Timeline 1

Timeline 1 or Timeline Zero/Timeline 0 was the original, unaltered timeline of events that took place before time travel was invented.

Events

Cretaceous Period

• Year unknown
  • Date unknown
    • A meteor strikes the Earth, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs.

1st century A.D.

• Year Unknown
  • Date unknown
    • Bifficus Antanneny is born.

1300s

• Years unknown
  • Dates unknown
    • Lord Biffingham of Tannenshire is born.
    • Harold McFly is born.
    • Jennivere McFly is born.

1600s

• 1697
  • Date Unknown
    • Mac the Black is wanted by the Spanish Armada for piracy and hides in Smilin' Skull Island.

1700s

• 1752
  • Saturday, September 2
    • In Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment is a success.

1820s

• 1820
  • Monday, December 25
    • Ebiffnezer Tannen sees his own wing completed in Debtor's prison.

1850s

• 1850
  • Sunday, March 3
    • Daniel Clayton and Martha O'Brien are married while traveling through Wyoming as part of a wagon train.
  • Dates unknown
    • Hill Valley is founded by William "Bill" Hill.
    • First year covered in A History of Hill Valley, 1850-1930.
• 1855
  • Thursday, October 25
    • Clara Clayton is born to Daniel and Martha Clayton in New Jersey.

1860s

• 1861
  • Dates unknown
    • The earliest of Doc's emergency money is printed.
• 1864
  • Friday, February 12
    • The Battle of Chattanooga takes place in Tennessee in the American Civil War. A Confederate army regiment is wiped out in the battle.
• 1865
  • Tuesday, September 5
    • Hill Valley is incorporated into a town.
  • Date unknown
    • Jules Verne's novel From the Earth to the Moon is first published.
• 1866
  • Date unknown
    • 11-year-old Clara comes down with diphtheria and is quarantined for three months. As a result, her father places a telescope next to her bed for her to use, which sparks her lifelong interest in astronomy and science.
• 1869
  • Date unknown
    • Marshal James Strickland comes to Hill Valley.

1870s

• 1870
  • Date unknown
    • Jules Verne's novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is published for the first time.
• 1875
  • Date unknown
    • Thaddeus Tannen forces Wendell Parker to sign a deed to the Parker Ranch, but buries the paper.
• 1876
  • Date unknown
    • Beauregard Tannen moves to Hill Valley and starts building a saloon.
• 1879
  • Date unknown
    • Daniel Clayton dies.

1880s

• • • Dates unknown
      • Seamus McFly, his wife Maggie and his brother Martin emigrate from Ireland to the United States. They take a few years to get to California, shortly setting in Virginia City, Nevada along the way. Martin starts a bar fight there after someone calls him "yellow", and is stabbed to death with a bowie knife as a result.
  • Seamus and Maggie arrive and settle in Hill Valley, living in a farmhouse 14 miles outside of town.
• 1880
  • Date unknown
    • A Wells Fargo & Co building is constructed in Hill Valley.
• 1883
  • Monday, August 27
    • Krakatoa erupts violently, making it one of the largest eruptions in modern times.
• 1884
  • Dates Unknown
    • Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen shoots twelve men, not including Indians or Chinamen.
    • An editor of the Hill Valley Telegraph is shot by Buford Tannen after he published an unfavorable story about him, forcing the next editor to not publish any material on the gunslinger.
    • Martha Clayton passes away.
• 1885
  • Thursday, January 1
    • The town’s mayor Hubert tries to hire a blacksmith for Hill Valley. He can't find the right person for the job.

• April
  • William Sean McFly is born to Seamus and Maggie McFly. He is the first McFly born in America.
• Saturday, August 29
  • There is a meeting of the townspeople over who will pick up the new schoolteacher on September 4. No one volunteers.
• Wednesday, September 2
  • Native American Horseback-archers are chased near Hill Valley by the United States Cavalry.

• Thursday, September 3
  • Marshal Strickland was out of town as he had gone to Haysville to witness the hanging of Stinky Lomax, and a sign announcing this was posted on his office door .
  • Buford Tannen and his gang; Stubble, Ceegar and Buck enter the Palace Saloon to see if Seamus McFly is there; then leave.

• Friday, September 4
  • The new Hill Valley Courthouse clock is delivered to Hill Valley by train. Also on board the same train as a passenger is Clara Clayton, who had been commissioned to be the new teacher at the schoolhouse near Carson Spur, outside Hill Valley. With no one to meet Clara upon her arrival at the station, she then rents two horses and a wagon buckboard from Joe Statler, then sets out to find the schoolhouse on her own.
  • A snake spooks the horses pulling Clara's wagon. They then ride madly into Shonash Ravine, killing her instantly.
• Saturday, September 5
  • The Hill Valley Festival is held. As part of Hill Valley’s anniversary festivities, the new courthouse clock is started at exactly 8:00 p.m. PST. Photographs with the clock are offered to townspeople wishing to pose with the new timepiece.
  • Elmer H. Johnson presents the Colt Peacemaker made by Samuel Colt's Patent Firearms.
• Sunday, September 6
  • Buford Tannen and his gang rob the Pine City Stage.
• Monday, September 7
  • Buford Tannen is sentenced to ten days in the County Jail for robbing the Pine City Stage. Seamus enters the Palace Saloon after a long time; and probably witnesses Buford’s arrest.
  • 8:00 a.m. Locomotive 131, hauled passengers and freight trains ton a one-way circuit on a single track, stopping along its westbound route at the Hill Valley Railroad Station, with San Francisco, California at the end of the line. It was able to complete the circuit in three days, and cruised at 25 miles per hour with a top speed of 55.

• Tuesday, September 8
  • 2:00 p.m. Hill Valley holds a funeral for Clara Clayton.
• Tuesday, December 1
  • 12:00 p.m. Shonash Ravine is renamed Clayton Ravine.

• 1886
  • Date unknown
    • Scheduled completion of the railroad bridge over Clayton Ravine.
• 1888
  • Date unknown
    • Essex Theater is fully constructed.

1890s

• 1891
  • Date Unknown
    • The Hill Valley Police Station is established.

• 1893
  • Wednesday, July 12
    • A Steam tricycle driver imports a Steam tricycle made by Léon Serpollet from France to Hill Valley.

• 1895
  • Wednesday, February 6
    • Baseball player Babe Ruth is born in Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Date unknown
    • Hal's Hardware is established.
• 1897
  • Wednesday, September 1
    • Pee Wee McFly participates in baseball's National League pennant race as a pitcher for the Boston Beaneaters.
  • Thursday, September 2
    • Under pressure from the gangster Diamond Jim Tannen, Pee Wee strikes out during the crucial third playoff game, costing his team the National League pennant. Afterward, Pee Wee retires from baseball.

1900s

• 1900
  • Date unknown
    • Hill Valley Stationers is established.
• 1902
  • Date unknown
    • Arthur McFly is born to William McFly and his wife.
• 1904
  • Saturday, April 30
    • The 1904 World's Fair Exposition opens in St. Louis, Missouri.
  • Thursday, December 1
    • The 1904 World's Fair Exposition ends.
• 1905
  • Dates unknown
    • Valley Bakery is established.
    • Hill Valley Mercantile Deliveries is established.
• 1906
  • Wednesday, April 18
    • San Francisco, California has an earthquake.
    • The Hill Valley Courthouse is used as a shelter for the victims of this earthquake.
• 1908
  • Date unknown
    • The Von Brauns emigrate from Germany to America and settle in Hill Valley.

1910s

• 1910
  • Date unknown
    • Otis Peabody is born.
    • Sam Baines is born to Albert Baines and his wife.
• 1914
  • Date unknown
    • Emmett Lathrop Brown is born to Judge Erhardt von Braun and Sarah Lathrop.
• 1915
  • Date unknown
    • Stella Baines is born.
    • At the Brown family mansion, a young Emmett Brown conducts an experiment by tying a teddy bear to a rocket.
• 1917
  • Friday, April 6
    • The United States declares war on Germany. Due to hostility against German-Americans during World War I, Erhardt changes his family's name from "Von Braun" to "Brown".
• 1918
  • Date unknown
    • 16-year-old Arthur McFly enlists in the army and is sent to France during World War I. When the military brass realizes he lied about his age, he is discharged for fraudulent enlistment before he gets the chance to see combat. Arthur takes this hard and will feel ashamed of it for years to come.

1920s

• 1923
  • Date unknown
    • Grays, the future publishers of Grays Sports Almanac, is founded.
• 1925
  • Dates unknown
    • Stanford S. Strickland is born to Roger and Irene Strickland.
    • 11-year-old Emmett Brown reads Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for the first time and realizes that he must devote his life to science.
• 1926
  • Thursday, August 5
    • While staying with his "Oddball" Uncle Oliver in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Emmett Brown falls into the river while fishing, the accident causes him to develop a fear of fishing.
  • Date Unknown
    • 12-year-old Emmett Brown attempts to dig to the center of the earth after being inspired by Jules Verne's novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, but he doesn't get far.
• 1929
  • Date Unknown
    • The ladder to the roof of the Hill Valley Courthouse is removed due to several jumping incidents.

1930s

• 1930
  • Date Unknown
    • The final year covered in A History of Hill Valley, 1850-1930.
• 1931
  • May
    • The Hill Valley speakeasy is burned down. The arsonist, Edna Strickland, is never caught or identified.
  • June
    • Emmett Brown is made to work as a law clerk at the Hill Valley Courthouse, as his father is a judge and is against his scientific pursuit.
  • Saturday, June 13
    • Officer Danny Parker is involved in a police chase with Kid Tannen's gang.
    • Emmett Brown is tasked with delivering a subpoena to Arthur McFly as part of an ongoing investigation into the affairs of Irving "Kid" Tannen, but does not manage to find him.
  • Tuesday, August 25
    • Trixie Trotter turns on Kid Tannen after being instructed in accounting by Arthur McFly, and noticing that Kid never paid taxes on the earnings from his speakeasy. Tannen is subsequently arrested by Officer Danny Parker, who is promoted to detective shortly thereafter.
    • Emmett Brown goes to a showing of Frankenstein at the Town Theater. The movie provides him with the inspiration for his project at the Hill Valley Science Exposition. He keeps the ticket stub in his wallet from then onwards.
  • Monday, October 12 to Thursday, October 15
    • The Hill Valley Science Expo is held.
    • Emmett Brown presents his project at the Expo, which ends being a spectacularly miserable failure. However, Emmett would consider his failure at the Expo to be the moment that marked his transition from an amateur garage scientist into a professional seeker of truth.
• 1932
  • February
    • The site of the Hill Valley speakeasy is replaced by a new building.
  • Dates unknown
    • Emmett Brown participates in the 1932 Hill Valley Junior Science Fair with his invention, a videotape recorder. According to him, "It worked perfectly... too bad there weren't any TV sets around."
    • The second Hill Valley Science Exposition is held.
    • Kid Tannen is sentenced to a life sentence in San Quentin State Prison. A song is written about it.
• 1933
  • Friday, April 7
    • The Bob Brothers All-Star International Circus comes to Hill Valley.
  • Monday, April 10
    • The last day of the circus' performance in Hill Valley.
  • Date unknown
    • The third and final Hill Valley Science Exposition is held. This is the last year it is held due to the Influenza exhibit leaking into the concession stands.
• 1936
  • Date unknown
    • Arthur McFly and Sylvia Miskin get married.
    • Kid Tannen escapes from San Quentin State Prison for about 3 hours. During this time, he makes love to Myra Benson, conceiving his son Biff.
• 1937
  • Friday, March 28
    • Biff Howard Tannen is born to Kid and Myra Tannen, Biff is taken custody by his grandmother Gertrude Tannen.
• 1938
  • Friday, April 1
    • George Douglas McFly is born to Arthur and Sylvia McFly.
  • Monday, April 18
    • The first issue of Action Comics (Known mostly for the introduction of Superman) is made available for purchase.
  • Dates unknown
    • Lorraine Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
    • Match is born.
    • Skinhead is born.
    • 3-D is born.
    • Otis and Elsie Peabody get married.

1940s

• 1940
  • Date unknown
    • The Kroll process is perfected, making titanium commercially available.
• 1941
  • Date unknown
    • Martha Peabody is born to Otis and Elsie Peabody.
      • Sunday, December 7
    • The United States fights in World War II, 16-year-old Stanford S. Strickland lies about his age to fight in the war.
• 1943
  • Date unknown
    • Milton Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
    • While teaching at the California Institute of Technology, Emmett Brown convinces Robert Millikan to get him an interview for the secret project for which he deduced the United States government was recruiting. Despite the disastrous interview, where Emmett pretends the home of his landlady, Mrs. Gomez, is his own, Emmett is given a job working for the Manhattan Project.
• 1944
  • Date unknown (before September 27)
    • Emmett Brown moves into Apartment 3B on 1191 South Kelsey Street in Hill Valley. He is given free rent in exchange for cleaning the oily rags from the service station below.
  • Date unknown
    • Sherman Peabody is born to Otis and Elsie Peabody.
• 1945
  • Date unknown
    • The blueprints of Emmett Brown's Fance-O-Dance dancing shoes are destroyed in a building fire.
• 1946
  • Date unknown
    • The Ford Super De Luxe Convertible is manufactured by Ford.
• 1947
  • Date unknown
    • Suitable replacement parts for repairing the DeLorean time machine become available.
• 1949
  • Date unknown
    • Sally Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.

1950s

• 1950
  • Dates unknown
    • 12-year-old George McFly tries to stand up for his friend Billy Stockhausen, but fails to do so.
    • The first year of sports statistics that is covered by Grays Sports Almanac.
• 1951
  • Dates unknown
    • Toby Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
• 1952
  • Thursday, February 7
    • While shopping at the Hoggly Woggly grocery store, Emmett Brown has a tussle with a wrestling promoter over the last remaining potato. After winning the tussle, Emmett is offered a career by the promoter as a small town professional wrestler. Encouraged by the crowd, Emmett reluctantly accepts.
  • Friday, February 15
    • Emmett "Brainbuster" Brown is slated to fight against Mad Maximus. However, Emmett never shows up for the match, having decided to continue his pursuit of science.
• 1954
  • August
    • Tales from Space #8 is released.
  • Thursday, November 18
    • Cattle Queen of Montana starring Ronald Reagan and Barbara Stanwyck is released in theaters.
  • Wednesday, December 8
    • The Atomic Kid starring Mickey Rooney is released in theaters.
  • Dates unknown
    • George McFly reads How to Win Friends and Influence People, but the advice he gains from this book makes people stay away from him even more — with the exception of Biff who, on their first encounter in high school, rubs a hero sandwich in George's face.
    • Joseph "Joey" Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
• 1955
  • Date unknown
    • Otis Peabody tries to breed Pine trees on his farm, Twin Pines Ranch. He grows a pair of twin pines. Otis was regarded as a bit crazy for this idea.
  • Saturday, November 5:
    • Doc Brown slips off his toilet whilst hanging a clock and has a vision of the flux capacitor.
    • Biff Tannen and his gang pick on George McFly at Lou's Café, warning George to never go into the café again. The café's busboy, Goldie Wilson, gives George advice on standing up for himself, but George ignores it.
    • While 'birdwatching', i.e. spying on a girl (Lorraine Baines) changing through her window, George McFly slips and falls out of a tree into the street right in front of Sam Baines's car. After hitting him with the car, Baines takes him in, and his daughter Lorraine takes care of George. The two fall in love.
  • Monday, November 7: On the first day of school after George was hit by Sam Baines's car, Lorraine is infatuated with George as a result of the Florence Nightingale effect. With his attentions focused on Lorraine, George stops writing science fiction stories and having missed Science Fiction Theatre on the 5th (due to his injury), apparently has no problem missing the show scheduled for Saturday the 12th - the night of the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. George then asks Lorraine to the dance, and she accepts. Biff, meanwhile, apparently leaves them alone for awhile.
  • Tuesday, November 8: Biff and his gang stop by Lou's Cafe to make sure that George McFly isn't there, then drive off, perhaps commenting on a manure truck that is parked nearby.
  • Saturday, November 12:
    • Doc continues to think about the vision he had had a week earlier about the flux capacitor. If Doc is conducting an experiment, it is probably in his home rather than in Courthouse Square.
    • Lorraine, accompanied by her friend Babs, goes to Ruth's Frock Shop in downtown Hill Valley to pick up a dress she had made for the dance later that night. There is nobody else present.
    • The Enchantment Under the Sea dance takes place at the Hill Valley High School. Marvin Berry and the Starlighters play a set of music, taking a break at 9 o'clock.
    • Biff and his gang spend the evening drinking, but avoid going to the dance.
    • During Marvin Berry and the Starlighters' second (and final for the night) set, George and Lorraine share their first kiss on the dance floor. It is at that moment that Lorraine realizes that she is going to spend the rest of her life with George.
    • 10:04 p.m.: The Hill Valley Courthouse is struck by lightning, stopping its clock after 70 years, 2 months, 7 days, 2 hours and 4 minutes of continuous ticking. Despite repeated attempts over the intervening years, the clock is never successfully repaired; in fact, most Hill Valley residents voice a desire for its preservation as is to memorialize the unusual occurrence.

• 1956
  • Date unknown
    • Ellen Baines is born to Sam and Stella Baines.
    • Lyon Estates housing development is built.
• June
  • Assuming they do not repeat 12th grade, George McFly, Lorraine Baines, and Biff Tannen graduate from Hill Valley High School.
• 1958
  • Friday, March 28
    • Biff Tannen celebrates his 21st birthday by visiting the racetrack, where he loses all his money.

• Monday, March 31
  • Chuck Berry releases the single Johnny B. Goode.

• Saturday, November 22
  • George and Lorraine go to the Essex Theater to see the new movie From the Earth to the Moon.

• Sunday, December 7
  • George McFly and Lorraine Baines get married.

1960s

• 1960
  • Monday, April 4
    • The 32nd Academy Awards are held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.
• 1961
  • Date unknown
    • Every window in the greater Hill Valley Medfield Basin is broken due to a botched science experiment performed by Emmett Brown.
    • Emmett Brown attends the American College of Technical Science & Complicated Math and became friend with his college roommate Walter Wisdom and told him of his many inventions including the Flux capacitor, causing Walter to take credit for that invention.
• 1962
  • Wednesday, August 1
    • Emmett Brown and his dog, Copernicus, sleep in his fireproof garage.
  • Tuesday, October 16
    • The Cuban Missile Crisis, the standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba, begins.
  • Wednesday, October 24
    • Colonel Lomax and the retired Lieutenant General Leslie Groves go to Emmett Brown's mansion to offer him a large sum of money to invent a time machine, in order to prevent the Cuban Missile Crisis from ever happening. Needing money to complete his experiments, Emmett agrees.
  • Thursday, October 25
    • Emmett has regrets, coupled with worries about ushering in an arms race through time, in the same way he helped usher in the nuclear arms race through his participation in the Manhattan Project. He uses his prototype temporal field capacitor to send a letter through time to himself since he knows that it lacks a means to prevent overheating due to the overload of flux energy. He sends it to August 1, when he knows he and Copernicus were safe in the fireproof lab in his garage. This creates Timeline 2, which begins at the note's entry point on August 1, 1962 and Timeline 1 fades away.