The Cynthian Era

3116-3410CE

Overview

The Cynthian Era is also known as the Era of Golden Peace. Stretching the length of Cynthia's nearly three century reign, the period marks the maturation of the Empire of Humanity as a Post-Material interstellar culture. Cynthia did not rule the Empire herself. In 3125CE she appointed her Chief of Staff, Duke David DeBeers of Aphrodite, as her Prime Minister, a post he held until his execution by Emperor Rogar II in 3410CE. The Imperial Consort, Prince Ivan Roosevelt, whose wife found him boring, was gradually excluded from Imperial policymaking and he eventually retreated to his holdings on Triton, settling permanently on the cold moon in 3222CE.

The Cynthian Era was known for its sponsorship of cultural expansion, with the formation of the Ministry of Culture, the renewal of the Olympics, and the foundation of the Imperial Racing Federation. These new institutions and advanced simulariums helped channel the energies and time of a populace that had little need to labor to support an increasing level of basic affluence.

In his 3160CE speech, DeBeers outlined the philosophy and goals of the Era of Golden Peace, emphasizing harmony, tolerance and economic well-being. His policies also stressed stability, pushing for growing isolationism and a gradual decline in frontier exploration and scientific research. Though the citizens of the Empire enjoyed wealth and leisure, and though the Empire reached technological parity with the Grand Federation, the reaction to slow growth and to the growing stagnation ultimately cost both Cynthia and DeBeers their lives.

Early in Cynthia's reign, the potential risks of interstellar civilization became evident in the discovery of the failed Hitzarchi and Than civilizations, felled by a quantum nanomechanical virus. Almost on queue, unrelated nanomechanical viruses damaged Imperial infrastructure, prompting safeguards in design that limited the risks of an Hitzarchi fall.

The Cynthian Era saw first contact with major interstellar states. After overcoming DeBeers' objection, an Imperial expedition reached Heshar in 3220CE and contacted the reclusive race in the following year. In 3236CE, a Grand Federation research expedition arrived at Heshar, marking first contact between the Empire and the Grand Federation of Races. By 3244CE the Empire and Federation had established formal diplomatic relations. Early relations between the Empire and Grand Federation were amiable, with the Grand Federation making a rebuffed offer of Primary Race status to Cynthia in 3291CE, but relations soon soured. Beginning in the 3320s the importation of Static (as Humans called the Khabaderan herb chundas) and subsequent Imperial interdiction efforts against the drug caused growing friction. Increasing distrust and hostility between Humans and Eenikiti, who both saw themselves as the dominant oxygen-breathing race, also inflamed passions.

In 3302CE the Rigel Expedition encountered the Khald'aron in Sector 1449, leading to diplomatic contact between Humans and the amiable race and to the opening of the Tarsus-Orion Trail of Rimward colonization, most noted for the open settlement of Glorious in 3330CE.

Demographically, the Empire became a truly interstellar civilization when the Census Office noted in 3300CE that over half of the Empire's sixty-three billion Humans resided outside the Solar system. Lower cost interstellar travel and the availability of personal starships increased interstellar contact and mobility. By 3410CE, the Imperial Sphere was nearly 650 light years across and encompassed over 2,800 settled worlds.

The later half century of Cynthia's reign exemplified the weaknesses of Golden Peace policies. Stagnation in the economy and the sciences became more evident. Even in culture, the signs of decay grew. The strongest reaction to this decay came from the Technologists, whose leader, Norman Buchanan published A Half Century of Nothingness in 3381CE. Cynthia and DeBeers reacted to the Technologist challenge with oppression, banning the movement and arresting its leadership in 3396CE. Despite calls from both Prince Consort Ivan and Crown Prince Rogar for tolerance and change, and despite an impeachment movement in the Imperial Congress, Cynthia and DeBeers stuck to their policies. Finally, Ivan Roosevelt acted to save the Empire, killing the Empress and himself. Their son became Emperor Rogar II and he finished the revolution by personally executing DeBeers, violently ending the Golden Peace.

Political

The Golden Peace was not marked by the great ideological or sociological struggles of Olav's reign. Once the Artificial Question was settled by the Eleventh Amendment in 3119CE, the only challenges to Imperial authority or policies over the ensuing two centuries were the Republican movement, quickly suppressed in the 3140's, and its neo-Republican successor, mostly a struggle between reformers and Martian King Robert's Red Guard paramilitaries in the mid 33rd Century. While riveting at the time, the Republican and neo-Republican movements lacked the popular support to shape or threaten the Empire. Until the rise of Technologist-led protests in the 3380's, little directly challenged Imperial rule or direction.

Empress Cynthia made her mark on the Imperial bureaucracy and the Great Houses. She created the Ministry of Culture in 3129CE, whose first Minister, the martyred Baroness Mona Tigarvati, gave her name to the most coveted prizes in the Empire. In 3248CE, the Empress authorized the Ministry of Colonization, combining approval and governance of new worlds into a single department, a reaction to increased focus on external matters by the Ministries of State and Science. After the death of Prince Arnam in 3310CE, Cynthia elevated the Terran continental principalities to Kingdoms, strengthening the stature of the six Nobilis rulers, all descendants of Rogar I.

Over the centuries, Crown Prince Rogar, originally known as a dilettante, sportsman and lothario, developed into skilled diplomat. He acted as chief negotiator with the Grand Federation at Heshar, settled Solar disputes over neo-Republican activity and signed both the Treaty of Titan and the Focus Protocols which solidified Grand Federation relationships in 3308CE. In 3315CE, upon the death of King Olav, Rogar became King of Kalmar and soon adopted Novan bureaucratic reforms. But by the time of his ascendancy, Rogar had gone through seven wives, including some whose deaths promoted dark rumors.

The stagnation of the Empire was evident to many by the later half of the 34th Century. Ivan Roosevelt tried to alleviate the economic stagnation, especially in the Solar system, but culturally and scientifically, a void was forming. The Technologist Norman Buchanan stepped into that void, arguing forcefully, but ineffectually for a change in policy. The government reaction to the Technologist challenge was oppression and increased isolation, even from its own people. Ivan Roosevelt's murder-suicide, with Rogar's subsequent ascension and effective assassination of the Prime Minister, brought needed change, though it set a precedence of violence that would eventually affect Rogar himself.

Technological

While the Golden Peace is known for technological stagnation, it was more appropriately a period of slower technological change. The period saw the Empire become a fully Post-Materialist society and progress into the late microjump era. Early advances included improved Virtual World networks, eventually incorporating near real-time fabrication and secure world-wide mega-linked sessions. Stellar engineering finally matured, with Promethean engineers working to stabilize the stars of Isis and Storm Seed. In this era, the terraformation of Mercury and Luna completed and elaborate ring systems circled above high population worlds.

Eternal therapy offered a form of genetic longevity transformation that became available to Sapiens willing to accept permanent sterility and stunted cloning. Overall life expectancy for Sapiens increased to over eight hundred years as Restoration regeneration dropped below the Post-Materialist threshold.

With the development of single node orbital ranged teleportation chambers and Mode III microjump vessels, the Empire had achieved parity with mainstream Grand Federation technology by 3300CE. The declining cost of stellar travel led to the begins of interstellar racing and gave birth to the personal starship market. Perhaps because personal starships never reached the Post-Material threshold, the small microjump vessels became a status symbol of the Nobilis and the successful Citizen class, with annual sales numbering in the millions by the end of the 34th Century.

Cultural

Empress Cynthia was most renowned for her interest and support of cultural development. She authorized the creation of the Ministry of Culture in 3129CE, and supported its nurturing of the Imperial University and Museum systems. In 3167CE, she initiated the Tigarvati Prizes, eight annual awards for outstanding achievement in literature, music, visual arts, dramatic arts, physics, biology, socio-economics, paleontology and, after 3217CE, supplemented by awards for outstanding civilian and military service.

In 3208CE, the Ministry of Culture organized the first Imperial Olympics in Athens, the start of a new four year Olympic cycle. In 3292CE Mars hosted the Olympics in the Terra-normal Earth Dome, and in 3336CE Atlantis hosted the Olympics on the Centauri Ring. After 3360CE, the Olympics alternated on and off Terra and became a sporting and social event that helped draw the Empire together.

The rise of the personal starship market encouraged Crown Prince Rogar to help form the Imperial Racing Federation in 3181CE, with popular long-range races cumulating in the thousand light-year Betelgeuse to Antares Rally (BAR), an event that helped develop the entertainment habitat complexes at Antares and Betelgeuse in the 3380s.

The transition to a fully Post-Material society, statically complete by 3250CE, increased leisure time and access to nearly all goods and services. During this period sports and leisure activities flourished. Improved Delphian simulariums, with almost real-time fabrication and advanced authoring kits, provided nearly flawless virtual worlds, giving access to experiences beyond the common Citizen's actual reach.

After the settlement of the Artificial Question, much of the fervor went out of the major traditional religious movements and the Golden Peace saw a gradual secularization of society. Though the absolute numbers of religionists continued to rise though Cynthia's reign, they grew at less than the rate of the population, and both Technologism and Atheism saw the steepest rise in adherents, especially towards the end of the period.

Not all was perfect in this economic utopia. Suicides saw a gradual increase, especially among the increasing proportion of citizens who had reached their fifth or sixth century. After 3325CE, the growing crisis of Static addiction, with its neurological side effects and high overdose rate, began to permeate a growing segment of society. Decadence, most noted by controversial works like Nothing and Disintegration, began to dominate the arts. Fashion styles and personal adornments changed radically from year to year. And as years and decades seemed to blend into one another, the "Riots of Boredom" began in the 3390s just so people would have something new to do.

Chronology Table

3116	Cynthia issues a new Eleventh Amendment proposal on Artificials, grandfathering rights for Artificials conceived before 3100, initiating vigorous debate in the Imperial Congress. Scattered Artificial piracy and attacks continue, especially in the New Colonies, but violence in the Solar System and Old Colonies virtually ends.
3117	Prince Consort Ivan and Prince Arnam Farrar convene a council between secular and religious leaders to tone down rhetoric on the Artificial Question, leading to a preliminary compromise agreement and a new Eleventh Amendment proposal.
3118	Negotiations on the Eleventh Amendment continue in the Imperial Congress. The Alimeen agree to act as intermediaries with the remaining rebel forces on the frontier.
3119	The Imperial Congress passes the Eleventh Amendment, ending the practice of artificial conception and maturation, but retaining rights for existing Artificial Nobles and Citizens, and limiting the rights of artificial mechanical and biological Constructs. A separate Imperial Ministry of Justice enforced amnesty ends piracy among remaining rebels.
3120	Empress Cynthia ends martial law restrictions on all Imperial worlds, proclaiming an era of peace and good feeling across the thousand Imperial worlds that becomes known as the Cynthian Age or the Golden Peace.
3121	The Lunar government declares the surface of Luna safe for excursions without breathing apparatus. The Colonial Office changes standards for colony approval, resulting in a delay of at least thirty years between a world's discovery and settlement.
3122	Empress Cynthia appoints Duke David DeBeers of Aphrodite as her Chief of Staff.
3123	Ibrahim begins construction of the Black Mosque near Mecca. DeBeers gains control over Imperial economic policy and begins a series of taxes cuts aimed at stimulating growth among backward economies.
3124	The Imperial Navy places both Hellkings in inactive reserve in orbit around Ultima Thule.
3125	The Empress, after failing to attend several cabinet meetings, names Duke David DeBeers Prime Minister, delegating most executive authority to his office. Prince Consort Ivan attempts in vain to rule in the Empress's name, but DeBeers becomes the de facto ruler of the Empire and the head of the Imperial bureaucracy.
3126	The Empress presides over the opening of a massive expansion of the Imperial Mall in Byzantium, including the Virtual Traveler Complex, which mimics the surfaces of all Member worlds and other interesting locations.
3127	Crown Prince Rogar begins a series of goodwill and fact-finding journeys across the Empire on various Imperial yachts and naval vessels.
3128	Tired of struggling with Prime Minister DeBeers, Prince Consort Ivan resigns as Minister of Commerce and retires to his estates.
3129	Empress Cynthia commissions the Ministry of Culture, and names Baroness Mona Tigarvati Minister.
3130	By a slim majority, the Imperial Congress approves budget and charter for the Ministry of Culture.
3131	The Ministry of Defense creates fifty-six Sector fleets to patrol the second ring of Imperial sectors and designates Sector headquarters and command staffs for each. The Ministry creates Six Commands (Coreward, Rimward, Spinward, Trailing, North and South) with full Admirals and staff to coordinate the new small fleets and the corresponding Frontier and Patrol fleets operating beyond the second ring.
3132	The Ministry of Culture begins construction of a series of Imperial Museums on major worlds and sponsors the creation of the Imperial University system.
3133	A 3km asteroid impacts the Member world Sahkmet, causing widespread ecological and property damage, but little loss of life. The Republican cabal, composed mostly of Artificial Civil War veterans, grows out of a series of meetings between Sapiens disillusioned by Nobilis rule.
3134	Industrial facilities in the Solar Asteroid Belt begin a slide into permanent decline as most shipyards move production closer to the frontier; in subsequent years, the Asteroid Belt becomes known as the Dust Belt.
3135	Imperial scouts discover two million year old ruins of a technologically advanced race on the Trailing frontier world Tannenbaum in Sector 60.
3136	The Imperial University of Terra at Byzantium, with its towering neo-gothic spires, begins operations as the center of the Imperial University system.
3137	Researchers on Tannenbaum decipher the Hitzarch language and determine the location of the homeworld of the ancient microjump-capable race, now in Sector 150.
3138	Ibrahim blesses the first of a horde of missionaries that begin to spread his teachings across the Empire. An Imperial Ministry of Science expedition reaches the Hitzarch homeworld, 270 light years from Sol, and finds a long-dead global civilization with vast ruined cities looted repeatedly over hundreds of thousands of years.
3139	The Imperial Guard foils a Republican conspiracy to assassinate the Empress and start a revolution; six conspirators die in Guard raids and a further fourteen receive death sentences.
3140	The Ministry of Justice uncovers a deeper Republican conspiracy, arresting hundreds of mid-level bureaucrats and naval officers.
3141	Researchers on Hitzarch decipher map information from a wrecked alien macrojump salvage vessel half a million years old and determine its homeworld, tracing it to a system nearly 300 light years from Sol in Sector 128.
3142	Crown Prince Rogar visits Prince Cleon on Mercury and publicly reiterates the Empire's support for the completion of the terraformation of Mercury and Luna. The two princes venture outside without protective equipment, though the Mercurian surface is still unsuitable for long-term excursions.
3143	Admiral Rickard DeYoung, head of the Northern Command, resigns after his brother and his chief of staff are both implicated in ongoing Republican investigations.
3144	At the dedication of the completed Black Mosque in Mecca, Ibrahim addresses a crowd of ten million faithful.
3145	The sun of the Alimeen Member world Storm Seed enters a period of unstable flare activity, causing widespread damage to orbital installations and effectively isolating the system for months at a time.
3146	A conference in New Rome led by Pope Pius XXXIV fails to unite the Christian faithful.
3147	A Republican sniper assassinates Minster of Culture Countess Mona Tigarvati; a subsequent investigation, a purge and a series of trials effectively ends the Republican movement. The Empress appoints Countess Jazmine Therras, chancellor of the Imperial University, as the new Minister of Culture.
3148	Professor Bane Dryscol publishes The Fall of Hitzarch, an account of the collapse of the Hitzarchi civilization after thousands of years of interstellar culture and over a hundred colonies; the central thesis revolves around an over-dependence on robotic servants, widespread technological ignorance by the common Hitzarch, and an unidentified system virus that collapsed control systems throughout the Hitzarchi sphere; critics noted no evidence remaining to support the virus hypothesis for the final collapse and suggest that a documented nearby supernova was a more likely cause.
3149	The Imperial University publishes the definitive Guide to DNA-Based Life; a comprehensive analysis of life on most oxygen/water ecospheres, providing evidence that DNA-based life forms evolved no more than three times in the area of the Human Sphere and probably no more than five times in the entire galaxy, and sets the age of the first DNA organisms at nearly eleven billion years.
3150	The Colonial Office authorizes the colonization of Kitza by the Quadrons, marking the first approved settlement by a Minor Race.
3151	The Imperial Navy and Marines intervene to support the Noble government in a civil war on Ghandi; post conflict investigations discount rumors of Republican influences.
3152	Anthony, Prince of Kuiper dies under suspicious circumstances; an investigation by the Ministry of Justice and the Imperial Guard blames an unspecified biotoxin for his death, but no one is charged with a crime; his oldest son, Bandar, becomes Prince of Kuiper.
3153	The Imperial scout service discovers a derelict Gatebuilder installation on Brazen, a marginally habitable gas giant moon in Sector 189.
3154	Mormon rioters on Deseret sack a Ibrahimite mission, killing 78 missionaries and dependents. Cynthia issues an Imperial Edict, limiting the immigration of individuals who profess beliefs that might destabilize a Member or Dependent world.
3155	The Imperial University of Kuiper establishes the Cardenas Research Facility to conduct high energy physics and cosmology research deep in the Oort cloud.
3156	A Technologist conference on Atlantis adopts the Tolerance Protocols, binding missionaries and preachers to respect opposing philosophical and spiritual beliefs, thereby removing most Imperial objections to the spread of the philosophy. A Technologist mission opens on Islam with only minor protests.
3157	A fast-spreading system virus attacks Virtual World systems on several Member worlds, shutting down the damaged networks. The virus kills a few hundred participants and sickening millions.
3158	The Ministries of Culture and Justice issue joint guidelines for the security of Virtual World networks, lessening the risks of another system virus attack.
3159	Promethean stellar engineers successfully control the sporadic mega-flares emanating from the sun of Isis.
3160	In a speech before the Imperial High Council, Duke David DeBeers outlines the philosophy and goals of the Era of Golden Peace; emphasizing harmony, tolerance and economic well-being.
3161	The Empress opens the Great Imperial Exposition on Terra, a four-year showcase of Imperial culture and technology.
3162	Mercury reaches its final orbit, in direct opposition to Terra. Promethean stellar engineers stabilize the sun of Storm Seed.
3163	Researchers at Chiron University on Atlantis successfully demonstrate two-way teleportation using only a single transit chamber (single node teleportation), greatly increasing the utility of teleport chambers on ships on the frontier and on scouting expeditions.
3164	The Virtual World Nexus begins operation on Terra and spreads across the Solar System, offering a high-security linked system of billions of Virtual World Nodes; similar, though less elaborate, Nexi spread throughout the Core worlds.
3165	The Cardenas Research Facility in the Oort completes a billion kilometer accelerator for advanced hyperstring research, the GigaString Machine.
3166	An Imperial scout mission reaches Thanatos, the homeworld of the unnamed race that looted Hitzarch half a million years earlier, and discovers a dead civilization, apparently felled in its prime.
3167	The Ministry of Culture establishes the Tigarvati Prize, an annual award for outstanding achievement in the four category of arts (literature, music, visual arts, dramatic arts) and four categories of science (physics, biology, socio-economics, paleontology).
3168	The GigaString Machine undergoes an unexpected dimensional shift, leaving the Universe and taking two ships and forty researchers with it.
3169	A research team on Thanatos confirms the existence of the Hitzarch virus, proving Dryscol's hypothesis, and fortunately also demonstrating that the quantum system virus is incompatible with Imperial data system interfaces.
3170	The first "personal" starship, the Starblazer, a 8m Mode I vehicle capable of supporting eight for up to a month in space (c. 100 light years range), becomes available on Hercules, but availability, training and licensing requirements make the model a limited distribution item, with fewer than one thousand produced per year.
3171	The Ministry of Commerce issues the Thanatos Standards: import/export regulations mandating security interface standards for all quantum computing devices.
3172	The Imperial Navy receives authorization to conduct a full fleet modernization, replacing all remaining Mode I drive ships and installing single node teleportation chambers on all cruisers and capital ships.
3173	Atlantis completes the third and largest span of the Centauri Ring.
3174	The Coman poet Chin'tar!tu wins the Tigarvati Prizes for both literature and music. The Ministry of Science begins fitting all new scout vessels, even singleships, with one step teleportation.
3175	The Chairman of Vesta Shipyards resigns after a scandal over corruption in Naval contract awards; the resulting fallout permanently shuts down the shipyards.
3176	A self-sustaining strain of defective quantum nanomechanical replicators rampage though the infrastructure on Nike, causing widespread destruction and nearly four million deaths before local forces resort to anti-matter munitions to contain the outbreak. Total death toll before full containment reaches twelve million. The Imperial Second Fleet quarantines the world for a year.
3177	The Patriarch of Byzantium and most of his half-billion Old Orthodox followers convert to Ibrahimite Islam. The Imperial Congress votes to adopt the Thanatos Standards for all computing and nanomechanical devices on within the Empire.
3178	Bandar Faris wins the first Terra-Kalmar stock starship race in 8 days, 16 hours.
3179	Citing security issues, Prime Minister DeBeers denies permission for a Heshar research expedition over Crown Prince Rogar's objection.
3180	Mechanist researchers on Karinsky perfect methods to preserve human memory and personality (the Mechanist "soul") in an improved long-lasting format, though attempts to restore Pavel Karinsky's soul are unsuccessful.
3181	Crown Prince Rogar leads a syndicate that forms the Imperial Racing Federation, sporting contests in sub-light, Mode I and Mode II classes.
3182	Medallion Entertainment begins distribution of its Advanced Authoring Toolkit for Active Virtual Worlds, beginning the era of "Full Pseudo-Reality".
3183	The 90m dreadnaught Excalibur, first of the Broadsword class begins trials at Amaterasu Naval Yards.
3184	Technologists settle the colony world of Progress.
3185	The Excalibur enters service with the Coreward Command.
3186	The Cardenas Research Facility completes a second GigaString Machine and implements stringent operational controls.
3187	The Imperial Racing Federation sponsors the first Betelgeuse Rally, a Mode II race from Terra to the Kumar colony. Bandar Faris and his team win the 490 light year race in 88 days, 14 hours.
3188	Imperial scouts discover and contact the Feerzi of Roontara in Sector 167, a strange fungal/octopod symbiotic race with late fusion age technology and settlements throughout their home system.
3189	The Luna Terraformation Project reaches official completion with the dedication of the Cleon Imperial Forest near Mare Imbrium.
3190	Prince Cleon re-enters Imperial society with a speech at Copernicus to honor the staff of the Lunar terraformation project.
3191	The Ministry of State establishes formal relations with the Feerzi, who show no interest in joining the Empire, but are open to limited trade and diplomatic contact.
3192	King Roban I of Paradise dies of CID complications, leaving the throne to his son Roban II.
3193	GigaString II shifts from the universe unexpectedly, causing no casualties or collateral damage, but effectively ending the GigaString project and putting the General Multidimensional Model in question.
3194	Bandar Faris and his team die when their sub-light sprinter Talon II strikes debris at .45c and disintegrates during the Atlantis-Proxima Derby.
3195	Maxwell Biogenics introduces the Eternal treatment for Sapiens, a full body gene therapy that completely stops aging in a single expensive and rigorous yearlong treatment; though it causes complete sterility and prevents cloning, it becomes a option for those who have exhausted regeneration therapies.
3196	The private salvage vessel Hannah discovers a derelict Gatebuilder starport around a singleton brown dwarf in Sector 91.
3197	A lethal mutating virus spreads quickly though the population of Nova, prompting widespread panic and a full quarantine. The Novan Plague spreads to Heaven and Manchukuo before the Fifth Fleet enforces the quarantine.
3198	A team of Novan scientists led by Aki Norda develops a cure for the Plague, which kills over sixty million people before containment. After full inoculation, the Imperial Navy ends the blockade of Nova, Heaven and Manchukuo.
3199	Aki Norda receives the Tigarvati Prize for biology and he patents the anti-viral techniques used to defeat the Novan Plague.
3200	Several manufacturers begin production of Mode II personal starships in 8, 10 and 13 meter classes.
3201	The Time Travel Society awakens in Australia to find that former members and descendents have built renovated modern facilities and provided for extensive medical regeneration treatments; all thirty-five members continue their voyage into the future, joined by eighty-two new members from the Time Travelers Foundation.
3202	The Ministry of Commerce mandates override pilot systems on private starships after two vessels make unauthorized visits to protected worlds and after the disappearance of the self-proclaimed Rigel Expedition and at least five other vessels; new policies limit private starship travel to within the settlement sphere and lock out protected locations; the policies require the mailing of a flight plan to the destination and the origin of any voyage.
3203	The government of Venus begins relieving built-up seismic pressures with a series of controlled minor earthquakes.
3204	The Imperial Navy organizes the Central Command, with headquarters on Luna, to coordinate actions of the eight Central Sector fleets.
3205	Crown Prince Rogar marries his first wife, Lady Mary Fallon of Eden. Rogar and his bride begin an extensive tour of the Empire.
3206	The Bohemian, a luxury liner with 6,500 passengers and crew, disappears en route from Ishtar to Khronos.
3207	A catastrophic systems failure and resulting antimatter containment accidents ravage habitat regions of the Solar asteroid Psyche, resulting in over eight million deaths and a massive rescue operation.
3208	Crown Prince Rogar presides over the opening ceremonies of the first Imperial Olympics at Athens on Terra; Noblis, Sapien, Khaddahl and Turgil athletes participate in race/gender specific contests.
3209	Imperial scout expeditions discover substantial Heshar and Grand Federation ruins dating from 5000BC to 750CE on Turney's World and several neighboring systems in Sectors 12 and 28. Prime Minister DeBeers reiterates his ban of expeditions to Heshar itself, citing continuing security concerns.
3210	Crown Prince William of Mars dies in a soaring accident on Luna, striking a tower after colliding with another soarer; Anna, King William II's great-granddaughter becomes Crown Princess of Mars.
3211	The Ministry of Science establishes a research base on Turney's World to examine and evaluate Heshar Era artifacts.
3212	A traditionalist, isolationist philosophy gains ascendance on the Swarm homeworld of Megahive; emphasizing the cultural purity of pre-industrial Swarm values, the new government curtails colonization and limits the absorption of Imperial culture.
3213	The Ministry of Justice refuses to hear appeals against the override restrictions on private starships.
3214	Princess Mary dies after a fall from a ledge at Svartfjell on Kalmar. Crown Prince Rogar returns to Terra, settling on his father's estate of Whitehall near Winnipeg.
3215	The Atheist Alliance of Terra receives recognition as a protected philosophical organization.
3216	The first of the Young Eternals, young wealthy Sapiens who have forgone their first regenerations, emerge from Eternal gene therapy.
3217	The Minister of Culture and several senior officials resign after scandals involving influence peddling in the awards of the Tigarvati Prize. The Imperial High Council and the Ministry of Culture form a standing committee to adjudicate the prizes and add prizes for service, one civilian, one military. Sir Darin Walker becomes captain of the Excalibur.
3218	After petitioning by Crown Prince Rogar, Imperial Consort Ivan and leaders of the military and scientific community, Empress Cynthia overturns DeBeer's ban on a Heshar exploration, and orders Ministries of Defense and Science to develop a joint plan for an expedition the Heshar.
3219	The High Council of the Asteroid Belt approves a plan for the gradual abandonment of Psyche, citing continuing infrastructure problems; the plan details a thirty year evacuation timetable for the asteroid's fifty million residents.
3220	The Excalibur and a supporting fleet of naval and scout vessels enter the Heshar system, conducting an extensive survey and establishing a research base near the Capitol Metropolis ruins.
3221	Imperial researchers contact the elusive enclaves of Heshar living in the ruins of their capital and establish a preliminary dialogue.
3222	Naval and scout vessels report long range contact with shadowy Heshar vessels along the Coreward frontier. Prince Consort Ivan takes up permanent residence in his estate of Poseidon Hold on Triton. Crown Prince Rogar moves onto the grounds of the Imperial University in Byzantium.
3223	The Minister of State, Baron Horal Bendoven formalizes relations with the Heshar on their homeworld; the agreement allows for a limited non-military Imperial presence on the world.
3224	King William II of Mars abdicates after a CID-induced stroke leaves him debilitated; Anna becomes Queen of Mars. Crown Prince Rogar wins a silver medal in the modern decathlon during the Bogotá Olympics.
3225	Crown Prince Rogar marries his second wife, Baroness Julina Khruzov of Mars, in ceremonies at the Golden Palace in Byzantium.
3226	Mars unveils plans for the construction of a vast orbital ring, including the gradual dismemberment of Phobos.
3227	Crown Prince Rogar and Princess Julina win the Betelgeuse Rally in a record 87 days, 7 hours.
3228	Sir David Kondara, a Young Eternal philosopher publishes the Tigarvati Prize-winning Eternal Dawn, a pseudo-novel essay of a utopian future.
3229	DeBeers cancels a Grand Federation contact plan championed by the Minister of Science Lord Pars Torvalds, who resigns in protest.
3230	The Ministry of Science vessel Algiebba fails to retrieve data from teleported probes dropped into the Hercules black hole, but some anomalous results lead directly to Frevan Bavari's Tigarvati Prize-winning Multidimensional Framework Theory.
3231	Catastrophic volcanic eruptions and tsunamis destroy the settlements on the Member world of Mboom, resulting in over two hundred thousand deaths and the evacuation of the on hundred thousand survivors to nearby Sector 132 worlds.
3232	To combat overcrowding, Asia begins construction of vast semi-submerged Sea Arcologies in the Java Sea.
3233	Explorers on Thanatos uncover a still functional chamber of hibernating Than, beginning a prolonged debated in the Ministry of Science over whether and how to revive the sixty surviving members of the long dead race.
3234	Survivors of Mboom form an exile committee and successfully petition the Imperial Congress to retain a seat pending future recolonization.
3235	Atlantian artists and architects complete the entertainment city complex of Old Atlantis on an artificial island on that world.
3236	A Grand Federation research expedition visits Heshar, resulting in first contact between the Empire of Humanity and the Grand Federation.
3237	Prime Minister DeBeers places all interactions with the Grand Federation under direct Imperial control, forming a special contact group within the Ministry of State.
3238	Empress Cynthia selects Crown Prince Rogar and Princess Julina to lead an Imperial delegation to Heshar for negotiations with Grand Federation officials.
3239	The terraformation of Mercury officially completes and unrestricted immigration begins.
3240	Prince Cleon and King Olav meet at ceremonies on Mercury, beginning a reconciliation that transforms both former Emperors into elder statesmen for the Empire.
3241	Crown Prince Rogar and Heshar elders mediate an agreement with the Grand Federation over shared research on Heshar. A second Grand Federation expedition to Heshar brings humanity in contact with Federation Humans, transplanted from Terra millennia before.
3242	With permission from the Minister of Science herself, a team of scientists begin to revive the surviving natives of Thanatos. Bypassed in Grand Federation negotiations, Baron Horal Bendoven resigns as Minister of State; Crown Prince Rogar becomes acting Minister.
3243	A Grand Federation diplomatic mission reaches Terra. Empress Cynthia dispatches an Imperial Ambassador to Focus, accompanied by a small fleet led by the Excalibur. Survivors of the Catastrophe recolonize Mboom.
3244	The Empire of Humanity and the Grand Federation sign a formal non-aggression and border control treaty at Heshar. The ministry of Science declares Thanatos a protected quarantine world, allowing the fifty survivors of the race to reclaim their planet and reestablish their civilization in peace. Crown Prince Rogar turns over his duties at the Ministry of State to Countess Tanda Bettal of Titan.
3245	The Imperial Navy begins a series of scouting expeditions along the Grand Federation frontier. The Coreward Command begins a fleet ramp-up to three times its pre-contact size.
3246	Princess Julina dies in a soaring accident on Luna, colliding with a cliff face at high speed. Crown Prince Rogar withdraws from the public in a period of mourning. After a century of quiescence, the Republican movement reemergence as the neo-Republican Struggle, a movement of idealistic or disgruntled civil servants with an anti-Nobilis agenda.
3247	The Ministry of Science begins long-range scouting expeditions along the Coreward regions.
3248	Empress Cynthia authorizes the Ministry of Colonization, separating the Colonial Office from the Ministry of State, whose focus is now on Grand Federation relations. The Imperial Congress overwhelmingly approves the Ministry of Colonization.
3249	The Mars Ring reaches completion. A neo-Republican terrorist assassinates Queen Anna during the opening ceremonies of the Mars Ring; her son, Robert, becomes King of Mars. A Ministry of Commerce announcement reports that the entire Empire has reached a full post-Materialist economic level.
3250	Prime Minister DeBeers allows the Ministry of Commerce to issue trade permits for the Grand Federation; traders from both governments begin contacts in each other's territory and in the Imperial Coreward frontier region.
3251	King Robert of Mars suspends civil liberties after a series of neo-Republican attacks, forming the Red Guard, a civil defense militia with vast judicial powers; Martian dissidents decry the Red Guard as a death squad.
3252	The Empire of Humanity establishes a formal embassy at Focus and dispatches ambassadors to the seven primary races of the Grand Federation.
3253	Venusian police arrest a Red Guard squad sent to capture neo-Republican members of the legal Venus Freedom party, prompting an interplanetary incident between Venus and Mars. By year-end, Venusian and Martian defense forces have begun stopping and searching each other's vessels, prompting fears of imminent conflict.
3254	Reentering public life, Crown Prince Rogar negotiates a settlement between Venus and Mars. King Robert agrees to limit offworld travel by the Red Guard. The Kzraut colonize Sapphire, marking their return to gradual expansion.
3255	Crown Prince Rogar marries his third wife, Baroness Eliza N'gatl of Terra, in a private ceremony in Byzantium. Red Guard forces seize an asteroid base of the neo-Republicans, creating a diplomatic crisis between the Belt and Mars. Crown Prince Rogar convinces the Belt government to allow Martian forces to patrol abandoned regions of the Belt.
3256	After nearly a thousand years, the Gatemaze on Hermann's Moon reappears, prompting a quarantine and investigation by the Ministry of Science.
3257	The Gatemaze on Hermann's Moon again vanishes, along with eighty Ministry of Science researchers; the Ministry of Defense initiates a permanent quarantine of the entire system.
3258	Neo-Republican terrorists destroy a Red Guard station in North Tharsis, killing 120 Guards and 234 civilians. Venus and the Asteroid Belt ban neo-Republican-sympathetic political groups.
3259	The climate on Kongo undergoes a rapid decline into a wet-cold cycle, altering ocean circulation and initiating an ice age.
3260	A bribery scandal leads to riots and the fall of the government of Nova; Aki Norda becomes the compromise choice for president of the new government, which calls a constitutional convention to reform the Republic.
3261	The Ministry of Science establishes the Deep Survey Division, specializing in long range exploration along the Grand Federation periphery and in other directions outside the Imperial Sphere.
3262	Dormant insectoids emerge from hundreds of years of hibernation on Armstrong, devastating the colony and killing thousands before Ministry of Science researchers develop a biological counteragent.
3263	The government of Hercules allows the pro neo-Republican Equality Party to join the ruling coalition.
3264	A neo-Republican assassination of King Robert of Mars fails, but kills 14 people, including his daughter, Princess Olivia. Prime Minister DeBeers calls for the Empire-wide outlawing of all pro neo-Republican organizations.
3265	Archeologists on Oracle uncover a working Gate deep under the city of N'tandrapor; an attempt to utilize the Gate leads to the loss of the joint Quadron-Human expedition and a series of massive earthquakes, killing hundreds, devastating the city, and reburying the Gate.
3266	Planetary engineers stabilize and recover normal ocean circulation on Kongo, rapidly reversing the ice age effects.
3267	After nearly five centuries of rule, King Juan of Artemis abdicates to become the new Ambassador to the Grand Federation; his great-granddaughter Chloe becomes Queen of Artemis.
3268	Under Imperial pressure, Hercules finally bans the Equality Party, end all legal political support for the neo-Republican movement.
3269	The Red Guard assumes control of all local law enforcement on Mars.
3270	Neo-Republican terrorist Hadrin Vamish assassinates Princess Eliza and wounds Crown Prince Rogar at Santiago; Imperial Guard troopers kill Vamish in a hail of plasma fire.
3271	The Imperial Guard, backed by AI monitors and lethal nanomechanical probes, begins a purge against neo-Republicans, killing hundreds of dissent leaders and arresting thousands throughout the Empire. The neo-Republican movement effectively dies.
3272	Crown Prince Rogar marries his fourth wife, Lady Karina Ostrafalli of Triton, in a Poseidon Hold ceremony.
3273	After a harsh suppression of an anti-Red Guard demonstration kills over 50 people, the Martian Nobility petitions the King to disband the Red Guard.
3274	Eden begins construction a three-tiered ring system above the planet's surface.
3275	A dome collapse in the Java Sea kills 453 construction personnel and forces Prince Robert to put a moratorium on expansion of the Sea Arcologies.
3276	A band of Martian Nobles led by Count Anos of Elysium storms the Red Palace and assassinates King Robert, declaring a Nobilis Republic and disbanding the Red Guard, which counterattacks and is in turn attacked by household troops and a resulting popular uprising. The Imperial Guard intervenes on Mars to restore order. Empress Cynthia reluctantly intervenes and allows the provisional Nobilis Republic of Mars to stand.
3277	Renegade Red Guards assassinate Count Anos before he can assume the presidency of Mars. Royalists storm Lowell and appoint Robert's nephew Ednon King. Crown Prince Rogar helps negotiate a peaceful settlement, restoring a constitutional monarchy to Mars, with significant Nobilis and Sapien rights and an independent Nobilis judicial council. Ednon abdicates in favor of his grandson Kandall.
3278	Aki Norda resigns as president of Nova after a long unremarkable term, but leaving behind the legacy of the new Novan bureaucracy, a service with a reputation as clean, efficient and friendly.
3279	The Khzraut colonize Glitter, a world with a semi-sentient native life form that the Khzraut begin modifying for use as a servant race.
3280	Queen Chloe of Artemis decrees a series of democratic reforms, creating a bicameral Nobilis/Human legislative system and establishing an independent judiciary.
3281	Private vessels registered to Maxwell Biogenics attack and destroy the asteroid 3524 Schulz with antimatter weapons; when confronted by Belter patrols, the corporation indicates that a biological organism escaped containment and overran the facility; the corporation does not publish casualty figures for the incident.
3282	King Kandall of Mars abdicates in favor of his younger brother, who becomes King William III.
3283	The Grand Federation Ambassadorial Fleet, with representatives of all seven primary races, begins a tour of Imperial Space.
3284	A paper by research scientists on Heshar report that contact with the race has declined dramatically over the past sixty years, and estimates the remaining population on the planet to number less than five thousand.
3285	Delphi begins an annual contest in virtual world design, cumulating in the Delphian Prizes in several categories.
3286	Having completed a tour through most of Imperial territory and visits to over fifty worlds, the Grand Federation Ambassadorial Fleet continues on to visit Glorious and returns to Terra to exchange embassy staff before journeying back to Focus.
3287	After struggling with CID related health issues for a number of years, Joseph III abdicates the throne of Venus in favor of his grandson, Joseph IV.
3288	King Juan resigns as Ambassador to the Grand Federation and travels to Terra to become the new Minister of State.
3289	The Venusian government begins purchasing defunct Belt installations at salvage pricing and begins investing in faltering Ioian facilities.
3290	A geology team on Thea uncovers the ruins of a five million year old industrial civilization.
3291	Empress Cynthia rejects a offer of Primary Race membership for Humanity in the Grand Federation, but ignores DeBeer's advice to end extensive contacts with the alien realm. Princess Karina dies in a decompression accident on Triton; Imperial Guard investigators determine sabotage as the probable cause, but no one is charged.
3292	After building a large earth-normal gravity and pressure facility, the Earth Dome, north of Lowell, Mars hosts the 3292 Olympics.
3293	Crown Prince Rogar marries his fifth wife, speeder racing champion Countess JoAnna von Dieter of Mars, in a public ceremony at Lowell.
3294	Construction resumes on Sea Arcologies off the shore of Southeast Asia.
3295	The Bannic Design Bureau on Hercules unveils a prototype Mode III microjump drive, capable of traveling nearly ten light years per day, and matching the best Grand Federation performance drives.
3296	Princess JoAnna dies in a racing speeder crash at Pavonis Downs on Mars; Imperial Guard investigators indicate sabotage, but again, no charges result.
3297	The Fist of Hercules completes trials, validating Mode III microjump designs.
3298	Published research indicates that the ancient Thean civilization and three quarters of the higher life forms on the planet died as a result of a nuclear war.
3299	The Ministry of State issues the first tourist visa for Humans traveling to the Grand Federation and for Grand Federation citizens traveling within Imperial Space.
3300	The Argos, a 30m research vessel, becomes the first production Mode III vessel, making an inaugural voyage to Kumar. The Census Office announces that over half of the Empire's 63 billion Humans now live outside the Solar System.
3301	The Rigel Expedition departs from Glorious under the command of Captain Zoras Fallon on the Imperial Scout Cruiser Rheyes. The Time Travel Society emerges from hibernation with no original members returning to society, but a quarter of the Foundation membership leaves.
3302	The Rigel Expedition departs Kumar with a fleet of science and survey vessels. The Rigel Expedition encounters the macrojump-capable Khald'aron over 700 light years from Sol and detaches a contact squadron before continuing on to survey Rigel.
3303	The Rigel Expedition regroups at the Khald'aron homeworld before returning to Imperial Space at Kumar.
3304	The Ministries of Defense and Science begin procurement of Mode III vessels to replace their aging Mode II fleets. Crown Prince Rogar marries his sixth wife, Lady Tanda Brevack of Luna in a private ceremony in Byzantium.
3305	On Mercury, Prince Cleon opens his private museum to the public, showcasing historical artifacts from six thousand years of human civilization.
3306	Miners in the Ural Mountains of Terra stumble upon an ancient Soviet radioactive dump and release a cloud of particles that leads to an evacuation of half a million people.
3307	The Europan government proposes a revival of the Jovian Collapse Project, aimed at producing a habitable zone around Jupiter; the other Jovian governments express skepticism or hostility toward the plan.
3308	Empress Cynthia and Allhudha, the Human Grand Federation Ambassador, sign the Treaty of Triton at Poseidon Hold, agreeing to respect current borders and allow unlimited exploration of frontier regions between the two states; a separate commercial protocol formalizes restrictions and monopolies in Human-Federation trade. The Excalibur, on its final mission, transports Crown Prince Rogar to Focus as the head of an Imperial delegation that signs the Focus Protocols, a complement to the Treaty of Triton.
3309	The Ministries of Science and State sponsor the Khald'aron Expedition, dispatching a squadron of new 30m Mode III scout vessels to establish diplomatic relations with the Khald'aron race.
3310	Robert Farrar, Prince of Asia, dies of CID at age 561. His son, David becomes ruler of Asia, with Cynthia conferring the title of King for the rulers of the six main Terran continents. The Khald'aron sign a friendship treaty with the Empire of Humanity and dispatch an ambassador to return to Terra.
3311	The Ministry of Colonization opens up the Fourth Ring of sectors for colonization. Minister of State King Juan dies of CID at age 834. Prime Minister DeBeers appoints his own protégé, Lord Ason Abbot of Delphi as the new Minister of State.
3312	The Ministry of Science establishes Masoud Station, a permanently staffed outpost, at Betelgeuse to study the increasingly erratic star. The Empress authorizes a colonization corridor toward Glorious and Kumar to support rimward exploration; the corridor becomes know as the Taurus-Orion Trail.
3313	The Ministry of Commerce relaxes restrictions on personal starship travel outside of settle systems, but retains the requirement of a sophisticated AI override that prevents travel to restricted systems and unauthorized intrusions into Grand Federation Space. The government of Nova dedicates the Victoria Square, a monument to the exterminated original founders of the world on the thousandth anniversary of their arrival.
3314	The Second Rigel Expedition dispatches a formal embassy at Khald'aron, then continues on to Rigel on a science expedition.
3315	Former Emperor Olav dies of CID-related infections on Kalmar at age 653. Crown Prince Rogar becomes King of Kalmar and moves to Svartfjell with Princess Tanda.
3316	Various commercial shipyards begin selling private Mode III 8, 10 and 13m starships to the few that can afford them, advertising heavily during the Shanghai Olympics.
3317	King Rogar imports a cadre of Novan bureaucrats to reform the Kalmaran civil service.
3318	Minister of State Lord Ason Abbot intervenes in the increasingly bitter relations between the Jovian states, negotiating an end to Europan efforts to collapse Jupiter and setting a formal Jovian Council to mediate disputes. Cynthia names Ason Abbot the Count of Ventura.
3319	The Imperial Racing Federation switches its circuits to Mode III vehicles.
3320	Venus hosts the Imperial Olympics at a specially build facility in North Alcott.
3321	Brandell Horn and his 10m Night Whisperer win the first Mode III Betelgeuse Rally in just over 53 days.
3322	Prince Cleon departs on a private tour of the Grand Federation aboard his new 40m Mode III yacht, the Hermes.
3323	The scout cruiser Kiev contacts the macrojump-capable Tazin in sector 378. The Tazin are an old race, once members of the Grand Federation, but now content to remain in their six systems.
3324	The Tazin sign a treaty with the Empire, effectively quarantining the six Tazin systems as the Tazin Autonomous Region.
3325	Clinics on Terra report a large number of patients suffering psychotic disorders that are traced to an organic agent known on the street as Static.
3326	After a long bureaucratic struggle, Ibrahim receives permission to send missionaries to the human population of the Grand Federation, but they meet with little initial success. Static abuse spreads throughout Imperial Space.
3327	Prolonged and severe drought conditions begin to affect agriculture over much of Terra's northern hemisphere.
3328	Citing irreconcilable differences, Crown Prince Rogar and Princess Tanda divorce. Empress Cynthia names Tanda Duchess of the colony world of Thule, effectively an exile. An investigation by the Ministry of Science determines that Static is being imported from the Grand Federation by tourists and diplomatic personnel; the Terran government and most worlds prohibit the distribution and use of Static.
3329	The Rings of Eden reach completion. The Ministry of State calls on the Grand Federation to ban the distribution of Static, but as it has legitimate uses among the Khabadera Primary Race, the Grand Federation refuses to outlaw the production and transportation of the substance.
3330	The Ministry of Colonization allows open settlement of Glorious, which rapidly becomes the hub of the Taurus-Orion Trail.
3331	After significant pressure, the Grand Federation agrees to outlaw the export of Static, but abuse by Humans continues at lower levels. The Terran government succeeds in limiting the effects of the Northern Drought, though parts of North America remain unsuitable for agriculture.
3332	After over a century of isolationism, the Swarm resume colonization of new worlds, but retain a more insular culture.
3333	King John of Libertas holds the year-long 1111 Party, inviting all individuals who were alive in 2222; over three thousand, mostly Nobilis, attend. A Heshar starship visits Kalmar, paying a personal visit to Rogar, who never reveals the topic of the three days of private discussions.
3334	The Third Rigel Expedition sets out from Glorious, bound for Khald'aron and Rigel.
3335	The Christchurch suffers drive failure during a magnetic storm at Rigel, prompting a rescue mission that results in the loss of the Savannah with all hands; with two ships and 94 crewmembers lost, the Third Rigel Expedition retreats to Khald'aron, then Kumar, ending deep space exploration of the Orion arm.
3336	The Imperial Navy assumes customs inspection duty for vessels arriving from the Grand Federation. Atlantis hosts the Imperial Olympics at a specially built facility high atop a spoke of the Centauri Ring.
3337	Ana Buler-Chavez becomes the first three-time winner of the Delphian Prize for her series of fantasy world creations.
3338	The Grand Federation recalls Ambassador Allhudha and replaces him with Chalbatour, a Khabaderan.
3339	Prime Minister DeBeers vetoes a Ministry of Science plan to launch the Northern Edge Expedition, a 1,200 light year voyage to the edge of the galactic disk, ordering the Ministry of State to negotiate relevant data from the Grand Federation instead.
3340	Sir David Kondara, author of Eternal Dawn, dies on Luna after a Static-induced psychotic episode.
3341	A cascading collision at Kumar results in five destroyed vessels and twenty fatalities at the finish of the Betelgeuse Rally; and prompts the Imperial Congress to investigate the IRF.
3342	The Wayward Sun, an Imperial registered private trader becomes the first Imperial craft to reach the Great Rift between the Orion and Sagittarius arms.
3343	The Imperial Guard foils and attack on Ambassador Chalbatour, arresting and imprisoning six Young Eternal plotters, including the ringleader, Sir Geoff Vander-Borren.
3344	Kalmar hosts the Imperial Olympics at Osterfjord Dome; King Rogar competes in the games, winning a bronze in the modern decathlon and a silver and bronze in marksmanship competitions.
3345	The Autonomous Tibetan Region celebrates the restoration of classical Lhasa in ceremonies attended by Empress Cynthia and King David of Asia.
3346	The collapse of a containment dome at the Andros South Four Arcology off the Bahamas on Terra kills nearly 6,000 people and results in criminal prosecution of the management board for extreme negligence and manslaughter.
3347	An Imperial delegation including Prince Cleon visits Hallowed and becomes the first known Imperial Humans to meet representatives of the reclusive Founder race.
3348	Prince Cleon publishes his Tigarvati Prize-winning Alien Realms, the journal of his voyages in the Grand Federation.
3349	The Eye of Atlantis, a crystalline arcology on the shallow Nessus Sea of Atlantis, reaches completion.
3350	Facing DeBeer's opposition, the Ministry of Science quietly abandons plans for the Deneb Expedition and a circumnavigation of the Grand Federation.
3351	The Imperial Olympic Commission awards the 3360 Olympics to Delphi and and announces a policy to award every other Olympics to a qualified non-Terran venue. An Imperial Ministry of Science expedition visits the neutron star Geminga.
3352	In the "social event of the Century", Minister of State Count Ason Abbot marries Talia, Princess of North America at the Grand Palace in Chicago.
3353	Hara Cole wins the Tigarvati and Delphian prizes for her historical virtual drama on the fall of the Confederation, Failure of Hope.
3354	The Ministry of Science abandons its base at the neutron star GRN-014, citing funding limitations a decreasing value of research at the facility.
3355	Sir Zoras Fallon resigns after just three months as Minister of Science, decreeing inadequate funding and bureaucratic mismanagement. The Khruzi discover macrojump technology and begin exploring their local space with their first starship, Pride of the Sun.
3356	Activists calling for the release of Geoff Vander-Borren disrupt the opening ceremonies of the Johannesburg Olympics; Imperial Guards kill three activists after they seize a number of hostages.
3357	Arnam Farrar, King of South America, dies of CID at age 755; his granddaughter Olanda becomes Queen.
3358	Europa completes an orbital ring, increasing its dominance over the Jovian system.
3359	The Ministry of Science Antares Expedition surveys a number of coreward worlds, including Nachen, and visits the Grand Federation research station in orbit around the red giant star.
3360	A squadron from the Antares Expedition led by Captain Tomas Kindall explores the Coal Sack. Delphian authorities arrest hundreds of demonstrators who attempt to disrupt the Imperial Olympics. Geoff Vander-Borren is transferred to the Imperial Prison facility on Fomalhaut V after a group of supporters attempt to break him out of the Imperial Prison on Kerguelen Island.
3361	The Imperial Racing Federation sponsors the Betelgeuse-Antares Rally, a 980 light year race from Masoud Station to the Federation station at Antares. Of twenty-four BAR entrants, three disappear, including Brandell Horn and the Dragonfly, and twelve drop out. Jessika Burik, Captain of the Black Widow II, wins the BAR in 105 day, 6 hours. Fearing another investigation, the IRF cancels further runnings of the BAR.
3362	Shari Kabula wins the Tigarvati Prize for the controversial novel Nothing.
3363	Empress Cynthia dismisses Minister of Science Lord Johan Hsu after he publicly criticizes Imperial science funding and direction.
3364	The Member world of Proteus attempts to secede from the Empire after electing the tyrant Brandi Vorrik as president. The Forty-fourth Fleet suppresses the revolt, kills Vorrik, and institutes martial law.
3365	The government of Yathrib opens its civil services to non-Muslims for the first time. Ibrahim decries the secularization of society in a series of sermons from Mecca.
3366	The Empress presides over the dedication of the Three Pyramids of Byzantium arcology complex; the structures can house over one million people.
3367	Prince Cleon of Mercury leads a semi-official delegation of Imperial notables on a tour of the Grand Federation that includes an audience with Founder representatives on Hallowed and attendance at a public Grand Federation council session.
3368	Enhancement controversies dominate the commercially successful Imperial Olympics on Libertas; ultimately seven gold medal winners receive life-time bans and must relinquish their titles.
3369	The Grand Federation denies a license to the Imperial Racing Federation for a Rally from Terra to Focus; subsequent controversy and influence peddling allegations prompts Ambassador Lord William Tanner to resign. The Grand Federation recalls Ambassador Chalbatour.
3370	The Khabaderan Fazarbatjar becomes the new Grand Federation ambassador to the Empire. Former scout captain Wendi Horn finds her husband Brandell, the sole survivor of the Dragonfly disappearance on an uncharted Trailing world.
3371	The Census Office reports a clear declining standard of living for the Asteroid Belt, Io and the Kuiper/Oort region.
3372	Prince Ivan Kamarov, future King of Paradise and Imperial Consort, is born. Byzantium hosts the Imperial Olympics; King Rogar competes, but fails to win any medals, coming in fourth in five events.
3373	Severe flooding covers lowland areas of Paradise's northern continents, displacing millions of people. Orlan D'Juma is born on Terra in Algiers, Africa.
3374	Six months after his release from the correctional facility at Fomalhaut V, Geoff Vander-Borren kills Ambassador Fazarbatjar, three Khabaderan aides and himself in a suicide bombing.
3375	Prince Consort Ivan Roosevelt begins a personal campaign to revitalize the faltering economy and culture of Solar Asteroid Belt and Kuiper-Oort regions. The new Grand Federation Ambassador, the Eenikiti matriarch Virtuous Speaker of Eloquence, arrives at Terra under heavy Imperial Guard escort.
3376	Hara Cole wins the Tigarvati Prize for her trilogy Timmins at Terra, Sandoval at Iapetus, and Turki at Juno.
3377	The Ministry of Colonization gives special dispensation for the settlement of Dragonfly by Brandell and Wendi Horn and a small number of followers.
3378	A consortium of private interests establishes the Orion Station entertainment center on an asteroid orbiting Betelgeuse.
3379	Coherence, an Imperial Navy operation across the Coreward Command, shuts down a Static smuggling cartel spanning twenty worlds and hundreds of private vessels.
3380	At the corruption-plagued London Olympics King Rogar wins a gold medal in the 50m pistol competition, the only event he enters.
3381	Technologist Norman Buchanan publishes A Half Century of Nothingness, claiming that the Empire of Humanity has entered a period of technological and intellectual stagnation.
3382	The Imperial Racing Federation holds the second Betelgeuse-Antares Rally, using Dragonfly as a waypoint. All of the fifteen vessels survive the race, although seven drop out; Lady Helena Chavez aboard the Warprider II wins the 1000 light year race in 107 days, 2 hours.
3383	Norman Buchanan begins a speaking tour across the Empire to promote the multi-media edition his treatise. The Ministry of Culture awards the 3388 Olympics to Prometheus, citing delays and contract problems with the Hyderabad games, now delayed to 3392.
3384	A joint project between Imperial and Federation private entities creates the Antares Complex, an entertainment habitat in officially neutral space.
3385	In an address to the Imperial High Council, Prime Minister DeBeers defends his funding of science and technology and calls Buchanan a "reckless demagogue".
3386	Rogar visits the Antares Complex, meeting privately with Grand Federation trade representatives. The Khruzi establish their first interstellar colony on Sheenta.
3387	Prince Cleon hosts a reception for Norman Buchanan on Mercury, adding his voice to the call for greater funding for the Ministry of Science.
3388	The third Betelgeuse-Antares Rally draws thirty teams, including four from the Grand Federation, and attracts spectators at the entertainment complexes at both ends of the route; two ships are lost and Lady Helen Chavez wins again, in record time of just under 107 days.
3389	Prince Consort Ivan's calls for more aid to the depressed Solar minor body regions fail to result in increased Imperial funding, though the government of Mercury donates some aid.
3390	Lord Bane Frehooven, a close associate of Count Abbot, becomes Minister of Science.
3391	Technologist-inspired "Riots of Boredom" begin on Mercury and soon spread throughout the Old Colonies. The running of the fourth Betelgeuse-Antares Rally concludes without major incident, owing to way stations established every hundred light years along the route; the IRF decrees subsequent rallies will occur every three years.
3392	The Grand Federation Ambassador returns to Focus, complaining of illness and is replaced by the Khabaderan Natilabatjaran, who arrives in time to visit the Hyderabad Olympics.
3393	Norman Buchanan issues a circular calling for specific improvements in Imperial Science and Technology policy. Prince Cleon and King Rogar are among the prominent cosigners. Lord Frehooven promises to take the recommendations "under advisement."
3394	King Rogar intervenes to achieve a peaceful dispersion of a massive Technologist demonstration at the Imperial Mall on Kalmar. After graduating with honors from the Imperial Naval Academy at Luna, Orlan D'Juma joins the Imperial Navy as a Ensign.
3395	The Imperial Guard arrests thousand of Technologist rioters at various demonstrations on Terra and Venus. In a Technologist demonstration in Prague, twenty people die when a Guard cruiser rams a protester bus.
3396	Empress Cynthia orders Buchanan's arrest and signs his death warrant, commuting his sentence to life imprisonment upon appeal from Ivan and Rogar; the Empress bans Technologist preaching Empire-wide. Crown Prince Rogar marries his seventh wife, Lady Charmaine DeVorren of Ishtar, niece of the current Queen, in ceremonies on Ishtar. Princess Lydia Kamarov is born on Paradise.
3397	Technologist riots subside as Member state police forces arrest Technologist leaders and shut down facilities and media distribution points. The Khruzi starship Banner of Fire* first surveys Mendam and discovers its Founders Era ruins.*
3398	The Imperial Congress passes a resolution calling for the restoration of the rights of the Technologist religion under the tenets of the Second Amendment. Empress Cynthia declares that Technologists have declined to accept the Laws of the Empire and therefore have no standing under the Imperial Constitution.
3399	Lord Jon Corvald of Prometheus introduces a motion in the Imperial Congress to impeach the Empress, but the Congressional leadership manages to defeat the motion without putting it to a vote.
3400	Anti-Cynthia protestors disrupt the Melbourne Olympics, forcing the delay of dozens of events and the extension of the games for seven days.
3401	The Time Travel Society awakens in Australia; no original or Foundation members choose to leave the program. After an attempted nanotech assassination leaves him crippled, Lord Bane Frehooven resigns as Minister of Science, replaced by his deputy Lady Eva Ng.
3402	Hercules authorizes the Reformed Technologist Church, which adopts all Technologist doctrine, but explicitly vows to follow all Imperial laws.
3403	Performance artist Kyla Durrant wins the Tigarvati Prize for her work Disintegration, which involves dismemberment and rapid regeneration of her troops of performers. Ibrahim condemns Durrant's work; two months later three Islamic extremists dismember and murder Durrant in her home.
3404	Hercules host the Imperial Olympics at Van Adder Park in an event that concludes without disruptions or scandals.
3405	The Imperial Navy shuts down a Static smuggling ring based out of the Antares Complex, capturing four smuggler starships; Lieutenant Orlan D'Juma receives the Imperial Star for valor during a boarding action. The Khald'aron achieve microjump technology, beginning a period of gradual expansion beyond their fifteen previously populated systems.
3406	Prince Consort Ivan criticizes Imperial political and budget policy, drawing a public rebuke from Prime Minster DeBeers.
3407	The Delphian Virtual Network debuts Imperial Universe, a Virtual Environment that claims to duplicate the entire known galaxy.
3408	The creators of Imperial Universe share the Tigarvati Prize and receive high praise and knighthoods from the Empress. Commander Orlan D'Juma receives his first command, the frigate Bangalore, attached to the Coreward Frontier Fleet.
3409	Minister of Science Lady Ng dies on Mercury in an explosion of undetermined origin. The Ministry of Science singleship Forrest first surveys Erta and Nokara.
3410	Prince Consort Ivan travels to Terra and assassinates Empress Cynthia before taking his own life. Rogar II becomes Emperor upon confirmation from the Imperial Congress. Emperor Rogar II personally executes Prime Minister DeBeers for high treason for allowing the stagnation of the Empire and abolishes the position and office of the Prime Minister. The Emperor pardons Norman Buchanan, knights him, and ends the ban on Technologist preaching. Rogar transfers the title of King of Kalmar to his brother Ivan and names his sister Melisa as Duchess of Triton. The Emperor divorces Charmaine, but invests her as Queen of Ishtar; he takes Princess Althea Turki-Mellon of Atlantis as his eighth wife. Rogar II dismisses all Cynthia's Ministers and appoints a dozen High Inspectors to investigate corruption and decay in the Imperial bureaucracy. The Era of Golden Peace ends.