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For information about Star Trek releases and related events in the 21st century, please see the production timeline.
"I've gone through dozens of histories written about twenty first century Earth, all of them biased in one way or another. The Vulcans describe First Contact with a savagely illogical race. Ferengi talk about Wall Street as if it were holy ground. The Bolians express dismay at the low quality of human plumbing."

The 21st century, defined in the calendar of Earth as the period from 2001 to 2100, was a decisive turning point in Human history. After World War III devastated large parts of Earth placing Humanity in near-extinction, Zefram Cochrane made his historic jump to Warp 1 with the Phoenix making First contact with the Vulcans, ushering in a renaissance of peace, unity and development for Humankind. As well, in the latter decades of this century, this was the era of Humanity's earliest space explorations to nearby star systems. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver", "Metamorphosis"; TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before"; Star Trek: First Contact; Star Trek: Enterprise)

Decades[]

2000s2010s2020s2030s2040s2050s2060s2070s2080s2090s

Major events[]

2002
The Nomad prototype space probe is launched from Earth as the planet's first interstellar vessel to seek out new life. During its mission, Nomad is damaged by a meteoroid and loses contact with Earth. (TOS: "The Changeling")
2004
Correcting a temporal incursion, the deployment of a Xindi bio-weapon from the future to wipe out Humanity is closely averted with the help of a temporal agent from the 31st century. (ENT: "Carpenter Street")
2024
Outcry over deaths and circumstances leading to the Bell Riots forces the United States of America to focus on social problems. This circumstance turns out to be a crucial milestone in the prehistory of the Federation. (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I", "Past Tense, Part II")
2030s
Having started in the 1930s, the Xindi Civil War ends with the destruction of Xindus. The Sphere-Builders start to make appearances to the survivors of the Xindi and begin to manipulate them into unknowingly assisting in the transformation of the Delphic Expanse. (ENT: "The Shipment", "The Council"). Also, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launches the Charybdis spacecraft in 2037. (TNG: "The Royale")
2050s
The Andorians first arrive on the class D planet they call Weytahn, beginning to terraform and colonize it. (ENT: "Cease Fire")
2053
World War III ends with a nuclear holocaust resulting in the deaths of some six hundred million Humans. Earth begins its long journey towards recovery. (Star Trek: First Contact)
2063
Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of warp drive on Earth, conducts his first test flight with the Phoenix. The Vulcans, who, coincidentally, have the vessel the T'Plana-Hath in the Sol system, witnesses Cochrane's warp flight, and immediately initiate First Contact with Earth within hours of this demonstration of Human warp capability. (Star Trek: First Contact; VOY: "Year of Hell")
2067
The United Earth Space Probe Agency launches Friendship 1. (VOY: "Friendship One")
2097
Under the terms of the Treaty of 2097, Weytahn is officially claimed by the Vulcans, who call it Paan Mokar. (ENT: "Cease Fire")

Events without specified years[]

It seems likely that Colonel Shaun Geoffrey Christopher's expedition to Saturn was also in this century.

Mid-21st century[]

This event most likely occurred after 2063, when Humanity became warp-capable, but prior to or in 2069, as the code the colonists used for their ship was last used in that year.

Late 21st century[]

20th century Timeline 22nd century

Notes[]

  • According to show runners, Spock was wrong and that the Eugenics Wars happened much later during the 21st century. Terry Matalas: "We discussed endlessly. We came to the conclusion that in WW3 there were several EMP bursts that kicked everyone back decades. Records of that 75 year period, the 90s on were sketchy. Maybe Spock was wrong? No easy way to do it if you want the past to look and feel like today. Maybe because in 1967 they didn't anticipate the show still going for another 6 decades." Aaron J. Waltke added: "There's also the ripples of the Temporal Cold War shifting the Prime Timeline in Enterprise — at least until the Temporal Accords put an end to that wibbly wobbliness." [1]

Appendices[]

21st century productions[]

Apocrypha[]

According to a Hewlett Packard Enterprise commercial intended to tie-in with Star Trek Beyond, at the beginning of the 21st century was in need of a new way to keep up with the data from over thirty billion devices. Scientists from Silicon Valley made a breakthrough, The Machine, which changed the basic architecture of computers, and by doing so changed the world. The Machine was said to have been the path of every new technology for the next 250 years. [2]

External links[]

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