History: Timeline

Year What happened

1928 Early use of the term "punk" to signify a criminal

1948 "Cybernetics" coined by Norbert Wiener

1955 The Naked Lunch published

1968 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep published

1971 A Clockwork Orange released

1972 From the Rise of Dr. Adder to the Fall of Johnny Mnemonic

K.W. Jeter completes Dr. Adder (Spring)

1973 "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" published in New Dimensions 3

Gravity's Rainbow published

1975 Shockwave Rider published (John Brunner)

Microsoft founded

1976 The Ramones release first album; punk begins

1977 Apple Computers founded (April)

Never Mind the Bullocks - Here's the Sex Pistols released; punk gets notorious

The Clash release first album; punk gets serious

Gibson publishes his first short story, "Fragments of a Hologram Rose"

Sterling publishes his first novel Involution Ocean

1978 Generation X, with Billy Idol on lead vocals, releases first album

1979 The Clash release London Calling

1980 City Come A-Walkin' published

The Artificial Kid published

1981 Spacetime Donuts published

"The Gernsback Continuum" published in Universe 11

True Names published

1982 Software published (Jan.)

Blade Runner released

Tron released

Joan Vinge writes Psion

1983 Gibson, Sterling and Shiner visit Rudy Rucker in Lynchburg after Balticon; Virginia

hasn't been this hip since Thomas Jefferson was alive

War Games released

The short story "Cyberpunk" by Bruce Bethke published in Amazing Science Fiction

Stories; this is, allegedly, the first use of the term anywhere (Nov.)

1984 Neuromancer published; "cyberspace" coined

Dr. Adder published

Frontera published ( Lewis Shiner's first novel)

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution published

In Japan, robots kill four humans in seperate incidents

Terminator released

2600 begins publication

VPL Research Inc. founded by Jason Lanier

Gardner Dozois, reviewing "hot new writers" for The Washington Post, refers to a group

called "cyberpunks". The name sticks (Dec. 30)

1985 Bruce Sterling's Schismatrix published

20 Minutes into the Future (aka Max Headroom) released

John Shirley's Eclipse

Donna Haraway's "A Cyborg Manifesto" published in Socialist Review (Apr.)

Japanese translation of Neuromancer published (July)

"Cyberpunks" panel convenes at the National SF Convention in Austin.

Panelists are Rudy Rucker, John Shirley, Bruce Sterling, Lou Shiner, Pat Cadigan and Greg Bear (Aug. 31)

Blood Music , by Greg Bear.

Brazil released

1986 Burning Chrome published

Hardwired published

"Pakistani Brain" virus infects IBM computers world-wide (Jan.)

Rudy Rucker's "What is Cyberpunk?" appears in REM #3 (Feb)

William Gibson's Count Zero (Mar)

Norman Spinrad's "The Neuromantics" published in IASF (May)

John Shirley confounds the elders at the Science Fiction Research Association panel "Cyberpunk or Cyberjunk" (June 28)

Cheap Truth ceases publication (Aug)

Michael Swanwick's "A User's Guide to the Post Moderns" published in IASF (Nov)

Mirrorshades published (Dec)

Interzone reprints "the New Science Fiction" by Vincent Omniaveritas (Winter)

1987 Science Fiction Eye premiers with all cyberpunk issue

Robocop released

Akira released

Pat Cadigan's Mindplayers published

Effinger releases When Gravity Fails

1988 In England, Max Dowhham's "Cyberpunk: the Final Solution" published in Vague

Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net published

Mississippi Review entire issue published devoted to cyberpunk; academic colonization of the Movement begins in earnest

Metrophage published

Shatter graphic novel published

Going GaGa? begins publication

bOING bOING begins publication

Wetware published (Apr)

The Internet worm strikes (Nov)

William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive published (Nov)

1989 Mondo 2000 begins publication

Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published

he Cuckoo's Egg published

Semiotext(e):SF published

Cherry comix special cyberpunk issue published

Crystal Express published

Tetsuo:The Iron Man released

Timothy Leary interviews William Gibson

Phrack #24 distributed containing the E911 document hacked from BellSouth? (Feb. 24)

1990 The Difference Engine published

Hardware released

EFF founded

Secret Service raids Steven Jackson Games in Austin (Mar. 1)

Harper's Magazine publishes "Is Computer Hacking a Crime?", a transcript of a WELL conference during which Phiber Optik hacks the TRW database and distributes John Barlow's credit history (Mar.)

Operation Sun Devil (May 7-9)

Paul Di Filippo's "Ribofunk" published in bOING bOING #2 (Winter)

In England, The Hardcore special "Cyberpunk is Dead" issue published (Winter)

Shirley finishes the Eclipse trilogy (with Eclipse Corona )

Total Recall released

Synners , by Cadigan

1991 Storming the Reality Studio published

Synners published

Terminator 2 released

The Silicon Man published

Transreal! published

Effinger finishes his cyberpunk trilogy with The Exile Kiss

U.S. intelligence agents reportedly cripple Iraqi air defense computers with a virus during the Gulf War (Jan)

Lewis Shiner announces in the Op-Ed? pages of the New York Times that he has resigned from cyberpunk (Jan.7)

Steven Jackson Games sues the Secret Service (May 1)

"Michelangelo" virus media panic begins (Dec.)

1992 EFF moves to Washington D.C. and is immediately compromised

The Hacker Crackdown published

Snow Crash published

Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge published

Lawnmower Man released

"Michelangelo" doomsday; nothing happens (Mar. 6)

Jaron Lanier loses his patents to his creditors (Nov)

Future Sex begins publication (Nov)

1993 Wired begins publication

Virtual Light published

Fringe Ware Review begins publication

Time Magazine "Cyberpunk" cover story; real cyberpunks outraged (Feb. 8)

Court rules in favor of Steven Jackson Games, Secret Service ordered to pay damages (Feb.)

Wild Palms premiers (May 16)

Billy Idol's new album Cyberpunk released; real cyberpunks outraged (July)

Flame Wars; The Discourse of Cyberculture published

Baird starts the Crashcourse trilogy

1994 The Hacker and the Ants published

Data Trash published

Cyberia published

"VNS Manifesto" published in Unnatural: Techno-theory for a Contaminated Culture

Phiber Optic begins serving a 13 month sentence for computer intrusion and conspiracy (Jan.)

In Paris, "Cyber SM" gives first public demonstration of virtual sexuality, S&M style (Jan.)

Line Noiz e-zine distributes results of its opinion poll "Does Cyberpunk Still Exist?"; no conclusions, as usual (Aug. 12)

Western news media reports two thirds of Russian computer users have encountered viruses, 85% of those viruses were Russian made (Nov.)

1995 Diamond Age published

EFF retreats to San Francisco

The Cyberpunk Handbook published; cynical opportunism reaches new low

Wired UK edition begins (March)

Synthetic Pleasures released

The Net released

Hackers released

From Australia, geekgirl debuts on the Net (Jan.)

Kevin Metnick arrested by the FBI for numerous computer crimes (Feb. 15)

Italian police raid BITS Against the Empire BBS accusing the computer group of subversion (Feb. 28)

The Steampunk Trilogy published (Apr.)

VR 5 premiers (May 24)

Virtual Futures conference meets at Warwick University (May 26-28)

Baird finishes her first trilogy with Psykosis

Strange Days released

Ghost in the Shell released

Johnny Mnemonic released (May 26)

Post-Johnny? Mnemonic

Arthur & Marilouse Kroker publish "Johnny Mnemonic: The Day Cyberpunk Died" in Ctheory (Jun.)

K.W. Jeter's Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human published-- to the consternation of all (Oct.)

Western news sources identify Bulgaria as the leading exporter of computer viruses

1996 Escape Velocity; Cyberculture at the End of the Century published

FutureSex? goes online

Ramones break up

Ribofunk! collection published (Mar.)

Datableed - the second Virtual Futures conference meets (May)

Sex Pistols reunion tour begins at Hollola, Finland (June 21)

Holy Fire Published (July)

Idoru published (Sept.)

Kyoko Date, the virtual girl, activated

Hacking the Future by Arthur & Marilouise Kroker published

Clinton signs Communications Decency Act into US law (Feb. 8)

Wired magazine, as a preliminary action to a planned IPO, files a prospectus with the SEC valuing itself at $447 million — 17 times greater than its actual revenues. Much derision follows in the financial press (May 30)

Wired magazine's IPO tanks (Oct. 24)

Blade Runner 3: Replicants Night by K.W. Jeter published — for no good reason (Nov)

Vinge ends up with a trilogy — Dreamfall is published

1997 A Cyberpunk Manifesto published by Christian As. Kirtchev (Feb 14 1997)

Freeware published (April) Rudy Rucker finishes his trilogy with Freeware.

Wired UK edition folds (Feb)

US Supreme Court rules Communications Decency Act unconstitutional (Jun 26)

Blade Runner computer game released by Westwood (Nov)

First authorized Russian translation of Neuromancer Neiromant published by Terra Fantastica

Armitage III: Poly Matrix Film/Anime released

Gattaca released

1998 William Gibson's and Tom Maddox's episode, "Kill Switch" premiers on The X-Files? (Feb 15)

Burning Chrome stage adaptation opens in Chicago (Feb 6)

1999 The Matrix released

Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties released

2000 William Gibson's and Tom Maddox's second episode "First Person Shooter" on The X-Files?

2001 Metropolis Film/Anime released

2002 Minority Report released

Armitage III: Dual Matrix Film/Anime released

2003 William Gibson's Pattern Recognition published

Neal Stephenson's Quick Silver published

The Matrix Relaoded released

The Matrix Revolutions released

2004 MyDoom? virus spread on Internet