon Wells' production The Time Machine, 2002
 * United States legal drama, Century City is set starting in this year.
 * 2031
 * The submarine SeaQuest DSV suddenly re-appears in this year - series
 * Mega-City One is founded. (Judge Dredd)
 * 2032
 * Events of the last season of SeaQuest DSV.
 * July 4 - John Connor is killed by a T-850. (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
 * 2033
 * October 28 - The T-850 that killed John Connor in 2032 is captured, reprogrammed and sent back to 2004. {Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)
 * 2035
 * On the eve of man's first flight to the Moon, an uprising against progress becomes violent. (Things to Come film, 1936)
 * Events depicted in the movie I, Robot occur.
 * 2036
 * Citizens against progress rise up in an attempt to stop the Space Gun and its launch of a pair of young explorers - (Things to Come film, 1936)
 * 2037
 * August 20 - Time traveler Alex Hartdegen abruptly stops, witnessing a Lunar catastrophe raining down on Earth - Simon Wells' production The Time Machine, 2002
 * 2050s
 * The decade in which the future crime drama Minority Report takes place.
 * 2050
 * In Nineteen Eighty-Four, Newspeak eclipses oldspeak.
 * 2053
 * In Star Trek, Earth is devastated by World War III.
 * 2058
 * Events of the Lost in Space movie.
 * 2060
 * The United nations space ship Unity is launched from Earth "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri"
 * 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. On the same date, according to the same story, Earth becomes fully powered by solar energy, eliminating the need for consumption of fossil fuels.
 * 2063
 * The events of the TV series Space: Above and Beyond begin in this year (Terran-Chig wars)
 * 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. The experience also changes Dr. Cochrane considerably.
 * 2069
 * In Star Trek, the Klingon High Council is formed, eliminating the position of Emperor until 2369.
 * 2070
 * Detectives David Hume and Ian Farve serve in the Citizens Protection Bureau (Total Recall 2070)
 * A force of Cybermen try to take over the Gravitron weather control installation on the Moon to alter Earth's weather and wipe out all life. They are stopped by the Second Doctor and his companions (Doctor Who - The Moonbase).
 * President Robert L. Booth initiates the Atomic Wars which devastate most of the USA, the USSR and Europe (Judge Dredd)
 * 2081
 * Kurt Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron takes place.
 * 2082
 * Falkenburg's Mercenary Legion is formed and begins first operations on Hadley. (CoDominium)
 * 2084
 * Dancing is outlawed. Flash, Strobe, Laser and Pyro escape Earth to live on Moon Base Alpha to dance in freedom. (Shmah Film's "Dancemania")
 * The events of the Doctor Who episode Warriors of the Deep
 * 2100
 * After suffering a reactor failure, the various factions from the UNSS Unity make planetfall on Chiron, in orbit of Alpha Centauri "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri"
 * 2104
 * Events of the TV series Space Rangers
 * 2148
 * A last inhabitant of Earth, a mutant, encounters an astronaut from the past. They both travel back in time to stop a bacterial disaster, but the astronaut dies - The Man Who Was Never Born episode of The Outer Limits, 1963
 * 2149
 * Arnold Rimmer is born in this year. ("Red Dwarf")
 * 2150
 * The war of the three political entities the United Civilized States, the Eurasion Dynasty, and the Lunar Corporation (Earth 2150, Earth 2150: The Moon Project, Earth 2150: Lost Souls).
 * 2151-2155
 * The events of Star Trek: Enterprise.
 * ~2154
 * The Daleks invade and conquer Earth after weakening the population with plague bombs fired from space (Doctor Who - The Dalek Invasion of Earth).
 * 2155
 * November 26: Dave Lister found in a cardboard box under the pool table in the Aigburth Arms. (Red Dwarf)1
 * 2156-2160
 * The Earth-Romulan War is fought, taking a high toll on both sides. The repercusions of the war will be felt for centuries.
 * 2164
 * Around this year, the events of the Doctor Who serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth take place.
 * 2179
 * The events of Aliens and Alien 3 take place.
 * 2182
 * Arnold 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 stasis.1
 * 2192
 * Events of the TV series Earth 2.

23rd century

 * 2233
 * March 22 - James T. Kirk is born (Star Trek).
 * 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.
 * 2258
 * Vulcan is destroyed by the red matter weapon launched by Nero's ship. (Star Trek).
 * 2260
 * During the mostly covert Corporation Wars, Izanagi Corporation's research facility on Lamdon 3 was destroyed by a strike force from the Axon Research Corporation, despite the protection of the NEG ThunderCrash force. Axon was able to not only destroy the facility, but also retrieve the advanced plasma ion tank under development there. (Unreal series of PC games)
 * 2263
 * Events of The Fifth Element.
 * 2263-2268
 * The events of the original Star Trek.
 * 2271
 * The space probe Voyager 6 returns to Earth as part of gigantic machine entity, known as V'ger. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)
 * 2274
 * The events of Logan's Run (the film)
 * 2285
 * The events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
 * 2286
 * The alien probe returns to Earth to communicate with the humpback whales and Kirk and his crew travels back in time to 1986 to pick George and Gracie. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home).
 * 2287
 * The events of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
 * 2293
 * Klingon diplomats launch a peace initiative toward the United Federation of Planets, following the disastrous explosion of the energy facility on Praxis. This leads to the Khitomer Accords and peace between the Empire and the UFP. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

24th century

 * 2305
 * Jean-Luc Picard born to Maurice Picard and Yvette Gisard in La Barre, France. He will be best known as a Starfleet captain during the latter 24th century, in command of at least two starships named Enterprise during his career. (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
 * 2311
 * The Tomed Incident occurs, between the United Federation of Planets and the Romulan Star Empire. Several thousand beings on both sides die. The Romulans enter a period of isolationism, although several clashes occur with the Klingon Empire. (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
 * 2318
 * The Journeyman Project is the year that extraterrestrials land on Earth to form a permanent alliance.
 * 2364-2370
 * The events of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
 * 2366
 * Barlowe publishes his account of the expedition to Darwin IV.
 * 2369-2375
 * The events of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.


 * 2371-2378
 * The events of Star Trek: Voyager.
 * 2371
 * The events of Star Trek: Generations.
 * The colony ship Bellerophon arrived at its destination Altair-4 ten years prior, but there has been no recent contact. The United Planets Cruiser C-57D journeys to the Altair system to search for survivors of the Bellerophon - Forbidden Planet novel
 * 2373
 * The Borg ship tries to assimilate Earth only to be defeated by the Starfleet armada led by the Enterprise and the Borg sphere travels back in time to prevent first contact and the Enterprise follows the Borg. (Star Trek: First Contact).
 * 2375
 * The events of Star Trek: Insurrection.
 * 2376
 * Duncan Makenzie leaves Titan for Earth in Arthur C. Clarke's Imperial Earth
 * 2379
 * The events of Star Trek: Nemesis
 * 2381
 * Events of Alien: Resurrection.
 * Cruiser C-57D lands on Altair's 4th planet, and Cmdr. Adams finds the only colonist survivors are Dr Morbius and his daughter - Forbidden Planet novel
 * 2391
 * Cmdr. Adams and the crew of the Cruiser C-57D return to Earth to relate their strange story of Altair-IV - with Robby the Robot - Forbidden Planet novel, 1956

24th 1/2 century

 * Sometime halfway through the 24th century
 * Duck Dodgers is on a reconaissance mission to the mysterious Planet X, in order to recover the rare element Illudium Phosdex, the shaving cream atom. He's jeapordized by the ambassador from Mars, Mavin the Martian.

25th century

 * 2419
 * Buck Rogers awakens from his coma (original novella version by Philip Knowlen, 1928).
 * 2491-2492
 * Events of the television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
 * 2500
 * Oceans cover the Earth except for a few natural and man-made atolls - and remnants of humanity. A new breed of human, called Mariner, helps a woman and a child in their quest for a legendary location, Dryland - Waterworld, 1995

26th century

 * 2517
 * Events of Firefly, television program.
 * 2520
 * A botched first contact between the Earth Empire and the Draconian Empire leads to a short but bloody war that results in millions of dead. A peace treaty is negotiated and a frontier established between the two interstellar powers, but a cold war lasts for years afterward (Doctor Who - Frontier in Space).


 * 2540
 * Raids on cargo ships, apparently by both sides, threaten to start a new war between the Draconian and Earth Empires. However, when it is revealed that the Daleks are responsible, the two empires form an alliance to battle the Daleks (Doctor Who - Frontier in Space).

30th century

 * 3000
 * Earth is in the grip of a new ice age when a scientific team unearths an Ice Warrior spacecraft beneath the glaciers, its crew in suspended animation (Doctor Who - The Ice Warriors).

31st century

 * 3000s
 * By this century, time travel is commonplace. In one alternate future (later cancelled), Earth has long been devastated by an undisclosed conflict. (Star Trek: Enterprise episode, "Shockwave").
 * The decline and eventual end of the Earth Empire, as Earth's various colonies break away from it (Doctor Who - The Mutants).
 * 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)
 * 3028
 * Earth is destroyed by the Drej. Surviving humans drift throughout the galaxy. (Titan A.E.)
 * 3044
 * 16 A.E. (After Earth) - the events of Titan A.E. occur.

33rd century

 * 3200s
 * Setting of the original treatment for the first Star Wars film, as opposed to the later adopted “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...”. The time period is described as "a period of civil wars in the Galaxy."

40th century

 * 4000
 * Events of Magnus, Robot Fighter. Magnus liberates North Am from the dictatorship of H8, Chief of the Robot Police.
 * Mechas, the next phase of intelligence on Earth, are involved in on-site excavation of a frozen-over NYC, when they discover a preserved android: a boy named David - AI: Artificial Intelligence 2002

41st century

 * 4000
 * The Daleks form a secret alliance with the Outer Galaxies to conquer the Solar System with a weapon of mass destruction known as the Time Destructor. They are aided by Mavic Chen, the traitorous Guardian of the Solar System, but are stopped by the First Doctor (Doctor Who - The Daleks' Master Plan).
 * 4004
 * The Universe ends in the year 4004 AD. (James Blish, Cities in Flight)

49th century

 * 4846
 * Commissioning of the starship Andromeda Ascendant. (Andromeda)
 * 4858-4860
 * Commonwealth civil war. (Andromeda)

50th century

 * 5000
 * The year of the "Great Break-Out", when humanity spreads through the solar system on its way to the stars (Doctor Who - The Invisible Enemy).

52nd century

 * 5167-5171+?
 * 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)

64th century

 * 6300s
 * The native time era of Abra Kadabra, the enemy of the Flash.

Distant future

 * Date unknown
 * Events of The Last Book in the Universe
 * ~7000
 * Pham Nuwen is born (A Deepness in the Sky).
 * 7089
 * 12,005
 * The time of the New Roman Empire (Doctor Who - The End of the World).
 * 26,900
 * Leto Atreides II dies in God Emperor of Dune, beginning the Scattering of humanity.
 * 28,400
 * Events of Heretics of Dune
 * Events of Barbarella.
 * A creature with the ability to assume any shape departs this era for 20th century Metropolis, and tries to imitate Superman. (Superman (1st series) #87, February 1954).
 * 50,000
 * 200,000 (2,000th century)
 * The period of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Earth is at its height, covered with megacities, with five Moons and a population of 96 billion, the centre of a galactic domain that covers a million worlds and a million species. However, its development is retarded for 91 years by the manipulations of news space station Satellite 5, until it is put back on track by the Ninth Doctor (Doctor Who - The Long Game).
 * 200,100
 * One hundred years on from The Long Game, mankind's development is still being obstructed, this time being kept docile by the watching of hundreds of deadly game shows produced by the Badwolf Corporation (Doctor Who - Bad Wolf).
 * 202,115
 * Events of The Star Kings by Edmond Hamilton.
 * 802,701
 * The Time Traveler encounters a garden world and sees Humanity has divided into the meek Eloi on the surface and the subdwelling, cannibalistic Morlocks - H. G. Wells' The Time Machine novel and films
 * ~1,000,000
 * The Solar System is destroyed as the Human race leaves its cradle for the last time (Babylon 5).

Dave Lister awakens from stasis and the events of Red Dwarf take place.
 * ~2,000,000
 * The solar system is relocated two light years away by the Time Lords and Earth is renamed Ravolox. When the ruse is discovered, the system is restored to its proper position (Doctor Who - The Mysterious Planet).
 * ~3,000,000
 * ~5,000,000
 * The world is in an ice age, Africa and Spain have joined and the Amazon rainforest has vanished. The world is ruled by giant sea birds, lizards with sticky frills, killer birds and huge, carnivorous bats. (The Future Is Wild)
 * ~10,000,000
 * The 57th Segment of Time, when solar activity wipes out all life on Earth. Refugees of humanity leave for the planet Refusis (Doctor Who - The Ark).
 * ~30,000,000
 * The Time Traveler stops on a shoreline, finding a dark world where intelligent life is wiped out, the day/night sequence has vanished, the air thinner, and the Moon gone. Shivering, and with darkness and falling snow, he stares as a solar eclipse begins - and a single football-shaped creature hops about near him - H. G. Wells' novel The Time Machine
 * 50,000,000
 * After humanity's final extinction, an insect-like race arises on Earth and becomes the dominant species. They are possessed by the Great Race of Yith, who have been forced to leave their previous home on a planet near Taurus. At some point in the future, this race will also die out, and the Yithians will be forced to relocate again to Mercury, taking over the bodies of a plant-race living there. (H.P. Lovecraft)
 * Homo Sapiens have completely died out along with large predators and herbivores. The primary predators are descendents of rodents, appearing as new forms of bears, wolves, and large cats. Even penguins evolve into a kind of small whale - Dougal Dixon 's After Man, 1981
 * 100,000,000
 * The world is very hot due to increased volcanic activity, the continents are barely recognizable and Antarctica is in the tropics. The world is ruled by enormous tortoises, amphibious squid, bird-eating insects and four-winged, UV-resistant birds. There is a mass extinction around this time. (The Future Is Wild)
 * 200,000,000
 * Events of A. E. van Vogt's The Book of Ptath (1943).
 * The world now contains one continent (much like Pangea) and one global ocean. Most of the world is a desert. The world is inhabited by many species of worm, flying fish, arboreal intelligent squid and hopping snails. (The Future Is Wild)
 * 6,354,279th century
 * 635,427,810
 * Time Traveler Alex Hartdegen escapes from the Morlocks, but emerges to see the rust-colored clouds and sunlight of the far future and a broad Moon-like landscape laid waste to the horizon - and wonders who the bipeds are, walking in a line in the distance - Simon Wells' production The Time Machine, 2002
 * 4,000,000,000
 * Events on a chunk of Michigan that's traveling through space. (Sharr White's Safe From the Future)
 * 5,000,000,000
 * The year 5.5/Apple/26, when the Sun's expansion is finally allowed to consume the Earth (Doctor Who - The End of the World).
 * 5,000,000,023
 * 23 years after The End of the World, mankind has resettled on New Earth, a planet in the galaxy M87 (Doctor Who - New Earth).
 * 400,000,000,000
 * Simulation of 1912 Earth inside a giant computer.
 * Europe and parts of Africa and Asia disappear and are replaced by a primeval continent (Darwinia (novel)).
 * "1993"
 * The Red Dwarf crew travels into the far distant future to a point after the Universe has begun collapsing towards a Big Crunch, causing time to run backwards until it is the equivalent of 1993 on Earth again (or 3991, as the locals write it). They spend three weeks in Nodnol (London backwards). In the novel Backwards, they arrive to collect Lister in Niagara Falls in the year 9891 (1989).


 * 100 trillion- The stars and suns have burnt out as the end of the universe approches. The remnants of the human race lives in silos, trying to get to a last paridise, utopia. the events of Doctor Who (utopia)

The end of time

 * The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in the novel by Douglas Adams.
 * The Inquisitor decides there is no afterlife or god, and that the only purpose in existence is to lead a worthwhile life. So, he constructs a time machine to judge every person in history. (Red Dwarf)
 * The guru Gaspar and the God of War, Spekkio, await the ones who will slay Lavos and its spawn. (Chrono Trigger) (However, the timeline of Chrono Trigger is completely independent of our Earth's).

Beyond the end of time

 * Climax of Isaac Asimov's story The Last Question. The end of time itself is said to be ten trillion years in the future, and the climax of the story occurs even later, after a "timeless interval".