# Measuring Our Lives on an SF Timescale: What's Already Happened in SF? What's Coming Up Soon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 22, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040 "2010-10-22T20:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2010, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/21 "2010-10-24T09:55:06Z")
Just 3 years ago, in 2007, at the tender age of 28, Susan Calvin began her work in Robotics, ultimately leading to the Three Laws of Robotics ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/22 "2015-05-29T02:59:37Z")
Bumped. Previous similar threads: > **[What are some of the passed Sci-Fi dates?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264642)** > > Being a fare bit past the YEAR 2000! I just know that there must have been a ton of dates in science fiction that have now become out-of-date. Most notable, 2001: A Space Odyssey, still no mission to Jupiter, and no self-aware machines. I know that... > **[Lost Futures](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=440640)** > > Somehow I managed to end up as co-chair of a science fiction convention here in Oregon, and the theme I’ve come up with is Futures Lost-a look at books, movies and television shows that taken place in a future time that we’ve bypassed(Space: 1999,... I just reread Arthur C. Clarke’s _The Fountains of Paradise_ (1978), about building an orbital elevator up from Taprobane, a fictional equatorial island strongly based on Sri Lanka. He refers to the 2015 discovery by a team of Harvard archeologists of a small shrine in a ruined palace on the island. He also mentions the 2009 “melting of the Thor reactor.” ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/23 "2015-05-29T05:03:56Z")
1980 war against the [U.F.O](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slYW7kkHyI4).s [September 13th 1999](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLAsBzOOhLQ)we lost the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/24 "2015-05-29T05:07:10Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > So what other SF is set in years that are already in our rearview mirror? “If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.” ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/25 "2015-05-29T05:25:43Z")
Science fiction timeline: > **[Timeline of fictional future events](https://scifi.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline_of_fictional_future_events)** > > Science fiction and other related fields of fiction are often set in the future, or at least involve events in times that have not yet occurred at the time the story comes out. This list is a chronological collection of significant events from... ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/26 "2015-05-29T10:49:58Z")
Well, a whole bunch of things happened in the Whoniverse, but since the Doctor subsequently rebooted the universe, they’re all questionable at best. Later this year, Doc and Marty will arrive from 1985. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/27 "2015-05-29T10:51:32Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Well, a whole bunch of things happened in the Whoniverse, but since the Doctor subsequently rebooted the universe, they’re all questionable at best. > > Later this year, Doc and Marty will arrive from 1985. Back in 1999, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into his machine–and vanished. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/28 "2015-05-29T12:04:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > While the _Blade Runner_ world is 9 years away, that doesn’t seem like nearly enough time to develop: flying cars (the theme of this thread?), off world colonies and at least 6 model-generations of androids. Time to get going on these things. I know I mentioned this in another future dates thread–while _Blade Runner_ is still a few years in the future, Roy Batty’s incept date is coming up next January. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/29 "2015-05-29T12:56:19Z")
“The Rocket of 1955” by Cyril M. Kornbluth ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/30 "2015-05-29T13:14:13Z")
In 1999 the Volgs invaded Britain, only to be met by Bill Savage and his shotgun. Bloomin’ Ada! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/31 "2015-05-29T14:13:43Z")
Of course, we know about the events of **2001: a Space Odyssey** and **2010: Odyssey Two** (or **The Year we Make Contact**. The events in Fredric Brown’s **The Lights in the Sky are Stars** , with his retired astronaut (a novel concept back in the 1950s when he wrote it) took place in 1999-2000. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/32 "2015-05-29T14:27:03Z")
In the TV series Barney Miller a time traveler warns that a massive amount of platinum? was discovered, causing serious problems with the economy. I forget what year that was supposed to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/33 "2015-05-29T20:14:51Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > In the TV series Barney Miller a time traveler warns that a massive amount of platinum? was discovered, causing serious problems with the economy. I forget what year that was supposed to happen. Here’s the 1980 episode, “The Child Stealers.” I’m not enough of a fan to watch it all the way through to find that reference (no script online that I could see), but maybe someone else would like to: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEFTlV\_1kv0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEFTlV_1kv0) ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/34 "2015-05-30T02:06:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Here’s the 1980 episode, “The Child Stealers.” I’m not enough of a fan to watch it all the way through to find that reference (no script online that I could see), but maybe someone else would like to: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEFTlV\_1kv0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEFTlV_1kv0) I’ve got nothing goin’ on… First, he tells Harris that [a huge deposit of gold is discovered in Canada in 1981](https://youtu.be/YbLnjVm0kbo?t=663) and that the price plummets back to $35/oz. Later he tells him that [gold is replaced by zinc in 1984!](https://youtu.be/YbLnjVm0kbo?t=754) (Your linked clip got removed, these have a hazy lens flare over them for some reason but are watchable). I just happen to have seen this episode recently. BTW, the episode takes place in January 1980. > [@SpartanDC](#): > > In the Star Trek universe, right now we should not only be recovering from the Eugenics Wars, but also making our way toward World War III and first contact with an alien civilization. [Trek Nerd] This was the accepted canon for TOS, but by DS9 they had sort of retconned the Eugenics War and World War III into one conflict that happended later than the 90s. In fact ST:FC states that first contact takes place in 2060 something while Earth is still recovering from WWIII… ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/35 "2015-05-30T10:46:12Z")
I enjoyed _ **To Your Scattered Bodies Go** _ by _ **Philip José Farmer** _ and I would have absolutely sworn that gave the end of life on Earth as 1999. My recollection being aliens arrived 1999 and soon after a war ended everything. Until people were resurrected on Riverworld. However I haven’t read the book for decades, checked on Wikipedia ( [Riverworld - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverworld) ) and that gives two dates. So apparently: Initially the end of life on Earth was 1983 later modified to 2008. Either way, the time has passed. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/36 "2015-05-30T16:46:39Z")
I was watching the 1980 TV miniseries of _The Martian Chronicles_ this morning. The first, doomed, manned flights go to Mars in 1999 and colonization begins by 2001 after most of the pesky Martians die of chicken pox. The Earth goes **boom!** in 2006 while Darrin McGavin watches via a telescope, leaving him and a small number of other humans surviving on Mars. Also, some time between 2001 and 2007, Barry Morse has the technological capability to create very convincing if somewhat dim-witted android replicas of his deceased wife and daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/37 "2015-05-31T19:36:24Z")
According to [Fringe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fringe_%28TV_series%29), the Purge should be starting any time now. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/38 "2015-05-31T21:13:37Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > …This was the accepted canon for TOS, but by DS9 they had sort of retconned the Eugenics War and World War III into one conflict that happended later than the 90s. In fact ST:FC states that first contact takes place in 2060 something while Earth is still recovering from WWIII… Pencil it in for April 5, 2063: [Phoenix | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Phoenix) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/39 "2015-06-10T19:15:44Z")
I can’t find the London Kings baseball schedule anywhere, but they’re supposed to be playing this year: [London Kings | Memory Alpha | Fandom](http://en.memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/London_Kings) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040/40 "2015-06-10T19:51:36Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Of course, we know about the events of **2001: a Space Odyssey** and **2010: Odyssey Two** (or **The Year we Make Contact**. > The events in Fredric Brown’s **The Lights in the Sky are Stars** , with his retired astronaut (a novel concept back in the 1950s when he wrote it) took place in 1999-2000. In **3001** he moves all the dates around, but still not enough to be right. And the Overlords arrived at the Earth in 1975 according to **Childhood’s End** , just before the launching of the first moon rocket. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/measuring-our-lives-on-an-sf-timescale-whats-already-happened-in-sf-whats-coming-up-soon/558040.md?page=3)