History of Ultima Online

Date	Event
May 13, 1996	Alpha testings began.
May 20, 1996	Alpha test closed with a true apocalypse scenario when a supposed speech by Lord British and Lord Blackthorn turns out to be a "setup" with the two Lords summoning hoards of monsters to slay the unsuspecting crowd.
June 11, 1997	Phase 1 of Beta Test Begins.^[1]
July 31, 1997	Atlantic is launched.^[2]
August 01, 1997	The Beta test phase 2 started.
August 08, 1997	Lord British has an unfortunate accident. While giving a speech to a bright-eyed Britannian crowd, the King was engulfed in flames and spent some time in the realm of the dead. However, with the aid of his companions, he was revived shortly thereafter and finished his speech, much to the delight of those in attendance.^[3]
September 18, 1997	Pacific is launched.^[4]
September 24, 1997	Last day of the original Beta test. The beta ended with a bang, as players were treated to an "end of the world" scenario with Shadowlords, demons, and other evil creatures slaughtering every character in sight.^[5]
September 24, 1997	Ultima Online opens its doors to the public.^[6]
September 25, 1997	First Charter Edition player logs in: The official birthday of Ultima Online. Great Lakes is launched. ^[7]
October 03, 1997	Lake Superior is launched. ^[8]
October 10, 1997	Baja is launched.^[9]
October 16, 1997	Chesapeake is launched.^[10]
October 29, 1997	Safety deposit boxes in Banks: ".. say "bank" to the banker, he will open up your personal chest." ^[11]
November 14, 1997	Napa Valley is launched.^[12]
December 13, 1997	Sonoma is launched.^[13]
December 16, 1997	Serpent's Hold, Minoc, Magincia, Moonglow and Ocllo have all gained banks.^[11]
December 19, 1997	Town criers started appearing in the game.^[11]
December 22, 1997	Catskills is launched.^[14]
February 06, 1998	A problem with the skill atrophy counter resetting when crossing server boundaries is fixed.^[11]
February 12, 1998	Banks are available in Jhelom, Skara Brae and Minoc.^[11]
February 27, 1998	Container capacity has been further reduced to 400 Stone and 250 items.^[11]
March 18, 1998	If you remove an item from underneath something else, the above items will fall to the ground.^[11]
June 11, 1998	A new free-for-all warfare method exists: Order and Chaos guilds.^[11]
September 16, 1998	You can now instantly log off in houses if you have the key.^[11]
September 25, 1998	Ultima Online is one year old.