Timeline (A History of the Third Millenium AD)

DISCLAIMER:This is not the Galactic Timeline page, and only covers the years 2000-2999 AD. To access the Galactic Timeline, click here.

The years between 2000 and 2999 AD arguably were one of the most remarkable chapters of human history. Also known as the Galactic Age of Humanity, these years saw the transformation of humanity from squabbling nation-states on Earth, on the brink of annihilating each other, to hegemones of the entire Milky Way galaxy and parts of others.

2019
IS gains followers from the oppressed Rohingya population in Myanmar, leading to the capture of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, on December 17 after a two-month long siege. Sittwe is announced as the new capital of IS’s caliphate, celebrating it with truck bombs detonating in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda and Angkor Wat.

2020
Bernie Sanders is elected as the 46th President of the United States. Meanwhile, the Syrian Civil War ends with Bashar Al-Assad retaining power. IS continues to grow in power in Myanmar and the Philippines, and also sets up a branch in Thailand's Pattani region.

2022
A malfunction in North Korean nuclear defense software causes false reports of US missiles being fired at Pyongyang to be recorded. North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un orders the launch of all 22 North Korean nuclear missiles. Many South Korean and Japanese cities were destroyed (including Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto). Three missiles managed to reach US territory, one detonating on the northern tip of Guam, sinking half the island into the Pacific, one detonating in Alaska, and one even reaching the Lower 48, detonating 21 miles west of Seattle. An estimated 12 million died. This is followed by a declaration of war on North Korea by the entirety of NATO, the CSTO, China and the Arab League. North Korea surrenders after two weeks, as their army could not hope to repel the 21-million-man invading army. North Korea was divided along the 40th parallel by South Korea and China, with the US leasing the port of Hamhung for 150 years.

2023
Nuclear fallout from the Second Korean War causes temperatures to drop two to three degrees Celsius worldwide, causing unusually cold temperatures and snow falling in unusual places, including southern Florida, parts of Mexico, and even the Sahara Desert. The UN proposes immediate denuclearization by all countries. This fails to pass, with only 46 countries for the action.

2024
President Bernie Sanders wins a second term by a small margin. Many Republicans suspect the elections to have been rigged.

2025
NASA launches a manned mission to Mars. This is followed by Russian and Chinese launches five months later. Micronesia is annexed into the United States after their government goes bankrupt.

2029
At 1:31 am PST on September 27, 2029, a magnitude 9.8 earthquake was recorded in the Pacific Ocean, 235 kilometers to the southwest of Seattle. This earthquake was the strongest earthquake in Earth's history, and slight shaking from the earthquake was reported as far south as the San Francisco Bay Area. The resulting tsunami was recorded to be 231 meters high in parts of Washington state, over 100 meters high across the entire US and Canadian West Coast, and was more than ten meters high as far away as Japan. The earthquake and tsunami was also the deadliest and costliest natural disaster in the 21st Century, claiming the lives of 970,000 people across 26 nations, destroying the entire cities of Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver, and ultimately costing 412 billion dollars of damage to property.

2031
Puerto Rico, the American Pacific islands, and Hamhung gain statehood, becoming the 51st, 52nd and 53rd states.

2032
China and India get a man on the moon. The Islamic State is disbanded.

2035
The Northwest Passages are now almost perpetually ice-free, providing new shipping lanes between Asia, North America and Europe and prompting the rapid growth of cities in Greenland, Nunavut, and Alaska. By the turn of the 22nd Century, Barrow, Alaska would be an international hub of transportation and shipping, and be the sixth largest city in the United States.

2036
The Maldives and Kiribati are declared uninhabitable due to sea level rise and frequent flooding from the high tides, causing the first climate refugees.

2038
The first settlement on Mars, Frontier, is established by a joint SpaceX-NASA collaboration. 120 initial colonists populate the colony. Meanwhile, the Tea Party splits from the Republican party, and the Libertarian party begins to gain significant influence in US politics.

2039
Due to sea level rise, many coastal cities start constructing dykes and seawalls.

2040
Putingrad, the first Russian colony on Mars is established. Meanwhile, the ESA establishes its own Martian colony, Nova Europa. Brazil lands a man on the moon.

2041
China establishes its first Martian colony, Tiangong. Lunar colonies are established by the US and Russia, named Serenity and Vostok respectively.

2042
A joint Vietnamese-Filipino force of 600 men start building a military base in the Spratly Islands, a source of conflict between the nations of Southeast Asia. Taking this as an infringement of national sovereignty and a declaration of war, on July 12, Chinese President Ning Zhen orders the nuking of Hanoi. The 165-megaton dirty bomb ends up destroying everything within 50 kilometers of the city, and the entirety of Northern Vietnam, from the Chinese border to Vinh, as well as parts of Laos’s Phongsaly Province and China’s Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces, is rendered an uninhabitable, irradiated, wasteland. An estimated 40 million people died. This event sparks international condemnation and sanctions on China, and horrified by the actions of the Chinese Government, many nations, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, India, and United Oceania (collectively known as the Coalition) declare war on China two weeks later, and the Coalition is secretly supported by both the United States and Russia. By the end of the year, the Coalition, despite losing Northern Laos and Thailand, have pushed the frontline all the way to Guangzhou, where street-to-street fighting took place.

2044
As the war dragged on, the Chinese populace started to become more angry at the government for dragging the country into a pointless war which they were losing. Riots were commonplace in larger cities, and a Tibetan separatist movement gained power in Tibet. The Chinese Army was forced to divert to the hot spots if rebellion, and the Chinese government decided to drop nuclear bombs on important cities in Southern China, to slow down the advance of the Coalition and buy time for the nation. This scorched-earth tactic, while slowing down the Coalition advance, did nothing but delay the inevitable for China, as the Coalition was better equipped, better supplied, and had better technology. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin dies at age 91, and the new president, Vladimir Makarov, decides to take an active role in the Great Eastern War, and declares war on China, opening a new front on China. However, this action prompts the Chinese government to initiate nuclear strikes at major Russian cities, prompting the Sino-Russian Nuclear Exchange.

2047
China, being overwhelmed by fighting on three fronts, is unable to hold back the Coalition and Russian forces. Beijing is taken by Russian forces, and the Chinese finally surrender on the 3rd of March. The terms are:
 * Tibet and Xinjiang (Uyghuristan) are to become independent.
 * Inner Mongolia will join Mongolia.
 * The Korean border is extended back to the Yalu.
 * All Chinese-Indian disputed territory is handed to India.
 * As compensation for the destruction of its major cities, Russia gains Heilongjiang Province (renamed to Amur Oblast).
 * The Spratly and Paracel Islands are to be split between Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan.
 * China must pay the equivalent of 200 billion dollars in war reparations.
 * The Chinese Politburo, including President Ning Zhen, is to be tried at the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.
 * China is to merge into Taiwan to create the United Provinces of China, which will be a fully democratic nation.

2051
India establishes lunar and Martian colonies, Chandrapura and Ayurveda respectively.

2054
China establishes a lunar colony, Yuejing.

2063
The Complete De-Nuclearization Treaty, first proposed 40 years before, finally is ratified by all UN member nations. Meanwhile, the population of Mars exceeds one million.

2072
Korea, Japan, and Australia each establish lunar and Martian colonies. World de-nuclearization is complete.

2076
Saudi Arabia becomes the last country to outlaw the death penalty.

2084
Carbon dioxide emissions reach pre-industrial levels.

2093
The United States gives its Martian colonies statehood as three separate states: Tharsis, Mariner and Elysium.

2095
The first asteroid mining station is built on Ceres. The population of the Moon has increased to one million people.

2103
Censuses show that the population of Mars has increased beyond five million people.

2109
Plans for a one world government are made. China, Russia, India and much of South America and Southeast Asia oppose the one world government, stating multiple reasons, including separate cultural identity and national sovereignty.

2111
On March 21, 2111, the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean nations, Central America, the European nations (except Russia), the African nations, the Middle Eastern nations, Iran, Japan, Korea, and the Oceanic Union merge into the United Confederation of Earth. A hastily organized election proclaims former US senator Ferdinand Kiehlmeier the first president of the UCE.

2112
The UCE embargoes all nations that have not joined it, forcing the South American and Southeast Asian nations to join due to fear of economic collapse. Only Russia and China are independent now.

2114
UCE agents assassinate Russian President Dmitry Makarovich and Chinese President Ting Shen. Their successors, installed by the UCE via election rigging, annex Russia and China into the UCE. Earth is now united under one banner.

2125
Following a new law passed by the International Congress, all defunct satellites and space junk are to come down within five years of their discontinuation. This causes the Great Satellite Shower on October 7th, where old satellites and space junk came down worldwide, creating a spectacular "meteor shower".

2148
Asteroid mining stations are commonplace in the Asteroid Belt, with their main workforce being poorer people manipulated into working there and being paid very little while working in dangerous conditions.

2151
Work on the Earth, Lunar and Martian Spaceports begin.

2156
Proxima Centauri B is discovered to be habitable, and put on the list of potential colony sites. However, since there was no feasible way to transport people to the planet as of yet, the planet was left alone for the time being. Meanwhile, the Spaceports are finished.

2167
Plans for terraforming Mars and the Moon, colonizing Venus, the moons of the gas giants, and extrasolar planets are released.

2169
Construction of giant mirrors in orbit around Mars begins. The purpose of these mirrors is to reflect the Sun's heat onto the Martian poles, melting them, and in the process, release locked-up greenhouse gases into the Martian atmosphere. Genetically-modified oxygen-producing cyanobacteria are also introduced to the planet to make a breathable atmosphere.

2173
Details of the horrific conditions in the Asteroid Belt mines leak to the general populace, causing large protests in major cities. This causes the United Congress to pass regulations on extraterrestrial working conditions, which later prove to have little effect.

2178
Martian population passes the 50 million mark. New starships that can travel up to one-fourth of the speed of light are manufactured, cutting travel times from Earth to Mars to just four hours.

2180
Colonies on Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, Enceladus and Titan are established.

2186
The wormhole is proven to exist when scans show that all supermassive black holes are connected to each other. Research is immediately started on opening controlled wormholes between star systems.

2198
With the melting of much of the Martian ice cap and subsequent carbon dioxide releases as well as the introduction of oxygen-producing bacteria, Mars finally attains a habitable, Earthlike climate and breathable atmosphere. The polar mirrors are deconstructed and work begins on a large magnet orbiting the planet that will create an artificial magnetic field.

2204
Scientists finally create a controlled wormhole leading to the Alpha Centauri trinary system.