2077 October 23 Great War: Bombs are launched; who struck first is unknown... and it is not even known if the bombs came from China or America. Air raid sirens sound, but very few people go into vaults, thinking it is a false alarm. The Vaults are sealed.
2077 October 23 Necropolis Vault [Vault 12] never closes. Once it becomes known that the other vaults have sealed, people within Bakersfield attempt to force their way into Vault 12 to protect themselves and their families.
2077 October 23 The West Tek research facility is hit by warheads, breaking open the FEV tanks on levels four and five and releasing it into the atmosphere. Once exposed to radiation, it begins to mutate and infect humans and critters in the wasteland and dooming the player character in F1 and F2 to endure hordes of random encounters.
2077 October 23 The Mariposa Military Base survives, the soldiers and scientists within protected from the radiation and FEV flooding the wasteland. 2077 October 25 Two days later at Mariposa, a scout in Power Armor (Platner) is sent out to get specific readings on the atmosphere. He reports no significant radiation in the area surrounding the facility.
2077 October 27 After burying the scientists in the wastes outside of Mariposa, the soldiers seal the military base, then head out into the desert, taking supplies and weapon schematics with them. Captain Maxson leads his men and families to the government bunker at Lost Hills. (This event was called the "Exodus," and the surviving soldiers went on to eventually form the Brotherhood of Steel.) Note: Although Maxson's points in his holodisk indicated that civilian personnel (presumably families of the scientists or other civilians not associated with the military) were to remain at the base, whether they did or not is unknown.
2077 Nov Captain Maxson, his men, and their families, arrive at the Lost Hills bunker a few weeks later, suffering many casualties along the way, including Maxson's wife (but not his teenage son). The Lost Hills bunker becomes the HQ of the Brotherhood of Steel the Vault Dweller finds in Fallout 1.
2080 The first effects of the virus are seen in the survivors. Widespread mutations occur with animals and humans alike. Those that survive the effects of the mutations are permanently changed by the virus. New species are created almost overnight.
2083 Summer The city of Necropolis founded by the ghoul survivors of Vault 12 (and the US citizens that fled to Bakersfield when the bombs fell).
2084 Spring Set takes control of Necropolis, wresting control from the original Overseer. The Vault 12 Overseer, not willing to take a dirtnap, is driven north and history loses sight of him.
2090 Vault 29 opens. Harold (now human) sets out to make his fortune as a trader, making the circuit around the survivalist communities in the wasteland.
2091 Vault 8 opens, and they use their GECK to create fertile ground for their city. This eventually becomes Vault City.
2092 LA Vault opens, the Boneyard is founded and attracts survivors.
2092 Dr. Richard Moreau is exiled from Vault City for murder. The circumstances surrounding the murder are unknown, but he changes his last name to Grey and heads south.
2093 The Hub is founded by a man named Angus, who sets up camp around a filthy oasis in the desert, and he proceeds to begin trading with other settlements.
2096 Harold rises to the level of a caravan boss in the Hub. His caravans suffer occasional attacks in the wastes, but Harold's caravan outfit survives and prospers... until the mutant attacks begin to pick up a few years later.
2097 John Maxson, the future High Elder of the BOS in Fallout 1, is born.
2102 May 22 Increasing mutant attacks on Harold's caravans cause Harold to get so pissed he finances one of the first adventuring parties of Fallout to try and find out where these dagnab mutants are coming from. Consulting with a scientist and doctor at the Hub, a man by the name of Grey, the two of them decide to join forces.
2102 June 23 Richard Grey’s Expedition [including Harold] finds the Mariposa Military Base and the Expedition is scattered and defeated by mutants at the base. Grey is knocked into one of the vats of FEV by a robotic arm, and Harold is knocked unconscious, only to awaken later out in the wasteland.
2102 June 27 Harold, already mutating, is found by traders and taken back to the Hub. His former caravan partners and employees, horrified by his condition, abandon him and he is soon left without even two bottlecaps to rub together.
2102 July Richard Grey, now horribly mutated by the virus, crawls from the Vats covered with FEV and in terrible pain. Barely able to think or perceive his surroundings, he crawls into the Vat control room and begins his audio log. He fades in and out of consciousness, sometimes for days or weeks at a time.
2102 July-Nov Richard Grey begins to acclimate to his condition, and begins his first tests of animals by exposing them to FEV. These experiments and his growing awareness lay the foundation for his plans for the Unity and the master race. He takes the name, "the Master."
2102 Nov The first human victim wanders into Mariposa, and Grey consumes him.
2102 Dec Grey continues his experiments on wanderers that enter Mariposa... with no success. The creations are flawed (due to the radiation counts in their bodies), making them big but incredibly stupid, and Grey consumes them rather than letting them live.
2103 January The Master discovers the problem with the influence of radiation on his mutations, and he begins to choose his subjects more carefully. The first classic super mutants are born, butt-scratching animations and all. He begins his plans to build an army.
2103 - 2130 Throughout this period, the Master begins slowly gathering test subjects, willing or unwilling, from local human stock. The Great Winter of 2130 and the scarcity of human subjects make building his army difficult.
2120 Angus rules over growing Hub and establishes himself as governor.
2125 Winter Angus is murdered. Hub is thrown into chaos.
2126 A band of merchants seizes the water tower in the Hub. They demand anyone wanting water must pay a toll. The Great Merchant Wars begin.
2126 - 2128 The Great Merchant Wars are fought, the Water Merchants seal up the town, but are outnumbered. A man named Roy Greene (Justin Greene's grandfather) makes the peace and negotiates a settlement. The Hub's Central Council is formed, composed of two representatives from each of the Hub caravan companies. A long period of indecisiveness and meetings maintain the status quo in the Hub.
2130 The Great Winter occurs.
2131 - 2135 The Master begins ordering his super mutants to gather human stock from caravans. For many years, the caravan disappearances are blamed on monsters in the desert, and even when the abductions begin to occur on Hub caravans, the deathclaws are blamed. The super mutant army grows.
2134 A faction within the Brotherhood of Steel led by Sergeant Dennis Allen gains strength, and they urge the Elders to let them explore the southeast Glow for artifacts. The Elders refuse, so Allen and his divisionist group splits away from the Brotherhood of Steel, taking some technology and weapons with them.
2134 Led by Sergeant Dennis Allen, a small team of the Brotherhood of Steel head to the West Tek research facility in search of technological artifacts. They arrive there twenty days later, and are promptly chewed apart by the West Tek's unforgiving automated defense systems. Wounded, Allen begins to suffer radiation poisoning from a leak in his suit. Before he dies, he logs what happened to the expedition into a holodisk then goes to join the Brotherhood in the sky.
2135 Elder Roger Maxson dies of cancer, and his son, already an accomplished soldier, takes up the role of "General" (Elder) within the Brotherhood of Steel. John Maxson becomes a member of the Paladins, showing tremendous promise as a soldier. 2137 Master's begins to mass-produce super mutants. Only about one in six or one in five attempts are successful, and of these successes, only half seem to last to go on to be part of his growing army, called the Unity.
2140 Decker forms Underground in the Hub and starts pulling strings.
2141 Spring Vault 15 opened.
2141 Vault Dweller born. [This will vary according to your player character's age in Fallout 1.]
2141 Winter Raiders begin to form in the region as food supplies run low. The Khans and the Vipers begin terrorizing local settlements.
2142 Spring Shady Sands founded, wall erected against the raiders.
2145 Cute lil' Tandi is born, unaware that by the time F2 rolls around she will turn into a wizened old crone that is hard on the eyes.
2152 As their influence slowly spreads throughout the wastes, the Master finds humans, doomsday cultists, and rather than dip them in the vats, he demands their obedience as spies - their leader is a man named Morpheus, and he pledges his followers to the Master. Morpheus and his cultists form the future core of the Children of the Cathedral.
2155 John Maxson's father dies in a raid by the Vipers. Expecting the raiders to break and run, Maxson doesn't take into account the religious ferocity of the Vipers (or their poisoned weapons), and when a single arrow nicks him with his helmet off, he dies within hours. John Maxson takes up the role of Elder, and Rhombus becomes the new head of the Paladins.
2155 - 2156 After capturing a caravan of strange-garbed travelers (vault dwellers), Master learns the location of the Boneyard Vault, the future site of the Cathedral. He conquers the inhabitants and sets up operations there, and the human cultists begin to use the Vault as their powerbase. Within the Vault, the Master learns of other Vaults, and realizing their human occupants are ripe for transformation, begins to send out patrols to Vault locations in search of these other Vaults.
2156 The Master sees advantages in establishing a benevolent "religion," the Children of the Cathedral, and using them as spies in settlements throughout the wastes. Missionaries from the Children of the Cathedral spread slowly across the wasteland, acting as eyes and ears for Morpheus and the Master.
2157 The Master learns the location of the Bakersfield Vault, Vault 12, and sends a detachment of super mutants there to seize the vault. Many ghouls are snapped like twigs in the attack, and Set finally parleys with the super mutants, telling them that the ghouls are the Vault survivors the super mutants are looking for. The super mutants, angered at failing to find an intact Vault, set up a small garrison at the watershed to watch the inhabitants and insure Set's... cooperation in the war to come.
2161 October A Brotherhood of Steel patrol comes across a dead super mutant in the badlands. They take the corpse back to the Scribes, and Head Scribe Vree begins her examinations of the super mutant.
2161 Dec 5 Fallout 1 Begins: Vault Dweller is kicked out of Vault 13 to find a replacement water chip.
2161 Dec 15 Vault Dweller discovers Shady Sands. Meets Tandi, and Ian, who joins the Vault Dweller in searching for the water chip.
2161 Dec 30 Vault Dweller recruits Dogmeat in Junktown.
2162 January 17 Vault Dweller reaches the Hub and negotiates with the Water Merchants to deliver water to Vault 13, buying the Vault some time.
2162 February 13 Vault Dweller recovers the water chip in Necropolis. Ian is killed by a super mutant and reduced to a cinder, ending his tendency to shoot the Vault Dweller in the back with SMG bursts.
2162 March 3 Vault Dweller kicks the Master’s ass.
2162 April 20 Vault Dweller destroys the Military Base. Dogmeat dies defending his master.
2162 May 10 Fallout 1 Ends: Vault Dweller returns to Vault 13, only to be told "you're a hero, and you have to leave." Some members of the Vault (led by Lydia, the head of the "return to the surface" faction, and including her supporters, Theresa and Lyle) follow soon afterwards.
2165 May 12 Vault Dweller removes the Vault suit and from this day forward, never wears it again.
2165 July 10 Vault Dweller heads North with a small group of Vault-dwellers and wastelanders and founds the small village of Arroyo.
2167 August 18 Construction of Arroyo completed.
2185 Summer At high noon, Marcus and Brotherhood of Steel Paladin Jacob cross paths many, many miles southwest of Broken Hills and punch and shoot each other for a few days. Eventually, they give up, unable to get an advantage over the other. The two start traveling together, arguing over Master and BOS doctrine and whether or not the Master could truly neuro link his biology into the Cathedral computer network.
2185 Fall Marcus and Jacob, along with the trail of ghouls, humans, and super mutants, found the community of Broken Hills. 2186 Spring Jacob moves on, says goodbye to Marcus, then moves on for parts unknown.
2186 New California Republic formed, and a central council is created as a governing body.
2188 October 2 Vault Dweller has a daughter (who becomes the Elder in Fallout 2).
2196 Tandi unanimously elected President of NCR by the NCR council. As expected, she proceeds to do a kick-ass job.
2198 Enclave works on various new technologies, including Power Armor variations. None of these are much of an improvement over the conventional old school Power Armor, and some are actually worse.
2208 January 16 After writing the F2 manual memoirs, Vault Dweller vanishes from Arroyo and is presumed dead. The Vault Dweller leaves the Vault Suit behind, folded on the bed. Some say the Vault Dweller was taken by the sky spirits, others say that the Vault Dweller felt it was time to move on and leave the Elders to guide Arroyo to its destiny.
2208 February 2 The One-Moon (Month) Cycle of mourning for the Vault Dweller ends, and activity in Arroyo begins to return to normal.
2208 February 2 Final training of the Vault Dweller's daughter for the role of village elder begins. She undergoes a great deal of physical training and tutoring in various sciences, mathematics, and, of course, weapon skills.
2210 January 31 Vault Dweller's daughter takes her mystic test, a key ingredient of which is several pots worth of hallucinogenic plants from Hakuinn’s garden. She runs the gauntlet in the Temple of Trials, using her charm to pass most of the tests after her handgun jams (and is ruined) on the first level. She offers numerous criticisms of the test, resulting in many revisions. Note: The broken handgun is the one you see on her table in the opening movie of Fallout 2.
2210 February 2 Vault Dweller’s daughter ascends to role of Village Elder. She rules with a steady hand, and her wisdom is greatly respected.
2211 Frank Horrigan is born...unfortunately.
2215 August 1 Congressman Richardson rises to power within the Enclave, aided by pressure from his father, President Richardson.
2215 Under Presidential Order, Enclave scientists begin to work on an upgraded version of Power Armor. Many prototypes are developed and tested.
2220 March 5 Congressman Richardson is elected president for the first term of five, through aid and political pressure by his father (President Richardson).
2220 October Enclave scientists develop a reliable version of the Mark II Power Armor. The prototype results (and accidents... and explosions... and deaths) are classified by order of President Richardson for the sake of morale.
2221 March 23 The “Chosen One” is born. The Chosen One's father is not recorded in the tribal records. The reason for this is unknown, but the Elder may have simply been embarrassed.
2222 Augustus Autumn is born, In years he will prove to be one of the main members of the Enclave, Receiving his Rank as Colonel.
2227 A faction known as The Institute kidnapped a baby from Vault 111 In Sanctuary hills. They needed a pure form of Untouched DNA to create synths and the baby, Shaun was a perfect choice. Nora and the other Cryo-Patients were shot dead, Save Nate (Canon Character), And who was referred to as, 'The Backup'.
2228 The ghouls of the Capital Wasteland form the Underworld, To which Mutants and Ghouls alike can stay in peace.
2231 The Boomers settle Nellis Air Force Base, The Boomers are a tribe formed out of a group of vault dwellers who originally inhabited Vault 34. The overstocked, unprotected armory led to the emergence of them and led them to believe every person should be blown up to bits.
2231 Melchior's son is born.
2235 The Enclave experiments on deathclaws, attempting to create special fighting units for waging war in hostile environments.
2235 While there had already been a small number of ghouls in Gecko at this time, more come to the area, and the town of Gecko is formed. The new influx of ghouls bring scavenged technology and know-how, and the power plant in Gecko becomes operational later that year. Vault City looks upon their new neighbors with growing concern.
2236 July 20 Enclave scouts discover the remains of the Mariposa Military Base and find it partially destroyed.
2236 July-August Enclave scientists and chemical corps scour the remains of Mariposa, while assault squads comb the desert for slaves they can use to mine the military base and get to the Vats. One of the squads includes soldier Frank Horrigan, 25 at the time, recently removed from duty on the President's secret service to take some RNR time in the wastes after some undocumented psychotic blunder or another.
2236 August Melchior is captured by an Enclave patrol and becomes part of the slave mining force at the Military Base.
2236 Sept Enclave construction crews and super mutant slaves begin excavations. They uncover the FEV virus, and mutations begin to occur in the human workers. Frank Horrigan comes into contact with the FEV and is sent to the Enclave labs for study.
2236 October Melchior begins to mutate... but keeps his intelligence and cunning in the wake of the transformation, making him pretty smart for a super mutant. Realizing that the Enclave will kill the super mutants after they get the FEV data, he begins to use his magician talents to secret away weapons for the mutants to defend themselves when the Enclave decides to dispense with them.
2237 January Enclave, having obtained the FEV data, abandons the Military Base site after more mutations occur, causing 2nd Generation Super Mutants to arise - the Enclave leaves a single squad behind to wipe out the super mutants, but the mutants, using armaments they have cached in the base during excavation, reduce the squad to ashes after suffering heavy casualties. The remaining 1st and 2nd Generation super mutant slaves decide to remain in the Base, and the group forms a new community.
2236 - 2238 Horrigan gradually mutates from exposure to FEV, gaining the physique and slow, stupid, single-mindedness of a super mutant. He is kept heavily sedated, operated on, and studied. He is conscious for only brief periods at a time, then quickly sedated after the bloodshed is over.
2238 Harold arrives in Gecko, and (with a lot of shaking of his head) he does his best to help the ghouls with the running of the Nuclear Power Plant.
2239 January 23 Tests begin to run dry on Frank Horrigan. It is suggested that he be used as a field operative and be used in tests in the wasteland against local populations.
2239 March 27 Frank Horrigan is manufactured for his new role. A new version of Power Armor is built to accommodate his mass, and he is sealed inside. After a few horrifically successful field tests, Horrigan becomes the Enclave's solution to numerous sticky problems.
2241 The worst dry season in many years causes a drought in the
Northern California area, hurting crops and brahmin in both Arroyo and Modoc.
2241 January The first samples of Jet begin to arrive in Redding, courtesy of the Mordino family.
2241 February Vault City rejects offers of an alliance with both the Bishop family of New Reno and NCR.
2241 March Raider attacks on caravans to Vault City begin.
2241 July 25 Fallout 2 Begins: Chosen One begins his mystic test, descending into the Temple of Trials.
2241 July 27 Chosen One leaves Arroyo in search of the GECK.
2242 May 15 Enclave sends a coded sequence to Vault 13, activating its central computer and declaring that is time to leave the Vault. Martin Frobisher gathers the Vault dwellers together for tutorial movie.
2242 May 16 Less than a day later, Vault 13 is opened, only to be greeted by two Enclave verti-assault squads. The squads kill three of the citizens who were "resisting capture," and storm the Vault, kidnapping all the inhabitants.
2242 May 17 Enclave animal handlers drop a Deathclaw unit into Vault 13 from a safe distance to kill anyone investigating the Vault and cloak the Enclave's presence. Other Deathclaws are sent into the desert surrounding Vault 13 to check for any escapees or witnesses.
2242 Fall Fallout 2 Ends: The Chosen One enters the Enclave using the damaged tanker and destroys the Poseidon oil platform, killing the President of the United States and ending the Enclave's plans for world domination.
2242 The Enclave scatters across the US and is hunted down by the Brotherhood of Steel and the NCR, Most former Enclave Personnel successfully Integrate into the NCR. In late 2242, senior scientist Autumn was contacted by a new president, John Henry Eden, who ordered the majority of the remaining Enclave forces on the West Coast to relocate eastwards, to the Capital Wasteland, near the ruins of the once capital of the United States, Washington, D.C.
2255 Caesar establishes a base for the Legion in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Pitt, a raider settlement in what was Pittsburgh, is attacked by the Brotherhood of Steel and almost the entire population is wiped out in an action called 'the Scourge'.
2258 Start date of Fallout 3, The Lone Wanderer is born and their mother dies shortly afterward of Cardiac arrest.
2270 The NCR defeats the tribes based around Bullhead City in an action called the Pacification of the Mojave.
2271 The NCR and the Desert Rangers sign the Ranger Unification Treaty, The Desert Rangers join into the
2272 Galaxy News Radio makes its first broadcast, A man known as 'Three Dog' controls GNR.
2277 Caesar's Legion moves into the Mojave, and the first Battle of Hoover Dam occurs. Boulder City is flattened, but the Legion is defeated when the NCR lure them into a trap. Caesar blames Legate Graham, and he is punished by being set on fire and thrown into the Grand Canyon.
2281
Start date of Fallout: New Vegas.
2287
The Quincy Massacre occurs when the Gunners attack the Commonwealth Minutemen, leaving only 20 of them alive. Start date of Fallout 4, The Lone Survivor is pulled from Cryosleep and evacuates the Vault, Then saves the remaining 7 Minutemen with a nice rusty but reliable suit of T-45A Power Armor and a standard Vertibird Minigun.
2910
The furthest event in the timeline of Fallout is a hypothetical one, but if you complete the excellent Old World Blues expansion for Fallout: New Vegas and fully upgrade Blind Diode Jefferson, the AI who has the blues, then the epilogue explains he eventually "created a symphonic counter-frequency that saved Big MT from sonic invasion in 2910. If you didn't hear about it—good."