Timeline

The following is a timeline of events in the universe of Control. This timeline also includes events from Alan Wake.

Note: Dates are given in the format Month Date. Similar to how it's shown on Collectibles, MM/DD/YYYY is also used.

1878

• The town of Bright Falls, Washington is founded by Hubert Biltmore and Amos Gunderson.

1914

• Mrs. Carver, a woman connected to the Victorian Mirror Altered Item, and her family relocate to Illinois.

1915

• August 18: Mrs. Carver is committed to an insane asylum.

1954

• July 28: An Altered Item, the Oscillator (AI3-KE), is acquired by the FBC.
• William S. Powers, the Head of the Department of Public Knowledge and Diversions, complains about the Bureau's cover-up response to the Oscillator Altered Item.

1956

• Young men in the towns visited by the Smiley Carnival fall victim to an unknown leprosy-like disease after touching the Game Hammer Altered Item.

1958

• June 23: An AWE occurs in Sawyer County, Wisconsin (AWE-3). The Department of Public Knowledge and Diversions is involved in its cover-up.

1959

• November 2: An Altered Item, the Game Hammer (AI5-BE), is acquired by the FBC.

1964

• July 28: Former FBC Director Theodore Ash, Sr. is buried.
• August 4, "Entry Day": The FBC discovers the Oldest House while investigating a potential Altered World Event in New York City. An Object of Power, the Service Weapon (OOP1-KE), is acquired by Director Broderick Northmoor, who claims to have met an entity or group of entities called "the Board."
• September 1: The Oldest House is named.
• September 14: Dr. Theodore Ash, Jr., the FBC's Head of Research, discovers the Id.
• September 24: Director Northmoor orders a search for more Objects of Power.
• October 29: The Id turn hostile for unknown reasons, causing Bureau personnel to retreat from the Foundation.
• November 30: Dr. Ash remains in the Foundation despite the Bureau's retreat, and notes that he is hunted by the Id.

1965

• August 9: The Hotline, an Object of Power (OOP3-UE) resembling a Bakelite telephone, spontaneously manifests in the Director's Office in the Oldest House. Broderick Northmoor is the first known Bureau agent to use it, discovering that the Hotline enables communication with the Board and other paranatural entities. Only the Director is allowed to use it; the Hotline has a lethal effect on others.

1967

• December 23: An Altered Item, the Waist Mannequin (AI7-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

1968

• A film cast member on the Italian island of Sardinia dies during production, possibly due to the effects of the ActionMaxx Camera. Due to the incident, production on the movie is stopped. The camera is later sold to Blessed Pictures.
• November 13: The Bureau makes the Oldest House its headquarters after extensive research and investigation.

1970

• An Altered World Event occurs at Cauldron Lake, Bright Falls, Washington, during which Thomas Zane disappears. This becomes the first in a series of reoccurring AWEs at Bright Falls.

1971

• January 31: During the Apollo 14 mission, an Altered World Event occurs on the moon at the Fra Mauro Formation (AWE-7).
• February 9: The entity known as "Fra" arrives on earth with the Apollo 14 crew, having disguised itself as a fourth member of the crew, and is promptly taken into custody by the FBC.

1972

• The NASA/FBC Coordination Agreement is signed, ensuring inter-agency cooperation between NASA and the FBC over the next few decades.

1973

• The FBC becomes aware of an potential Altered Item, the Arctic Queen, after the collapse of the Grand Central Hotel in New York City.

1974

• March 11: CIA agents steal a floppy disk containing nuclear missile launch codes from a Soviet Union military base. Upon its return to America, the diskette begins telekinetically throwing computational hardware at the CIA decoding team. An informant in the CIA tips off the FBC, and the floppy disk is requisitioned by Bureau agents the next day. It is identified as an Object of Power (OOP5-KE).
• November 18: An Altered Item, the Arctic Queen (AI10-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

1976

• September 17: An AWE occurs in Bright Falls, Washington (AWE-10). This is the second incident in a series of reoccurring AWEs at Bright Falls. In the aftermath, Odin and Tor Anderson are labelled as persons of interest by the FBC.
• September 28: An Altered Item, the Ocelot's Anchor (AI11-UE), is acquired by the FBC.

1978

• Alan Wake is born.
• A Communications Department intern hears the Hotline ringing and picks it up, against Bureau regulations. She dies, and those present at the scene are forced to undergo extensive memory repression therapy.
• A third seeming Altered World Event occurs at Bright Falls, just two years after the last incident. The Bureau interviews Odin and Tor Anderson during their investigation.
• November 17: An Altered Item, the VHS Cassette Tape (AI12-PE), is accidentally created by the FBC while attempting to film Ahti.

1979

• A Canadian research station established on Ross Island had its radio damaged due to solar radiation, severing the base's only means of communication with the world.
• April 22: A news station in Kansas reports a figure seen flying over buildings by locals. The FBC dispatches agents to investigate, discovering the existence of the Benicoff TV Object of Power (OOP7-KE), which a man had bound himself to, granting himself the ability of flight. The man is detained, and the object is brought to the Oldest House for study.
• August 5: An Altered Item, the Smoking Pram (AI13-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

1980

• June 2: An Altered Item, the Holiday Memories Tree (AI14-AE), is acquired by the FBC.

1983

• April 25: An expedition was conducted by the FBC in the Anchor Altered Item.
• June 24: An Altered Item, the Swan Boat (AI19-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

1986

• June 15: An Altered Item, the Jasper Post Box (AI31-PE), is acquired by the FBC.

1987

• America Overnight, an initiative by the FBC to receive information from the public, goes on the air for the first time.

1988

• An Object of Power, the Songmaster Jukebox (OOP10-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

1989

• February 8: Numerous missing person reports are received from a care facility for the elderly, including local authorities responding to the reports. A team of Rangers is sent by the FBC to respond to the incident, discovering the Ashtray and Cigarette Object of Power (OOP11-KE), which causes a maze of shifting corridors (the Ashtray Maze) to manifest. The Bureau contains the object, presuming the missing persons to be lost in the Ashtray Maze.

1991

• Jesse Faden is born.

1992

• February 25: An Altered Item, the SHÜM Arcade Cabinets (AI40-PE), is acquired by the FBC.
• September 23: An Altered World Event occurs in Butte, Montana (AWE-17), resulting in the discovery of the Light Switch Cord and the Oceanview Motel.
• Dylan Faden is born.

1993

• June 17: A suspected Altered World Event occurs (AWE-18), known only through an emergency call placed to a call center in California.

1994

• July 3: An Altered Item, the Guru Surfboard (AI43-PE), is acquired by the FBC.

1997

• August 12: An Altered Item, the Pink Flamingo (AI46-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

1998

• June 14: Reports surface of rides moving on their own in an abandoned amusement park, even chasing out locals. When these rumors reach the FBC, agents are dispatched to investigate, discovering three locals dead at the scene. The deaths are traced to the Merry-Go-Round Horse (OOP16-KE), an Object of Power. The agents are able to contain the object after invoking Formula C.5.

1999

• March 21: An Altered Item, the Maneki-neko (AI48-PE), is acquired by the FBC.
• May 16: An Altered Item, the Red Light (AI49-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

2001

• January 2: An Altered Item, the Rubber Duck (AI52-KE), is acquired by the FBC.
• September 3: An Altered Item, the Simulacrum (AI53-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

2002

• April 23: An Altered Item, the Bremen Basket (AI54-UE), is acquired by the FBC.
• August 30: Jesse and Dylan Faden discover an Object of Power, the Slide Projector (OOP15-UE), in the landfill of Ordinary, Maine, beginning the events of the Ordinary AWE (AWE-24).
• September 14: FBC agents arrive to intervene in the Ordinary AWE. Dylan Faden and the Slide Projector are captured and taken to the Oldest House. Jesse Faden burns all of the slides but Slide-36, which is taken by the Bureau, while Zachariah Trench takes one of the burned slides.

2003

• September 1: At St. Anne's Hospital, a janitor discovers the X-Ray Light Box (OOP18-PE), an Object of Power which grants its user the ability to control minds. He uses it to take control of the building's occupants. The FBC dispatches an emergency response team, subduing the janitor and containing the object.

2004

• March 22: An Altered Item, the "Get Well Soon" Balloon (AI58-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

2005

• July 15: An Altered Item, the Victorian Mirror (AI60-UE), is acquired by the FBC.

2006

• February 8: An Altered World Event occurs in Albany, New York (AWE-29).
  • FBC agents discover numerous online message boards regarding loud noises coming from an abandoned shipping warehouse. Local law enforcement officers discover several mutilated bodies in the vicinity of the warehouse.
  • Field Agent Simon Arish and a team of rookie Rangers are sent to investigate the warehouse, discovering a highly volatile Altered Item, the Human Hand Chair (AI63-KE). After the warehouse collapses due to the item's influence, the agents are able to contain it.

2008

• March 1: An Altered Item, the Ramen Lantern (AI69-KE), is acquired by the FBC.

2009

• November 17: An interview is conducted by the FBC about the Smoking Pram Altered Item incident.

2010

• April 12: An Altered Item, the Wolff Globe (AI72-PE), is acquired by the FBC.
• August 31: A reporter, Jake Fischer, disappears while visiting Bright Falls, Washington.
• September 1–14: An Altered World Event begins in Bright Falls, Washington (AWE-35). Alan Wake is involved in this AWE.
  • September 1:
    • Alan and Alice Wake arrive in Bright Falls on vacation, with Alice hoping to have Alan see Dr. Emil Hartman, a psychiatrist, about his ongoing writer's block and behavioral struggles.
    • The Dark Presence responds to Wake's presence in the town, dragging Alice into Cauldron Lake and forcing Wake to write a manuscript, Departure, which will ensure its escape from the Dark Place.
  • September 8:
    • Alan escapes from Cauldron Lake by writing Thomas Zane into Departure to free him.
    • The Dark Presence spreads across Bright Falls per the events of Departure, possessing its townsfolk.
    • Alan loses his memories of the events of the previous week.
  • September 9:
    • Barry Wheeler arrives in Bright Falls looking for Alan and Alice.
    • Emil Hartman has his henchman, Ben Mott, call Wake purporting to be Alice's kidnapper, in a plot to bring Wake to Hartman and exploit his influence over Cauldron Lake.
  • September 11:
    • Ben Mott is killed by the Dark Presence after confessing that he never had Alice.
    • Alan is hurled into Cauldron Lake by the Presence.
  • September 12:
    • Emil Hartman drags Alan out of Cauldron Lake and takes him to the Cauldron Lake Lodge clinic, hoping to use him to study and exploit the powers of the lake. However, the Dark Presence attacks the lodge, and Alan escapes.
    • The Anderson brothers direct Alan to their store of moonshine, which includes water from Cauldron Lake, and causes him to remember what happened in the missing week.
  • September 13:
    • Frank Breaker, an ex-FBC agent, alerts William Kirklund of a possible AWE taking place in Bright Falls.
    • Alan reaches Cynthia Weaver and is given the Clicker.
  • September 14:
    • Alan Wake dives into Cauldron Lake, activating the Clicker and banishing the Dark Presence. He completes Departure, freeing Alice, but is stranded in the Dark Place for more than ten years.
• September 15: FBC agents arrive at Cauldron Lake in response to Breaker's alert, only to discover that the event is already over. They begin their investigation regardless.
• September 20: An Altered Item, the Oh Deer Diner Coffee Thermos (AI73-UE), is acquired by the FBC. The item is associated with the Bright Falls AWE.
• In response to the newest Bright Falls AWE and the area's history of recurring incidents, the Bureau establishes a monitoring station at Cauldron Lake.
• The frequency of Altered World Events identified by the FBC experiences a significant increase.

2011

• The Alan Wake Files Book Release.
• August 13: An AWE occurs in Kyiv, Ukraine (AWE-37).

2014

• The Valhalla nursing home is founded by Barry Wheeler for the Anderson brothers.
• October 13: A group of Altered Items, the Moving Letters (AI77-KE), are acquired by the FBC.
• November 28: In Ohio, a Guardhouse-brand home safe garners interest on online forums dedicated to opening abandoned safes. After months of failure, its owner attempts to open it with explosives, but the safe is undamaged. Following this, the FBC dispatches agents to acquire the safe, identified as an Object of Power (OOP22-KE).

2015

• August 25: An Altered World Event occurs in Bloomington, Illinois (AWE-44), when a paracriminal group derails The Eagle Limited passenger train and causes numerous casualties in order to create an Altered Item. The Eagle Limited Train Car Altered Item is acquired by the Bureau in the aftermath.

2016

• Karen Harris is killed when an altered fondue set is sent to America Overnight by the "Blessed" organization.
• May 4: An Altered World Event occurs in Sterling, Colorado (AWE-46).
• June 14: An Altered Item, the Movie Camera (AI80-UE), is acquired by the FBC.

2017

• June 11: An Altered Item, the Vending Machine (AI81-KE), is acquired by the FBC.
• September 23: An Altered World Event occurs in Havana, Cuba (AWE-48).
• Following recurring nightmares and being "haunted" by an entity appearing to be Alan Wake, Alice Wake contacts the FBC for assistance and is taken for an interview by Agents Derek Shah and Caroline Dempsey in the Investigations Sector.
• Emil Hartman, having been turned Shaded and subsequently contained in the Investigations Sector by the FBC, breaches containment in response to Alice Wake's presence and rampages through the sector. The FBC evacuates and then seals the sector to prevent Hartman from further escaping. Many personnel are killed, though Alice Wake and Head of Investigations William Kirklund are among the survivors. In the aftermath, the majority of the sector is considered lost, and the investigations team suffers major setbacks.
• A new door is found inside the Oceanview Motel on the same day as Emil Hartman's breach in the Investigations Sector. It is believed to be connected to Alice Wake and the events of the Bright Falls AWE.

2018

• March: Agents L. Heinz and Rowley are tasked with visiting roadside motels and inns all across the United States in search of the geographic location of the Oceanview Motel. Their field mission is still ongoing during October of the following year.

2019

• A number of Altered Items begin exhibiting behavioral changes, including increased aggression toward agents. Additionally, multiple disappearances occur in the Panopticon, and the number of Astralnauts not returning from Astral Dives increases. These incidents are noted by Frederick Langston.
• William Kirklund resigns from his position as Head of Investigations in protest of Director Trench's policies. He is succeeded by Remy Denis, who becomes the interim head.
• April 21: An Altered Item, the Burrough Tractor (AI82-KE), is acquired by the FBC.
• August 27: An Altered Item, the Typewritten Page (AI83-KE), is discovered in an instance of the Oceanview Motel connected to the Investigations Sector and acquired by the FBC. The item is associated with the Bright Falls AWE and was written by Alan Wake.
• September 24: Jesse Faden becomes convinced that Polaris is beckoning her eastward in her search for Dylan, and leaves her residence in Cheyenne, Wyoming to travel eastward for the next month.
• October 29:
  • Zachariah Trench unleashes the Hiss through the Slide Projector OoP and dies in his office in an apparent suicide. The Hiss invasion begins. The Oldest House seals its exits to prevent the Hiss from escaping into the outside world.
  • Jesse Faden arrives in New York City and enters the Oldest House despite its lockdown, discovering Trench's dead body. She is appointed the new Director of the FBC by The Board.