Columbia Timeline

This is a timeline based on the chronological events of history revealed in BioShock Infinite. Please note that when specific months and days are not given, they are only known to occur within the specified month or year.

1874

 * April 19: Booker DeWitt is born.

1890

 * December 29: Booker DeWitt is present at the Wounded Knee Massacre, and is given the nickname "The White Injun" by other members of his regiment, due to his violent actions against the Native Americans.

1891 - 1892

 * Booker DeWitt, remorseful for his actions at Wounded Knee, attends a baptism ceremony presided over by Preacher Witting.
 * In one timeline, Booker rejects his baptism at the last moment.
 * In another timeline, Booker accepts baptism and is born again, taking on the name of Zachary Hale Comstock.

1892

 * January 22: Booker DeWitt is employed by the Pinkerton's National Detective Agency.

1892 - 1893

 * Booker DeWitt's daughter, Anna, is born. Her mother dies in childbirth.

1893

 * Comstock successfully lobbies the U.S. Congress to provide funding for the construction of Columbia, a city he intends to make a modern-day ark. Columbia starts a global tour of major cities.
 * May 1 - October 30: The 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair occurs, giving rise to the concept of American exceptionalism. The star attraction of the exposition is the floating city of Columbia, an ambitious project envisioned by the self-proclaimed prophet Zachary Hale Comstock, designed by Rosalind and Robert Lutece, and funded by the U.S. government.
 * October 8: Booker DeWitt gives up his daughter to pay off his gambling debts, and fails to save her after changing his mind.
 * Anna's pinkie finger is severed by a closing Tear as she is transported into an alternate universe by Comstock and the Luteces. By existing in two realities simultaneously -- and perhaps due to the fact that her pinkie was severed by a Tear -- she is able to intuitively manipulate Tears.
 * Comstock presents Anna DeWitt, renamed "Elizabeth", as the "Lamb of Columbia", and makes the claim that Lady Comstock gave birth to her after only a week of gestation to explain Elizabeth's sudden appearance.
 * In the final universe that is seen (in the after-credits scene), where Comstock never existed, Booker is back in his office. He opens the door that leads to the crib, calling out Anna's name.
 * October 15: Rosalind Lutece gives Voxophones to her "twin" in order to explain how he came to be in her reality.

1894

 * August 12: Jeremiah Fink starts using Tears to access scientific advancements from other realities, after his brother made fortune from stealing music of future eras.
 * October 4: Fink discovers Big Daddies through Tears and their irreversible conversion process which gives him the idea for creating the Songbird.
 * November 14: Fink observes Yi Suchong through Tears opened in Rapture and starts to copy the scientist's research on ADAM to expand his own company's inventions.

1895

 * Lady Comstock is allegedly murdered by Daisy Fitzroy. Unbeknownst to Columbia's public, Lady Comstock was actually killed by her husband after she threatened to reveal that Elizabeth was not their child. Daisy Fitzroy was a servant in Comstock House at the time. Comstock framed Fitzroy for his wife's death in order to hide the truth.
 * Daisy Fitzroy takes refuge in Finkton. At some point, she inspires the formation of the Vox Populi and becomes their leader.
 * Marlowe begins to sell bottles of Murder of Crows in Columbia.

1895 - 1897

 * As Columbia's construction continues, Elizabeth is imprisoned in the tower on Monument Island, both to protect her from the Vox Populi and the "False Shepherd", and to allow secret scientific study of her reality-altering abilities by the Luteces, which provides Columbia with numerous technological advances taken from alternate realities.

1896

 * March 4: Fink cuts all ties with Suchong after the discovery of an accidental yet successful imprinting between the Songbird and its target, Elizabeth.

1900

 * April 9: Worker #08-IZ9 starts his job at Fink's Chronologically Precise Manufacturing and receives written instructions from his superior, Foreman #08-2QI, including a secret message from the Vox Populi asking his help to smuggle out Fink's products for their cause. The same day, Fink Manufacturing starts producing Broadsider guns to arm each of Columbia's police enforcers against the uprising of the Vox Populi, while the revolutionaries, founded as non-violent, start selling the smuggled weapons on the black market to finance the revolution.
 * August 15: Fink Manufacturing starts producing Bird's Eye rifles as requested by Jefferson Poole to equip police force snipers. The Vox Populi divert some of the weapons to use to keep the city's rooftops under their control.
 * October 31: During a fire at the Fink Manufacturing facility, the city's leadership detaches part of the structure from the city to prevent the fire's spread, resulting in the deaths of numerous workers. Following this date, the Vox Populi become increasingly militant under the leadership of Daisy Fitzroy.

1901

 * January 1: A first production of a new lightweight rifle, the Huntsman, is manufactured at Fink. The same day, a violent clash occurs between Vox Populi militants and police forces at Finkton Wharf Shipping Dock as the latter tried to prevent workers from distributing handbills.
 * Columbia becomes involved in an international incident&mdash;during the Boxer Rebellion, Columbia opens fire on Chinese citizens in Beijing, revealing to the world that the city is heavily armed.

1902

 * July 6: The U.S. government formally disavows Columbia's involvement in the Boxer Rebellion and recalls the city. Outraged, Zachary Comstock declares Columbia's secession from the United States and the city vanishes into the clouds.
 * The anniversary of Columbia's secession becomes a city-wide holiday celebrating the city's independance.
 * July 23: A strike occurs in the city's factories and significantly paralyzes production. The situation turns into a brutal brawl between the workers and the police, leading to a round-up of insurgents, and death among the policemen. Vox Populi legal representative John Goldman calls for a peaceful resolution to avoid further violence.

1903

 * February 13: Daisy Fitzroy reveals herself as the leader of the Vox Populi.
 * November 23: A bomb is discovered by the police forces, following an anonymous tip, and it is revealed as belonging to the Vox Populi. Several eyewitnesses, however, report seeing men dressed as police members placing the explosives before the arrival of the official investigation, leading both sides to accuse one another.
 * Soldier's Field amusement park is completed.

1904

 * June 1: Fink resumes production of Barnstormer rocket launchers, which was left on hold after the Boxer Rebellion incident.
 * Payton Lane Easter &amp; Sons begins producing Automated Stallions.
 * Emporia Towers is bombed by a man the Vox Populi believe to be an unnamed postman.
 * The Siphon is installed in the tower on Monument Island and begins to limit and harness Elizabeth's powers.

1905

 * Vanderwall & Palmer begins to sell Sky-Hooks for traveling on Columbia's Sky-Line.
 * Chen Lin opens his gunsmith shop in the Plaza of Zeal at Finkton.
 * March 16: The Vox Populi attack the local prison and rescue several of their detained comrades. As a result, Chief Poole's leadership in this situation is questioned and Fitzroy reconsiders John Goldman's loyalty to the cause.

1906

 * April 11: Chief Poole is assassinated by an unknown sniper during a meeting with city officials and the act is claimed by the Vox Populi. Police officer Harrison Thacker takes his succession as Chief of Police and publicly announces a fierce campaign against Vox Populi terrorism.

1907

 * May 17: Police forces strike a violent blow at a cabal of the Vox Populi in retaliation to Poole's death, but at the cost of heavy loss on both sides.

1908

 * June 4: The Vox Populi bombs the office of Columbia's treasurer Montgomery Billings in order to destroy the debt records of the working class. The bombing caused no victims.
 * September 17: Construction of the RMS Titanic begins in Belfast Harbour.

1909

 * May 7: Daisy Fitzroy is captured by Columbia's Police following a tip regarding plans of sabotage to the Sky-Line network. Legal expert John Goldman reassures the rebels that there was no betrayal from within the Vox Populi. Fitzroy is sent to the Comstock House Re-Education Center to be studied by Dr. Francis Pinchot before her sentence.
 * May 9: Daisy Fitzroy is sentenced to death by immolation on the 14th of May, and her body to be thrown out of the city. John Goldman, who disappeared since her arrest, is revealed to the Vox Populi to be the traitor who gave away their leader. Unknown to the public, Fitzroy is scheduled for a lobotomy before her execution.
 * May 13: A bomb detonates at Comstock Plaza where Fitzroy's execution was in preparation. At the same time, Vox members get into Comstock House and Dr. Pinchot is betrayed and murdered by Daisy Fitzroy after promising to assist her in her escape before her lobotomy.
 * October 31: The Luteces are supposedly killed after one of their machines is sabotaged by Jeremiah Fink. Instead, it disperses them across multiple realities, allowing them to exist across all of time and space.

1911

 * May 31: The RMS Titanic is registered in Liverpool, England and launched on its maiden voyage.
 * August 15: Columbia's police force debuts the Motorized Patriot. The Vox Populi see it as another reason to rally against the Founders.

1912

 * March 13: City officials grant Police Chief Thacker the authority to apply his "Final Strike" and arrest the rest of the Vox Populi members. The rebels renew their determination in the conflict.
 * April 14 - 15: The RMS Titanic collides with an iceberg at 41° 46′ N, 50° 14′ W, and starts sinking.
 * June 11: Jeremiah Fink considers changing Vigors formula to injectable ones to reduce their production cost.
 * The Lutece twins find Booker DeWitt and bring him into Comstock's timeline so he can reclaim Elizabeth. Across at least 122 different realities, none of Booker's attempts are successful.
 * July 6: Columbia celebrates the 10th anniversary of its secession with the United States. The events of BioShock Infinite occur.
 * The events of BioShock Infinite, as well as the construction and very existence of Columbia, are erased from the multiverse due to Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth's actions.

1960 (in a different reality)

 * Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth arrive inside the Welcome Center of Rapture shortly after using Songbird to destroy Monument Island and the Siphon that restricted her powers in 1912. The creature, trapped outside the building, is killed by the crushing pressure of the ocean's depths. The duo then use the Bathysphere docked at the Bathysphere Station to reach the Lighthouse on the surface, through which Elizabeth is able to open a passage to the Sea of Doors, the place outside space and time, allowing access to all realities. With this, the young girl is able to reach Booker's past and reveal to him his true memories.
 * When this event occurs in relation to BioShock is unknown. However, the Electro Bolt Plasmid in the Gatherer's Garden is missing, the glass tunnel that Jack walks through past the malfunctioning door is broken and unusable (the one that gets destroyed by the airplane's wrecked tail at the beginning of the game), the floating wreckage of the plane itself is nowhere to be seen once they have reached the surface, and finally Booker and Elizabeth are able to use the Bathysphere, which was genetically locked down by Andrew Ryan, suggesting that the events of BioShock had already started before their arrival or when Jack was fighting with Fontaine and Andrew Ryan was already killed.

1981

 * A fallen building from Columbia is found high in the Alps, leading to the discovery of several Columbian artifacts, among them a Sky-Hook in its wooden box, a bottle of Murder of Crows, a Custom Authority book from 1907, a propaganda poster warning of the "False Shepherd," and other objects. The rest of the city remains hidden to the world.

1983 - 1984

 * December 31 - January 1: In a timeline where Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth meet, but Elizabeth is recaptured by Songbird, Columbia emerges from isolation and brazenly attacks New York City. Zachary Comstock's prophecy that Elizabeth would lead Columbia to "drown in flame the mountains of man" is fulfilled.
 * An elderly Elizabeth, responsible for the leadup to the attack but unable to prevent it herself, summons Booker to this time from 1912 and gives him the musical sequence to control Songbird so that this reality can be avoided.