Rapture Timeline

This is a chronological timeline of events related to the history of Rapture, based on information revealed in the BioShock game series and There's Something in the Sea. Please note that when specific months and days are not given, they are only known to occur within the specified month or year.

1906

 * September 3
 * Orrin Oscar Lutwidge is born.

1919

 * Undefined Date
 * Andrew Ryan, as a child, flees Russia in the wake of revolution; arrives in the United States of America.

1923
May 17
 * James Millard Oakes is born.

1939

 * August 26
 * After accepting a job opening from Alan Turing, Charles Milton Porter and his wife Pearl take the Apollo Airways Flight DF-0113 from Philadelphia to London, to begin working with him for the Allies.


 * September 1
 * Beginning of World War II.

1940

 * September 7
 * Beginning of the Blitz on London. Pearl Porter is killed by the first bombing.

1945

 * August 6
 * United States drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sofia Lamb survives the bombing but loses all her friends in the explosion.


 * August 9
 * A second atomic bomb is dropped on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.


 * September 2
 * End of World War II.

1946

 * Undefined Date
 * Work begins on the construction of Rapture.
 * Brigid Tenenbaum disappears.


 * November 5
 * Rapture's infrastructure is built up enough to become habitable for a large population. The city opens to an influx of citizens.


 * December
 * Yi Suchong noted missing in Chinese paper.

1947

 * Undefined Date
 * Dr. J.S. Steinman disappears.


 * February
 * A number of Australians, including Kyburz, disappear from Turtle Bay.

1948

 * Frank Fontaine arrives in Rapture.
 * Julie Langford disappears.


 * June 16
 * Fontaine Futuristics designs an advertisement for a Teleportation Plasmid.

1951

 * (Presumably) Rapture is finished. Andrew Ryan cuts off contact with the surface.

Unspecified Date

 * Rapture suffers economic distress caused by cessation of city construction.
 * Atlantic Express bankrupted, and Rapture Metro is in operation.
 * Eleanor Lamb is born in Rapture.

1956

 * Undefined Date
 * Jack is "born" in a lab under the supervision of Tenenbaum and Suchong.


 * July 12
 * A successful mind control test on Jack is recorded by Suchong.

1957

 * Undefined Date
 * Celeste Roget travels to the Himalayas to find her father.
 * After discovering the city of Rapture by accident, a deep sea explorer is nicknamed 'Johnny Topside' by the city's populace and becomes something of a celebrity.


 * January 22
 * Frank Fontaine installs the first Power to the People machine in Rapture.

1958

 * Undefined date
 * A revolutionary named Atlas begins protesting and rallying supporters against Ryan's philosophy in running Rapture.
 * Ryan is given evidence that Charles Milton Porter swore loyalty to Fontaine and has him incarcerated in Persephone.  Control of Minerva's Den and The Thinker are handed over to Reed Wahl.
 * Tears begin appearing in Rapture, capturing the attention of some scientists, specifically Suchong.
 * Elizabeth arrives in Rapture through a Tear in the Silver Fin Restaurant.
 * Fontaine's Department Store is converted into a prison and is seperated from the city by the Rapture Central Council.
 * Big Daddies are commissioned by Andrew Ryan to protect Little Sisters in Rapture during the mounting civil unrest.
 * Atlas and some of his followers are sent to the prison at Fontaine's by Ryan to prevent them from causing further trouble.
 * Brigid Tenenbaum goes in to hiding (eventually residing under the streets of Olympus Heights) and starts to rescue Little Sisters.
 * Sofia Lamb takes control over Persephone.


 * September 12
 * Frank Fontaine fakes his own death in a shoot-out with Ryan's forces.


 * December 25
 * The Manta Ray Lounge that was storing supplies for the prisoners at Fontaine's is overrun by Splicers.


 * December 30
 * Dash H. Carmady takes photos of the tiles in Lutwidge's basement workshop at the Warden Yarn Building.


 * December 31
 * The events of Burial at Sea begin.
 * Atlas and his followers escape Fontaine's Department Store.
 * The Masquerade party is thrown; the Kashmir Restaurant is attacked during the 1958 New Year's Eve Riots, and the Rapture Civil War begins.
 * During the riots, the power to Ryan Amusements is cut off and everyone inside is trapped, including Nina Carnegie with a entire third grade class.
 * Subject Delta is forced to shoot himself by Sofia Lamb while under the influence of a Hypnotize Plasmid.

1959

 * The Rapture Civil War takes place. Rapture goes from a working society, to a warzone, as Ryan and Atlas fight for control. Both sides actively splice, and many citizens splicing for their own self-defense become unstable. The people who survive and keep their sanity stay barricaded in small holdouts within the city. During this time, Sofia Lamb builds up more followers, who escape from the bloodshed, in Persephone.
 * The events of BioShock 2 Multiplayer occur.


 * Undefined Date
 * Ryan puts the Bathyspheres into genetic lock-down, with only authorized personnel to use them.
 * Arcadia closes due to incidents caused by the Saturnine cultists.
 * Fort Frolic is closed to the public by Sander Cohen.
 * Minerva's Den is sealed off from the rest of Rapture by Reed Wahl.
 * Dionysus Park is flooded in what is deemed by the newspapers as a 'cult-related' incident.
 * The Limbo Room is forced to close, making Grace Holloway unemployed.
 * All publications cease distribution due to Security Order 217.


 * January
 * Terrified citizens pull all their money out of the banks causing an economic collapse.
 * Yi Suchong is killed in his Free Clinic by a Bouncer while working on a protection bond.
 * Elizabeth is murdered by Atlas after giving him the Ace in the hole.
 * The last recording by Nina Carnegie is made, still trapped in Ryan Amusements with the children.
 * A powerful bomb is detonated in Fin De Siècle Boutiques, destroying an entire level of the building.

1960

 * Undefined Date
 * Transatlantic Apollo Air Flight DF-0301 (Jack's flight) run by Apollo Air vanishes with six crew persons and eighty-nine passengers; international search efforts fail. U.S. and NATO vessels are sent out to sweep the area.
 * The events of BioShock occur.
 * Persistent rumors claim that a nuclear submarine sank while searching for Flight DF-0301.
 * Elizabeth brings Booker DeWitt and Songbird to Rapture.

1963

 * November
 * Icelandic vessel spots volcanic island forming, dubbed "Surtsey".

1967

 * Undefined Date
 * Sofia Lamb restarts the Protector Program in order to gain ADAM for her plans. Since the Little Sisters left in Rapture have all become too old to gather effectively, young girls are kidnapped from the surface to become new gatherers.

{{Sp|Show List SitS Events|

February

 * February 11
 * Jeremiah Lynch finds a Big Daddy Doll on the beach near Liscannor Bay Ireland.


 * February 17
 * Jeremiah Lynch finds footprints on Lahinch Beach (in Liscannor Bay, Ireland).


 * February 18
 * Maura Clune disappears from Liscannor Bay, Co. Clare Ireland.

March

 * March 9
 * Jeremiah Lynch sends Mark Meltzer photos of the footprints on the beach.


 * March 15
 * Mary Elizabeth Sarsfield disappears from Felixstowe, England, vessel detects red light underwater SW of Felixstowe harbor.


 * March 18
 * Jeremiah Lynch writes letter to Mark Meltzer regarding footprints and kidnapping, and sends a picture of the Big Daddy Doll; Something in the Sea Phase One begins (presumably).


 * March 22
 * Ulrike Moeller disappears from the town of Wayguard in the Südtondern District of Germany. Interpol in St. Cloud France become involved in the investigation.

April

 * April 4
 * Four-year-old Chantal Dumas is kidnapped from St. Lutgardis orphanage in the town of De Haan in West Flanders, Belgium.


 * April 11
 * A newspaper reports that Camille Dumas, aged six, is kidnapped in La Rocchelle, France; red lights appear in the harbor.


 * April 23
 * Red Glow alarms Spanish fishermen in La Boca, Spain.


 * April 24
 * Elena Rodriguez goes missing from La Boca, Spain.

May

 * May 5
 * Boatman dodged "ghost sub" on Douro River, Spain.


 * May 23
 * Ghost lights near Cadiz, Spain.

June

 * Undefined date
 * "Mysterious red light" circles the cruise ship Golden Queen, in the mid-Atlantic.


 * June 2
 * Mark Meltzer sends info to Philadelphia Observer.


 * June 14
 * The US Coast Guard sights a "fast-moving red light" under the surface near the Virgin Islands.


 * Undefined date
 * Jennifer Walker, aged five, is taken from her holiday bungalow in Puerto Rico on a Sunday night.


 * June 17
 * Meltzer receives brush-off from the Philadelphia Observer.


 * June 30
 * Meltzer sends letter to his representative including his research.

July

 * Undefined Date
 * Sightings of a "Ghost Sub" occur in the Florida Keys.
 * Within 7 days, girls disappear from Savannah, Georgia; Daytona Beach, Florida; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.


 * July 14
 * A police report of a further break-in and kidnapping of Melinda Jelenski in Wilmington, North Carolina.


 * July 15
 * UNI publishes a report containing information regarding the disappearances.


 * July 25
 * A letter addressed to Mark Meltzer from the House of Representatives thanks him for information relating to the mystery submarines; Meltzer is referred to the Office of Naval Intelligence.

August

 * August 5
 * Girl missing from Williamsburg, Virginia.


 * August 6
 * Mystery lights in Chesapeake Bay, United States of America.


 * August 8
 * Kidnapping in Fredericksburg, Virginia.


 * August 9
 * False alarm at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; invasion called hoax.


 * August 10
 * Abduction of Amy, daughter of Ester George, at Atlantic City, New Jersey.
 * The "World Weekly Oracle" publishes a story on Ester George.


 * August 12-17
 * Red light sightings around New York City, New York; multiple kidnappings.


 * August 14
 * Letter received by Meltzer from Esther George re: kidnapping on August 10.


 * August 19
 * Light spotted at Montauk, Long Island, New York.


 * August 25
 * Abduction from Innsmouth, Rhode Island.


 * August 27
 * Three abductions and red lights seen in Boston, Massachusetts.

September

 * September 1
 * Roscoe Inman of ONI sends a letter to Mark Meltzer commending him on the high quality of his research and requesting any additional information.


 * Undefined date
 * Meltzer receives a classified information regarding the disappearances from Roscoe Inman.
 * Various sightings along the New England coast: Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Gloucester, New Hampshire; Portland, Maine; Bar Harbor, Maine; Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.


 * September 28
 * Meltzer sends a letter to Roscoe Inman regarding a planned stake out at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.

October

 * October 1
 * Meltzer takes photos of Big Sister in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada.


 * October 9
 * Gilbert Alexander records messages to aid anyone who will attempt to end his life once he has gone insane.


 * Undefined date
 * The kidnappings and red light sightings begin moving back down the coast again.


 * October 20
 * Mark Meltzer stakes out the beach near his wife, Amanda Meltzer's parent's house in Montauk, Long Island.


 * October 21
 * Meltzer takes final photo of his daughter, near the home of his wife's parents.
 * A Big Sister kidnaps Cindy.


 * October 27
 * Meltzer questioned in kidnapping of his daughter.

November

 * November 23
 * Meltzer types a letter to Roscoe Innman recounting the kidnapping of his daughter and offering to pass on all of his research.

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1968
{{Sp|Show List SitS Events|

March

 * March 6
 * Meltzer is discharged from Tollevue.


 * Between March 6 and April 25
 * Meltzer encounters a Big Sister on the docks on the Hudson River, New Jersey.

April

 * April 25
 * Meltzer's legs and chest are x-rayed at St. Ignatius General Hospital, NY.

May

 * May 19
 * Meltzer is prescribed painkillers.


 * May 20
 * Meltzer receives divorce papers from his wife, Amanda.


 * May 21
 * Something in the Sea Phase Two begins (presumably).


 * May 24
 * Phil Isidore calls, concerned about why Mark has not been contacting him.


 * May 26
 * Roscoe Inman calls asking about Mark’s “accident”.


 * May 27
 * Meltzer sends letters to his supporters apologizing for lapsed contact and explaining the run in with the Big Sister.


 * May 28
 * Benny Stango calls harassing Mark about his missing daughter.


 * May 29
 * Benny Stango calls again asking about reports of a red light seen around Mark’s office the previous night.
 * The Lunchbox Puzzle appears.

June

 * Undefined Date
 * The Monthly Undergrounder publishes articles on Lutwidge and The Vanishing.
 * Flann McDonagh writes a reply to the Monthly Undergrounder about The Vanishing article and mentioning his missing uncle's connection to Andrew Ryan.
 * Phil Isidore appears on the “Mid-Nite Ryde” radio talkshow and talks about the Vanishing


 * June 1
 * Roscoe Inman calls cautioning that the lunchbox puzzle could just be a prank or trick.


 * June 2
 * Meltzer opens puzzle box (presumably).


 * June 3
 * Philip Isidore calls and sends a letter about the Utropolis story he sent Meltzer.


 * June 4
 * Amanda Meltzer calls, saying that searching for Cindy is hopeless and Mark should contact Dr. Lyman.


 * June 9
 * Phil Isidore calls with information on “The Vanishings”.


 * June 11
 * Benny Stango calls to harass Meltzer and insinuate that he will have him taken in for questioning.


 * June 12
 * Roscoe Inman calls warning Meltzer to keep a low profile because ONI has been prepping files on “potential dissidents”.


 * June 17
 * German reporter calls about his article on missing persons which Meltzer requested.


 * June 25
 * Roscoe Inman calls regarding the Vanishing and promising internal info.


 * June 26
 * Celeste Roget calls asking Meltzer to stop calling her but offering her sympathies.


 * June 29
 * Celeste Roget writes Mark a reply letter warning of those who would not want him to continue the search. Mark attends a James Millard Oakes league meeting and is tracked by thuggish followers afterwards.


 * June 30
 * Jeremiah Lynch calls expressing his pique at being left out of the investigation and recommending the Frozen Triangle Book.

July

 * July 1-2
 * Mark receives the Rapture anthem record.


 * July 3
 * Charles Molley, Amanda's lawyer, calls requesting that Mark stop phoning “his client”.


 * July 8
 * Celeste Roget sends a telegram to Mark dismissing Lutwidge as insane.


 * July 9
 * Meltzer goes to the remains of Lutwidge’s burnt-out lab at his Lower Broadway Suites. He enters and finds the “Seeker” recording. Meltzer is caught by Stango and the local police but is released shortly afterward.


 * July 10
 * Mark returns to the warehouse in the early morning and looks under the floorboards as he was clued to do by Lutwidge’s recording. There he finds the Vault-Puzzle.


 * July 12
 * Celeste Roget calls saying that Mark should not trust Lutwidge or anything that he may have left behind.


 * July 13
 * Mark cracks the first layer of the Vault-Puzzle and finds the message from Lutwidge hinting that he should go to Scarlet Sovereign Imports on the Hudson River.


 * July 14
 * Roscoe Inman calls suggesting that Celeste cannot be trusted.


 * July 15
 * Celeste Roget calls berating Mark for calling her a liar. Mark Meltzer types up an increasingly distressed and disjointed letter of apology to Celeste but doesn’t send it.


 * July 16
 * Amanda Meltzer calls in reply to Mark’s question of whether Cindy had ever owned A Child's Garden of Cyphers.


 * July 17
 * Jeremiah Lynch calls commenting on Lutwidge’s “trickster” personality and numerous misleading forgeries.


 * Undefined date
 * Meltzer goes to Lutwidge’s Scarlet Sovereign warehouse in the Battery Park area. Mark enters, finds a bathroom with a red door, breaks the “Red Queen’s glass” inside, and finds the Bellman’s Chart, the tape recording alluding to the August 8th beaches, and the Jewelry box puzzle. Meltzer is intercepted by local dock patrolmen but not arrested; The Bellman's Chart appears on wall; Stango calls about warehouse incursion.


 * July 28
 * Call from Jeremiah Lynch regarding Lutwidge's connections to Lewis Carroll; Hunting of the Snark appears on right table.


 * July 29
 * Call from Inman regarding sea currents.


 * July 30
 * Presumably after opening the jewelry puzzle box, Mark types up a list of locations for August 8 and posts on his wall.


 * July 31
 * Meltzer draws continents on the Bellman's Chart.

August

 * Undefined Date
 * Giant Boulder Saucer Con occurs, Phil Isadore interviews Lex Harlan.


 * August 3
 * Call from Phil Isodore regarding California point, Meltzer writes up Working Theories sheet.


 * August 4
 * Call from Celeste Roget about Bellman point in Nice, France.


 * August 6
 * Ulrich Broder calls about German point, and Tenenbaum.


 * August 7
 * Mark Meltzer posts a calender piece for August 8 on the wall. The note says "Tomorrow is the day! Jones Beach, here I come. Hoping my contacts hit the other nine beaches...got a feeling this is BIG."


 * August 8
 * On the date alluded to inside the jewelry puzzle box (08/08), bottles of Arcadia Merlot from Worley Winery land on beaches noted on the Bellman's chart, with information from, and invitation to, Rapture.


 * August 10
 * Mark returns to his office with posters and a wine bottle from the beach.


 * August 12
 * Call form Celeste suggesting that the bottles on the August 8th beaches were planted by Lutwidge.


 * August 17
 * Call from Jeremiah Lynch with “the Drunken Sailor” song.


 * August 18
 * Roscoe Inman sends Mark requested information about deep sea creatures from the Office of Naval Research.


 * August 20
 * Call from Roscoe Inman cajoling Mark for “leaving him out in the cold” and saying he has plenty of resources that Mark should use.(presumably) Mark cracks the next level of the Vault-Puzzle. Mark writes a letter to Celeste telling of his revelations about Rapture being at great depth in the ocean and his fear of repeating her mistakes. He muses on the fact that in her post-August 8th call she talked as if she thought Lutwidge was still alive. Mark wonders if she knows something she isn’t telling him.


 * August 21
 * Call from Phil Isadore miffed that Mark hadn’t read the Utropolis story he sent and mentioning his interviews with Lex Harlan. Presumably he sends the tapes of his interviews.


 * August 24
 * Call from Celeste suspiciously trying to insist that of course Lutwidge is dead.


 * August 25
 * Cindy Meltzer's Birthday.


 * August 27
 * Celeste sends Mark a letter saying she was lying about Lutwidge being dead. She tells of the private detectives she employed and her influencing events to have Lutwidge put in an insane asylum.

September

 * September 1
 * Call form Lex Harlan telling Mark to stop calling him and saying he last saw Quain in Tollevue Mental Hospital.


 * September 2
 * Call from Dr. Lyman refusing to divulge any information about any patients and suggesting Mark visit.


 * September 3
 * Mark doesn’t finish a letter to Stango saying he thinks he is losing his grip. Meltzer calls Detective Benny Stango asking to be taken to Tollevue.
 * Call from Benny Stango telling Mark to stay put and that he is on his way.
 * Stango and his men force entry into Marks office while Mark is on the phone with Phil Isadore and generally disrupt and search his office while taking him away.


 * September 4
 * Mark enters Tollevue.
 * The doctors diagnose him with depression/anxiety and prescribe him pills.
 * Mark meets Quain/Lutwidge and is given the Rubix Puzzle.
 * Mark solves the puzzle and gets Lutwidge/Quain’s diary.


 * September 5
 * Mark gets out of Tollevue with many pilfered files regarding Quain.


 * September 8
 * Call from Phil Isadore concerned about the ruckus he overheard during Mark’s call.


 * September 9
 * Mark writes an apology and reply to Phil’s phone call.


 * Septmber 10
 * Call from Detective Stango angry that Mark used his sympathy to manipulate him.


 * September 14
 * Call from Dr. Lyman about some of his files going missing while Mark was at Tollevue.


 * September 16
 * Call from Lynch skeptical that Lutwidge is alive.


 * September 23
 * Call from Celeste Roget offering to have her investigators contact Mark with information on where they last found Lutwidge.


 * September 25
 * Call from Dash H. Carmady of Auger Detection offering his information as Celeste’s investigator.


 * September 28
 * Call from Celeste Roget mentioning strange harassing phone calls.


 * September 29
 * Call from Celeste frantic about a threatening letter she received and refusing to take part in anything more that Mark will do.
 * Mark receives a similar letter.


 * September 30
 * Call from Dash Carmady refusing to give any more help since Celeste is no longer requiring him to.


 * September 31
 * Mark figures out the location where Celeste's detectives originally found Lutwidge at (the building originally owned by Andrew Ryan) and goes there. Inside he finds empty ADAM bottles, a bunch of Splicer masks, and many documents left by Lutwidge/Quain.

October

 * October 2
 * Mark sends out letters to all of his contacts requesting help in analyzing the box full of masks that he found at Lutwidge’s hideout.


 * October 3
 * Call from Roscoe Inman complaining that Mark has been avoiding him and requesting info from him on his research about the Frozen Triangle.


 * October 5
 * Call from Benny Stango mocking Meltzer for his filing a complaint about the threatening letters.


 * October 12
 * Call from “Northern Telco” about an outstanding phone bill of $58.26 which was not payed for by a bounced check that Mark sent them. Presumably Mark’s bank account has run dry.


 * October 13
 * Mark goes to check Lutwidge’s lab again and sees footprints that aren’t his. When he returns to his office he feels that someone has been there while he was gone. He finds a dropped canister of film tape with the label “U.S. 570-68 35mm x 20 ISO100” and infers that it is Government Issue.


 * October 15
 * Call from Dash Carmady replying to Mark. He says that Celeste Roget is still missing and he seems willing to collaborate with Mark on searching for the identity of the Red Pawn.


 * October 16
 * Call from Detective Stango, skeptical of Carmady’s theory about the Red Pawn being an "Irish conman." He shows increasing hostility towards Mark. Dash Carmady sends Mark documents about a "Jerry Lynchman," seeming to suggest that Jeremiah Lynch is the Red Pawn.


 * October 19
 * Call from Amanda Meltzer's attorney, Charles Molley, about his freezing the assets of Amanda and Mark's joint bank account due to it being rapidly depleted in the course of Mark's ongoing investigations.


 * October 20
 * Mark types up an increasingly disjointed letter to Phil Isidore telling of his doubts after the revelation that Lynch may be the Red Pawn.


 * October 21
 * Call from Phil, trying to encourage Mark to go on with his search. It is exactly one year after Cindy was taken. Mark stays all day at the beach near his office, and when he walks home in the evening he feels like he is being followed. He hears noises during the night which keep him from sleeping, but he doesn't phone the cops. He begins to wonder if he is having "auditory hallucinations".


 * October 22
 * Mark takes his morning walk on the beach and sees a giant city sand-castle with cypher letters etched in the sand. He thinks it was made by Cindy with the help of the "red eyed traveler" (the Big Sister.) He takes a picture.


 * October 23
 * Call from Detective Stango. He was staking out Mark's place during the night and saw the Big Sister on the beach. He is very shook up and tells Mark "the case is officially closed."


 * October 26
 * Call from Jeremiah Lynch. He is going into hiding after Detective Carmady began collaborating with law enforcement in Ireland to try and track him.


 * October 27
 * Call from Roscoe Inman. He is being put under pressure by an internal investigation, but he still wants to confer with Mark on certain matters. Mark writes a letter to Phil about attempting to go back to Lutwidge's lab only to find his way blocked by men in suits.


 * October 28
 * Mark receives a letter from Phil Isadore saying that he may be too busy to help much anymore, but mentioning some maritime contacts.


 * October 29
 * Mark tries to go back to Lutwidge's basement lab in midtown but finds his way blocked by Government agents.

November

 * November 2
 * Mark receives photos from Auger Detection. They contain images of cypher symbols marked on the tiles at Lutwidge's basement lab in 1958.


 * Undefined date
 * Mark writes a letter to Phil and prepares to head down to Baltimore Maryland to meet Phil's maritime contacts.


 * November 6
 * Charles Molley leaves a message on Mark's answering machine in Montauk, mentioning that Mark has liquidated all of his family assets and that he is going to miss his court date.

}}

Undefined Date

 * Mark Meltzer enters Rapture.
 * The events of BioShock 2 and Minerva's Den occur.

1980s

 * The American channel PHE broadcast a two-parts episode of the TV documentary Fact From Myth narrated by Miles Bloom, which covers some of the mysteries surrounding Rapture, presented as a "modern day Atlantis."