11 Reference points: the original series (Investigation into stardates)
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This article is from the Stardates in Star Trek FAQ, by Andrew Main zefram@dcs.warwick.ac.uk with numerous contributions by others.
11 Reference points: the original series (Investigation into stardates)
Going by the Star Trek Chronology, the first and last episodes are "The
Corbomite Maneuver" (SD 1512.2; assumed to take place 300 years after it aired
in September 2266) and "Turnabout Intruder" (SD 5928.5; early 2269).
This choice of episodes has some faults. "Turnabout Intruder" was the last
episode aired, but the stardate of "All Our Yesterdays" was later (stardate
5943.7 against 5928.5). Under the principle that stardates occur in the right
order, "All Our Yesterdays" must be taken as the end-point for the mission.
(It makes little difference anyway, because the actual date is only
conjecture.)
Similarly, there is room for dispute over which episode comes first. "The
Corbomite Maneuver" (SD 1512.2) was first in regular production, but that
doesn't necessarily mean anything. Similarly, "The Man Trap" (SD 1513.1), the
first episode aired, is not a good starting point. "Where No Man Has Gone
Before" (SD 1312.4) was first overall in both production and stardate, but is
generally regarded as being quite distinct from the rest of the series.
"Mudd's Women" (SD 1329.1) has the earliest stardate of the episodes in
regular production, providing another possible starting point. However, the
episode "Charlie X" (SD 1533.6) contains a clear reference to Terran dates,
making all this arbitrariness unnecessary.
[Note: the Chronology lists the stardate of "The Man Trap" as 1513.1, but the
Star Trek Compendium says 1531.1. I would appreciate it if someone could
check with the episode itself, to confirm one date or the other.]
At one point in "Charlie X", Kirk states that it is Thanksgiving day on Earth.
For those not familiar with American customs, Thanksgiving day is the fourth
Thursday in November. Assuming Kirk was indeed referring to that same
Thanksgiving day (which seems likely), and accepting the Chronology's
calculation of year, this pins down the date of Kirk's statement to
2266-11-22. Let this be the day after the initial statement of the stardate
for the episode, and the conclusion is reached that the episode started on
2266-11-21. This is only two months different from the Chronology's
conjecture, and has the advantage of being almost completely non-arbitrary.
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