FAQ

What is this?

My humble attempt to collect events from fictional worlds that correspond with actual calendar dates.

Why?

It started when watching some sci-fi movie that took place in the far-flung future of 1997.  I started thinking about all the “future” events that had come and gone and amused myself by citing these events as history.  As in “remember back in 2001 when HAL became self-aware?” or “remember when Skynet blew up the world in the late ’90s?”  I ended up making a list of these dates that I saw in movies and that became this.

How do you decide which dates to use?

If it’s fictional and has a month and day and is (more or less) canon, then it’s fair game.

What sources do you use?

A pretty wide variety, actually.  Though I try to avoid wikis, I’m willing to use them as a good short hand if I know the information is accurate.  Otherwise I aim for either in-universe sources or canon sources.

  1. In-Universe sources would be, for example, a line of text or dialogue that specifically states that an event occurred on this specific date.  In the webcomic El Goonish Shive, there’s a conversation between several characters about Susan’s birthday occurring 10 minutes after midnight on New Years.  Therefore, I can cite this as confirmation that Susan was born on January 1st, precisely 10 minutes after midnight.
  2. Canon sources would be things like character bios (often found, I’ve noticed, with fighting video games like Street Fighter or Soul Calibur.  Manga is also well-known for including character birthdays) or remarks from the creators.  So, for example, the birth dates of various Harry Potter characters.  There were only a couple that were specifically listed in the books or movies, but fans know a great deal more than that.  The reason for this is that J. K. Rowling has given us that information during interviews or on her website.  Though it’s not revealed in-universe, it would still be considered canon.

Why do you avoid wikis?

Because a lot of times I’ll find dates listed that do not fit either of the above qualifications (at least, that I can find).  Some wikis, for example, might list the actor’s birthdate when no official character birthdate can be found.  While this is fine, I’ve decided not to include such dates for my purposes.

Additionally, multiple wikis might have conflicting information.  One may say a particular event occurred on one date, while another wiki lists that same event as occurring on another date.  Unless one is backed by canon sources, I just choose to ignore them both.  This doesn’t mean you’ll never see a wiki listed as a source (in fact, you often will).  It just means that, when I do, I’ve verified through other, less easily linkable, means (such as the physical copy of a book or a line of dialogue from a movie).

Why are so many of the dates you post birthdays?

Because, honestly, those are the easiest dates to pin down.  Authors will often decide when a character’s birthday is while they’re working on back story and they’ll often share this information with the audience.  Other events, however, are often purposely vague.  Instead of this battle taking place on this specific date, it took place “sometime in May” or even, simply, “in the Spring”.  I’ve tried to find as many specific dates as I could about other events, but the majority of what you see here will be birthdays.

If that interests you, however, I have listed the fictional birthdays that I have catalogued on this page.  Have a look and see if any fictional characters share your birthday!

I have a fictional event I’d like to see here.  Can I send it to you?

Please do!  I’m always happy for the help.  You don’t even have to worry about whether I’ve already posted something for that date, as many dates have multiple events associated with them.  All I ask is the following:

  1. That you choose an event with a specific month and day.  Years are nice, but less important.
  2. That you also send me your source.  Is this mentioned in a book?  Movie dialogue?  Interview with the creator?  If I can’t source it, I won’t post it.

If you’ve got that, then feel free to drop your suggestion into my mail.

Thank you!

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