This part of a timeline that I wrote for a Justifiers RPG campaign. It goes sup to 2442 but I've only included the period relevant to this thread:
2007: The first successful fusion of human and animal genetic material.
Debate over the beings legal status begins even before it's birth.
The being is a male chimpanzee/human cross and is dubbed an
Alpha-Humaniod. His life is brief, as a "Humans Only" radical group
firebomb the labs housing him.
2008: In an attempt to get back on the political map Pakistan releases a
new bio-plague. A version of the Pneumonic Plague (the Black Death),
it quickly becomes a pandemic. Within a year forty-seven million are
dead world wide, 60% of the deaths being concentrated in Europe and
North America. The First Plague enters the history books.
2009: Dr. Eugene McGuire, of the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), makes
the breakthrough that leads to a cure. Dr. McGuire comes out of
the panic looking like a knight in shining armour. All told, world
wide, there are sixty-three million dead before a vaccine is delivered.
Pakistan is invaded by the United Nations and ceases to be a nation.
2012: Standing on a pro-technology political platform, Dr. Eugene Mcguire
wins the `12 US election by a landslide. The doorway for technical
research is wide open...genetic engineering becomes THE money
making field to be in. A dozen Alpha-Humaniod species are patented
in 2013 alone...
2014: The first permanent Lunar colony is founded, Clarke Base.
2015: Human, cybernetic integration achieved at the University of
Oklahoma. Opens the door for the first "cyborgs".
2016: President Eugene McGuire wins the re-election. Genetic labs
throughout America rejoice...
2018: Man lands on Mars, establishes Gorbachev Base.
2021: The Second Plague strikes mankind. Later testimony discloses that
this disease originated in the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.
By 2023 two hundred and thirteen million people are dead, another
four hundred and fifty seven million suffer permanent nerve damage.
Most Western governments fall, to one degree or another, including
the US, Canada, Mexico, all of Central and South America, and all
of Europe except for the Netherlands and France.
-1-
2024: A vaccine is found for the Second Plague in France by Dr. Cluade
Verdonne. No cure is ever found for those surviving the Plague
but suffering nerve damage. Total world casualties: three hundred
and seventy two million dead, and nine hundred and thirty three
million with permanent nerve damage.
2025: The UN declares itself as the first World Government, headed by
France, China and the United African Nations. The first president
is Joseph Macumbe, a native African educated in Kenya and Oxford.
The first World Council is convened on November 19th, 2025.
2026: Insurrections are put down in the US, Scotland and Germany by the
World Council Armed Forces, a military force made up of soldiers
from, at least in part, the countries rebelling. The World Council
authorizes use of tactical nuclear weapons on a unit of it's own
army that joins the rebellion in El Paso, TX. The rebellions die
out rather quickly after that...
2028: The first base established in the Asteroid Belt on Cirrus.
2030: The world discovers, much to many peoples surprise, that the World
Council is doing a better job than the governments it replaced.
2033: A World Council Court declares Alpha-Humaniods "protected" species.
2047: First fusion reactor goes on-line in Chiba, Japan. Once the fusion
reaction has begun it only requires distilled water as fuel.
2054: The first fully bipedal, bimanual Humaniod is developed. Dubbed
Beta-Humaniods they are extended the Alphas "protected" status.
2056: Radical anti-humaniod political parties spring up all over the
planet. Tauting a "Humans Only" theme, many are backed by religious
leaders, both big and small.
2066: There are seven Lunar bases, four Martian and seventeen in the
out-system. Twelve million people now live off Earth.
2071: The founding principles of psionics are discovered by Dr. Rashien
Bapuul, student of science and Hindu teachings. The talent for
psionics among Humans is low (5%), the percentage among Betas
and Augmented Humans (see below) is kept strictly Top Secret...
-2-
2085: Pierre DuBois is elected World Council President on a "Humans
Only" platform. He quickly "pads" the Council with his own, loyal
members. Two outspoken Counselors, who disagree with Pres. DuBois,
have untimely accidents...
2087: With strong military backing, Pres. DuBois leads a bloodless coup
of the Council. He declares himself Emperor Pierre the First of the
Imperium of Humanity (aka Empire of Man). Much to even his surprise,
no one seems to care...
2088: Emperor Pierre I declares that all beings with more than a 0.1%
genetic variance from humans are hereby non-Citizens. Effectively
making them slave races.
2090: The capitol of the Imperium is moved to the L5 station, Crystal
Palace. There are now forty-nine million people living in the
"High Colonies".
2093: The First Beta Uprising takes place. Four hundred thousand Betas
are killed, but they take two and a half million humans with them.
An unknown number of Betas escape to the Asteroid Belt and the Oort
Cloud.
2102: The Imperial Esper Academy opens it doors in the Asimov Dome, on
Mars. Security is extremely tight, unauthorized personal are shot
on sight, no questions asked. Enrollment isn't overwhelming.
2106: The Laser Stasis System is developed, allowing living or non-living
objects to be placed in a state of suspended animation indefinitely.
Making interstellar travel more than just a dream.
2108: Lifeships begin being launched be every political, religious, ethnic
and national group that can afford one. Trajectories are picked
for religious or political reasons as often as scientific ones.
Between 2108 and 2196 some four hundred, chartered, Lifeships are
launched. The number of unregistered, uncharted launches is
unknown. Betas and Augmented Humans (see below) are forbidden from shipping
out on Lifeships.
2109: The Betas secretly launch a Lifeship, with over one hundred and
twenty thousand persons onboard, on a deep-space trajectory towards
a neighboring star system.
-3-
2112: Emperor Pierre I dies of natural causes, his son Rene takes up the
Imperial crown, as Emperor Rene I.
2145: The first Augmented Humans are designed and put into full production.
Many of the first generation defect to the Rebel Beta stations.
There are now over two billion Citizens in the High Colonies.
2168: Emperor Rene I is assassinated, his son Pierre is suspected but
no hard evidence ever comes to light. He is crowned Pierre II under
a cloud of suspicion.
2189: An experimental "stargate" is tested in a Los Angeles dockside
warehouse. The resulting explosion "removes" a 10km sphere of matter
to... elsewhere. Luckily the technical notes were stored in more
than one computer.
2192: It is discovered that the "jump-drive" requires a powerful magnetic
field to work properly. Artificial magnetic fields of large size are hard to
produce, a natural source is searched for.
2193: The natural magnetic field is found, at the poles of the sun. A test
drive is made and fired, the test vehicle is never seen again...
The 10km sphere appears to be the maximum size limit, anything larger
undergoes a near instantaneous shift to an entropy state, ie they just
disappear.
2194: Emperor Pierre the Third takes the throne and establishes the
Survey Team program.
2195: The Imperial Esper Corp. scores its first victory, in putting down
a Beta rebellion plot. The Corp. quickly earns a reputation as
the Branch of the Imperium that noone escapes.
2196: The first successful Jump is made on June 26th, 2196. The Solar
Gate only opens onto one other star. This star however opens onto
two others, and the third system has thirteen Jump Points. This
system is named Nexus. As each star has two poles, the "north"
is dedicated to outgoing traffic and the "south" dedicated to
incoming.
This timeline was written in the early 90's, it shows...
