History

Notes and References

circa 19 Billion Years Before Common Era

The Source comes into existence.

Destiny comes into being, to be followed by the rest of the Endless.

God (aka YHWH/“The Presence”) creates a companion for himself. After a dispute, that companion is cast down to the realm that will later be Hell, becoming known as “The First of the Fallen.” God replaces him by creating the angelic host.

c. 18 Billion Years BCE

The original GodWorld forms (the “First World”).

c. 17 Billion Years BCE

Life appears on the GodWorld (the “Second World”).

c. 15 Billion Years BCE

The Old Gods evolve on the GodWorld.

c. 13.7 Billion Years BCE

The physical Universe explodes into being in the Big Bang.
Its early form and substance are guided by God’s chief archangels, Michael and Lucifer.

Rebellion in Heaven. Lucifer is cast into Hell.

The angel Aztar, rather than being relegated to Hell, is sentenced to serve as the Wrath of God—the Spectre.

c. 13 Billion BCE

The universe’s first sentients develop on the planet Cilia. They later become the Lords of Order.

c. 10 Billion BCE

Intelligent life arises on the planet Maltus.

c. 5 Billion BCE

There came a time when the Old Gods died! The GodWave, the blinding death-flash of the GodWorld’s destruction, radiates throughout the physical universe.

The Solar System begins to form.

c. 4.8 Billion BCE

From the GodWorld’s remains, two giant molten bodies begin to form Apokolips and New Genesis.

c. 4.6 Billion BCE

The Earth coalesces from cosmic dust.

c. 4.5? Billion BCE

The demons Abnegezar, Rath, and Ghast reign over the Earth, until banished by the Timeless Ones.

c. 4.324 Billion BCE

The previous Maha Yuga draws to an end, beginning a long period of relative equilibrium in the universe.

(The Hindu Manvantara cycle of the ebb and flow between Order and Chaos clearly applies to the DC Universe somehow—if not entirely literally—as shown in numerous stories. Briefly, adherents believe in the “Maha Yuga” (“Day of Brahma”), a cycle of 4,320,000 years, beginning with a golden age and ending with Pralaya, or the triumph of Chaos. It has four segments in a ratio of 4:3:2:1 (the Satya, Treta, Dwapara, and Kali Yugas), the last and smallest phase lasting 432,000 years, after which comes a “Night of Brahma,” 1,000 times as long as the day; then the cycle repeats.)

c. 4.3 Billion BCE

Life begins on Apokolips and New Genesis.

c. 4.0004 Billion BCE

The renegade Maltusian Krona floods the beginning of time with entropy. His experiment also creates the anti-matter universe of Qward.

To atone for Krona’s crime, his immortal colleagues relocate to Oa and become the Guardians of the Universe. Dedicated to science, the Guardians experiment with various races, including the Psions.

Killalla of the Glow, a young Oan, briefly becomes the lover of Dream… and meets his family. When she leaves him, he blames his sibling, Desire.

Over the following eons, the Guardians gather the cosmos’ mystic energy into the Starheart, and create the Central Power Battery.¹ With the Battery they collect and store pure “willpower” from throughout the universe (green on the “emotional spectrum”), and use it to contain a fear-parasite (yellow-hued) called Parallax—embedding an impurity in the green energy.²

c. 4 Billion BCE

The Guardians create the robot Manhunters, who patrol space for a billion years before rebelling against their masters.

c. 3.85 Billion BCE

Life begins to evolve on Earth.

c. 3 Billion BCE

After a millennium-long rebellion, the Guardians exile the Manhunters, and replace them with the Green Lantern Corps.

Disagreeing with the disposition of the Manhunters, a splinter group of Oans leaves the planet, eventually becoming the Controllers.

c. 2.5 Billion BCE

Oa’s females abandon their mates in dissatisfaction, eventually becoming the Zamarons.

c. 2.2 to 1.8 Billion BCE

Earth’s atmosphere gradually becomes oxygen-rich due to biological processes, as the first eukaryotes begin to thrive.

c. 1 Billion BCE

The Guardians vow never to harm the Zamarons’ newly chosen mates—natives of the planet Korugar.

c. 900 to 570 Million BCE

Fungal life appears on Earth.

c. 760 to 550 Million BCE

Earth’s first supercontinent, Rhodinia, splits and shifts, as a series of major Ice Ages spread across the planet.

c. 600 to 550 Million BCE

The Ediacaran fauna evolves in Earth’s oceans, our planet’s first complex multicellular life.

c. 543 to 520 Million BCE

The “Cambrian Explosion” spreads new varieties of life across Earth, as Earth’s axis shifts by 90° and the new Pangean supercontinent begins to drift apart.

c. 435 Million BCE

Swamp Thing, traveling through time (see 1995/Yr13), plants Yggdrasil the World-Tree, helping to establish “the Green” and the Parliament of Trees on Earth.

c. 310 Million BCE

The first amphibeans leave Earth’s oceans for land. Over the next 50 million years, they evolve into the first reptiles.

c. 250 Million BCE

An unprecedented global extinction sweeps the Earth, destroying an estimated 95 percent of all species.

c. 220 to 145 Million BCE

The dinosaurs rise to dominance, as Earth’s first mammals evolve in their shadow.

Civilization on Mars (“Ma’aleca’andra”) reaches a scientific peak, and expands to colonize the solar system. The Martians create an oupost on Earth, in what will become Antarctica. They also build artificial environments in the atmosphere of Saturn, and eventually populate them with clones.

c. 200 Million BCE

The villain Chronos is stranded here after battling the Atom, and places himself in suspended animation to wait for the return of his home era.

c. 100 Million BCE

A time-lost Superman (see 1996/Yr14) encounters the stranded villain Chronos, briefly awakened.

c. 65 Million BCE

Earth’s dinosaurs fall prey to a cosmic disaster. Any survivors are hunted to extinction by an alien race of “Hunter/Gatherers.” Mammals ascend to dominance.

c. 5 Million BCE

A “Great Humanoid Diaspora” spreads biologically similar species throughout the Milky Way galaxy.

c. 5 to 4.4 Million BCE

The earliest known hominids (Ardipithecines) appear in Africa, possible ancestors of modern humanity.

c. 4.2 to 2.5 Million BCE

Various hominids of a new genus (Australopithecines) develop and thrive in Africa, including likely ancestors of modern humanity.

c. 3.89 Million BCE

The present Maha Yuga begins its first phase (the Satya Yuga).

c. 2.4 to 2.0 Million BCE

Homo habilis evolves in Africa, first of the genus Homo and considered a direct ancestor of modern humans.

c. 2.16 Million BCE

The Treta Yuga begins (the “Age of Knowledge,” second phase of the Maha Yuga), and existence grows more chaotic.

c. 2.0 to 1.8 Million BCE

As the Ice Ages return, Homo erectus develops, the first hominid to use shelter, the first to venture beyond Africa, and (eventually) the first to tame fire. (One female specimen becomes “Bog Venus,” an early plant elemental.)

c. 1,000,000 BCE

The first great human civilization begins to develop on the island continent of Atlantis. Atlanteans eventually migrate around the globe, founding at least 12 major city-states, each housing a a mystic gemstone.

Another early civilization develops, then perishes along with its homeland of Lemuria (but “Zanadu the Chaos Lord” survives in stasis until 1991/Yr9).

c. 867,000 BCE

The Dwapara Yuga begins (the “Age of Sacrifice” , third phase of the Maha Yuga); chaos increases.

c. 600,000 BCE

The alien H’V’Ler’Ni establish the city-state of A’R’Ven on Earth.

c. 525,000 BCE

Atlantis reaches its height under the leadership of the sorcerer Caculha, who defeats the evil Dark Majistra and their son Garn Daanuth—with the aid of their other son Ah’rian, whose life energy is mystically preserved.

c. 500,000 BCE

The H’V’Ler’Ni depart Earth, witnessed by a
time-lost Superman (see 1996/Yr14).

On Krypton, civilization has been lost, the planet fallen into a dark age. Taking a stand against the despotic Utor, Superman’s ancestors found the House of El.

The first recorded Historic Age of the planet Krypton begins.

c. 245,000 BCE

On ancient Krypton, the being later known as Doomsday is created by an unfortunate band of scientists. He escapes, in short order confronting several New Gods, and devastating Khundia and much of the Green Lantern Corps, before being incapacitated by the natives of Calaton.

c. 230,000 BCE

Homo (sapiens) neanderthalensis (“Neanderthal Man”) evolves and spreads widely across Eurasia.

During Krypton’s 5th Historic Age, a dispute over clone rights leads the scientist Kem-L to create a great weapon called the Eradicator, which binds Kryptonians inextricably to their home planet.

c. 100,000 BCE

During Krypton’s 6th Historic Age—a millennium-long global war—a terrorist group called Black Zero detonates a bomb at the core of the planet, eventually leading to Krypton’s destruction (see 1938).

before 78,000 BCE

Krypton’s civilization enjoys a last flowering, a “golden age… [of] passion and wonder,” before settling into the cold stagnation of its final years.

c. 48,000 BCE

A powerful meteor fragment confers immortality on two proto-Cro-Magnons, who will become Vandal Savage and the Immortal Man.

Rip Hunter (see 1995/Yr13) is trapped in this era after trying unsuccessfully to prevent Savage’s origin, until rescued by Walker (Chronos) Gabriel.

c. 43,000 BCE

Vandal Savage is shipwrecked in Atlantis, and begins the Society of the Children of the Light.

The mage Arion returns and comes to power in Atlantis (see 525,000 BCE). Aided by the warrior Wyynde and the Lady Chian, he fights many battles to protect Atlantis from his brother Garn and other threats. Scant years later, however, a battle with invaders from space causes the sinking of the City of the Golden Gate, the continent’s capital.

Arion sends out exploratory Swan ships to seek new lands (at least one of these ships discovers the hidden land of Skartaris), and (in what appears to have been a hypertimeline) sends his granddaughter Kara to the future (see 1991/Yr9).

c. 40,000 BCE

The earliest known battle between Vandal Savage and his recurring nemesis Resurrection Man.

c. 38,000 BCE

The GodWave (see 5 Billion BCE) makes its initial pass over Earth.

Anthro is born, the first true Cro-Magnon. Kong the Untamed soon follows.

Swamp Thing, lost in time (see 1995/Yr13), encounters a tribe of Neanderthals who create a cup that will later become the Holy Grail (see 496 CE). They are overrun by neighboring Cro-Magnons.

c. 33,000 BCE

The first “Gods” appear on Earth, one among countless local pantheons across the cosmos given birth by the GodWave (beginning the “Third World”).

c. 30,000 BCE

One of the last Neanderthals kills the woman who is later reincarnated as Hippolyte.

c. 28,000 BCE

Denizens of Apokolips and New Genesis attain “Godhood” (and the “Fourth World” begins).

c. 18,000 BCE

A race of warlike, asexual “Burning Martians” dominates Mars, until the Guardians of the Universe intervene to “nudge” Martian genetics in a different direction... and implant their telepathic fear of fire. One Oan vessel crashes on Earth, where a Burning Martian encounters Vandal Savage leading a Cro-Magnon tribe across the Bering Strait land bridge.

c. 14,000 BCE

The Star-Spangled Kid is briefly stranded in this prehistoric age (see 1948, 1989/Yr7).

c. 13,000 BCE

New God Uxas (the son of Yuga Khan and Heggra; later to become Darkseid) visits Earth, and initiates a second group of human believers in the Greek gods.

c. 12,000 BCE

The Greek gods create avatars of themselves for the new worshippers, which grow to become the independent Roman pantheon, resulting in a schism.

First recorded appearance of Metron of the New Gods.

c. 10,000 BCE

Earth’s last great Ice Age draws to an end.

c. 9600 BCE

The remains of the continent of Atlantis sink beneath the ocean. Only scattered cities survive underwater: notably Poseidonis, ruled by King Orin, and Tritonis, where his brother, the priest Shalako, leads a contingent of followers. A serum allows the survivors to breath underwater, and the Tritonians are mystically converted to tailed mer-people.

Vandal Savage and an incarnation of Resurrection Man battle in catastrophe-era Atlantis.

Orin’s grandson, the mutated Kordax, provokes a civil war and is banished. His appearance underlies the eventual Atlantean stigma against blond hair.

c. 8000 BCE

In the wake of Atlantis rises the First Arthurian Epoch, in which a proto-Arthur and his Knights of the Broken Table preside over a short-lived globe-spanning empire. It falls at the hands of the futuristic Sheeda and their queen Gloriana Tenebrae… but a single young knight, Sir Justin, escapes into time with his winged horse Vanguard (see 2005/Yr23). Gloriana’s consort, Melmoth, is left behind in the past.

Nada, a queen in Africa, falls in love with Morpheus, Lord of Dreams… but flees him in fear. Spurned and angry, he consigns her to Hell.

c. 7500-7000 BCE

A young boy in Canaan is gifted by ancient gods with the powers that will give him his name… Shazam. He serves for over five thousand years as his people’s champion, Vlarem, during which time he creates the Rock of Eternity, and also is deceived into fathering the demons Blaze and Satanus.

c. 7000? BCE

Eclipso, the god of vengeance, devastates the ancient world with the Great Flood of Biblical legend. He is banished to the moon, trapped by the crystalline Heart of Darkness (see 1891), and replaced by the Spectre (see 15 Billion BCE) as the Lord’s official agent of vengeance.

c. 5000 BCE

Dr. Mist (aka Nommo of Kor, a lost African empire) gains his powers, in battle with the mage Felix Faust. He survives to the present day.

c. 3500 BCE

The Lord of Order Nabu is first incarnated on Earth.

c. 3500 to 2700? BCE

Vandal Savage rules as a king in ancient Sumer— possibly giving rise to ancient legends of immortal rulers reigning for millennia.

c. 3094 BCE

The Kali Yuga begins (the “Age of Discord”), fourth and final phase of the current Maha Yuga. The Lords of Order first fight it, but later try to hasten it, seeking its aftermath.

before 3000 BCE

Unethical genetic experiments by the White Martian race lead to a Martian civil war, which the Green race wins at great cost. Mars’ major outposts (on Earth and Saturn) are destroyed or abandoned.

c. 3000? BCE

A bird-headed race visits ancient Egypt in its Archaic period, influencing its mythology, before leaving to establish the arctic city of Feithera.

Martians create a small colony in Egypt to monitor early human civilization, masquerading as animal-headed gods. When the environment begins to affect their health, a renegade group takes over human bodies and the colony disappears.

The remote Asian city-state of Jarhanpur sequesters itself from the outside world.

c. 2613 BCE

Vandal Savage rules Egypt as Khufu (aka Cheops), the first Pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, and builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Khufu is also impersonated at some point by the wizard Kulak.

2578 BCE

The Pharaoh Kha-ef-re (aka Khafre or Chephren) is buried as an undead mummy with the mystic Blue Scarab gem (much later to become the power source for the original Blue Beetle; see 1983/Yr1), as the result of a confrontation with the Lord of Order Nabu and the time-travelling Bonnie Baxter (see 1995/Yr13). He is thereafter impersonated by Vandal Savage.

c. 2300 to 2000 BCE

Stonehenge is erected on Britain’s Salisbury Plain.

c. 2060 BCE

Egyptian prince Amentep becomes Ibis the Invincible (see 1940). He rules his lands “with great fairness, for many years” until, tired of life, he places himself and his queen Taia in suspended animation to await a more exciting age.

c. 2025 to 2000 BCE

Nabu becomes more active on Earth, combatting the evil Egyptian priest Khalis, among others.

Jo Nah of the Legion, dislocated in time (see 2995 in Hypertimeline L1), encounters Nabu, who sends him back to his home era.

c. 1830? BCE

The Spectre, as the incarnate wrath of God, destroys Sodom and Gomorrah.

c. 1730-1567 BCE

Indo-European charioteers known as Hyksos (or “Shepherd-Kings”) enter and occupy Egypt through the Sinai Peninsula, bringing the Middle Kingdom to an end and establishing their own dynasties (the 15th and 16th).

15th Century BCE

[c. 1450? BCE] The Aegean island of Thera (aka Santorini) explodes in a huge volcanic eruption, devastating the Minoan civilization on nearby Crete; the Mycenaeans rise to greater regional prominence in the aftermath.

The musician Orpheus, son of Dream, voyages to the underworld on a futile quest to rescue his lost bride Eurydice. The Maenades (aka Bacchae), angry at his temerity, tear his still-living head from his body and cast it adrift.

14th Century BCE

[1351 BCE] Chronos II (Walker Gabriel) steals an artifact from Knossos, on Crete, at the behest of Vandal Savage.

13th Century BCE

[c. 1290 BCE] Rameses II ascends to the throne of Egypt, at its peak as the greatest empire of the age. The former Canaanite champion now known as Shazam (see 7000 BCE) is allied with the Pharaoh as a wizard and high priest, as is Nabu (see 3500 BCE).

The Pharaoh cruelly oppresses the growing population of Israelites living in Egypt’s Nile delta region, ordering the drowning of all boys under five (from which edict Moses is surreptitiously rescued), and earning the ire of the Spectre.

Shazam creates his first successor—granting one of Rameses’ sons, Teth-Adam, access to his own gods-given powers. The new “Mighty Adam” serves loyally, and arranges a major treaty with the Hittites.

The time-lost hero Stripesy is briefly stranded and enslaved in Egypt, until rescued by Starman, Hourman, and the Batman (aided by a young Prince Khufu).

On a time-jump from the future (see 2001/Yr19), Jay (Flash) Garrick encounters Prince Khufu Kha-Taar of Egypt, his bodyguard Mighty Adam (aka Khem Adam/Black Adam), and the court magician Nabu. They show him a crashed Thanagarian spacecraft, and for his return trip give him a gauntlet of “Nth Metal” (an anti-gravity substance discovered in the wreck), to aid in a prophesied battle.

Vandal Savage (alongside evil priest Ahk-Ton and his Orb of Ra) overruns the Kahndaq region (killing Teth-Adam’s family), and attacks the temple city of Karnak. Khufu, Adam and Nabu fend him off—aided by Mr. Terrific, Captain Marvel, and Hawkgirl from the future (see 2003/Yr21), and the god Ra himself.

Prince Khufu and his fiancée Chay-ara are murdered by the evil priest Hath-Set. They will be reincarnated in the 20th Century as Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders (see 1939).

[c. 1223 BCE] The Spectre battles and defeats Nabu, and ultimately kills the Pharaoh.

Shazam leaves Egypt upon Rameses’ death. Mighty Adam is apparently corrupted by his power, however (bewitched by the demoness Blaze, Shazam’s daughter), and tries to usurp the throne… forcing Shazam to return and remove those powers, imprisoning the former hero at Abu Simbel (see 1988/Yr6).

[c. 1210 BCE] Moses and his brother Aaron lead the oppressed Israelites on an exodus from Egypt— assisted by the Spectre, who casts a series of plagues upon Egypt and inundates Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea. (Nabu, his powers waning, presumably places himself in suspended animation not long after this, where he remains until 1940.)

12th Century BCE

[c. 1200 BCE] The Olympian goddesses create the immortal Amazons, reincarnating the souls of 2,500 women who died by violence.

A time-lost Stuff, the Chinatown Kid, is briefly enthralled by the sorceress Circe before being rescued.

[c. 1184 BCE] After a ten-year siege, the leaders of Mycenaean Greece destroy Troy in the Trojan War. (The Seven Soldiers of Victory (see 1942) are briefly present, pursuing Dr. Doome.)

[c. 1183 BCE] When Prince Atlan of Poseidonis rediscovers the surface world, Atlantean armies under King Honsu attempt to invade, but are driven back by the Egyptians and Athenians. The dissenting Idylists leave Atlantis.

[c. 1170 BCE] After 40 years of wandering in the Sinai, the Israelites arrive in Canaan, where they drive out the native dwellers—aided by the Spectre, who, e.g., causes the walls to crumble at the battle of Jericho.

11th Century BCE

[1020 BCE] Atlantis’ capital city is raised from the depths by exiled sorceress Gamemnae, who binds her powers to it.

[1015 BCE] Atlantean refugees arrive from the future (see 2001/Yr19). Gamemnae enslaves them, fearing the future they portend for Atlantis.

[1004 BCE] Gamemnae recruits an international “League of Warriors” to protect Atlantis’ interests.

10th Century BCE

[1000 BCE] The Justice League arrives, seeking Aquaman and his people (see 2002/Yr20). The first wave of Leaguers’ souls are trapped in the risen city by a “containment spell,” but a second team follows, frees Arthur (who re-sinks the city), returns his people to the present, and restores the proper timeline.

[c. 1000 BCE] Defeated by Heracles, the Amazons are exiled by the gods to the hidden island of Themyscira in penance. A dissenting faction leaves under the leadership of Queen Hippolyta’s sister, Antiope.

[c. 970 BCE] Solomon (son of King David) rises to the Kingship of a unified Israel. Shazam, seeking to collect less-corruptible powers for a future champion, begins with Solomon’s widely-famed wisdom.

8th Century BCE

[776 BCE] The first Olympic Games are held in Greece. Meanwhile, the wrath of the Spectre is once more unleashed on Earth.

[c. 750 BCE] The bard Homer sets down the story of the Trojan War in a series of epic poems, as civilization begins to renew itself in the Aegean.

6th Century BCE

[594-546 BCE] Solon, Chief Magistrate of Athens, creates a new unified code of laws and introduces a new form of democracy to Athens. He is also the sage who, c. 559 BCE, is said to have the learned the tale of Atlantis while traveling in Egypt (see 9600 BCE).

5th Century BCE

[490-479 BCE] Athens achieves victory in the Persian Wars, and rises to its greatest heights of culture.

[469-399 BCE] The great philosopher Socrates lives and teaches in Athens, revolutionizing human thought.

[431-404 BCE] Athens is brought low in the Peloponnesian Wars against its former ally, Sparta.

4th Century BCE

[c. 360 BCE] Socrates’ student, Plato (427-347 BCE), writes the dialogues that tell the world the legends of Atlantis (see 9600 BCE) passed down from Solon.

[384-322 BCE] Plato’s student Aristotle lives and studies in Greece—and tutors Alexander of Macedon.

[334-323 BCE] Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) strikes out from Macedon, conquering and spreading Hellenic influence through Persia and into India until his untimely death. In particular…

[Oct 1, 331 BCE] Alexander fights the pivotal Battle of Arbela against Darius of Persia—and nearly loses, thanks to the time-travelling interference of the villain Per Degaton (see 1947), until the Justice Society of America intervenes to set history back on track.

1st Century BCE

[75 BCE] Vandal Savage faces an incarnation of Resurrection Man as a gladiator in the Roman Colosseum.

[c. 49-44 BCE] Gaius Julius Caesar (102-44 BCE) wins a civil war and serves as Dictator, cementing Rome’s transformation from Republic to Empire.

GL Yalan Gur of Sector 2814 becomes corrupted by his power, and is punished by the Guardians; falling to Earth in defeat, he fuses with a stray fragment of the Starheart (see 4.0004 Billion BCE).

[c. 7-4 BCE] Jesus is born in Judaea. The Spectre is relegated to limbo, as his heavenly masters shun vengeance in favor of forgiveness.

1st Century Common Era

[c. 7 CE] Augustus Caesar, greatest of Rome’s early emperors, spends one day each year in the month named for him disguised as a beggar, evading the eyes of the Gods as suggested by Dream… and planning to subvert the future of Rome, so that the cruelty it has forced upon him will not always rule the world.

[c. 30 CE] Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem. The spear used by the centurion Longinus to pierce Jesus’ side on the cross becomes a mystic artifact of great power, known as the Spear of Destiny¹ (see 1941). The Spectre is freed from limbo, but with the proviso that his wrath must now be tempered by bonding with a human soul². The first such host is an Indian named Caraka—who is eventually corrupted by the bond and becomes the Spectre’s nemesis, Azmodus³ (see 1965).

Marcus, the Golden Gladiator, rises from humble roots to become a champion at the height of the Roman Empire.

[c. 43 CE] In Britain, demonic priest Blackbriar Thorn is hunted by Roman legions, and finally buried alive in battle with his fellow Druids.

[Jul 18, 64 CE] A time-lost Captain Atom is present to see the city of Rome devastated by fire, under the eye of the infamous Emperor Nero.

2nd Century

[c. 117-138 CE] Roman Centurion Marcus Aelius leaves Earth for heroic training with the alien Virmirn—but due to relativistic time dilation on his travels, he doesn't return until c. 1997/Yr15, as the Alpha Centurion.

4th Century

[313 CE] The Emperor Constantine formally accepts Christianity into the Roman Empire.

[325 CE] The doctrines of the Catholic Church (and canonical contents of the Bible) are formalized at the Council of Nicaea.

[391 CE] The ancient library at Alexandria (dating to 275 BCE), greatest repository of the ancient world’s knowledge, is burned at the order of the Emperor Theodosius for possessing heretical books.

5th Century

[407-410 CE] Rome is sacked by invaders for the first time, and Rome’s legions are pulled out of Britain, leaving the islanders to defend themselves.

[Sep 4, 476 CE] The last Roman Emperor is deposed by Germanic invaders, bringing an end to the Western empire. (The Eastern (Byzantine) empire will survive until overthrown by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 CE.)

The mystic Homo Magi (see 1 Million BCE) relocate to the Hidden City in the mountains of Anatolia.

Home era of World War II’s (mis-named) Viking Commando, Valoric.

[c. 496 CE] Britain is united under King Arthur (also see below), who defeats the encroaching Saxons at the decisive Battle of Mount Badon, and brings peace after years of fighting. Arthur establishes his court at Camelot and presides for many years, aided by the sorcerer Merlin. Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table usher in a golden age for Britain and accomplish many great quests, eventually even recovering the Holy Grail (Christ’s cup from the Last Supper; see also 38,000 BCE, 30 CE, 980 CE, 1998/Yr16).

6th Century

Other notable figures of the Arthurian era include the Silent Knight (Brian Kent, an incarnation of Khufu/the Hawk Avatar; see 13th Century BCE) and Sir Justin, the Shining Knight (see 1940). Early in his knighthood, Sir Justin is trapped in suspended animation until the 20th century. However, Merlin later uses magic to summon him back, more than once; eventually he returns to stay.

[c. 517 CE] Despite the aid of the Demon Etrigan, enlisted by Merlin and bound to the human Jason Blood, King Arthur and his knights finally fall to the insidious forces of Arthur’s half-sister Morgaine le Fey and her son Mordred. Camelot’s brief, shining moment comes to an end… but Arthur is taken away to Avalon, and prophesied to return in Britain’s hour of greatest need. (Both Swamp Thing and Superman are briefly present (separately) during Camelot’s final days.)

The corrupt Kon-sten-tyn—an ancestor of today’s John Constantine—is one of several squabbling kings who rises to fill the power vacuum on the island, ruling at Dumnonia in Britain’s West Country (later known as Cornwall).

The wizard Merlin vanishes into legend, following many apparently contradictory paths… but this is not necessarily inconsistent, as he has been said to live “at all the times of his life simultaneously.”

[522 CE] At Tintagel in Cornwall, Vandal Savage battles an incarnation of the Resurrection Man.

7th Century

[613-632 CE] The prophet Mohammed founds the new religion of Islam in Arabia. He is forced to flee from Mecca on a hegira to Medina in 622, but returns in triumph in 629.

[c. 650 CE] The Chinese monk Jong Li becomes the first Earth-born Green Lantern.

[c. 698 CE] Uxas of the New Gods becomes Darkseid.

8th-9th Centuries

Darkseid is briefly stolen into the future by his much older self (see 3001 in Hypertimeline L2).

Arak, Son of Thunder—last of the native American Quontauka tribe—and Valda, the Iron Maiden, roam the world in service of the Frankish king Charlemagne.

Loki, trickster god of the Norse pantheon, is imprisoned in a cavern beneath the world.

Haroun Al Raschid, caliph of Baghdad, seeks to preserve his city at the height of its golden age by selling it to the Dream Lord, that its majesty will be remembered forever. This is accomplished… but at the same time, the city is removed from the waking world.

10th Century

[964 CE] Jon Haraldson, aka “the Viking Prince,” rises to fame in Scandinavia.

[980 CE] Rip Hunter’s time-travelling associate Antonia (see 1995/Yr13) tries unsuccessfully to help the Viking Prince recover the long-lost Holy Grail (see 517 CE) from a mysterious local tyrant…Vandal Savage.

[c. 998 CE] The rebounding GodWave (see 38,000 BCE) passes Earth a second time.

11th Century

[c. 1001 CE] Jon, the Viking Prince, explores North America as far as Minnesota in search of adventure… and encounters the assassin Cheshire, escaped from the future, and Black Canary, in pursuit of her.

[1066 CE] As William of Normandy conquers England, the Manhunter cult (see 3 Billion BCE) begins to infiltrate Earth.

[c. 1095-99 CE] During the First Crusade, the influential Priory de Sion is established near Jerusalem.

12th Century

[c. 1114] The Knights of the Temple of Solomon, aka the Knights Templar, are founded in the Holy Land—a society of warrior monks, and an outgrowth of the Priory de Sion.

[1127-28] The Templars are official established in Europe, bringing with them mystic wisdom acquired from Hasan Y Sabah’s society of Hashishim. They quickly accumulate great wealth and influence, becoming bankers to the nobility throughout Europe.

[1187-88] Jerusalem is lost to the Saracens under the sultan Saladin,