Buck Rogers Timeline
10,000 BCE The Bird civilization, of which Hawk is a descendant, thrives on the Earth. One tribe at is located on Easter Island. Sometime shortly after this, the Bird people leave the Earth in search of a home on another planet. ("Time of the Hawk, Parts One and Two"). This would be the first time Earth people left the planet, a feat that would not be repeated until the 1960's.
7,500 BCE The Goral, aliens from the "Planet of Death," leave their world and head into space. Behind, they leave a caretaker: the simulacrum called the Hand of the Goral. The only visitors to the planet to survive the tests of this gatekeeper are Buck and Hawk in 2492. (10,000 years before "The Hand of Goral")
c. 1493 The Sedonian Generals and Private Zed are born. (1000 years before "Shgorapchx!")
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
1902 Hughie Cannon publishes the song "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home?" Buck sings this song during his approach to the Earth in his shuttle in 2491 ("Awakening")
January 9, 1957 William "Buck" Rogers in born in the United States. He grows up in Chicago, Illinois. (534 years before "Happy Birthday, Buck")
1958 Jennifer (who would later become Buck's girlfriend in the 80's) is born in the United States. (1987 less 28 years)
1968 Danny Hutton brings together a group of musicians to form the band Three Dog Night, which is one of Buck's favorites. (In "Cosmic Whiz Kid" he plays one of their albums while at his apartment.)
1976 Mayor Daly of Chicago passes away (novelization, contemporary accounts). In the summer, the motion picture Jaws becomes the top movie at the box office. Buck later watches a vid of it in 2492 ("A Dream of Jennifer")
1977 Hieronymus Fox is born on "old" Earth. He would become known as a child genius. Fox's memories of his youth include cheeseburgers, rock music, Saturday morning cartoons and comic books. (This is an adjustment to the age given in "Cosmic Whiz Kid," which suggests Fox was born in 1998)
November 1980 In the election of 1980, Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States. (contemporary accounts).
Point of divergence with "real" history - 1984
November 1984 In the U.S. general election of 1984, a man who is neither Ronald Reagan nor Walter Mondale is elected President of the United States (he is seen in "Testimony of a Traitor")
March 1985 It seems clear that Mikhail Gorbachev did not succeed Constantin Chernenko to become General Secretary of the Soviet Union in the Buck Rogers universe. In contemporary history, this event occurred in March 1985.
1986 Relations between the USSR and the United States degenerate to the point where the two nations are on the brink of war. (novelization, "Awakening")
The President of the United States has a new bunker built for him to use in the event of a nuclear attack, located directly underneath the sculptures of the Presidents at Mount Rushmore. ("Testimony of a Traitor")
Many people, including Buck himself, are concerned about the possibility of a sneak attack from hostile forces. ("Testimony of a Traitor")
Hieronymus Fox graduates from college at the age of 9. ("Cosmic Whiz Kid")
December 1986 Buck Rogers meets with the President of the United States at his secret base inside Mount Rushmore. ("Testimony of a Traitor")
1987 Hieronymus Fox obtains his Ph.D. at the age of 10. ("Cosmic Whiz Kid")
January 9, 1987 Buck Rogers 30th birthday. This is the age he is preserved at when he is frozen in May 1987. "Happy Birthday, Buck," "Awakening."
January 1987 Buck Rogers, under deep hypnosis, works with the conspiracy to steal the nuclear launch codes from NATO. ("Testimony of a Traitor")
February 1987 With Buck's assistance, the conspiracy within America's defense establishment is thwarted. After his debriefing, where his original personality is restored, and his memories of the mission suppressed, Buck is rewarded with the opportunity to pilot the Ranger Three mission for NASA. Ironically, this was a posting that had also been promised to him by the conspirators. ("Testimony of a Traitor")
March 1987 Buck has dinner with Jennifer, and promises her that after this next mission (the Ranger Three deep space probe), he will never leave her again. ("A Dream of Jennifer")
April 1987 On leave from NASA, Buck visits his Mother in Chicago. He stays until just prior to his final preparations for piloting Ranger Three. Buck relives this experience in 2493. ("The Guardians")
May 1987 Introduction to Awakening - "The year is 1987.." NASA launches Ranger Three, piloted by Captain Rogers. It is the last of America's deep space probes.
The probe is launched atop a giant rocket similar to a Saturn V rocket, the sort used in the earlier Apollo missions. This new rocket had some problems in testing ("The Guardians"), which concerned Buck's mother.
Once out of Earth orbit, Ranger Three was capable of tremendous speeds, and was to have toured the entire solar system within five months. Clearly, faster than light travel, if not already a reality, was close at hand.
In a freak mishap, Rogers is frozen and remains in a state of suspended animation for 504 years. (Six months prior to "Testimony of a Traitor") Buck relives this experience in 2493. ("The Guardians")
1987 Global tensions begin to spiral out of control, ultimately leading to a great war.
1987 As the nuclear holocaust is approaching, Hieronymus Fox creates a device to preserve people in a cold sleep.
1987 As the war escalates, Hieronymus Fox, unwilling to risk anyone's life but his own, subjects himself to the cold sleep device and ends up in cryogenic suspension until c. 2490 when he is "unthawed" by the Genesians.
October 1987 When Buck's original five month tour of the solar system was to have concluded. ("Awakening")
November 22, 1987 The United States undergoes a devastating nuclear attack, and all major U.S. cities are destroyed. The U.S. counterattacks, and a second wave of missiles is launched by enemy forces. This war is no doubt waged primarily between NATO forces and those of the Warsaw Pact.
In the minutes before what he knows will be the final destruction not only of America, but ultimately of the Earth, Major Jim Petersen, USAF, records a videotape at NORAD headquarters in Colorado. As a result of coming into possession of surveillance tapes from Air Force intelligence, Petersen is under the mistaken impression that Buck Rogers was part of a conspiracy within the American armed forces to obtain the secret nuclear launch codes, and initiate a pre-emptive strike against the enemy without civilian authorization. Prior to this discovery, Petersen had considered Buck to be his best friend. Completing the recording, he places it in a fireproof box. The box is later recovered by the Earth Federation in 2493. ("Testimony of a Traitor")
The second wave of missiles from enemy powers strikes, destroying what remains of the United States.
A general nuclear war rages throughout the Earth killing millions.
Radiation and disease in the aftermath of the nuclear war kills many millions more. Civilization begins to degenerate. The collapse happens very quickly, and bodies are hurriedly buried often without grave markers.
According to Dr. Goodfellow, this destruction may have occurred because there was no Guardian in place at this time, who could have protected the Earth. ("The Guardians")
April 1988 As society breaks down, people lose track of the passage of time. By the time that Buck Rogers' parents die and are buried, only the month of their death is noted on the tombstone - April.
c. 1990 The tattered survivors of humanity have to deal with the various challenges posed by starvation, contamination, radiation and plague. (novelization, "Awakening")
This is the beginning of a long period of anarchy on the Earth. Humanity struggles just to survive. Many humans and other life forms are horribly mutated by the prolonged exposure to nuclear radiation. ("Awakening")
1996 The year that the Draconians inscribed on the fake Earth satellite which they used to lure Buck Rogers into capture. It is clearly erroneous, as Dr. Theopolis surmised. ("Ardala Returns")
2000 - 2050
During the period of time immediately after the Holocaust, groups people begin to find ways to leave Earth and start life anew on other planets. Some remain in contact with "Terra," others do not, and some develop divergent cultures.
Ultimately all contact between Earth and these colonies is lost, although Earth and the colonies remain in touch from the early twentieth century through to the last 23rd centiry. ("Time of the Hawk," Parts One and Two and "The Satyr")
At least one group of colonists sets up a viable community on Saturn. ("Journey to Oasis, Part One")
Also during this period of time, the Earth is looted by aliens. The frozen body of Hieronymus Fox is stolen. ("Cosmic Whiz Kid") This is likely the time of first contact between the humans of Earth and people from other worlds, and is not auspicious. This alien contact may have helped in the acceleration of human technology. (speculation)
c. 2090 The first shipments of genetic waste materials are shipped from Saturn. (400 years prior to "Journey to Oasis, Part I") ODX is one of the experimental beings that survives this banishment. This clearly indicates that faster than light capability had been refined and was more broadly in use by humans in the late 21st century. As well, genetic engineering was widely in use as suggested by both "Journey to Oasis" and "The Crystals."
c. 2090 A strange colony is established on the volcanically active planet of Fibracetes, a world rich in dirbidian crystals. Accompanying the human colonists is a series of "pre-packaged" settlers. Mummified for transportation, they were packaged in this form to await activation by light through the use of the dirbidian crystals. After activation, they would pass through two stages. In the early stage, they would appear as monstrous hulks with bluish-grey skin. As they had superhuman strength and tended toward violence, they were intended to be supervised at this point. Later, they would emerge from this cocoon-like stage as normal humans. The settlers were essentially fabricated, full sized, from DNA, with all cultural information encoded in their genes. This was to allow for the colony to rapidly expand and so as not to rely on normal methods of childbirth. This colony was destroyed by a volcanic eruption circa 2093, and several of the mummies were trapped under the ash. ("The Crystals")
2100 Electricity is no longer used as a means of providing power. A new technology takes its place at this time (400 years before "Buck's Duel to the Death")
c. 2193 The energy cells aboard the Sedonian ship transporting solar bombs implode, leaving the ship and its crew to go adrift for 300 years. ("Shgorapchx!")
c. 2293 The Earth loses contact with the many colonies that had been established on other world in the years immediately following the colonists. It is with the hope of re-establishing contact with these colonies, that the Searcher is dispatched in 2493. (200 years before "The Satyr")
c. 2387 The Earth finally begins to recover from the holocaust, and rebuilding begins in earnest. Advances in computer technology are key to the new renaissance of human culture. ("Awakening," 400 hundred years after the nuclear war according to the novelization)
The Inner City (New Chicago) is built, the Computer Council is put in place, and commerce is established with off world sources of trade. New Chicago becomes the new capital of Earth. (speculation based on novel)
Soon, many other Earth cities are reborn including New Phoenix, City by the Sea (at the site of the former New Orleans), New Detroit, New Tulsa and New London. The Earth Defense Directorate is created to defend the Earth from emerging extraterrestrial threats.
At this time, contact is re-established with some of the colonies that previously lost. Others remain out of contact.
To resolve disputes between the various human settlements in the galaxy, the Galactic Court is formed (speculation based on "Time of the Hawk, Part II"). It is also known as the Galactic Judiciary ("The Golden Man")
2397 The Galactic Judiciary establishes a penal colony on Iris VII, within the Alpha Centauri asteroids. (96 years prior to "The Golden Man")
THE TWENTY-FIFTH CENTURY
2406 Noah Cooper is born on Earth. (84 years before "Return of the Fighting 69th")
2414 Dr. Goodfellow is born on Earth, in England (based on age of actor)
2419 Commodore Gordon is born on Earth. (based on age of actor, "Planet of the Slave Girls - Part II)
c. 2420 Earth begins to slowly establish new colonies in neighboring star systems, but relations are not easy with all of the new colonies, many of which desire to establish some independence from Earth. This is the beginning of what will become known as the Earth Federation. (speculation)
2439 Elias Huer is born on Earth. (based on age of actor) Also, this year, the Efram Asimov is born. (speculation)
c. 2452 Daylora Bayliss is born (speculation based on "Happy, Birthday Buck)
2462 Wilma Deering is born on Earth. Her father is a Starfighter pilot. (Based on age of actor)
2464 Elias Huer pilots the first ship through a stargate. The short trip takes him across Earth's solar system. His mission a success, a system of stargates is developed to link trading planets throughout the Earth Federation and beyond.
c. 2465 Dr. Theopolis assists in the design of the Earth Starfighter. ("Planet of the Slave Girls - Part I" - date is speculation.)
c. 2469 Asimov, at the time a Captain, is present when seven Federation starships are lost in a great explosion. He survives, but is traumatized by the events. (date is speculation based on "Journey to Oasis - Part II")
2470 Traeger first meets Delora Bayliss on Regulus 5, where as a teenager she is selling quadrilium, a radioactive element. (date is speculation, based on "Happy Birthday, Buck")
2471 The last "sled bomber" is produced for Earth's defense fleet. (20 years before Return of the Fighting 69th)
2475 Traeger begins meeting with Delora Bayliss, who is now working as a Doctor of psycho-medicine, as her patient. (speculation based on "Happy Birthday, Buck") Later, Traeger joins the exploration division of the Earth Federation fleet. Shortly thereafter Huer assigns him to an exploration mission. ("Happy Birthday, Buck")
April 25, 2475 Jason Samos establishes the colony of New Corinth on Arcadis, consisting of 116 colonists. ("The Satyr")
2476 In flight school, Duke Danton receives instruction on the use of pulsar cannons by Brigadier Gordon. (15 years before "Planet of the Slave Girls - Part I").
Also during 2476, Traeger, a Directorate pilot on a routine exploration mission is lost and presumed dead. In fact, Traeger lands on the planet Ovion where he is charged for espionage and held until 2491. Traeger blames Elias Huer for his ordeal. (15 years before "Happy Birthday, Buck")
2479 After a few years on Ovion, Traeger learns the secrets of matter transmutation. ("Happy Birthday, Buck")
2480 At eighteen, Wilma begins her training with the Earth defense force. She is aided in her studies by Noah Cooper, who was a colleague of her father. (date is speculation based on "Return of the Fighting 69th") While in flight school, Wilma meets Duke Danton, and at some point the two become romantically involved. ("Planet of the Slave Girls - Part I")
2484 Del Samos, son of Major Jason Samos, is born at New Cornith on Arcadis. (9 years before "The Satyr")
2485 At age 23, Wilma Deering bids Ambassador Duvoe goodbye. The couple was very much in love, but their careers and commitments pulled them apart. (7 years prior to "Journey to Oasis - Part I")
July 17, 2485. The last communication was received at Earth from Major John Stamos at the New Corinth colony on Arcadis. Shortly after this, Major Stamos transformed into a half-man half-goat creature, and assumed the name of Pangor. ("The Satyr")
2486 Alicia, a deaf girl, is kidnapped from her parents on Earth by a group of gunrunners. ("Return of the Fighting 69th")
early 2488 A plot to ship guns to hostile colonies is exposed. ("Return of the Fighting 69th")
October 2488 Wilma Deering leads a raid on the base of gunrunners, accompanied by the Fighting 69th. ("Return of the Fighting 69th")
2490 Hieronymus Fox is awakened from cryogenic suspension by the people of Genesia. He had been frozen at roughly ten years of age, and is still a child - although a brilliant one. He works to improve their planet, and is shortly made their President. (sometime prior to "Cosmic Whiz Kid", but not long before as Hieronymus still appears to be 10 years old to Roderick Zale at that time)
October 2490 Wilma Deering removes the entire Fighting 69th squadron from combat flight ready status, after they fail to pass the routine physical. ("Return of the Fighting 69th")
2491 Captain Rogers returns to the vicinity of the Earth and encounters the Draconian flagship bringing Princess Ardala to Earth. ("Awakening")
Awakening
Buck declines to formally join the Defense Directorate, but retains the honorary rank of Captain. And, he also agrees to help the Directorate out on occasion. (Later, he accepts a position reporting to Dr. Huer)
Sometime in here, Buck meets the former Chief Engineer of the Draconia, who is fleeing the Draconians, and agrees to find him a hiding place on Earth. ("Escape to Wedded Bliss")
Buck and Wilma travel together on a Recon mission to a destination near Stargate 4. This is one of Buck's first trips through a space warp. ("Planet of the Slave Girls")
While they are gone, over a course of three days, 25000 people in New Chicago are afflicted with a strange nerve condition. The Computer Council keeps the matter secret, as the condition has affected the readiness of Earth's Defense Squadrons. ("Planet of the Slave Girls")
Planet of the Slave Girls
During the course of the above episode, Buck accepts a position with the Defense Directorate, reporting to Dr. Huer.
Pirates using hatchet fighters begin attacking Earth shipping. (Just prior to "Vegas in Space")
Vegas in Space
Plot to Kill a City
October 2491 Return of the Fighting 69th
Unchained Woman
Planet of the Amazon Women
Buck plans a two week vacation with Tangie.
Cosmic Whiz Kid
Buck spends his two weeks of vacation on Genesia.
Escape From Wedded Bliss
Cruise Ship to the Stars
Space Vampire
December 31, 2491 - January 1, 2492 A Blast For Buck New Year's Eve party at Buck's place.
The episode "A Blast for Buck" shows scenes from "Planet of the Slave Girls", "Vegas in Space," "Plot to Kill a City," "Return of the Fighting 69th," "Unchained Woman," "Planet of the Amazon Women," "Cosmic Whiz Kid," "Escape From Wedded Bliss," "Cruise Ship to the Stars" and "Space Vampire."
Buck becomes depressed as his birthday approaches.
January 7, 2492 - January 9, 2492 Happy Birthday Buck
Jen Burton, Joella, Marla, Allison, Tangie and Miss Cosmos were all invited to the party.
(note: A Blast for Buck was first shown after Happy Birthday, Buck - which, according to the dates mentioned in these episodes, was out of sequence)
January 2492 Ardala Returns
Buck mentions during "Ardala Returns" that he and Ardala had "been through this twice before" - a reference to the events of "Awakening" and "Escape From Wedded Bliss."
Subsequent to the events of "Ardala Returns," the Earth Federation and the Draconian Empire again establish a formal truce and back off from a war footing. Relations quickly degenerate again, however, as attacks resume by Draconians on Earth shipping. ("Flight of the War Witch, Part One")
February 2492 Twiki is Missing
February 2492 Olympiad Buck attends the 2492 Olympiad.
early March 2492 (Mardi Gras)- A Dream of Jennifer
Just prior to the end of the above episode, Buck spends three weeks on Antares.
April 2492 Space Rockers
Buck's Duel to the Death
Relations have once again degenerated to near a point of open hostility between the Earth Federation and the Draconian Empire. ("Flight of the War Witch - Part One")
Buck goes away on a "weekend in the country" with a girlfriend. (Just prior to "Flight of the War Witch")
Flight of the War Witch
In light of their cooperation over the battle with the War Witch, the Draconian Empire and the Earth reach some level of detente.
Ardala and Kane return to the Draconian Empire.
Peace finally having been established, the people of Earth begin to turn their attentions to other matters. ("Time of the Hawk, Part II")
Fall 2492 Dr. Huer detaches Colonel Deering from his Office at the Defense Directorate and Wilma accepts an assignment aboard the exploration vessel Searcher. Buck Rogers also accepts an assignment aboard the Searcher. Twiki goes with Buck. Dr. Theopolis is assigned a different ambuquad to assist him.
November 2492 Dr. Goodfellow is selected to be assigned to the Searcher as lead scientist. Working together with Twiki, Dr. Goodfellow designs a new robot to assist him, which he names Crichton.
December 2492 Crichton is activated, and as a first act, recites the Laws of Robotics as all robots are programmed to do at activation. ("Shgorapchx!") Chricton, however, refuses to believe that he has been created by humans, and views Twiki as his father. ("Time of the Hawk, Part One"; "Shgorapchx!")
The Searcher, commanded by Admiral Asimov, heads out from Earth to prepare for a shakedown flight. Once this is completed, the Searcher will begin its journey to locate the lost tribes of humanity, who left after the great nuclear holocaust.
Also during this month, Hawk and Koori leave their village for a time to visit the Soaring Place. While they are away, drunken humans come and destroy their village and kill all its inhabitants, leaving Koori and Hawk as the only survivors of their race. (Time of the Hawk, Parts One and Two)
December 31, 2492 As he promised, Hieronymus Fox surprises Buck on New Years' Eve.
January 9, 2493 Respecting Buck's wishes, Wilma does not plan another surprise birthday party for him. Buck turns 535. ("Happy Birthday, Buck")
Wilma coordinates some final tests of the solar collectors on the Searcher, just prior to starting the shakedown.
January 2493 Time of the Hawk
Some time elapses, and Hawk is able to reconcile his feelings of isolation, anger and loneliness. He becomes a trusted member of the crew of the Searcher.
May 2493
Journey to Oasis
The Guardians
Note: Time is distorted during "The Guardians," but it appears that at the end of the episode, very little time has actually elapsed.
The Searcher spends some time at Lambda colony.
Mark of the Saurian
The Searcher picks up a distress call originating from the Alpha Centauri asteroids.
The Golden Man
June 2493 In an alternate future, Lt. Devlin's finance joins the crew of a ship sent from Lambda colony. The ship is subsequently lost during the course of its mission: to find
the Searcher which had gone missing. ("The Guardians")
Sometime prior to the next episode, the Searcher runs out of its supply of Dirbidian crystals.
The Crystals
The Satyr
Shgorapchx!
The Hand of Goral
Testimony of a Traitor
The Searcher begins a mission to transport refugees.
The Dorian Secret
January 2494 The Searcher continues its journey searching for the lost tribes of humanity.
2494 Speculation: Hawk encounters the surviving Bird people on a remote planet.
2499 Dr. Goodfellow retires at age 85. (Speculation)
2500 Turn of the 26th century.
2524 Elias Huer retires at age 85. (Speculation)
2546 Buck retires. The mandatory age of 85 has been changed in his case - he retires when he reaches the biological age of 85. His chronological age is 589. (Speculation)
January 9, 2557 Buck Rogers' 600th birthday. (Biological age: 96) (Speculation)
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Last Updated on Saturday, September 07, 2002
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