Foundation Timeline
Journey through the key events that shaped the Foundation universe—from the Robot Era to the Second Foundation
Susan Calvin Born
Susan Calvin, the robopsychologist whose career frames the stories of I, Robot, is born. She joins U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, the company that builds the first positronic robots.
The Three Laws at Work
Positronic robots bound by the Three Laws of Robotics spread from Earth to space. The stories of I, Robot follow the puzzles the Laws create, ending with benevolent Machines quietly managing the world economy.
Baley and Daneel
Earth's people live in vast enclosed Cities, while the Spacers rule fifty worlds with robots. Detective Elijah Baley is partnered with R. Daneel Olivaw, a robot that passes for human, and they solve murders on Earth, Solaria, and Aurora.
The Zeroth Law
Daneel and Giskard reason their way to the Zeroth Law, a duty to humanity as a whole. Spacer extremists set Earth on the path to becoming radioactive, and Earth's Settlers spread across the galaxy.
The Empire Takes Shape
Trantor grows from one regional power among many into the capital of a Galactic Empire, while Earth becomes a poor, partly radioactive backwater. The Galactic Era (G.E.) calendar counts from the founding of the Empire.
Hari Seldon Born
Hari Seldon is born on Helicon, a minor world of the Empire.
The Decennial Convention
Seldon presents a paper on psychohistory on Trantor. The Emperor Cleon I takes an interest, and Seldon flees across Trantor with Dors Venabili, guided by Chetter Hummin.
Psychohistory Takes Shape
Seldon serves as First Minister, loses the people closest to him, and turns psychohistory into a working science. His granddaughter Wanda's mental gifts point the way to a Second Foundation.
Seldon's Trial
Seldon is tried by the Commission of Public Safety. He predicts the Empire will fall, followed by 30,000 years of barbarism, and proposes a Foundation to cut that to 1,000 years. The Commission exiles his project to Terminus.
Foundation Established
The Encyclopedia Foundation is established on Terminus, at the edge of the galaxy. Ostensibly it exists to compile the Encyclopedia Galactica; in fact it is the first step in Seldon's Plan.
First Seldon Crisis
Anacreon threatens Terminus. Salvor Hardin takes power from the Board of Trustees and gets the other kingdoms to hold Anacreon back. Seldon's first Time Vault recording reveals the Encyclopedia was a pretext.
Second Seldon Crisis
Anacreon's regent Wienis turns a Foundation-restored Imperial cruiser against Terminus. The Foundation keeps hidden control of the ship, the crew mutinies, and a religious interdict shuts down Anacreon's power.
The Traders
Foundation traders carry its goods and influence beyond the Four Kingdoms. On Askone, the Master Trader Limmar Ponyets frees a captured trader with a clever bargain.
Third Seldon Crisis
Korell, armed by a surviving remnant of the Empire, goes to war with the Foundation. Hober Mallow wins without a battle, because Korell cannot live without Foundation goods.
Bel Riose's Campaign
The Empire's last great general attacks the Foundation from Siwenna, and loses anyway when the Emperor Cleon II, fearing his success, recalls him.
The Mule's Conquest
The Mule, a mutant who can reshape people's emotions, seizes Kalgan and then conquers the Foundation. The Time Vault opens on schedule, and Seldon's recording calmly discusses a crisis that is not happening. Bayta Darell stops Ebling Mis from revealing the Second Foundation's location.
Second Foundation Established
Seldon founds a secret Second Foundation, said to be at "Star's End." Its members, trained in mental science, guard and correct the Plan. Its true location, Trantor, stays hidden for centuries.
Search by the Mule
The Mule hunts for the Second Foundation and destroys Tazenda, which he believes is its home. The First Speaker confronts him and adjusts his mind; the Mule rules peacefully until his death about five years later.
Search by the Foundation
Scientists on Terminus, helped by the teenage Arkady Darell, hunt the Second Foundation and believe they have destroyed it. In fact it survives on Trantor, led by the First Speaker Preem Palver.
Trevize's Choice
Councilman Golan Trevize is sent into space and finds Gaia, a world with a single shared mind. He chooses Galaxia for humanity, then searches for Earth to understand why.
Era Legend
Robot Era
The age of robots and Earth
Galactic Empire
The peak and fall of the Empire
The Foundation
The First Foundation on Terminus
Second Foundation
The secret guardians of the Plan