1928
Early use of the word "punk"
to signify a criminal.
1948
The word "cybernetics"
coined by Norbert Wiener
1955
The Naked Lunch published
1960
The word "cyborg" coined
by Manfred Clynes
1968
Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep published
1972
K.W. Jeter completes Dr. Adder (Spring)
1973
"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" published in New
Dimensions 3
Gravity's Rainbow published
1975
Shockwave Rider published
1976
The Ramones release first album; punk begins
1977
"Fragments of a Hologram Rose" published in Unearth
(summer)
Never Mind the Bullocks - Here's the Sex Pistols released;
punk gets notorious
The Clash release first album; punk gets serious
The
Ophiuchi Hotline published
1978
Generation X, with Billy Idol on lead vocals, releases first
album
1979
The Clash release London Calling
1980
City Come A-Walkin' published
The Artificial Kid published
1981
"Johnny Mnemonic"
published in Omni (May)
Spacetime Donuts published
"The Gernsback Continuum " published in Universe
11
"True Names" published
Sterling introduces Gibson's
"Burning Chrome" to
the writer's workshop in Austin
1982
Software published (Jan.)
Gibson attends ArmadiloCon and reads the opening chapter of
his work-in-progress, Neuromancer. "Behind the Mirrorshade:
A Look at Punk SF" panel held. (Oct.)
Blade Runner released
Tron released
1983
Cheap Truth begins publication
Gibson, Sterling and Shiner visit Rudy Rucker in Lynchburg after
Balticon; Virginia hasn't been this hip since Thomas Jefferson
was alive
War Games released
The short story "Cyberpunk"
by Bruce Bethke published in Amazing Science Fiction Stories;
this is, allegedly, the first use of the term 'cyberpunk' anywhere
(Nov.)
The word "transrealism" coined by Rudy Rucker who
issues "A Transreal Manifesto" in The Bulletin of
the SFWA (Winter)
1984
Neuromancer published;
"cyberspace" coined
Dr. Adder published
Decoder, a film by Klaus Maeck, released
Frontera published
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution published
In Japan, robots kill four humans in separate incidents
Terminator released
2600
begins publication
VPL Research Inc. founded by Jason Lanier
Gardner Dozois, reviewing "hot new writers" for The
Washington Post, refers to a group called "cyberpunks".
The name sticks (Dec. 30)
1985
Schismatrix published
20 Minutes into the Future (aka Max
Headroom) released
Eclipse published
Donna Haraway's "Manifesto for Cyborgs" published
in Socialist Review (Apr.)
Japanese translation of Neuromancer published (July)
"Cyberpunks" panel convenes at the National SF Convention
in Austin. Panelists are Rudy Rucker,
John Shirley, Bruce
Sterling, Lou Shiner, Pat
Cadigan and Greg Bear (Aug. 31)
"Slamdancing in SF" published in REM #2
1986
Burning Chrome published
Hardwired published
"Pakistani Brain" virus infects IBM computers world-wide
(Jan.)
Rudy Rucker's "What is Cyberpunk?" appears in REM
#3 (Feb.)
Count Zero published (Mar.)
Kim Stanley Robinson's parody "Down and Out in the year
2000" appears in IASF (Apr.)
Norman Spinrad's "The Neuromantics" published in IASF
(May)
John Shirley confounds the elders at the Science Fiction Research
Association panel "Cyberpunk or Cyberjunk" (June 28)
Cheap Truth ceases publication (Aug.)
Michael Swanwick's "A User's Guide to the Post Moderns"
published in IASF (Nov.)
Mirrorshades published (Dec.)
Interzone reprints "the New Science Fiction"
by Vincent Omniaveritas (Winter)
1987
First German translation of Neuromancer published by
Heyne
Science Fiction Eye premiers with all cyberpunk issue
Robocop released
Akira released
Bubble Gum Crisis begins in Japan
Decoder magazine begins in Italy
Mirrorshades
published in Germany [Spiegelschatten]
1988
In England, Max Dowhham's "Cyberpunk: the Final Solution"
published in Vague
Islands in the Net
published
Mississippi Review entire issue published devoted to
cyberpunk; academic colonization of the Movement begins in earnest
Metrophage published
Shatter graphic novel published
Going GaGa begins publication
bOING bOING begins publication
Wetware published (Apr.)
The Internet worm strikes (Nov.)
Mona Lisa Overdrive
published (Nov.)
Mirrorshades published in Brazil [Reflexo do Futuro]
Mirrorshades published in Japan (Spring)
1989
"Fiction 2000" conference held in Leeds (June)
Mondo 2000 begins
publication
Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published
The Cuckoo's Egg published
Semiotext(e):SF published
Cherry comix special cyberpunk issue published
Crystal Express published
Tetsuo: The Iron Man released
Timothy Leary interviews William Gibson
Phrack #24 distributed containing the E911 document hacked
from BellSouth (Feb. 24)
1990
The Difference Engine
published
Hardware released
EFF founded
Secret Service raids Steven Jackson Games in Austin (Mar. 1)
Harper's Magazine publishes "Is Computer Hacking
a Crime?", a transcript of a WELL conference during which
Phiber Optik hacks the TRW database and distributes John Barlow's
credit history (Mar.)
Operation Sun Devil (May 7-9)
Paul Di Filippo's "Ribofunk" published in bOING
bOING #2 (Winter)
In England, The Hardcore special "Cyberpunk is Dead"
issue published (Winter)
1991
Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
published
Storming the Reality Studio published
Synners published
Terminator 2 released
The Silicon Man published
Transreal! published
U.S. intelligence agents reportedly cripple Iraqi air defense
computers with a virus during the Gulf War (Jan)
Lewis Shiner announces in the Op-Ed pages of the New York
Times that he has resigned from cyberpunk (Jan.7)
Steven Jackson Games sues the Secret Service (May 1)
"Michelangelo" virus media panic begins (Dec.)
1992 EFF
moves to Washington D.C. and is immediately compromised
The Hacker Crackdown published
Snow Crash published
Mondo 2000: A User's Guide to the New Edge published
The Lawnmower Man released
"Michelangelo" doomsday; nothing happens (Mar. 6)
Jaron Lanier loses his patents to his creditors (Nov)
Future Sex begins publication (Nov)
Freejack
released
Tetsuo: Body Hammer released
1993
Wired
begins publication
Virtual Light published
Fringe Ware Review begins publication
Nemisis released. Gibson will later praise the film as "sort
of early Gibson meets Terminator 2 ... it has a few bits that
are just brilliant Cyberpunk."
Bubble Gum Crisis released in the West
Time Magazine "Cyberpunk" cover story; real
cyberpunks outraged (Feb. 8)
Court rules in favor of Steven Jackson Games, Secret Service
ordered to pay damages (Feb.)
Wild Palms premiers (May 16)
Billy Idol's new album Cyberpunk released; real cyberpunks
outraged (July)
Flame Wars; The Discourse of Cyberculture published
Deus X published (Jan)
1994
The Hacker and the Ants published
Data Trash published
Cyberia published
"VNS Manifesto" published in Unnatural: Techno-theory
for a Contaminated Culture
Phiber Optic begins serving a 13 month sentence for computer
intrusion and conspiracy (Jan.)
In Paris, "Cyber SM" gives first public demonstration
of virtual sexuality, S&M style (Jan.)
Line Noiz e-zine distributes results of its opinion poll
"Does Cyberpunk Still Exist?"; no conclusions, as usual
(Aug. 12)
Western news media reports two thirds of Russian computer users
have encountered viruses, 85% of those viruses were Russian made
(Nov.)
Crypt Newsletter begins
10th anniversary edition of Neuromancer published (July)
1995
The Diamond Age published
EFF retreats
to San Francisco
The Cyberpunk Handbook published; cynical opportunism
reaches new low
Wired UK edition begins (March)
Synthetic Pleasures released
The Net released
Hackers released
From Australia, Geekgirl debuts on the Net (Jan.)
Kevin Metnick arrested by the FBI for numerous computer crimes
(Feb. 15)
Italian police raid BITS Against the Empire BBS accusing the
computer group of subversion (Feb. 28)
The Steampunk Trilogy published (Apr.)
VR 5 premiers (May 24)
Virtual Futures conference meets at Warwick University (May
26-28)
Johnny Mnemonic released
(May 26)
Arthur & Marilouise Kroker publish "Johnny Mnemonic:
The Day Cyberpunk Died" in Ctheory (Jun.)
K.W. Jeter's Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human published--
to the consternation of all (Nov.)
Western news sources identify Bulgaria as the leading exporter
of computer viruses
1996
Escape Velocity; Cyberculture at the End of the Century
published
FutureSex goes online
Ramones break up
Ribofunk! collection published (Mar.)
Datableed - the second Virtual Futures conference meets (May)
Sex Pistols reunion tour begins at Hollola, Finland (June 21)
Holy Fire Published (July)
Idoru published (Sept.)
Kyoko Date, the virtual girl, activated
Hacking the Future by Arthur & Marilouise Kroker
published
Clinton signs Communications Decency Act into US law (Feb. 8)
Wired magazine, as a preliminary action to a planned
IPO, files a prospectus with the SEC valuing itself at $447 million
-- 17 times greater than its actual revenues. Much derision follows
in the financial press (May 30)
Wired magazine's IPO tanks (Oct. 24)
Blade Runner
3: Replicants Night by K.W. Jeter published -- for no good reason
(Nov)
1997
A Cyberpunk Manifesto
published by Christian As. Kirtchev (Feb 14 1997)
Freeware published (April)
Wired UK edition folds (Feb)
US Supreme Court rules Communications Decency Act unconstitutional
(Jun 26)
Blade Runner computer game released by Westwood (Nov)
First authorized Russian translation of Neuromancer [Neiromant]
published by Terra Fantastica
1998
The Cyberpunk
Project and Cyberpunk Information Database opened (November)
William Gibson's and Tom Maddox's episode, "Kill
Switch" premiers on The X-Files (Feb 15)
Burning Chrome stage adaptation opens in Chicago (Feb
6)
2000
William Gibson's and Tom Maddox's second episode "First
Person Shooter" on The X-Files