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==1940s==
===1943===
[[Cave Johnson]] receives the Shower Curtain Salesman award within [[Aperture Fixtures]].
===1944===
====January====
[[Cave Johnson]] appears in the UP Pioneer Press headlines for buying a salt mine in Upper Michigan,<ref name="Michigan">[[:File:Underground trophycase newspaper.png|''The Up Pioneer Press'' cover]]</ref> which is later reconstructed as the [[Aperture Science Innovators]] facility.
===Between 1945 and 1954===
[[Richard Keller]] is born. According to the ''Half-Life'' PlayStation 2 manual, he is said to be 55 in ''[[Half-Life: Decay|Decay]]'', set in 200-.
===1947===
[[Aperture Science]] receives the award for Best New Science Company from the Science and Business Institute of America.
===1949===
[[Aperture Science]] is rated #2 among the Top 100 Applied Science Companies by the Mechanical Engineering World Journal
==1950s==
It is during this decade that the [[Black Mesa Research Facility|Black Mesa facilities]] are built<ref name="P2CEG">''Portal 2 Collector's Edition Guide''</ref>, before being purchased and refurbished later by [[Black Mesa]].
===1952===
[[Aperture Science]] is the Runner Up for the US Department of Defense's Contractor of the Year award. By now, [[Aperture Science]] has begun testing [[Repulsion Gel]]. Test Shaft 09's Entrance Way, Lobby and Testing Lounge are built.
===1953===
Aperture Science constructs [[Pump Station Alpha]] and at least [[Test Shaft 09]] Chambers 01 and 02.
Aperture goes public this year.<ref name="P2OG">''Portal 2: The Official Guide''</ref>
===1954===
[[Aperture Science]] is the Runner Up for the US Department of Defense's Contractor of the Year award again, likely losing to [[Black Mesa]].
===1955===
Aperture Science receives the Spirit of Idaho National Potato Board award for the promotion of Potato Science.
===1956===
The [[Wikipedia:Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] administration signs a contract with Aperture Science to manufacture shower curtains to all branches of the [[Wikipedia:United States armed forces|US Military]], except the [[Wikipedia:United States Navy|Navy]].<ref name="P2OG" />
Pump Station Alpha (which pumps [[Repulsion Gel]]) is in active use by now.
===1957===
[[Aperture Science]] constructs at least [[Test Shaft 09]] Chamber 26.
===From 1957 to 1973===
Aperture Science produces mostly shower curtains,<ref name="AS">[[ApertureScience.com]]</ref><ref name="GI timeline">[http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/24/Aperture-Science_3A00_-A-History.aspx Aperture Science: A History] on Game Informer</ref> eventually making Cave Johnson a billionaire.
<!--"1975" was originally given as the date following "1957" on [[ApertureScience.com]]. It was later retconned to "1973", as seen in the updated [http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/24/Aperture-Science_3A00_-A-History.aspx Aperture Science timeline] on Game Informer.-->
===1958===
[[Aperture Science]] constructs [[Test Shaft 09]] Chambers 27 and 28, and begins forming control groups for experimentation with cranial microchip implantation.<ref name="P2OG" />
==1960s==
===1961===
====June 15====
[[Aperture Science]]'s [[Test Shaft 09]] "Zulu Bunsen" is condemned and sealed off.
===Between 1963 and 1972===
[[Colette Green]] is born. She is said to be 37 in ''[[Half-Life: Decay|Decay]]'', set in 200-.
===1968===
[[Aperture Science]] is involved in US Senate hearings regarding "missing astronauts". By now, [[Aperture Science]] has gone bankrupt.
===Between 1969 and 1978===
[[Gina Cross]] is born. She is said to be 31 in ''[[Half-Life: Decay|Decay]]'', set in 200-.
==1970s==
===1971===
[[Aperture Science]] re-opens Test Shaft 09 for testing. The lower sections appear to remain unused.
Aperture constructs [[Pump Station Beta]] and begins Propulsion Gel testing.
===1972===
[[Aperture Science]] constructs at least Chambers 01 and 02 of the Propulsion Gel Testing Facility.
===Between 1973 and 1982===
[[Gordon Freeman]] is born. He is said to be 27 in ''[[Half-Life]]'', set in 200-.
===1973===
The earliest known use of a [[Portal ARG|bulletin board system]] by Aperture Science.<ref name="ARG">[[Portal ARG|''Portal'' ARG]]</ref>
===1976===
[[Aperture Science]] constructs at least Chamber 05 of the Propulsion Gel Testing Facility.
===1978===
*[[Aperture Science]] constructs the elevator out of the Propulsion Gel Testing Facility.
*Due to financial difficulties and possible legal problems arising from testing prominent citizens, Aperture Science begins using homeless people as Test Subjects.
*The object of testing and experimentation at this time is Propulsion Gel.
*Complementing the Propulsion Gel testing, Aperture Science also begins experimenting with human deconstruction, enhancement, and reconstruction procedures.
===Between 1978 and 1987===
[[File:Adrian Shephard.png|right|thumb|Adrian Shephard.]]
[[Adrian Shephard]] is born. He is said to be 22 in ''[[Half-Life: Opposing Force|Opposing Force]]'', set in 200-.
====October 17====
Cave Johnson receives the answer to a confidential letter titled "Human Enrichment & Testing Initiative, Resource Acquisitions", describing the four types of Test Subjects and their behavior.<ref name="ARG">[[Portal ARG|''Portal'' ARG]]</ref>
==1980s==
===1981===
*[[Aperture Science]] constructs the Conversion Gel Testing Facility's enrichment center, and now performs tests on its own employees. By now, [[Cave Johnson]] has spent $70 million on moon rocks to grind up and turn into [[Conversion Gel]], and as a result of exposure has himself become gravely ill and addicted to pain medication.
*Aperture engineers complete the Heimlich Counter-Maneuver and Take-A-Wish Foundation initiatives. The company announces products related to the research in a televised ceremony. These products become immediately wildly unpopular. After a string of very public choking and despondent sick child disasters, senior company officials are summoned before a Senate investigative committee. During these proceedings, an engineer mentions that some progress has been made on Tier 3, the "man-sized ad hoc quantum tunnel through physical space with possible applications as a shower curtain." The committee is quickly permanently recessed, and Aperture is granted an open-ended contract to secretly continue research on the 'Portal' and Heimlich Counter-Maneuver projects.<ref name="AS">[[ApertureScience.com]]</ref>
===1982===
*[[Aperture Science]] constructs [[Pump Station Gamma]] and the Conversion Gel Testing Facility.
*[[Cave Johnson]] names [[Caroline]] as his successor. When testing is complete, her intelligence is to be stored in his computer (likely running on [[GLaDOS]]).
*This is the oldest known date of the [[Enrichment Center Test Subject Application Process]] being applied to Aperture Science's Test Subjects. It is operated by version 1.07 of [[GLaDOS]], later "1.07a" and "1.09".<ref name="AS">[[ApertureScience.com]]</ref>
===1983===
[[File:The girls of aperture science.png|122px|right|September page of "The girls of Aperture Science" 1983 calendar, with a girl posing in bikini on an elevator or [[Unstationary Scaffold]] platform, as seen in one of [[Ratman]]'s dens.|thumb]]
For this year, a calendar named "The girls of Aperture Science" is issued by Aperture Science. It is unknown if it was issued each year.<ref name="P">''[[Portal]]''</ref>
===From 1983 to 1985===
Work progresses on the "Portal" project. Several high ranking Fatah personell choke to death on lamb chunks despite the intervention of their bodyguards.
===1985===
The [[Aperture Image Format]] is created.<ref name="ARG">[[Portal ARG|''Portal'' ARG]]</ref>
===1986===
*The Conversion Gel Testing Facility is updated with an additional wall.
*Word reaches Aperture Science management that Black Mesa is working on a similar portal technology. In response to this news, Aperture Science begins developing GLaDOS, although the name was already in use in 1982.<ref name="AS">[[ApertureScience.com]]</ref>
===1987===
This is the most recent date for the Aperture Image Format. At that time, it is maintained by [[Doug Rattmann]].<ref name="ARG">[[Portal ARG|''Portal'' ARG]]</ref>
==1990s==
===Late 90s===
While visiting the [[Wikipedia:University of Innsbruck|University of Innsbruck]], Gordon Freeman observes a series of seminal teleportation experiments conducted by the Institute for Experimental Physics. Practical applications for teleportation become his obsession.<ref name="HL2Prima">''[[Half-Life 2]] Prima Guide''</ref>
===1996===
After a decade spent bringing the Disk Operating System parts of [[GLaDOS]] to a state of more or less basic functionality, work begins on the Genetic Lifeform component.<ref name="AS">[[ApertureScience.com]]</ref> During that time, the Aperture Science Red Phone plan is implemented in case GLaDOS appears to become sentient and godlike, requiring an employee to sit by a red phone on a desk in GLaDOS chamber's entrance hall.<ref name="Pcom">''[[Portal]]'' commentary</ref>
===1997===
At that time, GLaDOS's version is 3.11. This is also the latest known date of Aperture Science using a [[Portal ARG|bulletin board system]].<ref name="ARG">[[Portal ARG|''Portal'' ARG]]</ref>
===1998===
Aperture Science releases several testing elements, such as the [[Excursion Funnel]], a tractor beam-like funnel made of liquid asbestos; the [[Thermal Discouragement Beam]], a laser to be used with a [[Weighted Pivot Cube]] to destroy Sentry Guns and activate some buttons; the [[Aerial Faith Plate]], a catapult plate flinging into the air Test Subjects or any other object upon contact; and the [[Pneumatic Diversity Vent]], a variant of the Vital Apparatus Vent used for distributing objects to Test Chambers.<ref name="GI">[http://gameinformer.com/mag/portal2.aspx Game Informer, April 2010 issue]</ref><ref name="P2 IGN p2">[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq2mZoKkqMw&hd=1 Portal 2 Demo (Part 2) - E3 2010] on IGN's YouTube channel</ref><ref name="P2 IGN p3">[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGlyQmmvj0w&hd=1 Portal 2 Demo (Part 3) - E3 2010] on IGN's YouTube channel</ref>
===1999===
Gordon Freeman graduates from [[Wikipedia:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] with a [[Wikipedia:Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in theoretical physics.<ref name="HLPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'', PlayStation 2 version</ref><ref name="HL2Prima">''[[Half-Life 2]] Prima Guide''</ref> Soon after, he starts working at Black Mesa.
Soon after [[Gordon Freeman]]'s employment, he is instructed by Gina Cross' hologram counterpart for an [[HEV Suit]] Training Exercise in Sector A's [[Training Facility]]. This is ''Half-Life'''s ''[[Hazard Course]]''.<ref name>[http://www.moddb.com/mods/black-mesa-hazard-course/news/word-of-god-has-spoken Thread on the ModDB forums]</ref>
==2000s==
===200-===
This is the "year" during which the [[Black Mesa Incident]] occurs. Deliberately kept vague by the ''Half-Life'' team,<ref name="ML Vault 1998">[http://www.valvetime.net/threads/marc-laidlaw-vault.114535/page-6#post-3141727 Facts about the date issue on the ''Marc Laidlaw Vault''] on the ValveTime.net Forums</ref> it could be any date from 2000 to 2009.
Deduction points at "May 16, 200-" for the precise date of the incident. What follows are the different facts and clues leading to that choice:
*The year "200-", first appearing in the ''[[Half-Life]]'' instruction manual, is given in every official source from the ''Half-Life'' story arc era.
*On March 24, 2010, an updated and expanded [http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/24/Aperture-Science_3A00_-A-History.aspx Aperture Science timeline] originally given on [[ApertureScience.com]] in 2006 and submitted by [[Erik Wolpaw]] was published on Game Informer. Several dates were changed, and the last paragraph was expanded with facts suggesting that the Black Mesa Incident had occurred in 1998, the same date as that of ''Half-Life'''s release, instead of the original "200-". However [[Marc Laidlaw]] dismissed "1998" as the date for the Black Mesa Incident, as the date "200-" given when the first ''Half-Life'' was released is the only correct one.<ref name="ML Vault 1998">[http://www.valvetime.net/threads/marc-laidlaw-vault.114535/page-6#post-3141727 Facts about the date issue on the ''Marc Laidlaw Vault''] on the ValveTime.net Forums</ref> For convenience and consistency, that "1998" will always be replaced by "200-" on the wiki, even with the dates pertaining to Aperture Science.
====March 3====
From Shephard's diary entries: "Another typically hellish day at base camp... I'll be glad when this is over and I can get assigned a mission. There has been [[The G-Man|this really weird civie]] spotted at the base. Rumor is he's from some government branch looking to recruit; others say he's with some secret research group. I would jump at the chance to join. It would be cool just for the change and the adventure."<ref name="Op4 instruction manual">''[[Half-Life: Opposing Force]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====March 7====
From Shephard's diary entries: "I finally saw the government guy today. I am not sure he is a g-man, but he was wearing a really uptight suit and carrying a briefcase. He looked more like a lawyer or insurance agent to me. I did notice him checking me out. Several times throughout the day I spotted him just watching me during training. I wonder what he's up to..."<ref name="Op4 instruction manual">''[[Half-Life: Opposing Force]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====March 9====
From Shephard's diary entries: "For weeks our drills have been the same crap day after day. Today we assemble for the morning run and our drill instructor tells us we have one week to become experts at indoor strategic combat. We will be spending every day this week at the combat simulation facility. As far as I know this a specialized training not taught in boot camp. What I want to know is if this is to test our ability to adapt or if we are being readied for a specific mission? Time will tell..."<ref name="Op4 instruction manual">''[[Half-Life: Opposing Force]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====March 12====
From Shephard's diary entries: "The rumors have been flying since our indoor combat training began. Most of my peers are convinced that we are being primed for a mission. No one can agree on what the mission is. I have heard the name Black Mesa Facility thrown around a lot, but I have no information about the place. The rumors are that some top-secret research is going on there. Doesn't sound too exciting to me..."<ref name="Op4 instruction manual">''[[Half-Life: Opposing Force]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====March 15====
From Shephard's diary entries: "The rumor has been confirmed. We are being trained for a mission at the Black Mesa Facility. All I know is that the place is being used by scientists who are doing some kind of new research. I can't imagine what we would be needed for. We were told today to be ready in case it happens tomorrow. I don't know what "it" is, but the whole thing is a little strange. I kind of hope it doesn't happen; the mission doesn't seem to have much excitement potential. I'd rather hold out for something with more likelihood of combat."<ref name="Op4 instruction manual">''[[Half-Life: Opposing Force]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====Several days before May 16====
The untested AI of GLaDOS is activated for the first time as one of the planned activities on Aperture's first annual bring-your-daughter-to-work day. Upon being activated, she almost instantly becomes self-aware, takes control of the [[Aperture Science Enrichment Center|Enrichment Center]], locks everyone inside, and floods the Enrichment Center with a deadly neurotoxin, but is halted when she is quickly fitted with a [[Personality Core|Morality Core]]. She then begins a permanent cycle of testing, aimed at beating Black Mesa in the race to develop functioning portal technology.<ref name="AS">[[ApertureScience.com]]</ref><ref name="GI timeline">[http://gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2010/03/24/Aperture-Science_3A00_-A-History.aspx Aperture Science: A History] on Game Informer</ref>
====May 5====
[[File:Gordon letter PS2.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Freeman's letter of acceptance to Black Mesa, as it appears in the instruction manual of the PlayStation 2 version of ''Half-Life''.]]
While concluding his work at the [[Wikipedia:University of Innsbruck|University of Innsbruck]], [[Gordon Freeman]] receives a letter from the Black Mesa Office of the Administrator's [[LM]] confirming he is hired, commencing his position immediately but no later than [[#May 15|May 15]].<ref name="HLim">''[[Half-Life]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====May 9====
[[Barney Calhoun]] receives a letter from [[L.M.]] about his May 15 reassignment to Blue Shift.<ref name="HLBSim">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]'' instruction manual</ref>
====May 11====
[[Colette Green]] receives a letter from the Black Mesa Office of the Administrator's [[LM]] saying that sample [[GG-3883]] will replace sample EP-0021.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref>
====Before May 12====
Barney Calhoun is performing a [[retinal scanner|retinal scan]] and has his salary increased. His two-day Security Guard Training is scheduled.<ref name="HLBSim">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]'' instruction manual</ref>
=====08:00=====
First day of Barney Calhoun's Security Guard Training under [[Miller]]'s [[Holographic Instructor]] counterpart, in [[Sector A Training Facility]]. This is the ''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift|Blue Shift]]'' ''[[Hazard Course (Blue Shift)|Hazard Course]]''.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref><ref name="HLBS">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]''</ref>
====May 13====
Second day of Barney Calhoun's Security Guard Training.<ref name="HLBS">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]''</ref>
=====10:30=====
[[File:Decay notes.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Colette Green's letter about sample GG-3883 and Gina Cross' Hazard Course Training schedule.]]
[[Walter Bennet]] is being instructed by [[Gina Cross]] for an [[Anti-Mass Spectrometer]] Overload Simulation.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref>
====May 14====
=====19:00=====
Colette Green was to be instructed by [[Isaac Kleiner]] for an Anomalous Materials Handling, but it was postponed to June.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref>
====May 15====
*[[Barney Calhoun]] is assigned to a 09:00 - 22:00 Blue Shift assignment until [[#August 15|August 15]] and reports at [[Sector C Test Labs#Area 3 Medium Security Facilities and High-Energy Particle Labs|Area 3 Medium Security Facilities]] at 09:00. Other unknown security guards are assigned to Red, Orange, Yellow, Green and Indigo Shifts in specific areas of Sector A, B, and C. For that timespan, the Violet Shift is on standby.<ref name="HLBSim">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]'' instruction manual</ref>
*The latest date as to when Gordon would begin his employment at Black Mesa.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref> ''Half-Life 2'' and its episodes implied that Gordon was already working for a time at Black Mesa before the incident: Barney tells Gordon he owes him a [[beer]] and reminds him who he is when first meeting in the City 17 Trainstation, and Alyx tells in the City 17 Underground that Gordon and Barney would compete in the air ducts to get into Kleiner's office whenever he got himself locked out. Dr. Breen describes Gordon's time at Black Mesa as being a "brief tenure."
=====20:30=====
[[Gina Cross]] is being instructed by [[Richard Keller]] for a Mark V [[HEV Suit]] Prototype Testing.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref>
====May 16====
{{main|Black Mesa Incident|Half-Life: Blue Shift|Half-Life|Half-Life: Decay|Half-Life: Opposing Force}} <!--More or less in chronological order, storyline speaking-->
=====07:30=====
[[Gordon Freeman]] is being instructed by Gina Cross' hologram counterpart for an [[HEV Suit]] Training in Sector A's [[Training Facility]]. Prior to beginning the training, the scientists monitoring Gordon mention that the sensors in their equipment are not working.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref><ref name="HL">''[[Half-Life]]''</ref>
=====08:30=====
More system crashes occur throughout Black Mesa (the [[security guard]] in the Sector C lobby states he has had a system crash "about 20 minutes ago").<ref name="HL">''[[Half-Life]]''</ref>
=====8:42=====
Barney Calhoun starts his tram ride from the [[Black Mesa Research Facility#Area 8 Topside Dormitories|Area 8 Topside Dormitories]] at Black Mesa,<ref name="HLBS">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]''</ref> to start his second Blue Shift day at Area 3 Medium Security Facilities in Sector C.<ref name="HLBSim">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]'' instruction manual</ref> He arrives there some time before 9:00.
=====8:47=====
After his HEV Suit Training, Gordon Freeman starts his tram ride from [[Black Mesa Research Facility#|Level 3 Dormitories]] at Black Mesa. He is 30 minutes late.<ref name="HL">''[[Half-Life]]''</ref>
=====Remainder of the day=====
[[File:Test chamber.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The [[Anti-Mass Spectrometer]].]]
*The [[Black Mesa Incident]]. Around 9:00, Freeman conducts an experiment on sample [[GG-3883]] in Sector C's [[Anti-Mass Spectrometer]]. The experiment goes wrong and triggers a [[Resonance Cascade]], teleporting [[Xen]] creatures to [[Earth]].<ref name="HL">''[[Half-Life]]''</ref>
*Freeman, Calhoun, Green and Cross fight their way through the facility.
*Overnight, Freeman successfully launches the [[rocket]].
=====19:00=====
As heard during the tram ride at the start of ''[[Half-Life]]'', the Black Mesa Hazard Course Decathlon was to start in the Level 3 facility.<ref name="HL">''[[Half-Life]]''</ref> This never happened due to the incident.
====May 17====
Otis Laurey was to be instructed by the Miller's holographic instructor counterpart for a Security Guard Training at 16:30, but he was apparently unable to attend and Cross suggests to Green to ask Barney to replace him.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref> This never happened due to the incident.
*Early in the morning, Gina Cross and Colette Green are able to perform a resonance reversal. Their fate, along with Keller's, are unknown.<ref name="ML Vault Bahl">[http://www.valvetime.net/threads/marc-laidlaw-vault.114535/page-5#post-3059184 Stephen Bahl as quoted on ''Marc Laidlaw Vault''] on the ValveTime.net Forums</ref>
*Barney Calhoun successfully escapes Black Mesa with Rosenberg, Simmons and Walter Bennet.
*Adrian Shephard and his squad are attacked by [[Alien Craft]]s and their Osprey crashes. As Gordon Freeman fights his way across the surface towards the Lambda Complex, Shephard is left behind (this matches the message addressed to [[Cooper]]). [[Race X]] creatures appear sometime later.
*Freeman defeats the [[Nihilanth]] and frees the [[Vortigaunt]]s. He is then placed in stasis by [[the G-Man]].
*Black Mesa is destroyed by an [[Mark IV Thermonuclear Device|atomic bomb]]. Shephard is also placed in stasis by the G-Man.
*As the Black Mesa facility is destroyed, GLaDOS's race against Black Mesa is stopped.<ref name="GI timeline" />
====May 18====
=====08:00=====
Colette Green was to conduct a Public Relations Tour.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref> This never happened due to the incident.
====June====
Colette Green was to be instructed by Isaac Kleiner for an Anomalous Materials Handling on May 14, which was postponed to June.<ref name="HLimPS2">''[[Half-Life]]'' PlayStation 2 instruction manual</ref> It never happened due to the incident.
====August 15====
Barney Calhoun's Blue Shift was to end on that day.<ref name="HLBSim">''[[Half-Life: Blue Shift]]'' instruction manual</ref> It ended earlier due to the incident.
===After May 200-===
[[File:BME newspaper clips.jpg|200px|right|Newsclips of that period seen in [[Black Mesa East]].|thumb]]
{{Main|Seven Hour War}}
During this period of around 20 years Gordon Freeman is in stasis.<ref name="20 years">{{IA|20060409033136/http://ep1.half-life2.com/story.php|''Half-Life 2: Episode One'': The Story So Far}}</ref> It starts at the aftermath of the Black Mesa Incident in May 200- and ends at Gordon's arrival in City 17 in 202-.
*[[Portal Storm]]s rage on Earth while [[Xen]] creatures continue to be teleported. The governments and United Nations provide the protection centers located in major cities worldwide.
*The [[Aperture Science Enrichment Center|Aperture Science Enrichment Center]] remains in lockdown, with employees still trapped inside. The number of Aperture Science employees also likely diminishes, until there are only a few of them left.
*The [[Combine]] launches an assault on [[Earth]]. Earth governments and the United Nations enter into war against them. The [[Seven Hour War]] occurs. Earth surrenders to the Combine after seven hours, and Wallace Breen, former Black Mesa Administrator, is appointed Earth Administrator.
{{Main|Portal}}
*This is the period during which ''[[Portal]]'' is set. It occurs a short amount of time after the Combine invasion of Earth,<ref name="Surprise">[http://kotaku.com/#!5781121 "Valve Plans To Bridge Portal And Portal 2 With A Surprise, Keep Gordon Freeman Out Of It"] on Kotaku.com</ref><ref name="Interview">[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-10-portal-2-how-valve-opened-up-portal-2?page=3 "How Valve Opened Up Portal 2] on Eurogamer.net</ref> somewhere around the year 2010.<ref name="P2TFH">''[[The Final Hours of Portal 2]]''</ref>
*In the [[Aperture Science]] computer-aided [[Enrichment Center]], [[Chell]] is awoken by [[GLaDOS]] who makes her perform seemingly routine tests. However Chell soon learns that the Aperture employees are long dead or escaped, and that GLaDOS is seemingly the only being left in the decaying facility. After much promise of cake at the test's conclusion, Chell is met with an incinerator, which she narrowly escapes, and works her way through the maintenance areas, despite GLaDOS's protests. Eventually, Chell finds [[GLaDOS]]'s control room, and manages to escape death by neurotoxin by detaching GLaDOS's [[Personality Core]]s, and partially destroying her as a result. Chell is forced to the surface by GLaDOS's explosion, only to be dragged away from freedom and back into the facility by the [[Party Escort Bot]]. Unknown to [[Chell]] however, [[GLaDOS]] is still alive.
*[[Doug Rattmann]], being the one of the last Aperture employees alive, witnesses [[GLaDOS]]' destruction. After the [[Party Escort Bot]] drags [[Chell]] back into [[Aperture Science|the facility]], [[Doug Rattmann|Rattmann]] feels guilty for [[Chell]]'s situation and reenters [[Aperture Science|the facility]] to help her.
*At an unknown time before Gordon Freeman's awakening, Isaac Kleiner and Eli Vance each build a teleporter in their respective labs a not needing a Xen relay with the aid of Alyx Vance and Judith Mossman, among others. The teleporter was tested on a cat, whose fate was never revealed. They then continue working on it until Freeman's arrival.
==2020s==
===One year before 202-===
This is the last time Alyx Vance drives Highway 17, as said by her in the radio transmission at Shorepoint Base.
===202-===
*Around 20 years after the Black Mesa Incident,<ref name="20 years" /> Gordon Freeman is awakened by the G-Man after a long period of stasis. He explores City 17, encounters the Resistance and some of his former Black Mesa colleagues. Soon after he joins their cause in the war against the Combine and triggers the uprising of City 17 and his surroundings, becoming the primary target to the Combine. After destroying the Citadel's dark fusion reactor and defeating Breen, Gordon is called into stasis by the G-Man a second time.
*Soon after he is freed from stasis by a group of Vortigaunts. Gordon and Alyx flee City 17 and proceed to the Resistance base White Forest, located in the Outlands.
*The Resistance reverses the Combine Superportal, inflicting a consequent blow to the Combine plans, but unfortunately Resistance leader Eli Vance is killed by an Advisor at White Forest.
==Pre-Portal 2==
GLaDOS' partial destruction is followed by a period of inactivity within the Enrichment Center, during which time maintenance systems and Personality Cores maintain its functions. The facility remains in disarray, having become overgrown and dilapidated. <ref name="GI">[http://gameinformer.com/mag/portal2.aspx GameInformer, April 2010 issue]</ref> Pre-recorded 'Emergency Test Protocols' can oversee test chambers in times of cataclysmic system failure, "remain[ing] functional in apocalyptic, low power environments of as few as 1.1 volts". Chell spends this time in stasis until the events of Portal 2. At the beginning of her stasis, Chell is under supervision by a remaining Aperture employee, [[Doug Rattmann]].
The span of time between ''Portal'' and ''Portal 2'' is not entirely clear. During Portal 2's opening sequence, an automated 'Courtesy Call' implies that Test Subjects in stasis are revived every 50 days. However, when the player is next woken, an autonomous P.A. system reports that the time elapsed is "99999...99...". It is unknown what unit of time it refers to. Of course, it may be that the system has completely broken down and is no longer capable of accurately tracking time.
==''Portal 2''==
After an unknown, but abnormally long, period in stasis, [[Chell]] is awoken by [[Wheatley]], a personality core. Wheatley insists he can secure an escape route out of the Aperture Laboratories, which instead results in the inadvertent reactivation of GLaDOS.<ref name="GI">[http://gameinformer.com/mag/portal2.aspx GameInformer, April 2010 issue]</ref> As the story progresses, Chell finds herself traversing old condemned Enrichment Spheres originating from earlier than June 15, 1961, at which time Aperture Laboratories was under the direction of [[Cave Johnson]].}}
== References ==
<references/>