The timeline lists all known events in the history of The Outer Worlds.
19th Century[]
March 4, 1897
- William McKinley is elected President of the United States of America.
20th Century[]
September 6, 1901[]
- William McKinley visits the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York without incident.
1903[]
- French physicist Prosper-René Blondlot discovers N-Rays, an exotic type of radiation, creating the basis for future N-Ray based weaponry.[1]
21st Century[]
- The skip drive is invented, allowing spaceships to approach and then "skip past" the speed of light, sparking another space race as corporations began exploring and claiming purchasing rights to known star systems.
- A catastrophic war known as the Great War is fought. In the aftermath, the Earth Directorate is formed. It begins cataloging stars and selling nominal ownership rights to them.
23rd Century[]
Early 23rd Century[]
- Ten corporations band together to establish the Halcyon Holdings Corporation (HHC), pooling their resources to purchase rights to the remote Halcyon system from the Earth Directorate.
- The first colony ship intended to settle Halcyon, Groundbreaker departs Earth.
- The Groundbreaker arrives in Halcyon and the colonists aboard are awoken from cryosleep. Lead by HHC, the colonists first attempt to terraform the moon Terra 1, but the process causes its ecosystem to mutate and renders the planet extremely dangerous to inhabit. Soon after, they begin efforts to terraform and colonize Terra 2.
- The owners of the Groundbreaker come into conflict with HHC over their own contractual rights to maintain the colony ship as an independent spaceport. They succeed in establishing the Groundbreaker as an independent spaceport, much to the chagrin of HHC.
2285[]
- The colony ship Hope, laden with hundreds of thousands of passengers, departs Earth and begins its journey to Halcyon. At some point during transit, its skip drive malfunctions and the ship is forced to continue on using only its slower sublight engines, extending its travel time by decades.
2295[]
- When the Hope fails to arrive in Halcyon on schedule, the Halcyon Holdings Corporate Board (the "Board") assumes it was lost.
2298-99[]
- Hephaestus Mining Company establishes a mining operation on Scylla, Halcyon's largest asteroid. Within a year, the operation is abandoned due to lackluster profits, leaving behind their equipment and terraformer.[2]
- The Board sends a team to Scylla to search for signals from the Hope.
24th Century[]
2320[]
October 23[]
- The colony ship, Hope, is found drifting in space in Halcyon. Due to the colonists' unexpectedly long duration in cryosleep, they can no longer be safely revived.
December 5[]
- The Board decides to cover up the Hope's existence. The vessel is moved to an orbit over the ice planet Typhon and placed under guard indefinitely.
2343[]
January 12[]
- HHC initiates the Hazard Clause, with almost all Board corporations beginning the process to evacuate Terra 1 and relocate to Terra 2 due to Terra 1's hazardous conditions.
May 4[]
- Rizzo sends one single shuttle to evacuate all of Cascadia's equipment and personnel from Terra 1.
- When the evacuation shuttle lands, captive pterorays escape at the same time that raptidons breach Cascadia's walls, causing the pilot to leave and Rizzo to abandon its employees to die, including future Iconoclast leader Zora Blackwood.
May 7[]
- Blackwood works to keep Cascadia's survivors safe and plans to leave Cascadia.
Exact Date Unknown[]
- Other Board corporations evacuate and abandon their settlements and operations on Terra 1:
- C&P abandons its C&P Boarst Factory.
- Universal Defense Logistics abandons Terra One Publications[3] and Devil's Peak Station and relay station.
- Monarch Stellar Industries (MSI) remains on and exercises a legal loophole to claim ownership of Terra 1, renaming it Monarch.
- In retaliation for MSI's exercise of the loophole, HHC removes MSI from the Board, places a trade and travel embargo on the moon, and begins disseminating anti-MSI propaganda. MSI and the various various settlements on Monarch are left to fend for themselves.
- The Amber Heights Massacre occurs, aided by then-MSI employee Graham Bryant.
2345[]
- The Iconoclasts are founded in Amber Heights by Graham Bryant.[4]
2350[]
- The Spacer's Choice Adrena-Time project on Gorgon is abandoned, and the facility is shuttered.[5]
2352[]
- Halcyon loses communication with Earth.[6]
2353[]
- The Earth Directorate frigate Cornelius Vanderbilt disappears while on its way back to Earth.[7][8]
May 15, 2355[]
- Using a chemical formula of his own invention, Phineas Vernon Welles rescues the Stranger from the Hope and tasks them with helping him obtain more chemicals to revive the remaining colonists.
References[]
- ↑ Loading screen hints: "N-rays are an exotic effect discovered in the early 20th century. N-ray attacks cause internal damage to a target, which then radiates more N-rays to surrounding targets."
- ↑ Abandoned Mining Outpost terminal entries
- ↑ Terra One Publications terminal entries, Reception Terminal
- ↑ Maguire: "But then, that was ten years ago. Still feels fresh to us every time we look at our walls, though."
- ↑ Mikey Dowling interview on XBox news
- ↑ Sophia Akande: "We've lost all contact with Earth. It's been three years since we've received a message."
- ↑ Sophia Akande: "Two years ago, the Earth Directorate's frigate disappeared en route to Earth."
- ↑ Cornelius Vanderbilt: Status Log