2248: Manchurian explorers entering the DM+4 123 stellar system found (much to their surprise) multiple starships, and a great deal of radio-traffic within the system. When their hails were answered in an alien language, they fled back to Earth, reporting the first encounter with the Sung!
2249: Ruins of a 4,000-year-old civilization were discovered on Daikoku (Beta Hydri II). They did not match the Sung's (who had no extra-solar stardrives, anyway).
2250: The Xiang are discovered on a moon of DM+4 123 V.
2251: The Pentapods, the first truly starfaring aliens man encountered, were met in space by explorers in the DM+27 28217 system, in orbit around the second planet.
2252: More ancient ruins were discovered on Heidelsheimat (Rho Eridani II).
2252 - 2255: Misunderstandings about the Sung "enslavement" of the Xiang (along with a media campaign by the NARL) lead to the Slaver War, which the Sung rapidly lost, since their ships' lack of stutterwarp made them all basically "sitting ducks" for the human ships.
2256: The UAR contacted the Eber on Kormoran (82 Eridani IV). The ancient ruins on Daikoku and Heidelsheimat had their builders identified at last!
2274: The French established a space station Outpost in the DM+27 28217 system.
2295: Kafer ships entered the Arcturus system, and were hailed by the Astrophysical Research Station Arcture. They failed to reply, and (a few hours later) left the system, and the incident was paid far less attention than it should have been.
2297: The Kafers returned, and captured Station Arcture. The Kafer War began! Also in the same year, Halogenacious life was discovered on Oiseau (Adlerhorst IV).
2298: The Kafers took the Eta Bootis system. The fate of the human Colonies on Aurore (Eta Bootis IIc) was unknown for some time.
2300: The Trilon Survey Vessel, LaFarge, was destroyed by Kafers, and the crew's spaceplane crashlanded on DM+17 2611 II, where they discovered the Klaxun. Unfortunately, due to the on-going Kafer War, the crew were Humanity's only contact with them for several years!