Timeline

This timeline documents key dates and events that occur between the 1200s and the 21st century in the universe of Deus Ex. This world shares many similarities with the real world. However, there are major divergences between the two during the 20th century and beyond.

1200s
1218


 * Construction begins on Cathedrale de Payens, financed by the Knights Templar.

1300s
1311
 * The Knights Templar are officially dissolved. However, the organization continues to operate in secret.

1700s
1723

1776
 * Adam Weishaupt is born in Ingolstadt, Germany.


 * Adam Weishaupt forms the "Order of Perfectibilists", also known as the Illuminati.

1910s
1918


 * Cathedrale de Payens is purchased and renovated by a group of European investors as a corporate retreat.

1940s
1940s


 * The Illuminati gathers genetic data through the administration of smallpox vaccinations. This continues for two decades.

1950s
1954


 * The Bilderberg Group is created by the Illuminati to control financial matters around the world through vast mining operations, control over the Federal Reserve Board, the Eurobank and the World Bank as well as through a stranglehold on the world's supply of gold.
 * Majestic 12 is founded to control technology and communications for the Illuminati.

1960s
1961

1963
 * Massachusetts Institute of Technology introduces the world to MH-1; the first computer-operated mechanical hand. Nearing human likeness, the MH-1 has a hand-arm combination of 35 degrees of freedom, and is sensitive to pattern recognition and simulation of higher cognitive processes.

1965
 * November 10: President John F. Kennedy states that "the high office of President has been used to ferment a plot to destroy the American's freedom, and before I leave office I must inform the citizen of his plight". This remark angers the Illuminati, whom it is referencing.
 * November 22: President Kennedy is assassinated by the Illuminati.

1968
 * The Illuminati finish tracking those who receive a smallpox vaccine. From this they are able to build a database of the genetic codes of nearly all citizens of the United States and much of the rest of the world.


 * Tong Si Hung is born.

1970s
1970s

1970 1972 1973
 * Computers with the ability to automatically sift through massive quantities of information for specific keywords begin operation.
 * David Sarif is born.
 * Athene Margoulis is born.
 * William Taggart is born.

1978
 * Hugh Darrow is born in Blackheath, South London.
 * July: David Rockefeller forms the.


 * An Australian professor develops the first safe effective sensorineural biotechnology that directly connects electronic technology to physiological contact within the central nervous system. With the help of this new technology, his patient becomes the first human in the world to receive a multi-channel cochlear implant after losing his hearing from injuries sustained to the head. The implantation proves to successfully give him the ability to regain partial hearing and pitch perception.

1980s
1980s

1982 1985 1987
 * NSA designs the Echelon system by interconnecting all SIGINT information gathering computers in the UKUSA agreement into an integrated whole.
 * The Falklands war occurs this year, which results in the creation of Belltower Associates in the United Kingdom some years later.
 * The Picus Group is formed by Sir Martin Darrow.
 * Isaias Sandoval is born.
 * Zhao Yun Ru is born.


 * The first implantation of a deep-brain electrical stimulation system and the first Lasik eye surgery are performed on human patients.

1990s
1990 1991 1992 1993
 * Bob Page is born.
 * Francis Pritchard is born.
 * Lawrence Barrett is born.

1995 1996
 * March 9: Adam Jensen is born.
 * Megan Reed is born in Seattle, Washington.
 * Hugh Darrow severely damages the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during a skiing accident. This injury leaves him with a permanent physical disability, but also acts as the inspiration for his research into mechanical augmentations.

1997
 * Hugh Darrow purchases and revamps a struggling prosthetics manufacturing company in England, creating Darrow Industries. With his family's considerable assets at his disposal, Darrow ensures that this, as well as his claims to the importance of this event, makes front-page news.

1998
 * The sovereignty of Hong Kong is handed over by the UK to the PRC. A top official of the PRC central law enforcement agency publicly acknowledges his acceptance of the Triad. He states that many of its members are patriotic to the motherland. It is unknown if this is a government stance or a personal opinion.
 * Belltower UK is formed by Roger St. John-Ffolkes.

1999
 * The first brain implant capable of stimulating movement is installed in a human patient by researchers at Emory University. The device, or neurotrophic electrode, is implanted into the brain, allowing cortical cells to grow and form neural contacts. After several weeks, the cortical tissue grows into the electrode. This allows a person to interact with the world as if they were using a computer.


 * January 1: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain succumb to Majestic 12 pressure exerted via the (EMU) and adopt the Euro as their currency.
 * Yelena Fedorova is born.

2000s
2000

2001
 * The Artificial Silicon Retina (ASR) is implanted for the first time in the eyes of three nearly blind patients. Containing approximately 3,500 microscopic solar cells that convert light into electrical impulses, the new technology works to replace damaged photoreceptors that normally convert light into electrical signals within the retina.
 * Japan renews its defense obligations with the United States and embarks on a costly rearmament program.

2002
 * January 1: Greece adopts the Euro.
 * Assigned birth year of the AI, Eliza Cassan.
 * A high-power lineman who, after losing both of his arms through severe electrocution, receives a life-changing computerized, bio-hybrid arm is dubbed as one of the first functional cyborgs, his fully robotic limb operated through a nerve muscle graft that uses micro computers instead of cables to perform a wide range of complex motions. It is also the first prototype enabling its carrier to sense pressure.
 * September 11: A terrorist attack destroys the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

2003
 * After six years of intense research, Darrow Industries' scientists successfully intertwine PEDOT-electrodes with live neural cells, creating a bio-compatible matrix that better enables acceptance of prosthetic materials by organic tissue.
 * The implementation of the Euro is complete. As a result, most of Europe and its territories are subjects to the economical control of Majestic 12.
 * Faridah Malik is born in Dearborn, United States.

2004
 * The United Kingdom adopts the Euro as currency.

2005
 * Development begins for Project Phoenix, a new initiative implemented by the US Military inviting amputee soldiers serving in the two Persian Gulf Conflicts to volunteer for advanced prosthetic research.

2007
 * Building on their earlier creation of PEDOT-clusters, Darrow Industries scientists create a revolutionary bio-sensor that vastly improves the connection between the human nervous system and artificial limbs. The new technology brings researchers one step closer to thinning the line between prosthetic and organic.

2008
 * Looking to increase the efficiency of advanced prosthetics production, David Sarif purchases and overhauls an auto factory in Detroit. Shortly after, Sarif creates a system that automates the manufacturing of advanced prosthetics, converting the newly purchased plant into the first auto-mechanical augmentation factory.
 * Nina Sullivan is born.

2009
 * The controversial Omega Ranch begins to take shape with support from the United Nations and several major biotech companies, including VersaLife. Leading the development, the World Health Organization (WHO) begins construction on the new center that will pave the way for research into viral genetics and biological sciences.


 * Stretched thin by two Mideast conflicts, the U.S. Congress passes the Recycle Military Bill, financing free prosthetics for any wounded veteran who re-enlists. With little competition, Sarif Industries wins the lucrative prosthetic manufacturing contract and becomes the number one prosthetic manufacturer in America.

2010s
2011

2012
 * Darrow Industries publishes "Fittest XY", the first test capable of identifying if a subject suffers from a rare genetic disorder that makes acceptance of an implant not only impossible, but also deadly.
 * As augmentations become increasingly commonplace, entrepreneur Haydon Suyong envisions the creation of healthcare clinics that cater exclusively to the specific needs of prosthetic-equipped patients. After borrowing 50 million Euros from Hugh Darrow, the dream becomes reality and the first clinic for augmented humans opens.

2013
 * As part of their ultimate exit strategy out of Iraq, the US military sends squads of prosthetic-equipped soldiers into the heaviest conflict zones.

2014
 * Ophelia Carter publishes a conspiracy-related book "The Wheels Come Off". Supposedly demonstrated that there could have been no "Soviet-American pact" because America had already sold out to the Grays. According to this theory the polio and influenza outbreaks of the later 20th century were test runs in a larger governmental bio-warfare program.
 * A milestone in the development of augmentation is reached when the 50th healthcare clinic for mechanically augmented patients opens in New Delhi, with nearly 50,000 patients visiting the facility within its first week. At the opening ceremony Haydon Suyong calls his network of clinics "L.I.M.B. International" for the first time.
 * A year after emerging as an underground prosthetic ultimate fighting movement, the Augmented Combat Challenge (ACC) is accepted as a legal sport in 12 countries. Bets taken online and in Las Vegas turns into a multi-million dollar circuit as the sport's popularity rapidly grows.

2015
 * Brian Nittle becomes the first patient with Down syndrome to successfully receive a deep-brain implant capable of stimulating portions of the brain in order to significantly increase natural cognitive functions. The implantation works better than imagined and Nittle is able to lead a near normal life.
 * The volcanic Vilama Caldera complex in Argentina unexpectedly erupts in a powerful 'supervolcanic' explosion, blanketing huge swathes of land in Argentina, Chile and Bolivia with hot ash. Over 100,000 citizens are killed, but the world finds hope in augmented humans as they play a major role in the region's rescue and recovery operations. Their enhanced abilities save many lives and prove to make a crucial difference in relief of this disaster.
 * After having banned augmented athletes years earlier, plans to rewrite the guidelines and rules governing international athletic competitions are announced. "We can no longer ignore the [augmented] population. They are obviously a part of our world, and this is a worldwide competition," says voting board member Harris Stevenson.
 * Adam Jensen joins the Detroit Police Department.

2016 2017
 * Rumors begin to circulate that countries are experimenting with new intelligence-enhancing technology by secretly implanting the device in military and counter-intelligence officers. As leaked intelligence from Asia and Europe begins to corroborate the story, a fear of falling behind these imposing advancements accelerates global bio-technical research to new levels.
 * Terrorist attacks against Saudi Arabian oil fields decimate the country's infrastructure and plunge the world into a major energy crisis In response, an emergency session of the US Congress passes the Green River Energy Bill, opening protected oil shale deposits in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming to development. Seeing the challenges and dangers of drilling in the areas, oil companies begin quietly recruiting augmented war veterans to work at unusually high salaries.
 * A foreign pilot equipped with an intelligence-enhancing implant defects to an international US base and the military immediately begins attempting to reverse-engineer the chip.
 * The Singularity Faith of the Machine God (SFMG), a quasi-religious pro-augmentation group, is formally recognized as a church. Augs originally formed the SFMG in 2011 in response to being shunned for going against religious scripts that declare it unholy to biologically 'desecrate' their bodies.

2018
 * In an attempt to catch up to the rapid advancements of rival nations, the US military awards Sarif Industries a top secret, no-bid contract to manufacture intelligence-enhancing chips.
 * Dallas becomes a self-declared “protected city-state”, paving the way for several other so-called fortress cities to come into being over the next decade.

2019
 * Paul Denton is born.
 * Adam Jensen joins the DPD's SWAT team, under the command of Captain Quincy Durant.
 * A containment breach occurs in Omega Ranch, allowing a modified variant of the H5N1 avian flu virus to escape into the atmosphere, killing hundreds of thousands of people. VersaLife and its corporate partners subsequently cut all ties with the facility.


 * The NuChrist Initiative emerges as a US based coalition of forward-looking Christian group that embraces and encourages cloning, augmentation, and the furtherment of biotechnology. Traditionalist Christians hold protest, but cannot stop the membership of the NuChrist Initiative from growing 300% in one year.
 * Belltower Associates, an umbrella group of private military contractors, institutes their new augmentation program, Plan Infinity. The Program offers soldiers immediate augmentations while deferring payment for as long as they remain active employees of Belltower.
 * Omega Ranch is closed down and sanitized. It is then quietly placed into the stewardship of a United Nations committee.

2020s
2020s

2020
 * Mechanical augmentations are just becoming widespread.
 * In the early years of this decade work on Nano-augmentations begins. The Majestic 12 scientists assigned to the project (including Bob Page) have a number of difficulties. A self-replicating nanite that can interact with biological material has to be developed. The nanites must be able to interpret commands directly from the mind, and send information back to the mind in a form that can be interpreted. This will take years to develop. A test subject matching MJ12's selection criteria is needed, as young as possible.
 * Australia finds a large underground reserve of fossil fuel off the coast of Antarctica. With the fossil fuel crisis worldwide, tensions between north and south Australia rise. Australian Civil War begins.
 * Quincy Durant is severely injured during an encounter with an augmented criminal, and is forced to undergo extensive augmentation to survive. Durant is later put in charge of a new unit of augmented SWAT officers; Adam Jensen is given command of Durant's old unit.

2021
 * The Californian Secessionist Movement is narrowly defeated in a public referendum.
 * Hugh Darrow fires his entire research staff and begins to sell off branches of Darrow Industries.

2022
 * Hugh Darrow purchases Omega Ranch and reopens it with a new team of researchers.
 * Quincy Durant's SWAT unit massacres the entire Kowalski Bros. Gang at the El Diablo Lapdancing Club.

2023
 * Antoine Thisdale, an un-augmented oil rig worker sues for the right to have both of his fully functional natural arms amputated and replaced with cybernetic arms in an effort to compete with mechanically augmented workers in his profession. The Supreme Court rules in his favor, clearing the way for elective augmentation. In response to the ruling, William Taggart creates Humanity Front, a political organization that opposes augmentation.
 * A Pan-Arab coalition invades Israel. Illuminati control of the region becomes total.
 * LIMB International opens the first clinic in Brazil (and the 359th clinic in the world).

2024
 * Five year old Paul Denton is chosen as a test subject and cloned.
 * Quincy Durant's now corrupt SWAT unit has violently taken down half of the organized crime groups in the city, taking over their operations for themselves.

2025
 * An investigative news report reveals that a high-profile contestant on a popular American game show had been implanted with an intelligence-enhancing chip prior to his appearance on the program. The scandal causes a significant upswing in popular opposition to the largely unregulated augmentation industry. Humanity Front's membership grows sizably as a result.

2027
 * The Juggernaut Collective makes their debut on the hacker scene when they hijack atmospheric processors used by a popular weather artist in Paris, trashing an event sponsored by Page Industries.
 * Quincy Durant's SWAT unit instigates the Mexicantown Riots. Durant is badly wounded in a firefight with Adam Jensen, acting on orders to take Durant down. Durant is retrieved in secret by the Illuminati and given further augmentation. Durant's unit is shut down and its other members are stripped of their badges and arrested.
 * Adam Jensen resigns from the Detroit Police Department after refusing to follow a questionable order during efforts to contain the riots. He is hired as the new Chief of Security at Sarif Industries soon after.


 * William Taggart is almost killed by an augmented sniper at a Humanity Front rally in Geneva. This pushes the UN to consider regulation of human augmentation.
 * VersaLife announces they have successfully cured AIDS in laboratory mice using nanites.
 * Sarif Industries' headquarters in Detroit is attacked by the Tyrants. Research on a next-generation augmentation, the Typhoon is destroyed.
 * Joshua Korbin, a member of the New Sons of Freedom bombs the Capitol building of the state of Washington in Olympia. Simultaneously, his organization calls for the Pacific Northwest to secede from the US.
 * Lawrence Barrett is killed by Adam Jensen.
 * Tracer Tong escapes Hengsha for Hong Kong.
 * Yelena Fedorova is killed by Adam Jensen.
 * Jaron Namir is killed by Adam Jensen.
 * Belltower Associates 12th Regiment brings the Australian Civil War closer to an end by quelling an uprising in the northern territories of the continent.
 * Hugh Darrow invites hundreds of influential people to Panchaea's grand opening. On live television, he activates a signal that sends all Augmented people into a hallucinogenic rage.
 * Adam Jensen shuts off the transmission, and either:
 * At Hugh Darrow's request, broadcasts his recorded confession about Panchaea and the Illuminati - hoping that the world will abandon any ideals of transhumanism.
 * At David Sarif's request, alters Darrow's confession, directing blame on Humanity Front - hoping that transhumanism will get a chance to flourish.
 * At William Taggart's request, erases all information about the Illuminati from Darrow's confession, and tells the world that the incident was caused by contaminated Neuropozyne - hoping to give the Illuminati control over transhumanism.
 * At Eliza's suggestion, depressurizes Panchaea, killing everyone on board (himself included), leaving the world without any answers of what caused the events - free to independently decide the fate of transhumanism.

2028
 * Megan Reed willingly joins the Illuminati, and helps them create the nanite-virus chimera.
 * Hugh Darrow mysteriously disappears from Panchaea, his body was never recovered in the aftermath of the Panchaea incident.

2029
 * Paul Denton's mother, who is unable to have any more children but wants another, is approached by MJ12 operatives posing as fertility experts. She is told that she will be paid handsomely in exchange for participating in experimental surgery that will allow her to become pregnant. Mrs. "Denton", had been poor her entire life, now she could have another child and have enough money to raise her family in comfort. The "fertility experts" assure her that the surgery is minor and the risk is minimal. After the parents of Paul Denton agree, the mother is implanted with a cloned embryo of Paul. Their lives have already been carefully monitored by MJ12 for many years.


 * March 17: JC Denton is born.

2030s
2030

2030s
 * Pandemics of antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis and Spanish flu take place, decimating the world's population and setting it back more than a hundred years.
 * A cure for AIDS is developed by VersaLife.
 * A major earthquake hits the West Coast, destroying most of San Francisco and dumping all of Los Angeles and most of Southern California south of Lompoc into the ocean. The earthquake forces the government to declare the west coast (or what is left of it) a disaster area.

2031
 * After the HIV cure is released, new resistant diseases appear. Resistant tuberculosis hits the developing nations, particularly India, very hard. A sample of the 1918 flu virus from bodies buried under the North Pole is accidentally released when it is procured for research.
 * VersaLife is instrumental in fighting these epidemics. VersaLife soon branches to embrace all forms of science and commerce.
 * At an unknown time between 2031 and 2035 Majestic 12 executes a coup against the Illuminati.

2033
 * Utah declares independence and annexes Arizona and Nevada. They are followed by fringe groups in Texas.
 * Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming form the Northwest Secessionist Forces and secede from the US. This year marks the start of the Northwest War and the Siege of Squalnomie.
 * All of these attempts to secede fail. Martial law enacted by the US government following the reintegration of the rogue states into the motherland continues for many years in some areas.

2034
 * November 20: Alex Denton's assigned false birth date.
 * May 13: Nick Pausback's assigned false birth date.

2035
 * Experiments begin on second generation of clones (~age 5)
 * Toxicological study found no carcinogenic effects at chlorine concentrations a thousand times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency revised Kyoto standards.
 * February 25: Wade Walker's assigned false birth date.

2036
 * Having lined up all of the Illuminati's political, financial, military and religious arms beneath it, Majestic 12 inherits the mantle of de facto ruler of Asia, Eastern Europe and South America. It's rebellion is complete.
 * Paul and JC Denton's parents are killed by Majestic 12; JC is sent to Switzerland for schooling under the watchful eye of the MJ12.


 * Paul Denton attends university.

2040s
2040s

'2040
 * Tracer Tong begins working on the AI project named Ava Johnson.

2042
 * Paul Denton, age 22, joins UNATCO.

2045
 * Sporting Weapons Act is passed.
 * National Secessionist Forces are formed by American citizens refusing to give up their ordnance. Led by Leon Woods they intend to "liberate" Washington, Montana, Oregon, and Northern California.

2046
 * Leon Woods dies during his infamous "last stand".

2047
 * In response to the Upper West Side bombing that killed 45 people and wounded over 100, newly enacted grid zoning laws allow the police to wall off regions of Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs. Foot traffic between these "zones" is prohibited, and traveling between zones is restricted to authorized subways or highways subject to police surveillance.
 * The "crash of '46" occurs. The construction of an unnamed building in Paris is stopped.
 * Work on 'Ambrosia' project is suspected to begin this year.

2049
 * Most likely year of Alex Denton's "birth" in the cloning vats at Area 51.
 * The Somnolente Ile scandal in France occurs.
 * Rumored to be the approximate beginning of the work on Aquinas by Page Industries.
 * JC Denton graduates.


 * Doctor Moreau starts to work in the MJ12 lab under UNATCO.

2050s
2050

2051
 * Paul Denton becomes the first successfully nano-augmented human.
 * Silhouette sabotages the internet broadcast of the World Cup by inserting 20th century style advertisements mocking the excesses of mechanical augmentation and UNATCO.

2052
 * UNATCO and Interpol storm the Knights Templar headquarters in Paris and destroy the organization.
 * 15,234 young people serve sentences in the state's FBI-run "good behavior" camps, a legacy of the Northwest War.
 * The Statue of Liberty is destroyed, UNATCO frames Silhouette.
 * The Gray Death plague begins.
 * Beth DuClare is assassinated by Majestic 12 while attempting to protect her daughter, Nicolette from the attack. After her death, Beth DuClare's body is dissected and placed in cyronic storage.
 * Paul Denton discovers the truth behind the Gray Death plague, learning that UNATCO is working with Majestic 12 to control the supply of the Ambrosia vaccine to garner political influence. In response, he secretly begins working with the NSF as their informant inside UNATCO. Suspecting Paul's betrayal, but lacking evidence to prove it, Gunther Hermann warns his superiors not to trust Paul.
 * Gary Savage's scientists escape from Area 51. They destroy the Universal Constructor and steal the technology.
 * JC Denton joins UNATCO and (officially) becomes the second nano-augmented human.

2053
 * Worldwide flooding from melting polar ice caps is at its minimum.
 * Beth DuClare is awarded the Legion of Honour posthumously.
 * McMoran Global Steel win a contract to transport ore from the Zhou Enlai Lunar Mining Complex. Soon after the first mass driver (a vehicle used to transport the ore) is deployed, it crashes into the Earth, killing over 2,000 people in Ibadan, Nigeria.
 * JC Denton begins active duty.
 * JC Denton merges with Helios. The process overloads the Aquinas Router, triggering an explosion which kills Bob Page and destroys the global communication network. This results in the Collapse, the worst economic disaster in history, and a new Dark Age. Countries disintegrate overnight, plunging the world into chaos.
 * Unable to control the power of Helios, JC Denton is isolated in Antarctica and falls into a prolonged coma.
 * May 13: Nick Pausback's incept date.

2054
 * Illuminati Chad Dumier and Nicolette DuClare initiate their plans to re-establish order. Dumier takes over the WTO, while DuClare, in the guise of "Her Holiness", founds the Order Church.
 * The WTO incorporates the city of Trier, Germany. Eldrin Braeden, a influential local businessman, is driven from power as a result of the incorporation.

2055
 * February 25: Wade Walker's incept date.
 * March 17: JC Denton's incept date.


 * November 20: Alex Denton's incept date.

2060s
2069


 * Donna Morgan becomes WTO Security Chief.
 * Paul Denton tests new biomod architecture on himself - the experiment fails, Paul goes into coma and is cryogenically preserved to prevent death.

2070s
2071

2072
 * The WTO charter with Seattle is ratified. Rioting breaks out and plagues the city for several days.
 * The first human expedition to Mars is completed, with the words "Mankind is now the inhabitant of two worlds" broadcast in both English and Spanish. Conspiracy theorists contend that the landing was staged.

2200s
 * With no practical uses, mechanical augmentation is made completely obsolete due to its inferiority to nano-augmentation, which is now common.
 * Chicago is destroyed in a terrorist attack by the Knights Templar. The Chicago Tarsus Academy evacuates Alex Denton, Billie Adams, and several high-ranking staff members to the Seattle Tarsus Academy.
 * The Mag Rail is finalized.
 * Alex Denton awakens JC Denton from his coma.
 * Alex Denton uploads the Aquinas protocol to either:
 * 1) Paul and JC Denton and step into their infusion chamber in Liberty Island to give the Helios AI the perfected augment structure. Alex Denton's perfected nanites are distributed to every human being on the planet, which leads to a peaceful posthuman civilization, governed, not ruled, by a benevolent, all-knowing AI.
 * 2) the Illuminati in Liberty Island. The Illuminati gains control of all communications, and operates the world economy and society in secret, through Aquinas and an orbital science platform called "Ophelia", allowing high stability for the price of government control and ignorance.
 * 3) the Knights Templar in Liberty Island. Alex then kills both Paul and JC. The Dentons' blood and biological architecture are then used to eradicate all type of augmentations and transgenics. This leads humanity into a dark age of luddism and fear of technology.


 * After Alex Denton murders every possible leader of humanity in 2072, without a central authority, humanity descends into the worst chaos and anarchy imaginable. Two centuries of war have scorched the earth and all life has been destroyed. The only remaining survivors are the Omar, who begin to instigate space travel in search of a better homeworld.
 * Note: This is one of the possible endings of Deus Ex: Invisible War and has not been established as canon.