In 2010, with the New 52, Cosmic Teams ceased covering the DCU holistially. This section is archival only.
Chronology of the Pre-20th Century
This Chronologies applies only to pre-New 52 continuity.
Thanks to <Alec Holland> and Loki Carbis.
» SEE ALSO: Unauthorized Chronology of the DC Universe • Jonah Hex Coral • DC Western Characters • DC Westerns • Mike's Amazing World of DC Comics!
| 1852: After failing at mining, trading, and ranching, beseiged by gambling debts and framed for murder, James Capen Adams abandons his wife and children, moving out west into the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Adams becomes a hunter of skins and furs and a trapper of wild animals for zoos and museums. He specializes in the California grizzly bear, adopting a bear cub he calls Ben, and this earns him the name "Grizzly Adams." | |
| 1853: After two years spent as a slave to the Black Hills Apache tribe, Jonah Hex saves the Indian chief from a puma, and becomes a tribal step-son. But this angers the cheif's real son, Noh-Tante, who drives Jonah away from the Apache. Jonah returns later to challenge Noh-Tante to a duel, who cheats. Hex kills Noh-Tante but is punished by the Chief, who scars Hex's face with a brand. | Jonah Hex #7-8 (Dec. 1977-1.78); Jonah Hex v.2 #14 (Feb. 2007) |
| 1853: William "Bat" Masterson is born. | |
| 1854: Joshua Norton becomes rich in real estate speculation, but loses his fortune by investing in the San Francisco rice market. | Sandman #31 (Oct. 1991) |
| June 1854: Jeanne Walker (Madame.44) is born in California. | DC Comics Presents #28 (Dec. 1980) |
| Winter 1854: Jonah Hex is betrayed by the chief's son, Non-Tante during a tribal horse theft and left for dead. (summer) Hex is saved by a mountain man, and restored to health. (summer, fall, winter) Hex sets out to take his revenge on Non-Tante. (winter) Later, Hex finds the Apache have been driven out of the Black Hills, forced to walk the "Trail of Tears". | Jonah Hex #8 (1.78) |
| 1855: Jonah Hex becomes a buffalo hunter and scouting ranger for the US Army. During this time, White Fawn marries Non-Tante on the Apache reservation in Arizona. | Jonah Hex #8 (1.78) |
| July 10, 1856: Nikola Tesla is born in Croatia. | |
| 1856: A man named Dekan Drache, assisted by Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" summons Felix Faust back to Earth. Faust later devours Drache. | Secret Origins v.2 #27 |
| 1858: Time-lost 20th Century western hero Vigilante (Greg Saunders) begins a new life in the Old West. NOTE: In pre-Crisis continuity, he was lost only a few days in the pre-Columbian Old West. In post-Crisis times, he is lost for over 20 years in the late Victorian Old West. | Justice League of America #102, Stars & STRIPE #9 (Oct. 1972, 4.00) |
| 1858: Jerome K. Van Dien builds what will become Wayne Manor. July 4, 1858: Solomon Zebediah Wayne and Joshua Thomas Wayne purchase the building that will become Wayne Manor after discovering the cave full of bats beneath it - they plan to use it as part of the Underground Railroad to help slaves escape. | Shadow of the Bat #45 (Dec. 1995) |
| September 17, 1859: Joshua Norton declares himself the first "Emperor of the United States" in San Francisco. | Sandman #31 (Oct. 1991) |
| November 23, 1859: William Henry "Billy the Kid" McCarty is born to Catherine McCarty in New York City. | |
| 1860 | |
| William Winchester invents the infamous Winchester repeater rifle. | Swamp Thing #45 (Feb. 1986) |
| Hannibal Hawkes becomes the Nighthawk. | Western Comics #5 (Oct. 1948) |
| Bat Lash rides on his first western adventure. | Showcase #76 (Aug. 1968) |
| April 18, 1860: Katherine "Cinnamon" Manser is born in Arizona. | Hawkman v.4 #7 (Nov. 2002) |
| Summer 1860: Grizzly Adams dies while on tour with circus sideshow frontman P.T. Barnum, who becomes famous from his association with Adams. Barnum goes on to set the bar for sideshows by announcing the "Greatest Show On Earth!" August 13, 1860: Phoebe "Annie Oakley" Mosee is born in Darke County, Ohio. | |
| November 4, 1860: While helping a group of slaves escape, Joshua Thomas Wayne is mortally injured. To preserve the secret of the Underground Railroad, he crawls into a drainage pipe beneath the manor so that his corpse will not be found. | Shadow of the Bat #45 (Dec. 1995) |
| The Cambridge repeater rifle is modeled after the Winchester, and both familes that owned them are cursed by the tortured ghosts that are murdered by the weapons. | Swamp Thing #45 |
| 1861 | |
| Plantation slave owner Wesley Jackson murders a slave named William, who is discovered in bed with his wife, Charlotte. Jackson kills more slaves, until they finally turn against him and destroy him. Jackson's abandoned house is left cursed with voodoo magic. | Swamp Thing #41-42 |
| Plantation slave owner Samson Parminter murders slaves Elizabeth Bellum and Black Jubal. He then kills many more, until Jubal's angry ghost returns from the grave and dismembers him. | Swamp Thing #10 |
| 1861-1865: The American Civil War | |
| Emperor Joshua Norton The First begins writing letters to Abraham Lincoln and Queen Victoria, all of which they take very seriously. | Sandman #31 (Oct. 1991) |
| 1862 | |
| September 18, The Civil War, Fort Donelson, Tennessee: Jonah Hex's Confederate Army unit ambushes a Union fort. Hex kills with gun and hatchet an takes bullets himself. The Union's Col. Ackerman and Capt. Fulsome string him up on a raft and set him off the Cumberland River — after beating him with a whip, further lacerating his face and eye. The raft is recovered by a doctor downstream, where Hex stays for a time. NOTES: Can anyone tell me if these events were altered in the modern retelling? | Jonah Hex v.1 #8, 30, 35, 37; Jonah Hex v.2 #13 (Jan. 207) |
| Brian Savage becomes Scalphunter. | Weird Western Tales #39 (Apr. 1977) |
| Bat Lash meets Scalphunter. | Weird Western Tales #45-46, 62-64 (??.77, ??) |
| May, 1862: Negro ex-slave and underground railroad conductor Samuel Braxton becomes the heroic Black Bat. | Batman #600 |
| Batman, while researching the secret of a Civil War campaign patch created by nurse Martha Jennings, teams up with Scalphunter during the Civil War. | Brave & Bold #171 (Feb. 1981) |
| Swamp Thing and Milo Mobius meet again in company of the Hell Jewel, during the Civil War. | Swamp Thing #12 |
| 1863 | |
| January 1, 1863: President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. | |
| January 17, 1863: Union men dressed as Confederates raid the house where Hex has been hiding, killing the doctor owner. Hex kills the soldiers. (Years later, in Wyoming badlands, 1868, Hex comes to collect revenge against them.) | Jonah Hex v.2 #13 (Jan. 207) |
| Lt. Jonah Hex surrenders to Union officials at Fort Charlotte. Hex is later blamed for the Fort Charlotte massacre resulting from a Union double-cross. Confederate commander Quentin Turnbull swears to take revenge on Hex for the death his son, Jeb Turnbull — who was Jonah Hex 's best friend and trusted him. Hex decides to stay with the Confederacy for the rest of the war. | Weird Western Tales #29-30 (Aug. 2010-75) |
| May 2, 1863: Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson is mistaken for the enemy, riding into camp one dark night. Jackson is accidentally shot by several of his own men, including Lt. Jonah Hex. Jackson later dies on May 10. | Jonah Hex #37 (June 1980) |
| Murderous Hatfield/McCoy "Family Feud" begins, lasting until 1891. Dewey Drip McCoy gives up feuding and joins the Union Army. | Police #1 (Aug. 1941) |
| November 19, 1863: Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address. | |
| 1864 | |
| 1864: Writer Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) befriends Emperor Joshua Norton in San Francisco, and is "promoted" by Norton to becoming the foremost American literary fiction author of his time. | Sandman #31 (Oct. 1991) |
| May 12, 1864: General J.E.B. Stuart dies at Yellow Tavern, Virginia. During World War II, his ghost goes on to protect the "Haunted Tank" and it's crew. NOTE: Stewart is a real historical figure. | G.I. Combat #274 () |
| 1865 | |
| 1865: Green Lantern Starkaor is mortally wounded in defending an alien planet. The native Ungaran named Abin Sur is chosen to become the next Green Lantern of Sector 2814. NOTE: First chronological appearance of Abin Sur. | Legends of the DCU #20 (Sept. 1999) |
| PRE-CRISIS: Superboy tries to prevent the Lincoln assassination but encounters an adult Lex Luthor who unwittingly prevents him from action. | Superboy v.1 #85 (Dec. 1960) |
| April 15, 1865: President Lincoln is shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth in Ford's Theatre. | |
| April 17, 1865: Elly Mae Skaggs is born in Fayerville, South Carolina. | Action Annual #1 (1987) |
| May 1865: Jonah Hex decides to continue wearing his Confederate uniform after the war's end. He becomes a professional bounty hunter, to continue his gunman adventures. | Jonah Hex #30-31 (11-12.79) |
| Jesse James and his brother Frank begin their gang's murderous cross-country crime spree, committing their first bank robbery in Liberty, Missouri. | |
| 1866 | |
| Jonah Hex 's face burned and hideously scarred with a blazing hot knife by the Apache chief, after Hex kills Non-Tante in Arizona. | Jonah Hex #8 (1.78) |
| April 13, 1866: Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy) is born in Beaver, Utah. | |
| Bankteller Lazarus Lane becomes the haunted El Diablo in the California desert. | All-Star Western v.2 #2 (Nov. 1970) |
| Vengeful ex-slaves resolve to take revenge on New Orleans plantation owner Louis DuBois. Hypnotized, DuBois is commanded to go to a voodoo ceremony even as his sister Dala decides to follow him. Louis is commanded to thrust his hand into a basket, where a snake bites him. Dala races after her brother, imagining that the snake had been poisonous. In fact, the bite had been the last part of a ceremony designed to make Louis into a vampire — and his sister, Dala is the first he infects to join him among the undead. By the 20th Century, DuBois masquerades as a werewolf and calls himself "The Monk." | Detective #517 (Aug. 1982) |
| 1867: The Lone Ranger survives a massacre of the Texas Rangers and begins his one-man crusade against crime and injustice in the state of Texas. He is assisted in this mission by his loyal friend, an Indian brave named Tonto. NOTE: The Lone Ranger was a regular for Dell Comics beginning in 1939. He was briefly mentioned and has a cameo in the Johnny Thunder story in Secret Origins #50.1867: Martha "Calamity Jane" Cannary joins General George Armstrong Custer's cavalry to battle Indians in Arizona and Wyoming. | |
| 1867: Seven texas rangers track Jason Blood to a saloon in Abilene; Blood is wanted for a massacre of prisoners after the Battle of Gettysburg. Blood kills them all with Etrigan's unseen aid. | Demon #0 (Oct. 1994) |
| 1868: Jonah Hex takes revenge on Col. Ackerman for killing the Apache tribe that raised him. | Jonah Hex v.2 #15 (Mar. 2007) |
| 1868: The town of La Moyne is afflicted with Yellow Fever. A man named St. Roch appears and cures the pestilence — in gratitude, the city is renamed in his honour. | Hawkman #30 (Sept. 2004) |
| 1869: Bill Polk becomes the Wyoming Kid. | Western Comics #1 (Feb. 1948) |
| Walt and Wayne Trigger become the Trigger Twins. | All-Star Western v.1 #58 (May 1951) |
| Jonah Hex journeys to South America, then returns. | Jonah Hex #17-19 (10-12.78) |
| Woodson Hex is discovered to be alive, then fakes his own death. | Jonah Hex #20-21 (1-2.79) |
| 1870 | |
| Vandal Savage and Jason Blood become advisors to Prince Otto Von Bismarck, the premier and later chancellor of Prussia. Savage orchestrates Bismarck's victory over the French in the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871) and consolidation of the German states. Savage presumably leaves Prussia when Bismarck is removed by Emperor William II in 1890. | Flash #137, Swamp Thing #85, Who's Who #25 (Mar. 1987) |
| Smallville, Kansas is founded. | Adventure #172 |
| Pow-Wow Smith, Indian Lawman's first case. | Detective #151 |
| Jonah Hex makes his mark in Paradise, Texas. NOTES: First appearance in print. All-Star Western later became Weird Western Tales, but featured Hex in earlier time periods than his debut. | All-Star Western v.2 #10 (Mar. 1972) |
| Hex meets Bartholomew "Bat" Aloysius Lash. | Jonah Hex v.2 #3 (Mar. 2006) |
| Jonah Hex reluctanty teams up with El Diablo (not their first meeting). | Jonah Hex v.2 #11 (Nov. 2006) |
| July 1870: Windrunner (Max Mercury) encounters the young John Tane, and inspires him to become Johnny Thunder. | Impulse Annual #2 (1997) |
| School teacher John Tane becomes vigilante and lawman Johnny Thunder in Mesa City. NOTE: The Western Johnny Thunder was first featured in All-American Western until that title's cancellation; then he was moved to All-Star Western and Johnny Thunder (1973); also, DC Comics Presents #28 & Secret Origins #50. | All-American Western v.1 #103 (Nov. 1948) |
| Photographer Jeanne Walker becomes the masked outlaw vigilante called Madame .44. | All-Star Western v.1 #117 (??.61) |
| Jonah Hex meets and marries Mei Ling of China in California. | Jonah Hex #23, #45 (Apr. 1979, 2.81) |
| 1870: Chief Ulysses Star makes a treaty with the US Government, promising to end attacks on settlers, in exchange for his tribe's gaining the rights to the timber on their lands. NOTE: The treaty was signed 100 years prior to the publication of this story. | Green Lantern v.2 #79 (Oct. 1970) |
| 1871 | |
| Hex and Ling bear a son, Jason Hex in early 1871. | Jonah Hex #51 (Aug. 1981) |
| Johnny Thunder meets Madame .44. After sharing a few adventures together, the young couple become lovers. | All-Star Western #117-119 (??.61), DC Comics Presents #28 (Dec. 1980) |
| PRE-CRISIS: Kryptonian scientist and explorer Var-El establishes a secret lab, to conduct forbidden genetic experiments, hidden away in Colorado's Rocky Mountains. Note: May no longer be in continuity. | DC Comics Presents #37 (Sept. 1981) |
| Sheriff Bill Tane discovers his son's dual identity as western hero Johnny Thunder, after Thunder rescues him from vengeful bandits. | Secret Origins #50 (Aug. 1990) |
| Johnny Thunder and Jeanne Walker are married in Mesa City, after revealing their identities to Johnny's sheriff father. | DC Comics Presents #28 (Dec. 1980) |
| Jonah Hex cannot leave the violence in his life behind him. His wife Mei Ling leaves him and takes their child. | Jonah Hex #53 (Oct. 1981) |
| Hex and Mei Ling are kidnapped to China. They return home to the United States, only to separate again. | Jonah Hex #59-65 (4-10.820 |
| The great Indian shaman Black Bison (Bison-Black-as-Midnight-Sky) founds the Bison Cult. He uses his magic to control the weather. Later, after his death, he creates a special Talisman to house his soul, and a "Coup Stick" for his powers. This Talisman passes to his son, Red-Desert-and-Night-Wind; then to his son, Thunder Arrow; and his son, Black-Cloud-in-Morning (John Ravenhair). NOTES: This issue states that the Cult was founded 100 years prior. The final fate of the original Black Bison is unrevealed. | Fury of Firestorm #1 (June 1982) |
| 1872 | |
| 1872: "Buffalo" Bill Cody becomes a famous showman and star of western dime novels. | |
| Johnny Thunder and Madame.44 marry. After the arrival of their two children, they retire but answer the occasional call during a crisis. | DC Comics Presents #28 |
| November 7, 1872: Tomahawk's brother-in-law, Wise Owl becomes corrupt and harnesses the power of the time-lost Swamp Thing (Alec Holland). He enslaves El Diablo and draws the attention of other heroes, including: the now-married Johnny Thunder and Madame .44; Bat Lash, who'd won control over the nearly mindless 400-year old Super-Chief from Buffalo Bill, in a high-stakes card game; and Black Bison. The aging Hawk (son of Tomahawk) and Firehair meet Jonah Hex on their search for the Swamp Thing; Hawk possesses the "Claw of Elk Hound," which he knows will free the Swamp Thing. Super-Chief releases Alec. The Claw is turned over to Otto von Hammer and travels to Germany. Jason Blood had hired the heroes to pursue Wise Owl. Before the Claw is used to send Swamp Thing on through time, he poses with the heroes for a photo, which is later printed in Hawk's book Hawk, Son of Tomahawk. NOTE: The long-term radiation from his meteorite gave Super-Chief a severe mental impairment, in addition to granting his immortality. Physically, he could no longer move or remain conscious, except when taking full action during his "hour of great power." | Swamp Thing #85 (Apr. 1989) |
| 1873 | |
| February-March 1873: William H. Bonney (Billy the Kid), his mother Catherine McCarty, and his step-father Bill Antrim move to Silver City, New Mexico. Catherine McCarty marries Bill Antrim. | |
| August 1873: Sheriff Daniel Young of Bailysville, Montana becomes a Green Lantern for a day to battle the outlaw Jackson Brothers gang, when Young is visited by a temporarily wounded Abin Sur. | Green Lantern #149 |
| 1874 | |
| 1874: Jonah Hex confronts the Fort Charlotte Brigade and El Papagayo. Hex is framed for murder by Quentin Turnbull. Hex is later cleared of the murder charge. | Jonah Hex #1-16 (Apr. 1977-9.78) |
| 1874: Jonah Hex returns to the Apache camp on a bounty to rescue Laura Vanden and is captured too. White Fawn helps them escape. The chief kills White Fawn. Hex kills the chief. | Jonah Hex #8 (1.78) |
| September 1874, Oaxaca, Mexico: Jonah Hex , Bat Lash, and Scalphunter are hired by Vandal Savage's Illuminati to be bodyguards for Mexcian leader Porfiro Diaz. Rip Hunter's associate, Jeff, is sent back in time to kill Diaz, but is stopped by Hex just before he returns to the 20th century. It is also suggested that the Illuminati rigged the election of US President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1875. | Time Masters #3 (Apr. 1990) |
| 1875 | |
| Captain Atom and Monarch continue their time-spanning battle into the American West. CAMEOS: Matt Savage, Johnny Thunder, Jonah Hex, Bat Lash, Trigger Twins, Pow-Wow Smith and Firehair. | Armageddon: Alien Agenda #3 (??) |
| Jonah Hex is reunited with his mother, Virginia Hex. | Jonah Hex #57 (Feb. 1982) |
| Hex is snatched with other history heroes by the Lord of Time to battle the JLA & JSA, then is returned. | Justice League of America #159-160 (10-11.78) |
| Hex meets new love interest Emmylou Hartley. | Jonah Hex #69 (Feb. 1983) |
| Hex is framed for bank robbery, placed in prison, escapes, recaptured, and cleared. | Jonah Hex #77-85 (Oct. 1983-6.84) |
| Hex meets Adrian Sterling. | Jonah Hex #84 (May 1984) |
| Hex battles the first Grey Ghost. | Jonah Hex #85-86 (6-7.84) |
| Hex leaves Adrian Sterling, confronts and kills the first Grey Ghost, then begins to track down Emmy Hartley for another bank robbery. | Jonah Hex #87 (Feb. 1985) |
| Hex is shot by Emmy Hartley. | Jonah Hex #88 (Mar. 1985) |
| Hex is confronted by the second Grey Ghost. | Jonah Hex #89 (Apr. 1985) |
| Hex encounters Unlimited Access and the Two-Gun Kid. He rescues Emmy Hartley from outlaws, then Hex and Access are both drawn from out of the past and vanish into the future. | Jonah Hex #92, Unlimited Access #1 (July 1982, ??) |
| Hex is trapped in the mid-21st Century. (for how long??) | Hex #1-18 (Sept. 1985-2.87) |
| 1876 | |
| January 1, 1876: With the help of Metamorpho, Jonah Hex returns to the past from the future — to live out the rest of his days in the Wild West. | Justice League Europe Annual #2 (1991) |
| March 10: The Atom takes a Time Pool trip to discover why a prototype telephone created by Alexander Graham Bell appears to be a fake. | DC Special Series #1 (Sept. 1977) |
| May: Mark Twain (Sam Clemens) releases his first novel, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."Calamity Jane" Cannary and "Wild Bill" Hickok meet in Deadwood, South Dakota. Calamity Jane rides the dangerous "Pony Express" trail to the Little Big Horn camp and back, bearing important messages to Wild Bill from General Custer.June 24: General George Armstrong Custer dies during the Battle of Little Big Horn, fighting in his famous "Last Stand" against Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Sioux tribes.June 25: Sitting Bull and his followers flee to Canada. Crazy Horse continues hostilities.U.S. Marshal "Wild Bill" Hickok is shot and killed while playing a card game in Deadwood. August: Calamity Jane confronts Jack McCall, the man who murdered "Wild Bill" Hickok.September: The Jesse James gang murders a bank teller in Northfield, Minnesota and try to escape — Lawmen arrive, and open fire on the killers. The only members of the gang to make it out of the bank alive are Frank and Jesse James themselves. | |
| Jonah Hex battles undead zombies of slain gunfighters. | Jonah Hex : Two-Gun Mojo (8-12.93) |
| Jonah Hex clashes with the ancient mutant man-eating Conquer Worms (first chonological app.). NOTE: This myth inspired the Tremors movies. | Jonah Hex: Riders of the Worm and Such (3-7.95) |
| The surviving Conquer Worms vow to return, in less than one hundred years time, to decimate and devour all of humankind. NOTE: The Worms next appear in Justice League Europe #24 | Swamp Thing v.1 #11 (Aug. 1974) |
| Jonah Hex encounters Buffalo Bill's "Wild West Show." | Jonah Hex : Shadows West |
| 1877 | |
| May 6, 1877: Crazy Horse surrenders to the U.S. Army in Nebraska.August 17, 1877: Billy the Kid commits his first murder, shoots and kills blacksmith Frank Cahill in self-defense. Billy escapes and joins John Tunstall's "Regulators." September 5, 1877: Crazy Horse is killed, while trying to escape from military confinement.October, 1877: Bat Masterson becomes the Sheriff of Dodge City, Kansas. | |
| 1878 | |
| January 1: British ranchowner John Tunstall is murdered by the ruthless Santa Fe Ring. February 18: Billy the Kid and his "Regulators" gang become involved in the bloody "Lincoln County War" in New Mexico. | |
| 18-year old Katherine "Cinnamon" Manser gains her reputation as a fierce and determined bounty hunter, law enforcer, and expert in the use her guns. | Weird Western Tales #48-49 (1978) |
| August 1878: Due to actions of the Lord of Time, Jonah Hex , Bat Lash, Cinnamon, and Scalphunter stand united with four time-tossed Justice Leaguers. NOTE: It was never suggested that the Western heroes were moved in time. | Justice League of America #198-199 (1-2.82) |
| Late August 1878: Hannibal Hawkes (Nighthawk) meets Greg Saunders (Vigilante), and soon after he encounters Jonah Hex during his many travels. | Hawkman v.4 #7 (Nov. 2002), ?? |
| Nighthawk arrives in St. Roch, Louisiana, where he meets his future lover, Cinnamon. They battle Mathilda Dunney. NOTES: Nighthawk and Cinnamon possess the eternal souls of Khufu and Chay-Ara. Dunney is the reincarnation of their enemy, Hath-Set. See also Nighthawk and Cinnamon. | Hawkman v.4 #7 (Nov. 2002) |
| 1879 | |
| 1879: Thomas Edison invents the light bulb and establishes the Edison Electric Light Company business. | |
| The threat of the time-tyrant Extant prompts the largest assembly of Old West heroes. They encounter other heroes from the future: Warrior, Supergirl, Steel & Batgirl. They called themselves the Rough Bunch and included Nighthawk, Bat Lash, Scalphunter, Johnny Thunder, El Diablo, Madame .44, Cinnamon, Matt Savage, Pow-Wow Smith and Strongbow. | Guy Gardner: Warrior #24 (Sept. 1994) |
| Vigilante is rescued from Indians by Green Arrow, Black Canary, and the JSA's Johnny Thunder, who take him back to the 20th Century. | Justice League of America #102 (Oct. 1972), Stars & STRIPE #9 (Apr. 1900) |
| The Nighthawk is shot and killed by Matilda Dunney Roderic. Cinnamon vows revenge on Matilda. NOTES: Dunney may have been in cahoots with Vandal Savage, who once claimed to have hanged Nighthawk himself. (Hawkman v.3 #13). Nighthawk's pre-Crisis death in Crisis #3 seems to have been negated. The next incarnations of Khufu and Chay-Ara are yet unrevealed. Dunney's descendant, Roderic Doyle becomes Hath-Set in the early 21st century. Hawkman #18 gives his death year as 1911, which is unexplained. | Hawkman v.4 #7 (Nov. 2002) |
| Crisis, July 1879: Bat Lash, Scalphunter, Nighthawk, Jonah Hex and Johnny Thunder discover one of the Monitor's vibrational towers and encounter the tower's protectors: a group from the 20th century. Hex recognizes Green Lantern (John Stewart), and soon the anti-matter wave is upon them. PRE-CRISIS: Nighthawk is killed in the anti-matter wave. | Crisis #3 (June 1985) |
| Crisis: Another group of heroes was drawn from across the timestream and led by Firebrand to stop the launch of a death ray at Cape Canaveral. Her team included Westerners Don Caballero, the Trigger Twins, and the Roving Ranger in addition to the Black Pirate, Miss Liberty, the Viking Prince, the Golden Gladiator, the Silent Knight and Valda, and the Iron Maiden. They came to clash with a group of Native Americans that included Strongbow, Super-Chief and Arak. When Firebrand saved Super-Chief's life, the two groups banded together against the Anti-Monitor's troops. | All-Star Squadron #54-55 (2-3.86) |
Late 1870s: Nast political cartoonist Samuel Augustus Adams strikes back with his pen. Adams possesses the two halves of the American Talisman, and when his enemies attack and shoot him, the American Spirit bonds with him to create the first Uncle Sam. NOTE: This is the first mention of an earlier incarnation of Uncle Sam. |
The Spectre v.3 #38 (Feb. 1996) |
| 1880 | |
| January 8, 1880: The self-proclaimed Emperor of the United States, Joshua Norton dies. Caught in a fierce rain storm while on his way to a lecture hall in the streets of San Francisco. | Sandman #31 (Oct. 1991) |
| PRE-CRISIS: On a time-journey to the Old West, Batman and Robin meet Bat Masterson. | Batman #99 |
| 15-year old country girl Elly Mae Skaggs and her parents are killed by bats and become vampires in the swamps of South Carolina. | Action Annual #1 (1987) |
| December 25, 1880: Billy the Kid is captured and sentenced to death for his crimes. February, 1881: Billy the Kid commits murder yet again — killing two deputies and executing his most famous escape from police custody. July 14: Billy the Kid is shot in the back and is apparently killed by Pat Garrett, at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. October 26: Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday clash with the Clanton gang during the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone. | |
| 1882 | |
| 1882: Thomas Edison supervises the creation of the first electrical central power company in Manhattan. | |
| April 5, 1882: In Missouri, Jesse James is shot and killed by outlaw Robert Ford, a member of his own gang — to collect the $10,000 reward. Frank James surrenders to the authorities soon after. | |
| 1882: An unnamed Ragman meets and works with Jonah Hex. | Ragman: Suit of Souls #1 (Dec. 2010) |
| 1882: Green Lantern Abin Sur pursues his enemy, Traitor, to Earth. He , joins forces with U.S. Marshal Henry Lee Jordan. Jordan also chases an outlaw named Bloody Joe Toscano, who murdered Jordan's mentor (Sheriff Nathan Kent, of Smallville, Kansas). Jordan and Abin Sur quickly bond and aid in each other's quests. | Legends of the DCU #20-21 (Sept.–Oct. 1999) |
| 1883 | |
| 1883: Jonah Hex clashes with Ra's Al Ghul and his son Arcadi Duval — in a war over the western railroad system in California. | Batman: Animated Series "Showdown" |
| Brian Savage retires as Scalphunter and instead becomes the sheriff of Opal City. | Starman Annual #2 (1997) |
| PRE-CRISIS: 1884: Var-El time-travels to the late 20th Century with his friend Professor Alpheus Hyatt — where Var-El later dies to save the life of his great-grandson, Kal-El (Superman). | DC Comics Presents #51 (Nov. 1982), #74 (Oct. 1984) |
| 1883: Chief Sitting Bull and famous sharp-shooting showgirl Annie Oakley become part of Buffalo Bill's "Wild West Show." 1884: Nikola Tesla emigrates to the United States and is briefly employed by fellow inventor Thomas Edison.1885: Nikola Tesla sells the patent rights to his system of alternating-current dynamos, transformers and motors to manufacturer George Westinghouse. Thomas Edison becomes a ruthless rival to Tesla and Westinghouse. | |
| 1885: The haunted "Amy Cambridge House" is continually built upon in San Miguel, California — until the date of Amy's death on September 4, 1922 — to ward off the angry spirits of countless ghosts that were killed by the Cambridge repeater. NOTE: This story adapted from the real-life events surrounding Sarah Winchester, first reported by Robert L. Ripley's tabloid "Believe It, Or Not!" | Swamp Thing #45 |
| December 1886: Sherlock Holmes investigates the "the Adventure of the Red Leech," defeating Professor James Moriarty's plan to enslave Queen Victoria. | Detective #572 (Mar. 1987) |
| 1887: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) begins publishes the first adventure of Sherlock Holmes, A Study in Scarlet. These continue until 1926. Holmes' birthday is January 6, 1854.1887: London, England. American P.T. Barnum and Englishman James Bailey merge their two famous circus carnivals into one international grand show. | |
| 1887: Apache Chief Geronimo surrenders to the U.S. Calvary in Arizona, ending the Great Plains War. | Fury of Firestorm #1 (June 1982) |
| PRE-CRISIS, 1888: Toby Manning becomes the super-powered criminal cowboy called Terra-Man. | Superman #249 (Mar. 1972) |
|
1888: Jack the Ripper murders a number of women in
London. NOTE: There are several DCU relations to these events. In Supergirl #58 (2001), the demon Buzz was said to have inspired the Ripper (who was the boyfriend of the last girl murdered); in Hellblazer #53 (May 1992), John Constantine met Calibraxis (the Lord of Blades), a demon connected to the Royal Family of England and the Ripper murders; in House of Mystery #306 features a story in which Andrew Bennett faces Jack the Ripper. Also, two Elseworlds tales: Wonder Woman: Amazonia and JLA: The Island of Dr. Moreau. | |
| 1888: The Atom travels to France by the Time Pool to help science-fiction author Jules Verne recover the crystal ball of Nostradamus. | The Atom #17 (Mar. 1965) |
| 1888: The U.S. government covertly hires famous showman P.T. Barnum, his partner James Bailey, and their "Greatest Show On Earth" freakshow circus performers to stop genius inventor Nikola Tesla, when he teams with the world's richest men in a plot to destroy America. (Barnum!, May 2003) June 24, 1889: Butch Cassidy forms the Wild Bunch, a gang of bank robbers in Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado. August 6, 1890: Thomas Edison invents the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison. Convicted murderer William Kemmler is the first man to be executed. | |
| 1890: Chief Sitting Bull is murdered during "Ghost Dance" ceremony. "The Battle of Wounded Knee" follows. Final military/Indian engagement of war. | Swamp Thing #45 |
| October 6, 1890: A time-traveller named Henry Gordon discovers an enormous black diamond, the Heart of Darkness in Africa. NOTE: Henry Gordon was actually the son of Bruce Gordon and Mona Bennett, Eclipso's modern-day enemies. He was caught in a time paradox and lived (eclipsed) until modern times (Eclipso #17) but died in Eclipso #18. | Eclipso #7 (May 1993) |
| 1891 | |
| 1891: Max Mercury emerges from his first trip through time. | Flash v.2 #97 (1.95) |
| April 7, 1891: P.T. Barnum dies, a wealthy and famous man. (The Ringling Brothers purchase his circus rights and properties in 2007.) | |
| January 12, 1891: Gordon gives the Heart to a jeweler to cut it into a thousand pieces, which will spread Eclipso's evil across the Earth with each stone. | Eclipso: Darkness Within #1 (July 1992), Eclipso #10 (Aug. 1993) |
| 1891: Godfrey Norton gives his wife Irene a pair of diamond earrings (unknowingly linked to Eclipso) for their wedding anniversary. Later, she sees her former lover, the King of Bohemia at a ball and is overcome by rage. She is possessed by Eclipso, kills the king and her husband, but not before Norton could contact Sherlock Holmes. Irene sacrifices her life to defeat Eclipso. Watson is also possessed, and freed. Earlier, another man named Pendleton also fell victim to Eclipso's evil. NOTES: Irene Adler's story began in Conan Doyle's "A Scandal in Bohemia." There's also a reference to "The Dancing Men." Further, an epilogue shows Holmes alive in the modern era, tending bees (presumably in Sussex). At that time, he still owned two of Eclipso's diamonds. | Eclipso #7-8 (May–June 1993) |
| Henry Gordon hires the thugs Zeke and Deke to kill the jeweler, but they turn on Gordon. Gordon, holding one of the diamonds, is " eclipsed," for the first time and kills his assailants in revenge. Eclipso then discovers to his horror that the man he possesses is a time-traveller. |
Eclipso #10 (Aug. 1993) |
| April 1891: Professor James Moriarty, a mathematics professor, author of Dynamics of an Asteroid, becomes a criminal mastermind. He is forced from his college and goes to work at a military school. Moriarty comes into frequent conflict with Sherlock Holmes, but his role as a crimelord remains unproven. Holmes and Moriarty confront each other at the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. They struggle, and Holmes manages to survive a plunge into the Falls. Moriarty is never found. NOTES: Originally told in Conan Doyle's "The Final Problem," last story of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. The Big Book of Bad released by the DC Imprint, Paradox Press. Thus this entry is not strictly DCU. However, Moriarty appeared in Detective #572 and Justice League Europe Annual #2. |
The Big Book of Bad (1998), Sherlock Holmes #1 (Sept.–Oct. 1975) |
| 1892-1893 | |
| 1892: Lizzy Borden acquires one of Eclipso's black diamonds and slays both of her parents with a hatchet. | Eclipso: Darkness Within #1 (July 1992) |
| 1892-1893: The infamous Lizzy Borden is tried and acquited of the murder of her parents. | |
| March 14, 1893: Lucius Keller's experiments accidentally kill his family. The insane inventor blames Max Mercury for the tragedy. | Impulse #58, Impulse #71 (Mar. 2000, Apr. 2001) |
| July, 1893: Lucius Keller escapes from the asylum and hunts down Max Mercury, killing all those the speedster cares about. | Impulse #58 (Mar. 2000) |
| August, 1893: Max Mercury, now operating as Whip Whirlwind, saves an orphanage full of children from their corrupt keepers in New York's Lower East Side. | Speed Force #1 (Nov. 1997) |
| 1894 | |
| 1894: Sherlock Holmes returns after having faked his death. He and Watson defeat Colonel Sebastian Moran, a former lieutentant of Moriarty's. NOTE: This adapts the 1903 short story "The Empty House," in which Holmes returns from the dead. DC had planned (but never published) a Sherlock Holmes adaptation of both this tale and his dissappearance ("The Final Problem"). "The Empty House" is from The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1903). | Sherlock Holmes #1 (Sept./Oct. 1975) |
| 1894: Cyrus Gold is murdered in Slaughter Swamp near Gotham City. His corpse later is reanimated as the failed elemental called Solomon Grundy. | All-American #61 (Oct. 1944) |
| 1894: Hugo Danner is born in Colorado. Thanks to a serum invented by his father, Abednego Danner, he develops superhuman strength, speed, and invulnerability; he will be one of the first true superhumans of the 20th century. NOTE: Hugo Danner first appeared in Philip Wylie's 1930 novel The Gladiator. | Young All-Stars #10 (Mar. 1938) |
| 1895: A Japanese officer engages in a contest of wills with a Chinese monk, but one of the officer's subordinates shoots the monk. The officer executes him and vows to take the monk's place and redeem his honour. The officer becomes the O-Sensei. NOTE: O-Sensei first appeared in Richard Dragon #1 (1975); he apparently died in Question Annual #1. He trained Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva and Bronze Tiger. He's also been affiliated with Batman, the Question and Green Arrow. | Detective Annual #1 (1988) |
| 1895: Count Anton Arcane is born. | Swamp Thing #83 (Feb. 1989) |
| 1897: Amelia Earhart is born in Atchison, Kansas. | |
| 1898 | |
| 1898: Bram Stoker's gothic novel Dracula is published. | |
| The "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is formed by Mina Harker, Alan Quartermain, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man, and Doctor Jekyll/Mister Hyde. Note: These characters are not part of the DC Universeh, but their authors are real people in the DC Universe. | League of Extraordinary Gentlemen v.1 #1 (1999) |
| 1899 | |
| Early 1899: Cinnamon confronts Nighthawk's killer, Matilda Dunney Roderic. The women slay each other in a fatal gun battle. | Hawkman v.4 #7 (Nov. 2002) |
| Sheriff Brian Savage (Scaplhunter) dies after slaughtering members of the occult Tuesday club, who kill all but one of his deputies by blowing up the jailhouse. Carny O'Dare avenges Savage's death and becomes sheriff. Savage predicts his own reincarnation (as Opal City cop Matt O'Dare and later Thom Kallor). | Starman Annual #2 (1997), Starman v.2 #74 |
| Jonah Hex and Bat Lash encounter one of the last old time gunslingers called Deathblow. | Wild Times: Deathblow |
| Late 1890's: Lucius Keller travels into the future seeking vengeance on Max Mercury. | Impulse #71 (Apr. 2001) |
| 1899: After a falling out with his partners, Bat Lash hops a ship in San Francisco and flees to Shanghai, where he opens the "You Rascal, You" Saloon. NOTE: The tale of Bat Lash's death has not been told. | Guns of the Dragon #1 (Oct. 1998) |
| December 31, 1899: The mystic order of the Seven rescues two infants from a group of demon worshipers. The Seven raise the two children as Richard Occult (Dr. Occult) and Rose Psychic, training them in the mystic arts. | Secret Origins #17 (Aug. 1987) |
| 1901 | |
| January 21, 1901: Queen Victoria dies; the end of the Victorian Era. Annie Oakley is badly injured in a train wreck, leaving her partially paralyzed. But she recovers well enough, and continues with her sharp-shooting performances for the next 20 years of her life.Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid rob their last American train — taking over $65,000. The Wild Bunch breaks up. Cassidy, Sundance, and their women head out to Argentina to live it up in style. | |
| 1904: Jonah Hex is shot and killed at the age of 66 by George Barrow. Lew Wheeler, owner of a Wild West revue, then shot Barrow and stole Hex's corpse, treated it at a taxidermist, and put it on exhibit in his revue. The corpse was last seen in the Westworld Amusement Park on the outskirts of New York City in 1972. | DC Special #16 (Jonah Hex Spectacular, 9.78) |