History: Timeline

Timeline of important events in history ,concerning CyberPunk?, technology and computers

1888 IBM International Business Machines is founded

1921 First use of the word "robot" by Karel Čapek in his science fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots)

1926 Metropolis released

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

1942 Isaac Asimov, introduces the "Three Laws of Robotics" in his short story "Runaround"

1943 COLOSSUS, the first electronic computation machine is completed in Great Britain. It is in fact more advanced than ENIAC, but it will remain a military secret for decades

1946 ENIAC, the first non-classified all-electronic computer, becomes operational

1947 Vannevar Bush conceptualizes aspects of hypertext, the Internet, virtual spaces, and lots more

1948 "Cybernetics" coined by Norbert Wiener
George Orwell's "1984" published

1950 Alan Turing defines the so-called Turing Test, the philosophical foundation of artificial intelligence theory. A new science is born, and the following decades many a scientist will claim to have created an intelligent computer

1952 The heart pacemaker, the first implanted mechanical body enhancement, is introduced. Debatedly, this event marks the beginning of the post-human era

1953 Watson and Crick unravels the structure of DNA. From a scientific point of view, Man has become Computer: the Code has been revealed and the Code can be reprogrammed

1955 The Naked Lunch published

1956 The Stars My Destination (aka Tiger! Tiger!) published

1960 The term "cyborg"was created by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline to refer to their conception of an enhanced human being who could survive in extraterrestrial environments
Ted Nelson gets the idea for hypertext as we know it now. He won't coin the word until 1963, and the word won't see print until 1965. He works alone on the concept throughout the decade, choosing the term Xanadu for his project in 1967

1963 Modem patented by BBN
Concept of network connected by modems defined in a paper by Thomas Marill, Daniel Edwards, and Wallace Feurzig

1964 Nippon Apattchi-zoku The Japanese Apache by Sakyo Komatsu published

1965 MIT researcher Lawrence G. Roberts & Thomas Merrill connected A TX-2 computer in Massachusetts to the Q-32 in Palo Alto, California with a low speed dial-up telephone line creating the first (however small) wide-area computer network ever built. (Jan.)

1966 The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress published

1968 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep published
Lawrence Roberts and the DARPA funded community refine the overall structure and specifications for the ARPANET, and bring it live. The Internet is born. (Aug.)

1969 Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie and colleagues at Bell Labs create the Unix operating system on a DEC-PDP-7 microcomputer. (June)
CompuServe? is founded by John Goltz. (This seems awfully early? Source: "Hacking Into Computer Systems.")
In USA, the first primitive computer network, a nuclear defence application, is constructed. The event will entail a dramatic evolution of computer technology, perhaps most notably the development of the first global computer network, INTERNET

1971 A Clockwork Orange released
The first space station, the Soviet Salyut 1, is constructed and put into operative use

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
composition of the first Hacker Jargon File
college kids Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, future founders of Apple Computer, begin making and selling blue boxes

1974 Tank debuts

1975 Shockwave Rider published (John Brunner)
Bill Gates and Paul Allen develop a BASIC program for the Altair 8800. They form a company initially called Micro Soft; the company's name is later changed to Microsoft

1976 The Ramones release first album; punk begins
Atari sold to Warners Communications for $28 million
Control Data Corporation buys the PLATO network
K. Eric Drexler popularises the term nano-technology in his book Engines of Creation

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. This revolution of pop culture will influence the cyberpunk movement
Gibson publishes his first short story, "Fragments of a Hologram Rose"
Sterling publishes his first novel Involution Ocean
The Ophiuchi Hotline published
One of the earliest BBS boards, Access-80, which ran on a TRS-80 model 1 and was developed by Charles Oropallo was lanched

1978 Generation X, with Billy Idol on lead vocals, releases first album
Survival Research Laboratories begins operations (Nov. 15)

1979 The Clash release London Calling

1980 City Come A-Walkin' published
The Artificial Kid published
Missile Command debuts
Celltech becomes the UK's first biotechnology company

1981 Spacetime Donuts published
"The Gernsback Continuum" published in Universe 11
"Johnny Mnemonic" published in Omni (May)
Chaos Computer Club forms in Germany
True Names published
Sterling introduces Gibson's "Burning Chrome" to the writer's workshop in Austin
Gibson sends Terry Carr at Ace Books a five page outline for a novel to be called Jacked In (Oct. 14)

1982 Software published (Jan.)
Blade Runner released
Tron released
Gibson sends Carr a 32 page expanded outline for his novel now to be called Neuromancer (Jan. 18)
Gibson attends ArmadiloCon? and reads the opening chapter of his work-in-progress, Neuromancer. "Behind the Mirrorshade: A Look at Punk SF" panel held. (Oct.)
A program called Elk Cloner, written for Apple II systems, is credited with being the first computer virus to appear "in the wild"—that is, outside the single computer or lab where it was created
Teletel is created
Sun Microsystems incorporated with four employees. (Feb.)
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
The word "transrealism" coined by Rudy Rucker who issues "A Transreal Manifesto" in The Bulletin of the SFWA (Winter)
War Games released
Cheap Truth begins publication
Software wins the Philip K. Dick award (Mar)
The short story "Cyberpunk" by Bruce Bethke published in Amazing Science Fiction Stories; this is, allegedly, the first use of the term anywhere (Nov.)
The 414s gain fame as a group of friends and computer hackers who break into dozens of high-profile computer systems, including ones at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sloan-Kettering? Cancer Center and Security Pacific Bank

1984 Neuromancer published; "cyberspace" coined
Dr. Adder published
Frontera published ( Lewis Shiner's first novel)
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution published
CULT OF THE DEAD COW forms in Lubbock, Texas and begins publishing its ezine
The Comprehensive Crime Control Act gives the Secret Service jurisdiction over computer fraud
In Japan, robots kill four humans in seperate incidents
In Jackson, Michigan, a factory robot crushes a worker against a safety bar in apparently the first robot-related death in the United States
Terminator released
Decoder, a film by Klaus Maeck, released
FidoNet? is founded as a non-commercial BBS network 1984 by Tom Jennings of San Francisco
2600 begins publication
High Frontiers 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 Neuromancer wins the Philip K. Dick award (Mar.17) 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. "Slamdancing in SF" published in REM #2 The online hacker'zine Phrack is established The Hacker's Handbook is published in the UK Brazil released QuantumLink?, predecessor to AOL, launches in November

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) Kim Stanley Robinson's parody "Down and Out in the year 2000" appears in IASF (Apr.) 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) The first PC virus, a boot sector virus called (c)Brain is created Paul Di Filippo completes first draft of Ciphers (Oct. 7) The first successfully cloned mammal; Soviet scientists Chaylakhyan, Veprencev, Sviridova, Nikitin had mice "Masha" cloned

1987 Science Fiction Eye premiers with all cyberpunk issue Robocop released Max Headroom television series (the American version) premiers on ABC (Mar. 31). Thirteen episodes show before the program is cancelled Akira released Bubble Gum Crisis begins in Japan Reality Hackers begins publication Pat Cadigan's Mindplayers published When Gravity Fails 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 Saibapanku Amerika Cyberpunk America by Tatsumi Takayuki published in Japan Going GaGa? begins publication bOING bOING begins publication Wetware published (Apr) The Internet worm strikes (Nov) Interplay releases the Neuromancer Game; a computer role-playing game for the Apple II, Commodore C64, and Amiga William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive published (Nov)

1989 Mondo 2000 begins publication "Fiction 2000" conference held in Leeds (June) Wetware wins the Philip K. Dick Award Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published The Cuckoo's Egg published Semiotext(e):SF published Cherry comix special cyberpunk issue published Crystal Express published Tetsuo:The Iron Man released Shadowrun computer game released Mattel introduces the PowerGlove?, a Virtual Reality input device Timothy Leary interviews William Gibson German jazz band, Blauer Hirsch, release their album Cyberpunk on FMP Records years before Billy Idol 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) alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo begins Infocom releases "Circuit's Edge," a computer role-playing game/Graphic Adventure for PC/DOS based on Effinger's When Gravity Fails Cyberpunk video released by Mystic Fire 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 The debut of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a publicly available service on the internet Storming the Reality Studio published Synners published Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism published Terminator 2 released The Silicon Man published Linus Torvalds starts working on the Linux kernel while attending the University of Helsinki Transreal! published La Primera Calle de la Soleda by G.H. Porcayo published in Mexico 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 QuantumLink? renames itself AOL 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) Hackers break into GAFB, NASA and KARI Freejack released Sneakers released MindVox? opens to the public Mortal Kombat debuts

1993 Wired begins publication Virtual Light published Fringe Ware Review begins publication Deus X published (Jan) 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) Bubble Gum Crisis released in the West Nemisis released. Gibson will later praise the film as "sort of early Gibson meets Terminator 2 ... it has a few bits that are just brilliant Cyberpunk." The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips Shirow Masamune's "Ghost in the Shell" appears in the Japanese magazine Young Jump Sony releases Johnny Mnemonic Game for PC/MAC - Full Motion Video Game. Billy Idol's new album Cyberpunk released; real cyberpunks outraged (July) Flame Wars; The Discourse of Cyberculture published Baird starts the Crashcourse trilogy Mosaic makes the Internet graphical E-zine True Cyberpunk starts (April) E-zine Linenoiz starts (November)

1994 The Hacker and the Ants published Data Trash published Cyberia published Crypt Newsletter begins

"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.) 10th anniversary edition of Neuromancer published (July) 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 Linenoiz ends with issue 25 (January) The Cyberpunk Handbook published; cynical opportunism reaches new low Wired UK edition begins (March) Microsoft's Windows 95 launched Synthetic Pleasures released The Net released Hackers released The first macro virus for Microsoft Word is discovered 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). In this show, a researcher has found a way to enter virtual reality, and through it enter other people's minds. The show is cancelled after one season 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) Silencio en la Memoria anthology published in Mexico

Post-Johnny Mnemonic

Arthur & Marilouse Kroker publish "Johnny Mnemonic: The Day Cyberpunk Died" in Ctheory (Jun.) Gibson’s screenplay for Johnny Mnemonic published (June) 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 Bruce Bethke's Head Crash published (September) Strange Days is released (Oct.)

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) Cyberspace, Inc, lears that the name is taken, and changes to Second Nature Interactive. Someday, they'll make it to being called Turbine...! Blade Runner 3: Replicants Night by K.W. Jeter published — for no good reason (Nov) Vinge ends up with a trilogy — Dreamfall is published Dolly the sheep, a clone The MP3 format gains popularity in the hacker world. Many hackers begin setting up sharing sites via FTP, Hotline, IRC and USEnet

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) Scientists announce that Human artificial chromosomes have been created United States President Bill Clinton bars federal funding for any research on human cloning 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 Ciphers published Janet Murray's Hamlet on the Holodeck published Tad Williams begins publishing his massive four-part novel Otherland, which deals with online worlds and artificial intelligence Saiba Panku Handobukka: Nihonban, a Japanese translation of the loathsome The Cyberbpunk Handbook, published – though God knows why Gattaca released IBM's Deep Blue defeats Garry Kasparov, the first time a computer defeated a chess grand master in a match. Deep Blue had defeated Kasparov before, but had never won a match against him

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) Researchers in Dallas, Texas present findings about an enzyme that slows aging and cell death "Post/Cyberpunk Symposium" appears in Nova Express (Spring) Abel Ferrara's film, New Rose Hotel, opens at the Venice Film Festival (Sept. 9) Tea from an Empty Cup published Julian Dibbell's My Tiny Life is published. The first chapter is "A Rape in Cyberspace." Terra Virtual: Navegantes del Milenio anthology published in Mexico El Holograma Irlandes published in Mexico The Cyberpink Project and Cyberpunk Information Database begins (Nov)

1999 The Matrix released eXistenZ is released (Apr) Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties released Paul Di Filippo's "As Through a Pair of Mirrorshades Darkly" published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (Feb.) Sangue Sintetico: Anthologia del Cyberpunk Italiano published The Millenium bug problem The Melissa worm attacks the Internet Hackers attack the Defense Department computers more than 22,000 times in the course of the year

2000 Earth's computer systems do not crash. The world does not end. (Jan. 1) William Gibson's and Tom Maddox's second episode "First Person Shooter" on The X-Files? "I Love You" virus wrecks havoc on the world's computers (May 4) Rudy Rucker's Realware published (May 12) Hackers break into Nike’s Web site and reroute all traffic to an Australian activist group organizing a protest at a Word Economic Forum meeting (June) Notorious phone phreak John Draper (aka Captain Crunch) goes legit; sets up ShopIP, an internet security firm

2001 Metropolis (Film/Anime) released November — The European Union adopts the controversial cybercrime treaty, which makes the possession and use of hacking tools illegal

2002 Minority Report released Armitage III: Dual Matrix (Film/Anime) released A Tactical high energy laser prototype shot down an incoming artillery shell The White House's Office of Homeland Security releases a draft of the "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace", which many criticize as being too weak

2003 William Gibson's Pattern Recognition published Neal Stephenson's Quick Silver published The Matrix Relaoded released The Matrix Revolutions released The Internet-based virtual world, "Second Life" is released The first taikonaut in space. Possibly, the event will mark the beginning of a new space race in future history books

-- Fiction becomes reality, or the post-cyberpunk time with real robots, clones, implants --

2004 MyDoom? virus spread on Internet, expected to have infected 250.000 computers in a single day The biggest Chinese PC producer Lenovo announces its plan to purchase IBM's global PC business, making it the third largest world PC maker after Dell and Hewlett-Packard? Little Nicky, was the first cat cloned for commercial reasons SpaceShipOne?, the first civilian space ship is launched in California, reaching an altitude of 100 km (62.5 miles), just passing the edge of space

2005 Surgeons in France carry out the first human face transplant At the World Expo 2005 in Japan, robotic child-minders and receptionists were demonstrated to visitors alongside android medics and entertainers. Scientists develope an IQ test for artificially intelligent machines and create a program capable of developing its own language IBM announces an ambitious effort to create a complete map of the neural circuitry of the human brain, using a supercomputer Sony files a patent describing a device that would transmit sensory data directly into the brain Cellphone viruses start to appear A reconfigurable chip made from living bacteria is invented Nanowires capable of powering tiny nano-engines Researchers discover a way to use micro-organisms to construct nano-circuitry US military develop the electromagnetic pulse gun, a microwave weapon and a rifle capable of firing electric bullets

2006 Invention of a working invisible cloak A electrode cap that lets users type messages on a screen using thought alone and a brain implant that enabled a paralysed man to check his email and control a robotic arm were both demonstrated in 2006 Release of ASTEROID tool On December 28, 2006, the FDA approved eating meat from cloned animals

2007 Microsoft's "Windows Vista" launced

Part of this information are taken from the Duke of Hell webpage, Balaan CyberPunk, websearch. Further information added by volunteers of CyberPunkReview.com.