1928

• Early use of the word "punk" to signify a criminal

1934

• The Communications Act of 1934 is passed, it is the first effort to regulate the telephone industry at the federal level.

1934

• The first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer is created by John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry at Iowa State University with a $7000 grant.

1940

• First electronic computers in US, UK, and Germany

1947

• John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain invent the transistor while at Bell Labs. They received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 for their work.

1948

• The word "cybernetics" coined by Norbert Wiener

1955

• The Naked Lunch published

1957

• The USSR launches Sputnik, the first artificial earth satellite. In response, the United States forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Department of Defense (DoD) to establish US lead in science and technology applicable to the military.

1960

• The word "cyborg" coined by Manfred Clynes

• "Spacewar" first videogame on PDP-1 at MIT

• Donald Bitzer initiates PLATO computer-based education project

1962

• RAND Paul Baran, of the RAND Corporation (a government agency), was commissioned by the U.S. Air Force to do a study on how it could maintain its command and control over its missiles and bombers, after a nuclear attack. This was to be a military research network that could survive a nuclear strike, decentralized so that if any locations (cities) in the U.S. were attacked, the military could still have control of nuclear arms for a counter-attack.

  Baran's finished document described several ways to accomplish this. His final proposal was a packet switched network.

  "Packet switching is the breaking down of data into datagrams or packets that are labeled to indicate the origin and the destination of the information and the forwarding of these packets from one computer to another computer until the information arrives at its final destination computer. This was crucial to the realization of a computer network. If packets are lost at any given point, the message can be resent by the originator."

1963

• Doug Engelbart's "A Conceptual Framework"

• Quillian lays AI groundwork for semantic nets

• ASCII 7-bit standard digitizes alphabet; first 'teletext'

1968

• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep published

• ARPA awarded the ARPANET contract to BBN. BBN had selected a Honeywell minicomputer as the base on which they would build the switch. The physical network was constructed in 1969, linking four nodes: University of California at Los Angeles, SRI (in Stanford), University of California at Santa Barbara, and University of Utah. The network was wired together via 50 Kbps circuits.

1972

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

• The first e-mail program was created by Ray Tomlinson of BBN.

• The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) was renamed The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (or DARPA)

• ARPANET was currently using the Network Control Protocol or NCP to transfer data. This allowed communications between hosts running on the same network.

1973

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

• Development began on the protocol later to be called TCP/IP, it was developed by a group headed by Vinton Cerf from Stanford and Bob Kahn from DARPA. This new protocol was to allow diverse computer networks to interconnect and communicate with each other.

• Gravity's Rainbow published

1974

• First Use of term Internet by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn in paper on Transmission Control Protocol.

1975

• Microsoft founded

• Shockwave Rider published

1976

• The Ramones release first album; punk begins

• Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe develops Ethernet, which allowed coaxial cable to move data extremely fast. This was a crucial component to the development of LANs.

  The packet satellite project went into practical use. SATNET, Atlantic packet Satellite network, was born. This network linked the United States with Europe.

  Surprisingly, it used commercial Intelsat satellites that were owned by the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, rather than government satellites.

• UUCP (Unix-to-Unix CoPy) developed at AT&T; Bell Labs and distributed with UNIX one year later.

• The Department of Defense began to experiment with the TCP/IP protocol and soon decided to require it for use on ARPANET.

1977

• Apple Computers founded (April)

• "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" published in Unearth (summer)

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

• The Clash release first album; punk gets serious

1978

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

1979

• The Clash release London Calling

• USENET (the decentralized news group network) was created by Steve Bellovin, a graduate student at University of North Carolina, and programmers Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis. It was based on UUCP.

• The Creation of BITNET, by IBM, "Because its Time Network", introduced the "store and forward" network. It was used for email and listservs.

1980

• City Come A-Walkin' published

• The Artificial Kid published

1981

• "Johnny Mnemonic" published in Omni (May)

• National Science Foundation created backbone called CSNET 56 Kbps network for institutions without access to ARPANET. Vinton Cerf proposed a plan for an inter-network connection between CSNET and the ARPANET.

• Spacetime Donuts published

• "The Gernsback Continuum " published in Universe 11

• "True Names" published

• Sterling introduces Gibson's "Burning Chrome" to the writer's workshop in Austin

1982

• Software published (Jan.)

• 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.)

• Blade Runner released

• Tron released

1983

• Cheap Truth begins publication

• Internet Activities Board (IAB) was created in 1983.

• On January 1st, every machine connected to ARPANET had to use TCP/IP. TCP/IP became the core Internet protocol and replaced NCP entirely.

• The University of Wisconsin created Domain Name System (DNS). This allowed packets to be directed to a domain name, which would be translated by the server database into the corresponding IP number. This made it much easier for people to access other servers, because they no longer had to remember numbers.

• 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.)

• The word "transrealism" coined by Rudy Rucker who issues "A

• Transreal Manifesto" in The Bulletin of the SFWA (Winter)

1984

• Neuromancer published; "cyberspace" coined

• The ARPANET was divided into two networks: MILNET and ARPANET. MILNET was to serve the needs of the military and ARPANET to support the advanced research component, Department of Defense continued to support both networks.

• Upgrade to CSNET was contracted to MCI. New circuits would be T1 lines,1.5 Mbps which is twenty-five times faster than the old 56 Kbps lines. IBM would provide advanced routers and Merit would manage the network. New network was to be called NSFNET (National Science Foundation Network), and old lines were to remain called CSNET.

• Dr. Adder published

• Decoder, a film by Klaus Maeck, released

• Frontera published

• Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution published

• In Japan, robots kill four humans in separate incidents

• Terminator released

• 2535 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

• Schismatrix published

• The National Science Foundation began deploying its new T1 lines, which would be finished by 1988.

• 20 Minutes into the Future (aka Max Headroom) released

• Eclipse published

• Donna Haraway's "Manifesto for Cyborgs" 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)

• "Slamdancing in SF" published in REM #2

1986

• Burning Chrome published

• The Internet Engineering Task Force or IETF was created to serve as a forum for technical coordination by contractors for DARPA working on ARPANET, US Defense Data Network (DDN), and the Internet core gateway system.

• Hardwired published

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

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

• Count Zero published (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)

1987

• First German translation of Neuromancer published by Heyne

• BITNET and CSNET merged to form the Corporation for Research and Educational Networking (CREN), another work of the National Science Foundation.

• Science Fiction Eye premiers with all cyberpunk issue

• Robocop released

• Akira released

• Bubble Gum Crisis begins in Japan

• Decoder magazine begins in Italy

1988

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

• Soon after the completion of the T1 NSFNET backbone, traffic increased so quickly that plans immediately began on upgrading the network again.

• Merit and its partners formed a not for profit corporation called ANS, Advanced Network Systems, which was to conduct research into high speed networking. It soon came up with the concept of the T3, a 45 Mbps line. NSF quickly adopted the new network and by the end of 1991 all of its sites were connected by this new backbone.

• 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.)

• Mona Lisa Overdrive published (Nov.)

1989

• "Fiction 2000" conference held in Leeds (June)

• Mondo 2000 begins publication

• Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published

• The Cuckoo's Egg published

• Semiotext(e):SF 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

• While the T3 lines were being constructed, the Department of Defense disbanded the ARPANET and it was replaced by the NSFNET backbone. The original 50Kbs lines of ARPANET were taken out of service.

• Tim Berners-Lee and CERN in Geneva implements a hypertext system to provide efficient information access to the members of the international high-energy physics community.

• 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)

1991

• Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism published

• CSNET (which consisted of 56Kbps lines) was discontinued having fulfilled its important early role in the provision of academic networking service. A key feature of CREN is that its operational costs are fully met through dues paid by its member organizations.

• The NSF established a new network, named NREN, the National Research and Education Network. The purpose of this network is to conduct high speed networking research. It was not to be used as a commercial network, nor was it to be used to send a lot of the data that the Internet now transfers.

• Storming the Reality Studio published

• Synners published

• Terminator 2 released

• The Silicon Man published

• Transreal! published

• 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

• Internet Society is chartered.

• World-Wide Web released by CERN.

• NSFNET backbone upgraded to T3 (44.736Mbps)

• 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)

1993

• Wired begins publication

• InterNIC created by NSF to provide specific Internet services: directory and database services (by AT&T;), registration services (by Network Solutions Inc.), and information services (by General Atomics/CERFnet).

• Marc Andreessen and NCSA and the University of Illinois develops a graphical user interface to the WWW, called "Mosaic for X".

• Virtual Light published

• Fringe Ware Review begins publication

• 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."

• Bubble Gum Crisis released in the West

• 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

1994

• No major changes were made to the physical network. The most significant thing that happened was the growth. Many new networks were added to the NSF backbone. Hundreds of thousands of new hosts were added to the INTERNET during this time period.

• Pizza Hut offers pizza ordering on its Web page.

• First Virtual, the first cyberbank, opens.

• ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode, 145Mbps) backbone is installed on NSFNET.

• 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

• The National Science Foundation announced that as of April 30, 1995 it would no longer allow direct access to the NSF backbone. The National Science Foundation contracted with four companies that would be providers of access to the NSF backbone (Merit). These companies would then sell connections to groups, organizations, and companies.

• $50 annual fee is imposed on domains, excluding .edu and .gov domains which are still funded by the National Science Foundation.

• 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)

• Johnny Mnemonic released (May 26)

• Arthur & Marilouise 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 (Nov.)

1996

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

• Most Internet traffic is carried by backbones of independent ISPs, including MCI, AT&T;, Sprint, UUnet, BBN planet, ANS, and more.

• Currently the Internet Society, the group that controls the INTERNET, is trying to figure out new TCP/IP to be able to have billions of addresses, rather than the limited system of today. The problem that has arisen is that it is not known how both the old and the new addressing systems will be able to work at the same time during a transition period.
• Ribofunk! collection published (Mar.)

• Datableed - the second Virtual Futures conference meets (May)

• 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)

1997

• Freeware published (April)

• Wired UK edition folds (Feb)

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

• Blade Runner computer game released by Westwood (Nov)

1998

• Gibson / Maddox episode, "Kill Switch" premiers on The X-Files (Feb 15)