Chronology of Atlas Shrugged

NOTE: The opening year of the novel is assumed to be 2011. For more details on what assumptions I make, and why I chose this particular dating scheme, see About the Atlas Chronology. All page references are from the paperback edition. The hardcover edition is typeset differently.

Year:	Date:	Event:
~1600		Sebastian D’Anconia emigrates to Argentina [p. 91].
~ 1875		Nat Taggart founds Taggart Transcontinental [p. 63].
1959		Robert Stadler born [p.178].
1966		Hank Rearden born [p.34].
		Lee Hunsacker born [p. 298].
1968		Richard Halley born [p. 71].
		Floyd Ferris born [p. 324].
1972		James Taggart born [p. 15].
1973		Phillip Rearden born [p. 40].
1975		Francisco D’Anconia born [p. 57].
		John Galt born to a gas station mechanic in Ohio [p. 731].
		Ragnar Danneskjöld born to a bishop in Norway [p. 143, 731].
1977		Dagny Taggart born [p. 55, 91].
1978		Ellis Wyatt born [p. 17].
1979		Eddie Willers born [p. 11].
1980		Hank Rearden begins work in iron mines in Minnesota [p. 36].
1982		Jeff Allen begins working for The Twentieth Century Motor Company [p. 616].
1984		Richard Halley writes his opera, Phaëthon. Ill-received, it closes after only one performance [p. 70].
		William Hastings joins the staff at The Twentieth Century Motor Company [p. 309].
1985	Winter	Francisco spends the winter of 1954-1955 as a guest of the Duke of Alba [p. 92].
1986		Robert Stadler completes his thesis on cosmic rays [p. 178].
	Summer	Dagny decides to work for Taggart Transcontinental [p. 55].
	Winter	Francisco spends the winter of 1955-1956 as a cabin boy on an ore freighter [p. 92].
1987	Summer	Francisco begins working as call boy for a dispatcher at Taggart Transcontinental [p. 91-2].
		John Galt (age 12) leaves home [p. 731].
1989		Robert Stadler is recognized as the greatest physicist of his time [p. 178].
	Summer	Eddie decides to do “Whatever is right.” [pp. 13-14]; Dagny tells Eddie she will run Taggart Trancontinental when she grows up [p. 55].
1991		Robert Stadler becomes head of the physics department at the Patrick Henry University [p. 97].
	Fall	Francisco D’Anconia, John Galt, and Ragnar Danneskjöld (all age 16) begin attending Patrick Henry University (P.H.U.) [p. 97].
1992		Dagny worries for first and last time whether people might object to a woman running a railroad [p. 55].
	Fall	Jim Taggart begins his senior year of college. D’Anconia, Galt, and Danneskjöld are sophomores [p. 98].
1993	Summer	Dagny begins working as night station operator in Rockdale [p.55, 101]; Jim begins in the Department of Public Relations [p. 55].
1994		Dagny’s debut [p. 101-102].
	Summer	Francisco and Dagny’s relationship consumated [p. 107].
1995		Francisco graduates and purchases copper foundry [p. 109].
1996		Rearden purchases iron ore mine [p. 36].
		Francisco becomes head of the New York office of D’Anconia Copper [p. 109].
1998		Francisco D’Anconia inherits D’Anconia Copper [p. 57, 110].
1999		State Science Institute founded. John Galt discontinues his graduate studies with Robert Stadler [p. 183, 738].
2001		Rearden purchases steel mills [p. 37]; begins work on Rearden Metal [p. 34].
2002	Spring	Jed Starnes dies; heirs take over Twentieth Century Motor Company (TCMC) [p. 616, 279?, 313].
	Spring	John Galt vows “to stop the motor of the world” [p.626].
	Spring	Fransisco goes on strike [p. 110-114]. NOTE: Dagny is listed as 24 [p. 104], Galt as 26 [p. 310]. Birthdays after spring? See also pp. 458-9 – 12 years before Dec 2013 consistent with 2002 Spring]
		Hugh Akston retires [p. 138].
		Dagny breaks with Fransisco [p. 61].
		Hastings quits TCMC [p. 309].
		John Galt begins working for Taggart Transcontinental [p. 1004].
2003		Ellis Wyatt discovers a method to revive “exhausted” wells; Wyatt Oil takes off [p. 17].
		Richard Halley vanishes mysteriously after success of Phaëthon [p. 71].
2005-6		TCMC goes out of business [p. 269, 617]; Lee Hunsacker’s Amalgamated Service, Inc. sues Midas Mulligan over denied loan to buy TCMC.
2006	Spring	Midas Mulligan vanishes – Mulligan Bank wiped out [p. 301].
		Taggart Senior dies. Jim becomes President.
		Taggart Transcontinental Board authorizes construction of the San Sebastián Line [p. 57].
		The chief engineer of Taggart Transcontinental, “a silent, gray haired, self-educated man, who could not be matched on any railraod” resigns [p. 157].
		Excavations begin at San Sebastián Mine [p. 89].
	Fall	Judge Naragansett retires [p. 303].
2007		Death of William Hastings [p. 308].
		A famous editor states the policy of the press: “There are no objective facts…. Every report on facts is only somebody’s opinion. It is therefore useless to write about facts [p. 218].”
2008		Eric Starnes commits suicide [p. 305].
		Dr. Hendricks goes on strike [p. 661].
	Fall(?)	Simon Pritchett becomes head of the philosophy department at the P.H.U. [p. 129].
2009		Dagny threatens to resign; made Vice President in Charge of Operation [p.59].
		Taggart Transcontinental orders Diesels from United Locomotive Works [p. 16].
2009-2010		Eugene (“The Banker with a Heart”) Lawson’s Community National Bank in Madison, WI goes bankrupt when Lee Hunsacker’s Amalgamated Service, Inc. runs TCMC into the ground. Mayor Bascom of Rome, WI buys remains of TCMC, sells them within 2-3 months to Mark Yonts [p. 281].
2010	August	Taggart Transcontinental orders rail from Orren Boyle’s Associated Steel [p. 16].
	Fall	Mark Yonts of The People’s Mortgage Co., Rome, WI sells remains of Twentieth Century Motor Company to investors AND uses it as collateral on a loan [p. 278].
	Fall	Dagny completes San Sebastián Line. The line runs roughly 216 miles south from El Paso, TX [p.59].
2011	January 1	San Sebastián Line opens [p.59, 120].
	September 2	Novel begins
	October 25	“Anti-Dog-Eat-Dog Rule” passes [p. 217].
	December 9	The Coast Guard attempts to capture Ragnar in Delaware Bay after his seizure of a ship to the People’s State of France. Papers, censored, do not print the news [p. 147-8].
	December 10	Reardens’ anniversary party [p. 124].
2012	January ~23	Cherryl Brooks arrives in NY aboard a Taggart Train [p. 249].
	Spring	The Utah Institute of Technology closes [p. 340].
	July 22	Opening of The John Galt Line [p. 220].
	July 25	The Phoenix-Durango closes [p. 217, 220].
	September 2	Hank and Dagny decide to take a vacation.
2013	September 2	James Taggart marries Cherryl Brooks
2014	March 31	The John Galt Line closes.
	May 1	Directive #10-289 (“The Moratorium on Brains”) is imposed.
	May 28	“Accident” destroys The Comet and The Taggart Tunnel.
	May 31	Dagny crashes in Galt’s Gulch.
	June 29	Dagny leaves Galt’s Gulch.
	August 5	Cherryl Brooks commits suicide.
	September 2	Nationalization of D’Anconia Copper.
	November 4	Attack at mills; Rearden goes on strike
	November 22	John Galt speaks.
2015	Spring	The lights go out in New York. THE END.
2206		Contract “guaranteeing” private ownership of San Sebastián Line and San Sebastián Mines will expire [p. 62].