Timeline (Ascendancy Of Man)

Here is the timeline of events in Ascendancy of Man. Do note: the following is an overview and will only detail events that have occurred throughout human history.

1985

 * Mikhail Gorbachev comes into power in the USSR.

1986

 * Point of DIvergence: Mikhail Gorbachev decides to implement ecomomic reforms similar to those of China, rather than implement Peretroiska and Glanost like in our timeline. The result is a short term economic downfall, but in the long run, proves to be efficient in ending the stagnation of the USSR (for a time).
 * The Chernobyl Disaster occurs as it becomes the biggest nuclear disaster in human history prior to the 2-Hour War.
 * The Iran-Contra affair: The Reagan administration publicly announces that it has been selling arms to Iran in exchange for hostages and illegally transferring the profits to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua.
 * The Challenger Disaster occurs.

1988

 * The Soviet Shuttle Buran is launched.
 * The USSR decides to intesify its military campaign in Afghanistan.
 * The Space Shuttle Discovery is launched.
 * Gamma Cephei Ab becomes the first discovered extrasolar planet, although this is not confirmed until 2002.
 * The 1st Iran-Iraq War comes to an inconclusive end.

1989

 * George H.W. Bush becomes the 41st President of America.
 * Tiananmen Square Massacre: Student protests for the installation of a democratic state in China are brutally crushed by the PLA.
 * The Exxon Valdez Disaster occurs.
 * Tim Berners-Lee proposed the creation of the World Wide Web.
 * American forces invade Panama, overthrowing Manuel Noriega by early 1990.

1990

 * The Gulf War begins as Iraq invades Kuwait.
 * Tim Berners-Lee begins the process of creating the World Wide Web.
 * The Human Genome Project begins.
 * Windows 3.0 is released.

1991

 * Operation: Desert Storm is launched with Kuwait liberated in 4 days. The Gulf War officially ends.
 * The World Wide Web is announced.
 * Apartheid officially comes to an end in South Africa, although it would not technically end until 1994.

1992

 * 2 extrasolar planets are discovered around the pulsar PSR B1257+12. These become the first confirmed extrasolar planets.
 * The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched.
 * Windows 3.1 is released.

1993

 * The European Union is established, although due to the continued existence of the Warsaw Pact, it is smaller than in our timeline.
 * The Buran II is launched, with the first Soviet crew to the Mir space station.
 * The Hubble Space Telescope's mirror is repaired.

1994

 * The North American Free Trade Agreement is established.
 * Shoemaker-Levy 9 crashes with Jupiter.
 * The African National Congress is elected in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela as its candidate.

1995

 * The World Wide Web is made available to the public for the first time. However, the Warsaw Pact attempts to control Internet usage, with access in these nations being limited to sites belonging to their respective nation-states.
 * The World Trade Organization is born.
 * 51 Pegasi b is discovered. This planet becomes the first planet discovered orbiting around a main sequence star.
 * Windows 95 is released by Microsoft.
 * Ethinic tensions in Yugoslavia reach an all-time high as the nation falls into a civil war. This quickly prompts Gorbachev to intervene in the region.

1996

 * Dolly the sheep is becomes the first cloned being in human history.

1997

 * Hong Kong is returned to China.
 * Mars Pathfinder lands on the Mars.
 * The Cassini-Hyugens Space Probe is launched.

1998

 * The Freedom Space Station begins construction.
 * The First Congolese War begins after Zaire begins to crush pro-Communist unrest in the region.

1999

 * The Euro is established.
 * Upsilon Andromedae becomes the first main sequence star to be discovered hosting multiple planets.
 * Earth's population officially reaches the 6 billion mark.

2001

 * Ceaucescu is found dead in his office, and the resulting power struggle ignites the Romanian Civil War, which the Warsaw Pact quickly intervenes in.
 * Denis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist.
 * Windows XP is released.
 * Terrorism begins to arise in the Arabian Peninsula.

2003

 * The Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrates in the atmosphere.
 * The Yugoslavian Civil War comes to an end, with a new pro-Soviet government installed.
 * The First Congolese War comes to an end, with a Communist rebel victory.
 * NASA launches the Mars Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity.
 * The Human Genome Project is completed.

2004

 * Spirit and Opportunity land on Mars.
 * SpaceShip One is launched and becomes the first private spacecraft.
 * The Soviet military begins a withdrawl from Afghanistan after seeing reduced activity from the Mujahadeen.
 * The Romanian Civil War comes to an end, with Veaceslav Gabriel coming into power.
 * The 2nd Congo War begins, and begins to spill over to the rest of Central Africa.
 * Cassinni enters the orbit around saturn.
 * The short-lived Eastern Renaissance begins.
 * Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast. Many attribute this as a sign of ongoing climate change.

2006

 * The 2nd Iran-Iraq War begins over a border incident.
 * The USSR completely withdraws from Afghanistan.

2007

 * Gliese 581 d is discovered to be the first extrasolar planet in the Goldilocks Zone, although later analysis in 2014 would prove the existance of the planet in dispute, along with Gliese 581 g.
 * The American housing market bubble explodes, starting the Great Recession.
 * Apple Inc. releases the iPhone.
 * Windows Vista is released to the public.

2008

 * The Eastern Renaissance comes to an end, as the Soviet Union enters a permanently declining economic status.
 * A major terrorist attack hits World Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Kremlin and an oil refinery in Siberia, killing Gorbachev, members of the Politburo, and an estimated 5,000 civilians on January 12. This becomes the biggest terrorist strike in human history. Shortly after the attack, Vladimir Putin takes power and becomes the new General Secretary of the Soviet Union.
 * The 2nd Iran-Iraq War comes to yet again, inconclusive end.

2009

 * The Kepler mission is launched into space, and begins cataloguing discoveries of possible exoplanets.
 * John Kerry becomes the 43rd President of America.
 * Windows 7 is released to the public.
 * The 2009 flu pandemic occurs.
 * General Secretary Vladimir Putin announces the return of military forces to Afghanistan, while America decides to invade Iran, blaming them for the attack.

2010

 * The Deepwater Horizon incident occurs.
 * A 7.0 Earthquake hits Haiti.
 * The Arab Spring begins.
 * SAC-NORAD is born as President Kerry integrates the American Strategic Air Command (SAC) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
 * Iran is completely occupied by American forces, as a new pro-American government is installed in the region.

2011

 * The Arab Spring intensifies as protests break out across the Arab World.
 * NATO intervenes in the Libyan conflict, much to the dismay of the Soviets, starting a proxy war between the two superpowers.
 * The most habitable exoplanet thus far at the time is found: Gliese 667C c.