This post contains the exact dates of every major event in the Half-Life series with documented and canonical evidence found within the Half-Life series. These dates have been uncovered through both major and minor evidence found in the series.
The Black Mesa Incident occurred from Tuesday, December 5th to Thursday, December 7th, 2000.
In order to explain how I managed to specify this date, I must first explain why the Black Mesa Incident could not have taken place on May 16th, 200-.
Gordon Freeman was notified of his offer of employment on May 5th, 200-.
Source: Gordon Freeman's offer of employment, dated May 5th, 200-.
At the time, Gordon was studying abroad in Innsbruck, Austria. He was only notified of his offer of employment on May 5th, 200-.
We know, judging from Gordon's relationship with many of his colleagues at Black Mesa, that he had worked there for at least a few weeks, perhaps months. According to Alyx Vance in Half-Life 2: Episode One, Gordon would compete with Barney to retrieve Dr. Kleiner's keys whenever he locked himself out of his office in Black Mesa.
With that said, it is highly unlikely that the Black Mesa Incident would have occurred on May 16th, 200-, because Gordon was only notified of his employment on May 5th, 200-. One must also factor how long it would take for Gordon to finalize his living arrangements in Austria and move to the United States.
Assuming Gordon confirmed his employment on May 5th, it is likely he would begin to pack up his belongings on May 6th, a process of which would likely take one to two days, at the minimum.
On May 7th, Gordon would spend the day finalizing his living arrangements in Innsbruck, Austria.
On May 8th, Gordon would likely finalize his arrangements with the University of Innsbruck, where he was a visiting fellow at the time.
On May 9th, Gordon would likely book his flight back to the United States, likely to New Mexico, where Black Mesa was located.
On May 10th, Gordon would likely board his flight to the United States, arriving sometime on May 11th.
Gordon would likely spend May 12th recovering from the eight hour time difference, and would perhaps begin his employment anywhere between May 13th - May 15th.
This would only, realistically, give Gordon, at most, 3 days to develop such a relationship with his colleagues at Black Mesa that he had on the day of the Black Mesa Incident.
It is quite unrealistic that he would develop a first-name basis with his colleagues, and have developed a thorough relationship with his colleagues, including Barney and Eli Vance.
Therefore, we must assume that the Black Mesa Incident could not have taken place on May 16th.
In order to develop an understanding as to the era of the Black Mesa Incident, more specifically, the year, I concluded that the Black Mesa Incident must have taken place within the years of 2000 or 2001.
I managed to come to this conclusion through details revealed in Half-Life: Alyx, the latest Half-Life installment.
Operational ID cards found in Half-Life: Alyx, needed to proceed through the game.
These ID cards, though a minor detail at first, reveal that the Seven Hour War could not have taken place at any time past December 5th, 2001. The card on the left is set to expire on 12/05/01 (December 5th, 2001), and the one on the right is set to expire on 09/28/02 (September 28th, 2002).
It can therefore be immediately concluded that the events of the Black Mesa Incident must have either taken place in the year 2000 or 2001.
This is because the Seven Hour War would have taken out of service the issuing authority of these cards, and therefore invalidating their expiry dates, meaning they can still be operational 15 years after their supposed expiry dates.
Furthermore, several newspapers can be found in the game, which lead the date of the Seven Hour War to be January 2nd of a certain year.
The Times' Earth Surrenders, published one day after the Seven Hour War.
This is a newspaper article from Half-Life: Alyx, published one day after the Seven Hour War.
(Source: The United Nations Secretariat Building in Turtle Bay was torn apart yesterday by projectiles originating from outside Earth's atmosphere.)
On the top left of the article, you can see that it is issue number 3, the third day of the calendar year, which is January 3rd. Because it is reporting on the events of the day prior, it can be concluded that the Seven Hour War occurred on January 2nd of a certain year.
(More details on the exact date of the Seven Hour War will be provided below.)
Because the Seven Hour War could not have taken place at any time before May 5th, 2000 (The first possible date Gordon could have been hired) and no later than December 5th, 2001, it can immediately be concluded that the Seven Hour War took place on January 2nd, 2001.
The events of the Seven Hour War and the Black Mesa Incident are separated by days.
(Source: Negotiated by obscure scientist (Wallace Breen), unconditional global surrender to extraterrestrial invasion follows days of unexplained deadly phenomena.
The "unexplained deadly phenomena" refers to the Portal Storms, which occurred as an immediate result of the Resonance Cascade.
Because the events of the Seven Hour War and the Black Mesa Incident are only separated by days, it can be concluded that the Black Mesa Incident occurred in December 2000, as January 1st, New Years Day, is a national holiday in the United States, and therefore, the Black Mesa Incident could not have taken place on.
The fact that the Black Mesa Incident occurred in December 2000 is also reinforced by a December calendar found in the Black Mesa Research Facility on the day of the Resonance Cascade.
The December calendar found in many areas of the Black Mesa Research Facility on the day of the Resonance Cascade.
The precise date of the Black Mesa Incident in December 2000 can be found easily by finding which day in that month matched the lunar phase of the moon that is found in the On a Rail chapter in Half-Life, which takes place on the first night of the Black Mesa Incident.
The moon found in On a Rail in Half-Life, which appears to be first quarter with a 64% visibility.
December 2000 Lunar Phases
The moon found in On a Rail appears to precisely match that of Tuesday, December 5th, 2000. It can therefore be concluded that the Black Mesa Incident took place on Tuesday, December 5th, 2000.
What follows is a quick timeline of the Black Mesa Incident with the aforementioned documented evidence.
Tuesday, December 5th, 2000: The Anomalous Materials department of Sector C runs an experiment on Xen crystal sample GG-3883. The experiment fails, and forms a Resonance Cascade, allowing aliens from the border-world Xen to enter Earth and attack the personnel at Black Mesa. The military is called in, and attempts to execute all survivors.
Wednesday, December 6th, 2000: Gordon Freeman launches the satellite rocket designed by the Lambda team to stop the Resonance Cascade in the early hours of the morning. Black Operatives are dispatched to Black Mesa to clean up the incident by executing all remaining witnesses, including the military forces, and detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy the facility. Gordon makes his way to the Lambda Complex as the military, suffering heavy casualties, retreat from the facility and order airstrikes. Gordon teleports to Xen to kill the Nihilanth in the late hours of the day.
Thursday, December 7th, 2000: Corporal Adrian Shephard makes his way through the Black Mesa complex in the early hours of the morning. The Race X aliens begin to enter Black Mesa through the ever expanding dimensional rift. Meanwhile, Black Operatives prepare to detonate the nuclear bomb which will destroy most of the facility in the hopes that the incident is covered up and all survivors are killed. Corporal Shephard defeats the massive Race X Gene Worm, and is later taken into stasis by the G-Man. Most of Black Mesa is destroyed by a nuclear bomb during the mid-day. Meanwhile, on Xen, the Vortigaunt race is freed from slavery as Gordon Freeman defeats the Nihilanth and is taken into stasis by the G-Man.
The Seven Hour War took place on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2001.
As stated above, the exact date of the Seven Hour War can be found by looking at the newspapers in Half-Life: Alyx and concluding that The Times' newspaper, which was published the day after the Seven Hour War, issued number 3 on the third day of the calendar year, on January 3rd. It is reporting on the events of the day prior, so therefore the Seven Hour War must have taken place on January 2nd of a certain year.
Because the ID cards in Half-Life: Alyx are still operational, despite being said to have expired on December 5th, 2001 and September 28th, 2002, the events of the Seven Hour War must have taken place prior to December 5th, 2001, because the issuing authority of these cards was no longer in service to invalidate these ID cards, because of the Seven Hour War.
Because the Seven Hour War could not have taken place at any time before May 5th, 2000 (the earliest possible date of Gordon's employment at Black Mesa), and no later than December 5th, 2001, it must have taken place on January 2nd, 2001.
This also reinforces the fact that the Black Mesa Incident could not have taken place on May 16th, 2001, even if Gordon was hired on May 5th, 2000.
Another fact that reinforces the Seven Hour War's place on January 2nd, 2001, is the following sentence featured in another newspaper in Half-Life: Alyx, published some time after the Seven Hour War.
The status of the global economy days after the Seven Hour War, featured in the Terminal newspaper in Half-Life: Alyx.
"The soaring markets that had investors riding high mere weeks ago now feel like a distant dream, with the shocking onset of destructive meteorological events and a brutal global war sending stocks plunging."
This quote is referring to the extreme economic growth from 1995 - early 2001, where confidence in the newly widespread available internet sent stock markets, such as the NASDAQ and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to peak at historic highs in 2000.
(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble)
The stock market grew to historic highs in the late nineties and 2000.
As can be seen in the graph above, the NASDAQ Composite spiked in the late 1990s, reaching its peak in mid-2000, and then fell sharply in 2001 during the time the internet was becoming widely available throughout the world.
This reinforces the fact that the Seven Hour War must have taken place in early 2001.
The full Terminal newspaper featured in Half-Life: Alyx.
Furthermore, more evidence that the Seven Hour War must have taken place on January 2nd, 2001. This newspaper, issued number 32, was published on the 32nd day of the calendar year, February 1st.
The events of what the newspaper covers appear to be in the further aftermath of the Seven Hour War. It mentions that Wallace Breen appeared in a televised interview the night prior to the release of this newspaper, so it appears that this newspaper covers the events of the aftermath of the Seven Hour War, rather than the event itself.
This would mean that the newspaper was published on February 1st, 2001, 30 days after the events of the Seven Hour War.
The '7 Days' newspaper article featured in Half-Life: Alyx.
Furthermore, in another newspaper article featured in Half-Life: Alyx, covering the surrender of Earth by Wallace Breen to the Combine, issued number 4, the fourth day of the calendar year, which is January 4th. This fits the timeline of the Seven Hour War taking place on January 2nd, 2001, because it covers Wallace Breen's surrender to the Combine forces, which took place on January 2nd.
The full '7 Days' newspaper' featured in Half-Life: Alyx. \"Wallace Breen, who are you?\"
The events of Half-Life: Alyx occurred on Sunday, November 29th, 2015.
The exact date on which the events of Half-Life: Alyx take place can be found on a whiteboard in Alyx Vance's apartment in City 17, where she is covering the status of the construction of the Citadel.
The current status of the Citadel at the time of Half-Life: Alyx matches Alyx Vance's description of it on November 29th.
The illustrations of the Citadel by Alyx Vance match the current status of the Citadel at the time of the game.
The Citadel appears to match the illustrations of the status of it on November 29th, made by Alyx Vance.
It can therefore be concluded that the events of Half-Life: Alyx take place on November 29th.
Furthermore, the events of Half-Life 2 are said to have taken place "nearly two decades" after the Black Mesa Incident on December 5th, 2000.
(Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20060409033136/http://ep1.half-life2.com/story.php)
This would mean that the events of Half-Life 2 take place some time in 2020, however more details on the exact dates of the Uprising will be provided below.
In the introduction of Half-Life: Alyx, it is stated that it takes place 5 years before Half-Life 2.
This would place the events of Half-Life: Alyx on November 29th, 2015.
The events of Half-Life 2 take place from Sunday, November 1st, 2020 to Saturday, November 28th, 2020.
The year that Half-Life 2 begins on can be concluded through the website provided above.
It states that the events of Half-Life 2 take place "nearly two decades" after the Black Mesa Incident, which occurred from December 5th to December 7th, 2000.
Therefore, it can be immediately concluded that the events of Half-Life 2 take place some time in 2020.
Furthermore, lead concept artist for Half-Life 2, Viktor Antonov, had said in the Raising the Bar book published about the development Half-Life 2, that the events of the game were designed to have taken place in the months of autumn.
(Source: Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar (2004), page 216)
For the sake of consistency with the introduction of Half-Life: Alyx, which state that the events of Half-Life: Alyx, in November of 2015, take place 5 years prior to Half-Life 2, it can be assumed that the events of Half-Life 2 take place in November 2020.
Furthermore, the exact date of the events of Half-Life 2 can be found through lunar phases.
On the first night of Gordon's journey, it would appear that it is a rather full moon.
The first night of Gordon's journey.
The closest to a full moon, seen in Half-Life 2, can be observed on Sunday, November 1st, 2020.
It can therefore be concluded that the events of Half-Life 2 begin on Sunday, November 1st, 2020.
The fact that Half-Life 2 takes place "nearly two decades" after Gordon is placed into stasis on December 7th, 2000, would also be met, as the events of Half-Life 2 would begin 19 years, 10 months and 25 days after the end of Half-Life 1.
In order to maintain consistency with Half-Life: Alyx, the events of Half-Life 2 would have to end one day prior to November 29th, 2020, for reasons that will be explained below. Therefore, the end of Half-Life 2 takes place on Saturday, November 28th, 2020.
What follows is a quick timeline of Gordon Freeman's journey through Half-Life 2.
Sunday, November 1st, 2020: Gordon is awoken by the G-Man from stasis, 19 years, 10 months and 25 days after the end of Half-Life 1. He is placed into City 17 and ends up in the center of an apartment block raid, where he escapes to Dr. Kleiner's laboratory hidden within the city. There, he meets Alyx Vance. He participates in a teleportation experiment, when Dr. Kleiner's headcrab pet, Lamarr, leaps at Gordon, throwing the experiment into disarray. Gordon is teleported to various areas around City 17, including the Citadel before Earth's administrator, Wallace Breen, momentarily.
Gordon ends up teleporting to the back yard of Dr. Kleiner's lab, where is urged to make his way through the canal system of City 17 to Dr. Eli Vance's lab at Black Mesa East. Meanwhile, Civil Protection units are deployed to stop Gordon as he makes his way through the canal system.
Gordon ends up at Black Mesa East in the evening. However, a raid on Black Mesa East forces Gordon to escape through Ravenholm. Gordon fights his way through the town at night.
Monday, November 2nd, 2020: Gordon escapes Ravenholm. He is urged to rescue a captured Dr. Eli Vance from the Combine prison Nova Prospekt. With the assistance of a scout car, Gordon drives along the coast to Nova Prospekt and makes his way there with the assistance of several Resistance members. He breaches external defenses of Nova Prospekt in the command of several antlions.
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020: During the early morning hours of November 3rd, Gordon manages to regroup with Alyx Vance at Nova Prospekt, and find out that Dr. Judith Mossman is a spy for the Combine. Dr. Mossman takes a hold of Dr. Eli Vance and teleports to an unknown location. Dr. Freeman and Alyx Vance reset the teleporter to get to Dr. Kleiner's lab in City 17. It will take them 24 days to teleport to his lab due to a slow teleport sequence, but from their perspective, it is a matter of seconds.
Wednesday, November 4th, 2020 to Saturday, November 28th, 2020: The destruction of Nova Prospekt sparks the Uprising, and City 17 becomes a warzone between Resistance forces and Combine soldiers.
Saturday, November 28th, 2020: During the morning, Dr. Freeman and Alyx arrive at Kleiner's lab, where they are updated on the current events, including the apprehension of Dr. Eli Vance at the Citadel. Gordon sets off to the Citadel.
Along the way, he recruits several Resistance members, and kills several units of Combine soldiers to get there. During the late afternoon, Gordon regroups with Alyx Vance, who is later captured by Combine forces.
Gordon breaches the external defenses of the Citadel, and fights through the Citadel during the early hours of the evening. Eventually, Gordon reaches the office of Earth's administrator Wallace Breen, where Dr. Judith Mossman apologizes to Gordon, and where Dr. Eli Vance and Alyx Vance are already being held captive.
Dr. Mossman eventually turns against Dr. Breen, and frees Dr. Freeman and Vance, as well as Alyx, before Dr. Breen takes a hold of Gordon's superpowered Gravity Gun and makes his escape.
Gordon and Alyx reach the top of the Citadel, where they discover Dr. Breen is attempting to teleport to the Combine Overworld. They retrive Gordon's superpowered Gravity Gun and set off to stop him.
Gordon ends up destroying the Combine's teleporter, killing Dr. Breen in the process, and setting the Combine's Dark Energy Reactor into a meltdown.
G-Man places Gordon and Alyx into stasis temporarily, but they are rescued by the Vortigaunts, who free them and place them at the bottom of the Citadel.
The events of Half-Life 2: Episode One & Two take place five years after the events of Half-Life: Alyx, on Sunday, November 29th, 2020.
In order to maintain consistency with Half-Life: Alyx, it can be concluded that the events of Half-Life 2: Episodes One and Two take place on the very same day, as both the destruction of the Citadel and the death of Dr. Eli Vance take place in both games.
What follows is a timeline of events of Half-Life 2: Episode One and Two.
Sunday, November 29th, 2020: Gordon and Alyx notify Dr. Eli Vance, who is at White Forest with Dr. Isaac Kleiner, that they will attempt to stall the meltdown of the Combine's Dark Energy Reactor. They do so, and evacuate the Citadel in the early morning of November 29th. They fight through the city, and at about noon, take a train to White Forest.
The Citadel's Dark Energy Reactor melts down as they pull away from City 17 on their train. The massive explosion throws debris and derails their train.
Gordon and Alyx slip out of unconsciousness at around mid-day, at a relatively safe distance from City 17. They observe the devastation of the Citadel's Dark Energy Reactor meltdown from a vista. They then set off to White Forest, and reach there at about mid-afternoon.
Gordon is informed at White Forest that he must stop a Combine invasion of the base so that Dr. Arne Magnusson can launch a satellite rocket to stop the Combine's superportal, which is developing above the ruins of City 17. He does so, and the satellite rocket is launched, sealing the portal, by aligning itself with the satellite array Dr. Freeman launched on December 6th, 2000.
Gordon and Alyx set off to the Arctic, but Dr. Eli Vance is killed by an Advisor.
~
That concludes this timeline of the Half-Life series so far, made by gathering all sorts of evidence from the games in order to determine exactly when the events take place.
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