Timeline of science fiction

This is a timeline of science fiction. While the date of the start of science fiction is debated, this list includes events included in timelines published by expert sources.

16th century

Year	Event	Ref.
1516	Thomas More publishes Utopia.

17th century

New Atlantis

Title page of the 1628 edition of Bacon's New Atlantis
Author	Francis Bacon
Language	Latin/English
Genre	Utopian novel
Publication date	1624/1626
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardback)
Pages	46 pp
Text	New Atlantis at Wikisource

	Event	Ref.
1627	Francis Bacon publishes New Atlantis.
1634	Johannes Kepler publishes A Dream.
1638	Francis Godwin publishes The Man in the Moone.
1686	Bernard de Fontenelle publishes Discussion of the Plurality of Worlds.

18th century

Year	Event	Ref.
1726	Jonathan Swift publishes Gulliver's Travels.
1741	Ludvig Holberg publishes Niels Klim's Underground Travels.
1752	Voltaire publishes Micromégas.
1771	Louis-Sébastien Mercier publishes The Year 2440.

19th century

The Island of Doctor Moreau

First edition cover
Author	H. G. Wells
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Heinemann, Stone & Kimball
Publication date	1896
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	209 p.
Preceded by	The Wonderful Visit
Followed by	The Wheels of Chance
Text	The Island of Doctor Moreau at Wikisource

An alien invasion as featured in H. G. Wells' 1897 novel The War of the Worlds.

Year	Event	Ref.
1805	Jean-Baptiste Cousin de Grainville publishes The Last Man.
1818	Mary Shelley publishes Frankenstein.
early 1820s	Charles Babbage invents the difference engine, a calculating machine and forerunner to the computer.
1826	Mary Shelley publishes The Last Man.
1827	Jane Webb Loudon publishes The Mummy!.
1828	Jules Verne is born.
1838	Edgar Allan Poe publishes The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.
1844	Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes "Rappaccini's Daughter".
1848	Edgar Allan Poe publishes Eureka: A Prose Poem.
1858	Fitz-James O'Brien publishes "The Diamond Lens".
1864	Jules Verne publishes Journey to the Center of the Earth.
	Camille Flammarion publishes the non-fiction Real and Imaginary Worlds.
1865	Jules Verne publishes From the Earth to the Moon.
1866	H. G. Wells is born.
1868	Edward S. Ellis publishes The Steam Man of the Prairies, the first SF dime novel.
1869	Edward Everett Hale publishes "The Brick Moon".
1869–1870	Jules Verne publishes Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas in serial form.
1871	George T. Chesney publishes the novella The Battle of Dorking.
	Edward Bulwer-Lytton publishes The Coming Race.
1872	Samuel Butler publishes Erewhon.
	Camille Flammarion publishes Récits de l'infini, a work of fiction expanding upon the concepts in Real and Imaginary Worlds.
1874–1875	Jules Verne publishes The Mysterious Island in serial form.
1876 onwards	Harry Enton and later Luis Senarens publish the Frank Reade dime novel series.
1884	Edwin Abbott Abbott publishes Flatland.
1885	Richard Jefferies publishes After London.
1886	Robert Louis Stevenson publishes Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
1887	Camille Flammarion publishes Lumen, a compilation of earlier fiction and non-fiction works.
	W. H. Hudson publishes A Crystal Age.
1888	Edward Bellamy publishes Looking Backward, 2000–1887.
1889	Mark Twain publishes A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
1890	William Morris publishes News from Nowhere.
	Ignatius L. Donnelly publishes Caesar's Column.
1892–1894	William Dean Howells publishes A Traveler from Altruria in serial, and later book, form.
1894	Camille Flammarion publishes Omega: The Last Days of the World.
1895	H. G. Wells publishes The Time Machine.
1896	H. G. Wells publishes The Island of Doctor Moreau.
1897	Kurd Lasswitz publishes Auf zwei Planeten.
1898	H. G. Wells publishes The War of the Worlds.
	Garrett P. Serviss publishes Edison's Conquest of Mars.

1900s

Year	Event	Ref.
1900	L. Frank Baum publishes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
1901	H. G. Wells publishes The First Men in the Moon.
	M. P. Shiel publishes The Purple Cloud.
1902	Georges Méliès shows the film A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune).
1904	Hugo Gernsback emigrates from Luxembourg to the United States.
	H. G. Wells publishes The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth.
	H. G. Wells publishes "The Country of the Blind".
1905	Rudyard Kipling publishes the short story "With the Night Mail".
	H. G. Wells publishes A Modern Utopia.
	Albert Einstein formulates the special theory of relativity.
	Jules Verne dies.
1907	Jack London publishes The Iron Heel.
1908	H. G. Wells publishes The War in the Air.
	Hugo Gernsback launches his first magazine: Modern Electrics.
1909	E. M. Forster publishes the novella The Machine Stops.
	Garrett P. Serviss publishes A Columbus of Space.
	Henry Ford launches the Ford Model T.

1910s

Ralph 124C 41+

Serialized in Modern Electrics
Author	Hugo Gernsback
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction novel
Publication date	1911
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by	none
Followed by	none

Year	Event	Ref.
1910	Thomas Edison's film company produces the first film adaptation of Frankenstein.
1911	Hugo Gernsback publishes Ralph 124C 41+ in serial form in Modern Electrics.
	J. D. Beresford publishes The Hampdenshire Wonder.
1912	Garrett P. Serviss publishes The Second Deluge.
	Edgar Rice Burroughs publishes the novella Under the Moons of Mars.
	Arthur Conan Doyle publishes The Lost World, which gives the name to the Lost World subgenre of science fiction. Ironically, it is also one of the last Lost World novels to be published.
1912–1914	George Allan England publishes Darkness and Dawn in three separate serializations across 1912 and 1913, and in book form in 1914.
1913	Hugo Gernsback launches The Electrical Experimenter.
1914	H. G. Wells publishes The World Set Free.
	World War I begins.
1915	Charlotte Perkins Gilman publishes Herland.
	Jack London publishes The Scarlet Plague.
1916	Otto Witt launches Hugin, a magazine carrying popular science articles as well as some sf that has sometimes been considered the first science fiction magazine.
1917	Victor Rousseau Emanuel publishes The Messiah of the Cylinder.
	Vladimir Lenin leads the Russian October Revolution.
1918	Abraham Merritt publishes the novella The Moon Pool.
	World War I ends.

1920s

The Master Mind of Mars

Cover of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories, featuring Master Mind of Mars
Author	Edgar Rice Burroughs
Cover artist	Frank R. Paul
Language	English
Subject	Barsoom
Genre	Science fiction
Publication place	United States
Preceded by	The Chessmen of Mars
Followed by	A Fighting Man of Mars
Text	[[s:The Master Mind of Mars|The Master Mind of Mars]] at Wikisource

The Maschinenmensch from the 1927 film Metropolis

Year	Event	Ref.
1920	Karel Čapek publishes the play R.U.R., introducing the word "robot". It is first performed in 1921.
	W. E. B. Du Bois publishes the short story "The Comet".
	David Lindsay publishes A Voyage to Arcturus.
1921	Homer Eon Flint and Austin Hall publish "The Blind Spot" in Argosy All-Story Weekly.
1922	Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy publishes Aelita.
1923	E. V. Odle publishes The Clockwork Man.
	H. G. Wells publishes Men Like Gods.
	Weird Tales is launched.
	Hugo Gernsback dedicates the August issue of Science and Invention to "scientifiction".
1924	Yevgeny Zamyatin publishes We.
	The film Aelita, based on the 1922 novel, is released.
	Karel Čapek publishes Krakatit.
1925	Hugo Gernsback publishes Ralph 124C 41+ in book form.
	The film The Lost World, based on the 1912 novel by Arthur Conan Doyle, is released.
1926	Hugo Gernsback launches Amazing Stories.
	G. Peyton Wertenbaker publishes "The Coming of the Ice".
1927	Fritz Lang releases the film Metropolis.
	H. P. Lovecraft publishes "The Colour Out of Space".
1928	E. E. Smith publishes The Skylark of Space.
	Edmond Hamilton publishes "Crashing Suns".
	The film Alraune, the third adaptation of the 1911 novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers, is released.
	Philip Francis Nowlan publishes Armageddon 2419 A.D., the first story about Buck Rogers.
1929	Buck Rogers in the 25th Century begins publication as a comic strip.
	S. Fowler Wright publishes The World Below.
	Fritz Lang releases the realistic-looking film Woman in the Moon.

1930s

First issue of Astounding Stories of Super-Science, dated January 1930. The cover art is by Hans Waldemar Wessolowski.

Year	Event
1930	Olaf Stapledon publishes Last and First Men. The F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead publishes The World in 2030. John Taine publishes The Iron Star. Astounding Science-Fiction begins publication. The film Just Imagine is released; it is badly received and slows the advance of science fiction as a film genre. Science Wonder Stories and Air Wonder Stories merge to become Wonder Stories magazine. Astounding Stories of Super Science begins publication.
1931	James Whale releases his classic film adaptation of Frankenstein. Science and Invention ceases publication. Astounding Stories of Super Science changes its title to Astounding Stories.
1932	Aldous Huxley publishes Brave New World. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is made into a film.
1933	John Collier publishes the post-holocaust novel Tom's A-Cold (published as Full Circle in the United States). James Whale directs the film version of The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. Street and Smith purchase Astounding Stories and retool its editorial policy which raises its prominence in the field of science fiction.
1934	Murray Leinster publishes the short story "Sidewise in Time". Stanley G. Weinbaum publishes the short story "A Martian Odyssey". The Skylark series by E. E. Smith ends with the publication of Skylark of Valeron. E. E. Smith begins publication of his Lensman series with "Triplanetary" which is serialized in Amazing magazine. Jack Williamson begins publication of his Legion of Space series. Flash Gordon, a comic strip about a space opera adventure first published January 7, 1934.
1935	Olaf Stapledon publishes Odd John. Joseph O'Neill publishes Land under England, a Lost World novel that provides the backdrop for a sharp political satire. Maurice Renard's Le mains d'Orlac (The Hands of Orlac) is made into the film Mad Love.
1936	Things to Come, directed by William Cameron Menzies, is released. Paul Gurk publishes Tuzub 37. Karel Čapek publishes Valka s mloky (War with the Newts). Flash Gordon appears on film for the first time. Wonder Stories is sold off and is recast as Thrilling Wonder Stories taking a definite turn towards stories and images of monsters and adventures.
1937	Flash Gordon appears in the first book version of the series in Flash Gordon in the Caverns of Mongo. John W. Campbell Jr. becomes editor of Astounding Stories; he promptly changes the title to Astounding Science Fiction.
1938	John W. Campbell Jr., writing under the pseudonym "Don A. Stuart", writes the novella Who Goes There?. C. S. Lewis publishes Out of the Silent Planet. Orson Welles dramatises H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds on the radio and causes alleged widespread panic.
1939	A. E. van Vogt publishes Black Destroyer. Stanley G. Weinbaum publishes The New Adam. Startling Stories is launched.

1940s

Year	Event
1940	Robert A. Heinlein publishes the short story "The Roads Must Roll". Robert A. Heinlein publishes the short story "If This Goes On—". A. E. van Vogt publishes Slan as a serial; it is later published as a monographic volume in 1946. Fred Allhoff publishes Lightning in the Night, which served as a warning of what might happen if Hitler won World War II.
1941	Isaac Asimov publishes the short story "Nightfall". L. Sprague de Camp publishes Lest Darkness Fall. Robert A. Heinlein publishes the short story "Universe". Theodore Sturgeon publishes the short story "Microcosmic God". Phil Stong publishes the first major anthology of science fiction short stories. Science fiction publishing nearly ceases in England due to severe shortages of paper. John W. Campbell Jr. shuts down Unknown to preserve paper so as to keep Astounding Science Fiction in print.
1942	Isaac Asimov begins publishing the short stories that later were compiled into his seminal work Foundation. Robert A. Heinlein writes Beyond This Horizon then ceases writing science fiction to focus on war-related work. L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt publish Land of Unreason. Vita Sackville-West publishes Grand Canyon. Austin Tappan Wright publishes Islandia (novel). Peter Vansittart publishes I am the World.
1943	The Gremlins is written by Roald Dahl for Walt Disney Productions. Batman (serial) is released by Columbia Pictures as a 15 episode serial.
1944	C. L. Moore publishes the short story "No Woman Born". Clifford Simak begins publishing City in serial format in Astounding Science Fiction. Aldous Huxley publishes Time Must Have a Stop. Olaf Stapledon publishes Sirius. Philip Wylie publishes Night Unto Night.
1945	Murray Leinster publishes the novella First Contact. A. E. van Vogt publishes The World of Null-A as a serial in Astounding Science Fiction and later as a book in 1948. C. S. Lewis publishes That Hideous Strength.
1946	The Best of Science Fiction anthology, edited by Groff Conklin, is published. A. E. van Vogt publishes Slan in book format. E. E. Smith publishes The Skylark of Space in book format. McComas and Healy publish Adventures in Time and Space, an anthology of short stories considered seminal in the genre. Pat Frank publishes Mr. Adam. New Worlds begins publication in England.
1947	Robert A. Heinlein publishes Rocket Ship Galileo. Gnome Press becomes the most successful small press to publish science fiction content. J. O. Bailey publishes Pilgrims in Space and Time, the first academic analysis of science fiction. Fantasy Fiction, a short-lived science fiction magazine, begins publication. Despite its short run, it publishes the works of established writers Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt, and Murray Leinster, as well as the first published story by Cordwainer Smith, "Scanners Live in Vain", who had not been able to get published in more established SF magazines.
1948	Judith Merril publishes the short story "That Only a Mother". Founded in 1947, Shasta Publishers is publishing works by major SF authors by 1948, including Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, and Alfred Bester. Shasta rejects L. Ron Hubbard's first Dianetics volume. Astounding Science Fiction publishes Dianetics after it is rejected by Shasta Publishers.
1949	Everett Bleiler and T. E. Dikty edit and publish The Best Science Fiction Stories. George Orwell publishes Nineteen Eighty-Four. H. Beam Piper publishes the short story "He Walked Around the Horses". George R. Stewart publishes Earth Abides. Jack Vance publishes the short story "The King of Thieves". The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction begins publication.

1950s

Year	Event
1950	Isaac Asimov publishes I, Robot. Ray Bradbury publishes The Martian Chronicles. Judith Merril publishes Shadow on the Hearth. Galaxy Science Fiction begins publishing. Doubleday (publisher) begins publishing science fiction. The film Destination Moon, directed by Irving Pichel, is released. It is one of the first science fiction, as opposed to horror, films to be produced. Fifteen new science fiction magazines are established during 1950.
1951	Robert A. Heinlein publishes The Puppet Masters. Ray Bradbury publishes The Illustrated Man. John Wyndham publishes The Day of the Triffids. Le Rayon Fantastique, a collection of French science fiction novels, is launched by Éditions Gallimard. Out There, a television anthology series debuts. Tales of Tomorrow, a television anthology series debuts.
1952	Philip José Farmer publishes the short story "The Lovers". Clifford D. Simak publishes City. Theodore Sturgeon publishes the short story "The World Well Lost".
1953	Alfred Bester publishes The Demolished Man, which wins the first Hugo Award for Best Novel. Ray Bradbury publishes Fahrenheit 451. Arthur C. Clarke publishes Childhood's End. Hal Clement publishes Mission of Gravity. Ward Moore publishes Bring the Jubilee. Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth publish The Space Merchants. Frederik Pohl edits the anthology Star Science Fiction Stories. Theodore Sturgeon publishes E Pluribus Unicorn. Theodore Sturgeon publishes More Than Human. The 1953 World SF Convention awards the first Hugo Award; the award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the pioneering founder of Amazing Stories. Project Moonbase is released. It is widely considered a disaster and marks the last time that Robert A. Heinlein attempted to work with Hollywood to produce a movie. Galaxie (French science fiction magazine) begins publishing in France.
1954	Poul Anderson publishes Brain Wave. Isaac Asimov publishes The Caves of Steel. Tom Godwin publishes the short story "The Cold Equations". Donald Tuck publishes Handbook of Science Fiction and Fantasy, which is still used as a reference resource for scholars of science fiction. The Présence du futur series is launched by Denoël. The movies Them! and Gōjira are released. Jack Finney publishes The Body Snatchers.
1955	James Blish publishes Earthman, Come Home. Leigh Brackett publishes The Long Tomorrow. Arthur C. Clarke publishes the short story "The Star". William Tenn publishes the collection of short stories Of All Possible Worlds. Stanisław Lem publishes The Magellanic Cloud (Obłok Magellana).[1] Greg Benford and his twin brother launch a fanzine. This Island Earth is released. Utopia Magazin is launched in Germany. Science Fiction Theatre, a television anthology series debuts.
1956	Alfred Bester publishes Tiger! Tiger! which was published two years later in 1957 in the United States under the title The Stars My Destination. Arthur C. Clarke publishes The City and the Stars. Robert A. Heinlein publishes Double Star. Judith Merril edits the anthology SF: The Year's Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy. Invasion of the Body Snatchers, directed by Don Siegel, is released. Forbidden Planet, directed by Fred M. Wilcox, is released; the robot in the film is bound by Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. The Luna science fiction series is launched in Germany; it primarily reproduces existing titles. Astounding Science Fiction publishes Isaac Asimov's The Naked Sun in serial format. Galaxy publishes Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination in serial format. Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine publishes Robert A. Heinlein's The Door into Summer as a serial.
1957	Terra, a new series of science fiction publications, is launched in Germany. Galaxis is founded in Germany.
1958	Brian W. Aldiss publishes Non-Stop in England, which is later released as Starship in the United States. James Blish publishes A Case of Conscience. Ivan Yefremov publishes Andromeda. C. M. Kornbluth dies. Walter Ernsting launches the Terra-Sonderband imprint. The Fly is released. Satellite Science Fiction is launched.
1959	Philip K. Dick publishes Time Out of Joint. Robert A. Heinlein publishes Starship Troopers. Daniel Keyes publishes the novella Flowers for Algernon; the book of the same name is published in 1966. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. publishes The Sirens of Titan. The film The Giant Behemoth is released. The film On the Beach is released. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publishes The Land of Crimson Clouds The Twilight Zone begins airing in the United States.

1960s

Year	Event
1960	Poul Anderson publishes The High Crusade. Philip José Farmer publishes Strange Relations. Walter M. Miller Jr. publishes A Canticle for Leibowitz. Theodore Sturgeon publishes Venus Plus X. Kingsley Amis publishes New Maps of Hell, a compilation of his lectures on science fiction given at Princeton University. George Pal adapts The Time Machine to the big screen. John W. Campbell begins the process of changing the title of Astounding Science Fiction to Analog Science Fact and Fiction.
1961	Gordon R. Dickson publishes Naked to the Stars. Harry Harrison publishes The Stainless Steel Rat. Robert A. Heinlein publishes Stranger in a Strange Land. Zenna Henderson publishes the collection of short stories entitled Pilgrimage: The Book of the People. Stanisław Lem publishes Solaris in Poland. It is translated into English in 1970. Cordwainer Smith publishes the short story "Alpha Ralpha Boulevard". Frederik Pohl takes over as editor for Galaxy and If. Brian W. Aldiss publishes Hothouse in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
1962	J. G. Ballard publishes The Drowned World. Anthony Burgess publishes A Clockwork Orange. Philip K. Dick publishes The Man in the High Castle. Naomi Mitchison publishes Memoirs of a Spacewoman. Eric Frank Russell publishes The Great Explosion. The Manchurian Candidate is released to the big screen. Madeleine L'Engle publishes A Wrinkle in Time.
1963	Pierre Boulle publishes La planète des singes, which is translated as Planet of the Apes. Doctor Who begins airing in England. The literary journal Quarber Merkur is launched in Austria.
1964	Philip K. Dick publishes Martian Time-Slip. Robert A. Heinlein publishes Farnham's Freehold. James Blish publishes The Issue at Hand under the pseudonym William Atheling. Michael Moorcock becomes editor of New Worlds in Great Britain. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publish the novel Hard to Be a God in 1964.
1965	Philip K. Dick publishes Dr. Bloodmoney. Harry Harrison publishes The Streets of Ashkelon. Frank Herbert publishes Dune, which wins the Nebula Award for best novel. Jack Vance publishes Space Opera. World's Best Science Fiction: 1965, edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, is published. Cele Goldsmith Lalli steps down as editor of Amazing Stories and Fantastic Fiction when the two magazines are sold by Ziff Davis to Sol Cohen. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publish Monday Starts on Saturday in 1965. Lost in Space begins airing.
1966	Samuel R. Delany publishes Babel-17. Harry Harrison publishes Make Room! Make Room!. Robert A. Heinlein publishes The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. Damon Knight edits Orbit 1, the first in a series of anthologies. Keith Roberts publishes The Signaller. Star Trek begins being broadcast in the United States. The first Nebula Award is given out.
1967	Samuel R. Delany publishes The Einstein Intersection. Harlan Ellison edits the anthology Dangerous Visions. Roger Zelazny publishes Lord of Light. Anne McCaffrey publishes Dragonflight. The Prisoner begins airing in Great Britain. Horizons du Fantastique is launched in France.
1968	John Brunner publishes Stand on Zanzibar. Philip K. Dick publishes Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Thomas M. Disch publishes Camp Concentration. Judith Merril edits the England Swings SF anthology. Alexei Panshin publishes Rite of Passage. Keith Roberts publishes Pavane. Robert Silverberg publishes Hawksbill Station. 2001: A Space Odyssey, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is released. The Molecular Café, an anthology of Russian science fiction, is published in the West. Nueva Dimension is founded in Spain. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publish The Ugly Swans.
1969	Michael Crichton publishes The Andromeda Strain. Ursula K. Le Guin publishes The Left Hand of Darkness. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. publishes Slaughterhouse-Five. Visions of Tomorrow, a short-lived science fiction journal, is founded. While it remains in publication for only one year, it is the first English-language periodical to publish one of Stanisław Lem's short stories. Star Trek: The Original Series concludes its original broadcast run.

1970s

Year	Event
1970	Larry Niven publishes Ringworld. Marge Piercy publishes Dance the Eagle to Sleep. George Lucas releases his film THX 1138.
1971	Editor Terry Carr releases Universe 1, the first volume of the Universe anthology. Robert Silverberg publishes The World Inside. Donald A. Wollheim, editor of Ace Books, leaves to establish DAW Books. He uses the opportunity to include topics that were forbidden at Ace, including sex. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publish Prisoners of Power.
1972	Isaac Asimov publishes The Gods Themselves. Harlan Ellison edits Again, Dangerous Visions. Barry N. Malzberg publishes Beyond Apollo. Joanna Russ publishes When It Changed. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publish Roadside Picnic. Gene Wolfe publishes The Fifth Head of Cerberus. The Science Fiction Foundation begins publishing the journal Foundation. Stanisław Lem's novel Solaris is made into a film. Ben Bova officially becomes the editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact after running the magazine following John W. Campbell's death.
1973	Arthur C. Clarke publishes Rendezvous with Rama. Thomas Pynchon publishes Gravity's Rainbow. Mack Reynolds publishes Looking Backward from the Year 2000. James Tiptree Jr. publishes the collection of short stories Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home. Ian Watson publishes The Embedding. The journal Science Fiction Studies begins publication. The John W. Campbell Memorial Award is established by Harry Harrison and Brian Aldiss. Brian Aldiss publishes Billion Year Spree. Moonbase 3 is released. Star Trek: The Animated Series begins its original broadcast run.
1974	Suzy McKee Charnas publishes Walk to the End of the World. Joe Haldeman publishes The Forever War. Ursula K. Le Guin publishes The Dispossessed. SF Magazine begins publication in Japan; it primarily translates works found in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine. Star Trek: The Animated Series concludes its original broadcast run.
1975	Samuel R. Delany publishes Dhalgren. Joanna Russ publishes The Female Man. Pamela Sargent edits Women of Wonder. Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson publish Illuminatus!. Gérard Klein edits the first Anthologies de la Science-Fiction in France. Univers begins publication in France. Space: 1999 begins airing in England.
1976	Samuel R. Delany publishes Triton. Marge Piercy publishes Woman on the Edge of Time. James Tiptree Jr. publishes the novella Houston, Houston, Do You Read?. Odyssey Science Fiction magazine is founded and folds after only two issues. Galileo Magazine is founded and folds after a single issue. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky publish Definitely Maybe in 1976.
1977	Philip K. Dick publishes A Scanner Darkly. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, directed by Steven Spielberg, is released. Star Wars, directed by George Lucas, is released. Collectif is published in France. Frederik Pohl publishes Gateway. Asimov's Science Fiction magazine is founded.
1978	George H. White publishes his La saga de los Aznar in Spain. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams is aired on BBC Radio. Bob Guccione founds Omni magazine. Battlestar Galactica begins its original broadcast on ABC.
1979	Douglas Adams publishes The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Octavia Butler publishes Kindred. John Crowley publishes Engine Summer. Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is released. Darko Suvin publishes the translation of his Pour une poetique de la science-fiction as Metamorphoses of Science Fiction. It later receives the Pilgrim Award. The first edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is published. Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise, is released.

1980s

Year	Event
1980	Stephen King publishes The Mist as part of the Dark Forces anthology. Gregory Benford publishes Timescape. Gene Wolfe publishes The Shadow of the Torturer, the first volume of The Book of the New Sun series. Tor Books is founded by Tom Doherty after he leaves Ace Books. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, directed by Irvin Kershner, is released. SF et Quotidien is published in France.
1981	C. J. Cherryh publishes Downbelow Station. William Gibson publishes the short story "The Gernsback Continuum". Vernor Vinge publishes the short story "True Names". Serge Brussolo publishes Sommeil de sang (Blood Sleep) in France. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is translated to film. Interzone begins publication in Great Britain.
1982	Brian Aldiss publishes Helliconia Spring. Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, is released. Steven Spielberg releases E.T.. John Carpenter releases a remade version of The Thing. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, directed by Nicholas Meyer, is released.
1983	David Brin publishes Startide Rising. Bluejay Books is set up as an imprint of St. Martin's Press. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, directed by Richard Marquand, is released. The mini-series V airs. Analog serializes Greg Bear's book Blood Music.
1984	Octavia Butler publishes the short story "Bloodchild". Samuel R. Delany publishes Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. Gardner Dozois edits The Year's Best Science Fiction: First Annual Collection. Suzette Haden Elgin publishes Native Tongue. William Gibson publishes Neuromancer, one of the earliest works of the Cyberpunk genre. Gwyneth Jones publishes Divine Endurance. Kim Stanley Robinson publishes the short story "The Lucky Strike", which was reprinted in the collection of short stories entitled The Planet on the Table in 1986, and the novel The Wild Shore. Frank Herbert's Dune is brought to the cinemas by David Lynch. The Terminator, directed by James Cameron is released in cinemas and becomes a massive blockbuster. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, directed by Leonard Nimoy, is released. The Ewok Adventure - Caravan of Courage of the Star Wars franchise, directed by John Korty, is broadcast on ABC.
1985	Margaret Atwood publishes The Handmaid's Tale, which wins the first Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Novel in 1987. Greg Bear publishes Blood Music and Eon. Orson Scott Card publishes Ender's Game. Lewis Shiner and Bruce Sterling publish the short story "Mozart in Mirrorshades". Bruce Sterling publishes Schismatrix. Kurt Vonnegut publishes Galápagos. Iain Banks publishes Walking on Glass. Back to the Future is released in the movie theaters.
1986	Lois McMaster Bujold publishes Ethan of Athos. Orson Scott Card publishes Speaker for the Dead. Ken Grimwood publishes Replay. Pamela Sargent publishes The Shore of Women. Joan Slonczewski publishes A Door into Ocean. The Arthur C. Clarke Award is given out for the first time; The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood wins. Aliens, directed by James Cameron, is released. Charles C. Ryan founds and edits Aboriginal SF. Frank Miller publishes the graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, directed by Leonard Nimoy, is released.
1987	Iain M. Banks publishes Consider Phlebas. Octavia Butler publishes Dawn: Xenogenesis I. Pat Cadigan publishes Mindplayers. Judith Moffett publishes Pennterra. Lucius Shepard publishes Life During Wartime. Michael Swanwick publishes Vacuum Flowers. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are allowed to leave Russia to attend their first WorldCon in Great Britain. Star Trek: The Next Generation launches on television in the United States. Alan Moore publishes his Watchmen in the U.S. comics market.
1988	John Barnes publishes Sin of Origin. Sheri S. Tepper publishes The Gate to Women's Country. Robert A. Heinlein dies. Red Dwarf begins airing in Great Britain.
1989	Orson Scott Card publishes The Folk of the Fringe. Geoff Ryman publishes The Child Garden. Dan Simmons publishes Hyperion. Bruce Sterling publishes the short story "Dori Bangs". Sheri S. Tepper publishes Grass. Locus Magazine documents a 50% per year increase in the number of science fiction books being published. Doctor Who hiatus starts. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner, is released. Back to the Future Part II is released in the movie theaters.

1990s

Year	Event
1990	Colin Greenland publishes Take Back Plenty. Kim Stanley Robinson publishes Pacific Edge. Sheri S. Tepper publishes Raising the Stones. Brian Stableford publishes his first Werewolves of London series. Total Recall is released. Eidolon (Australian magazine) is launched in Australia.
1991	Stephen Baxter publishes Raft. Emma Bull publishes Bone Dance. Pat Cadigan publishes the short story "Dispatches from the Revolution". Michael Crichton publishes Jurassic Park. Gwyneth Jones publishes White Queen. Brian Stableford publishes Sexual Chemistry: Sardonic Tales of the Genetic Revolution. James Cameron releases Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, directed by Nicholas Meyer, is released.
1992	Greg Egan publishes Quarantine. Nancy Kress publishes the short story "Beggars in Spain". Maureen McHugh publishes China Mountain Zhang. Kim Stanley Robinson publishes Red Mars. Neal Stephenson publishes Snow Crash. Vernor Vinge publishes A Fire Upon the Deep. Connie Willis publishes Doomsday Book. Isaac Asimov dies.
1993	Eleanor Arnason publishes Ring of Swords. Nicola Griffith publishes Ammonite. Peter F. Hamilton publishes Mindstar Rising. Nancy Kress publishes Beggars in Spain. Paul J. McAuley publishes Red Dust. Paul Park publishes Coelestis. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine begins airing in the United States.
1994	Kathleen Ann Goonan publishes Queen City Jazz. Elizabeth Hand publishes Waking the Moon. Mike Resnick publishes A Miracle of Rare Design. Melissa Scott publishes Trouble and Her Friends. Stargate, directed by Roland Emmerich, is released in cinemas. Star Trek: The Next Generation concludes its original broadcast run. Star Trek Generations, directed by David Carson, is released. Babylon 5 begins its original broadcast run on PTEN.
1995	Greg Egan publishes Permutation City. Ken MacLeod publishes The Star Fraction. Melissa Scott publishes Shadow Man. Neal Stephenson publishes The Diamond Age. Star Trek: Voyager begins airing in the United States.
1996	Orson Scott Card publishes Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus. Kathleen Ann Goonan publishes The Bones of Time. Mary Doria Russell publishes The Sparrow. Star Trek: First Contact, directed by Jonathan Frakes, is released.
1997	Wil McCarthy publishes Bloom. Paul J. McAuley publishes Child of the River. Stargate SG-1 begins its original broadcast on Showtime.
1998	Graham Joyce and Peter F. Hamilton publish the short story "Eat Reecebread". Keith Hartman publishes the short story "Sex, Guns, and Baptists". Nalo Hopkinson publishes Brown Girl in the Ring. Ian R. MacLeod publishes the short story "The Summer Isles". Brian Stableford publishes Inherit the Earth. Bruce Sterling publishes Distraction. Howard Waldrop publishes "US". Star Trek: Insurrection, directed by Jonathan Frakes, is released.
1999	Greg Bear publishes Darwin's Radio. Neal Stephenson publishes Cryptonomicon. Vernor Vinge publishes A Deepness in the Sky. The Matrix, directed by The Wachowskis, is released. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine concludes its original broadcast run. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas, is released. Farscape begins its original broadcast run on SyFy. Galaxy Quest, a science fiction parody film directed by Dean Parisot, is released. Futurama, created by Matt Groening, begins its first original broadcast run on Fox.

2000s

Year	Event
2000	Nalo Hopkinson publishes Midnight Robber, a coming-of-age story set in a Caribbean-settled colony world. Ursula K. Le Guin publishes The Telling. Ken MacLeod publishes Cosmonaut Keep.
2001	Terry Bisson publishes the short story "The Old Rugged Cross". Ted Chiang publishes the short story "Hell is the Absence of God". John Clute publishes Appleseed. Mary Gentle publishes Ash: A Secret History. Maureen McHugh publishes Nekropolis. China Miéville publishes Perdido Street Station. Geoff Ryman releases the mundane science fiction manifesto, calling for hard science fiction that depicts plausible technologies. Joan Slonczewski publishes Brain Plague. Douglas Adams dies. Star Trek: Enterprise begins airing in the United States.
2002	Greg Egan publishes Schild's Ladder. Jon Courtenay Grimwood publishes Effendi. Kim Stanley Robinson publishes The Years of Rice and Salt. Star Trek: Nemesis, directed by Stuart Baird, is released. Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, directed by George Lucas, is released. Firefly, created by Joss Whedon, begins its original broadcast run on Fox.
2003	Star Wars: Clone Wars is broadcast on Cartoon Network. Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries is broadcast on SyFy.
2004	Battlestar Galactica begins its original broadcast on SyFy. Stargate Atlantis begins its original broadcast on SyFy.
2005	Octavia Butler publishes Fledgling. Doctor Who returns as a weekly series. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, directed by George Lucas, is released. Serenity, based on Firefly, directed by Joss Whedon, is released.
2006	Battlestar Galactica: The Resistance is broadcast on SyFy. Stanisław Lem dies.[2]
2007	Oxford University Press publishes what is said to be "the first historical dictionary devoted to science fiction": Brave New Words.
2008	Iron Man is released as the first film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Arthur C. Clarke dies. Liu Cixin publishes The Three-Body Problem, the first novel of the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, directed by Dave Filoni, is released. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TV Series) is broadcast on Cartoon Network. Futurama begins its second original broadcast run on Comedy Central.
2009	Star Trek, directed by J. J. Abrams, is released. Stargate Universe begins its original broadcast run on SyFy.

2010s

Year	Event
2010	Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, is released.
2011	Andy Weir publishes The Martian.
2012	Cloud Atlas, directed by The Wachowskis, is released. Ray Bradbury dies.
2013	Orphan Black is produced by Temple Street Productions, BBC America and Space. Star Trek Into Darkness, directed by J. J. Abrams, is released.
2014	Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan, is released. Star Wars: Rebels is broadcast on Disney XD.
2015	N. K. Jemisin publishes The Fifth Season, the first novel of the Broken Earth series. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by J. J. Abrams, is released.
2016	Stranger Things is released on Netflix. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, directed by Gareth Edwards, is released. Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin, is released.
2017	Star Trek: Discovery is released on CBS All Access and Netflix. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, is released. The Orville, created by Seth MacFarlane, starts its original broadcast run on Fox.
2018	Ursula K. Le Guin dies. Solo: A Star Wars Story, directed by Ron Howard, is released.
2019	Alita: Battle Angel, produced by James Cameron and directed by Robert Rodriguez, is released. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, directed by J. J. Abrams, is released. The Mandalorian is released on Disney+.

2020s

Year	Event
2020	Solar Opposites premiers on Hulu. Star Trek: Picard is released on Paramount+.
2021	Denis Villeneuve's film adaptation of Dune is released to theaters and streaming simultaneously. Star Wars series The Bad Batch and The Book of Boba Fett are released on Disney+.
2022	Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is released on Paramount+. Star Wars series Tales of the Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Andor are released on Disney+.
2023	Rebel Moon is released on Netflix. Star Wars series Ahsoka is released on Disney+.
2024	The Last Dangerous Visions is published by J. Michael Straczynski. Dune: Part Two is released. Alien: Romulus a science fiction horror film is released.

See also

• History of science fiction
• List of films set in the future
• List of science fiction authors
• Lists of science fiction films
• List of science fiction television programs
• List of science fiction television films
• List of science fiction novels
• List of years in literature