Antefortressian

The Antefortressian (AF) era is the historical epoch preceding the founding of the Principality of the Pillow Fortress and the subsequent Pillow Fortress epoch. The word "antefortressian" was coined to mean something like "before the fortress." Years in the Antefortressian era increment in reverse, beginning with AF 0, the fraction of the year AD 2018 before the Principality was established. AF 1 is the first full year of the Antefortressian era, and corresponds to AD 2017. AF 2 corresponds to AD 2016, and so on until the beginning of time at the big bang.

Notable Events of the Antefortressian Era

AF 1 - The final full year before the founding era of the Principality.

AF 2 - The United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union.

AF 17 - The September 11 attacks take place in the United States.

AF 29 - The Berlin Wall falls.

AF 49 - Apollo 11 lands on the Moon, and humans walk on another celestial body for the first time.

AF 73 - The Second World War ends; the United Nations is founded; the first atomic weapons are used in warfare.

AF 104 - The First World War begins.

AF 229 - The French Revolution begins.

AF 242 - The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted.

AF 526 - Christopher Columbus's first voyage reaches the Americas, beginning sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.

AF 568 - Johannes Gutenberg develops European movable-type printing, helping transform the production and circulation of books.

AF 671 - The Black Death reaches Europe during the great plague pandemic of the 14th century.

AF 803 - Magna Carta is sealed in England.

AF 1542 - Romulus Augustulus is deposed, conventionally marking the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

AF 2061 - Julius Caesar is assassinated on the Ides of March.

AF 2238 - Qin Shi Huang unifies the Chinese states and becomes the first emperor of imperial China.

AF 2340 - Alexander the Great dies at Babylon following his conquests across the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia.

AF 2526 - Traditional date for the establishment of the Roman Republic.

AF 2793 - Traditional date of the first recorded ancient Olympic Games.

AF 3217 - The Late Bronze Age collapse disrupts or destroys numerous civilizations across the eastern Mediterranean and Near East.

AF 3771 - The Code of Hammurabi is promulgated in Babylon.

AF 4577 - The Great Pyramid of Giza is completed during the reign of Khufu.

AF 5217 - Writing develops in Mesopotamia; recorded history begins in the conventional sense.

AF 5517 - Wheeled vehicles appear in several parts of Eurasia.

AF 11,617 - Monumental construction begins at Göbekli Tepe in Anatolia.

AF 12,017 - Agriculture becomes established in parts of the Fertile Crescent during the Neolithic Revolution.

AF 42,000 - Neanderthals disappear as a distinct human population.

AF 302,000 - Homo sapiens emerges in Africa.

AF 1,002,000 - Early humans are making extensive use of fire.

AF 66,002,000 - The Chicxulub impact and associated environmental catastrophe occur at the end of the Cretaceous; non-avian dinosaurs become extinct.

AF 252,002,000 - The Permian–Triassic mass extinction, the largest known mass extinction in Earth's history, occurs.

AF 539,002,000 - The Cambrian Period begins, associated with the rapid diversification of many major groups of animals.

AF 2,400,002,000 - The Great Oxidation Event profoundly increases the amount of free oxygen in Earth's atmosphere.

AF 3,500,002,000 - Unambiguous evidence of very early life exists on Earth.

AF 4,500,002,000 - A planetary body roughly the size of Mars, commonly called Theia, collides with the young Earth. Material blasted into orbit subsequently coalesces to form the Moon.