The purpose of this timeline is as a resource for Fanfiction Writers, to help us cope with the contant flashbacks and flashforwards in the show, in order to get our continuity right (even if the writers themselves sometimes don't!)



Thanks are due to reese1410, roland44, waterwheel and da-phoenix13 for help with this.







A note on birthdays



Ted/Marshall/Lily are all born in 1978



Ted:

25 April (E1.20, 3.17)

Marshal/Lily: According to the Pilot Script, Marshall's birthday is 1 May (Ted is six days older).

Ted's birthday is the only one we know in canon, though Lily and Marshall were both born later in the year than he was (because Barney's the only other one who's 30 at the time of The Goat).

And because Marshall says he's hittin' 30 pret-ty soon after Ted, Marshall's birthday.

We see Lily's 32nd birthday (E5.18) which was broadcast on 22 March 2010. However, we just have to assume that the episode is out of order and a product of Future-Ted's unreliable narration. Lily's birthday would more likely be sometime in the summer because of how the American school system works (the cutoff birthdate for most school systems is September 1; if Lily was born after that date, she'd be a year behind Marshall and Ted in school). It's likely that Lily is also a May baby.



Barney was most likely born in spring 1975 , sometime between July 20-23rd.

Note: E1.15 says he was 23 in 1998, E2.13 he says he is 31 in Jan 2007.

Robin was most likely born in spring, sometime betweenE1.15 says he was 23 in 1998, E2.13 he says he is 31 in Jan 2007. It says here that the year of his birth is 1974 (E5.08) but that is a "fake" website. In E5.17 it clearly states he's 34, which confirms the 1975 birth year and that Barney was born sometime after March. In E5.19 Ted says that Barney was born seven years before the moon landing (1969) so he must have been born between July 20th and December 1975. Interestingly, in E6.08 it says that Barney was 6 years old on July 23rd 1981, so his birthday has got to be around then - and thus very close to Robin's.

:

.

Note: In real life, Neil, Josh and Aly are older than their characters, while Jason and Cobie are younger. From the oldest to the youngest it goes: Neil (1973), Josh and Aly (1974), Jason (1980) and Cobie (1982)







The ultimate HIMYM Fanfiction Writers Timeline





1981

- Six year old Barney is kicked off the peewee basketball team (E6.02)

July 23 - Six year old Barney knocks down the Blue Whale with a triceratops bone in the Natural History Museum, accompanied by his "uncle" Jerome Whitaker (actually his father). This is the last time Barney saw his Uncle Jerry before 2010. (E6.08)



1982

- First Barney/James flashback (ice-cream) (E2.12)





1984

- Second Barney/James flashback (just one of those things)

(E2.12)





1986

- Third Barney/James flashback (little racists)

(E2.12)

1988



- Marshall reads "Life Among the Gorillas" and decides to save the environment. (E1.17) Note - he is 10 years old at this point, reinforcing his birth year as 1978.



1992/3



- Lily's incident with "Gasser". (E4.06)



- Marshall was chunky in 9th grade/when he was 15. (E1.17, E3.01)





1994/5



- Ted loses his virginity to Molly McKenzie. (E2.12, 4.01)

- Robin has lived with her dad as a boy until this point (she was 14). (E4.06)



1995



Summer - Ted loses his virginity to Molly McKenzie. (E2.12) He was 17 (1978 + 17 = 1995) and a junior in high school (E4.01). Summer, if only because Molly was going off to light firecrackers with her cousins in the woods, which seems like kind of a 4th-of-July thing to do. But it'd be any time after April 25 and before September.

4-Jul - Lily eats 27 hot dogs in 8 minutes (E4.15)







1996





- Robin and her friend Jessica Glitter make a children's show called "Space Teens" with Alan Thicke.

May? - Lily and Scooter go to prom. Hilarity Ensues. (E1.20)

Jul - Robin and Simon break up. (E3.16) - Note: Robin Sparkles takes place sometime around this period. The 80s hit Canada in 1993 while she was still living with her Dad.



Augt/Sep? - Robin loses her virginity to Brian (E2.12)

Brian was most likely post-Simon (since Simon was her first real boyfriend) so this would be sometime after July. The year is an approximation based on her age. (Note: she has braces in that scene but there's no indication of when that happened)

.



"Late August" - Lily, Ted, and Marshall all meet each other as freshmen at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. (3.05)



Fall - Lily and Marshall lose their virginity. (E2.12) They're freshmen, they met in the fall, and it's sometime before New Years Eve.







1997



Winter - Fiero-asco. (E2.17)





1998

5th Feb - Lily paints Marshall nude, Karen "lingers" (4.16)

? - Ted is now Dr X (E4.14)





Summer - Shannon dumps Barney (he is 23 at this point) (E1.15)



Fall/Winter - Ted and Lily get high and she tells him she always wanted an EZ Bake Oven. Ted: "EZ Bake Oven - that's what I'm going to call my van!" (E2.11 - eight years before Christmas 2006)







2000



Spring - Ted, Lily, Marshall graduate from Wesleyan and move to NYC. This is confirmed in E3.02 when Marshall says it has been eight years since he moved to New York (that was in 2008).

Note:-

- Ted would have to study a further year in grad school to get his B. Arch. (Probably Columbia)

- Lily might have also been studying for her M.Ed, but she could have gone straight into work in Elementary School with her B.Ed.

- Marshall probably went straight into work, probably as a paralegal

- At some point between 1998/2000 Barney probably joins Altrucell



2001



- Ted graduates and begins 3 years of internship needed to qualify as an architect

31-Oct - Ted first meets the slutty pumpkin (E1.6)





Winter? - Ted meets Barney (E1.01, 3.05)



2002

- Loretta Stinson (Barney's Mom) gets really sick (4.15)

- Robin tries to get The Frozen Snowshoe (a wrestler) to do Old King Clancy with her. She was then in British Columbia. (4.18)









2004

Fall? - Marshall starts his law degree at Columbia (based on him being a second year in E1.01)

- Ted studies for his arcitecture exams, 2004/5.



31-Oct - Marshall dresses as Tarzan, gets hypothermia (1.06)





26-Nov: Lily paints acrobats in the living room (E4.09)





2005



April - Robin moves to New York. (E1.02)



May? - Ted takes his architecture exams. We know he's newly qualified in the pilot (E1.01)



19-Sep - Marshall proposes to Lily and shoots her in the eye with a champagne cork. Ted meets Robin. (E1.01)



31-Oct - Halloween party - Robin breaks up with Mike. (E1.6)



14-Nov -





Nov - Barney/Wendy-the-waitress hookup (E3.11)



Dec 31 - The gang celebrates New Year's Eve by going to 5 different parties and listening to Barney's mix tape in Ranjit's limo most of the time. Robin and Ted kiss at midnight. (E1.11)





2006



9-Jan - Stuart and Claudia's wedding - Ted and Victoria get together (E1.12)

6-Mar - Victoria leaves for Germany (E1.16)

20-Mar - Marshall takes an internship at Altrucell (confirmed spelling via DVD closed captions!), Barney's company. (E1.17)

10-Apr - Ted and Victoria break up (E1.20)

25-Apri - Ted's 28th birthday

(greatest pick up line - Barney... "I could swear you fell straight out of heaven, angel. BING!")

(E1.20)

?June - Lily leaves Marshall and moves to San Frascisco (E2.01), Ted and Robin become a couple (E1.22)



Between June and September: Marshall "recovered" 67 days after his breakup with Lily, which would put that date somewhere in August if they really did break up in June. (Keep in mind that he's still crying in the bar when Barney leaves to get Lily.)



Aug? - Barney goes to get Lily from SF. (2.19

)



25-Sep - Lily returns to NYC (E2.02)

23-Oct - Lily resumes her job as a kindergarten teacher (E2.06)

5-Nov - The 2006 New York City Marathon - Barney runs this according to E2.15 but that doesn't fit in with the continuity as Lily is looking for a wedding dress at the time. You'd have to bring Lily's job back to the start of term (Sep) to make this work. Plus the Marathon is on a Sunday so Barney couldn't "make a weekend of it"

6-Nov - Lily and Marshall get back together (E2.07)

13-Nov - Lily and Marshall's Atlantic City wedding (E2.08)



20-Nov - The beginning of the Slap Bet. (E2.09)



27-Nov - We first meet James Stinson (E2.10)



15-Dec - Robin holds thieves at gunpoint (E4.09)



24-Dec - Lily steals Christmas. (E2.11)

Dec - Lily/Marshall couple-dating their neighbours Michael/Laura (E3.11)





2007



22-Jan - Ted becomes project manager, his design accepted for the new Spokane building (E2.13)



20-Apr- Ted and Robin split up (although they don't tell anyone till E2.22) (E2.19)

7-May - Lily and Marshall's Van Smoot wedding (E2.21)

7-May - Ted gives a list of places Robin will live: Argentina , Morocco, Greece, Russia, Japan (E2.22)

24-Sep - Robin returns from Argentina



Oct - Robin is dating her co-worker Kurt the sports guy (E3.11)

29-Oct - Marshall takes a job with Nicholson, Hewitt and West (E3.06))

5-Nov - Marshall and Lily buy an apartment in Dowisetrepla (E3.07)

12-Nov - Marshall finds out that he has passed the New York City Bar Exam (E3.08)



22-Nov - Slapsgiving (E3.09) (episde aired on 19 Nov)



16-Jul: Barney's Houdini act - submerged for 12 mins (4.09)



Nov/Dec?- Probable time of James and Tom's wedding. (2.12) - The wedding takes place "one year later". At the wedding, Eli (6.02) is apprx. six months old (Barney says that in 20 and a half years he'll be 21), putting his date of birth in summer 2007.





2008



17-Mar - St Patrick's Day, The Mother attends the same party as Ted (E3.12)

14-Apr- Marshall quits his job at Nicholson, Hewitt and West (E3.15)



21-Apr - Robin/Barney hookup

25-Apr - Ted's 30th birthday,

Ted "de-bros" Barney

(E3.17)

19-May - Ted proposes to Stella, Barney hit by bus. (E3.20)

29-Sep - Barney and Marshall both start work for Golliath National Bank (E4.02)

6-Oct - Robin quits her job at Metro News One and gets a new job in Japan (E4.03)

?13-Oct - Robin starts her new job in Japan and Lily and Marshall move into their Dowisetrepla apartment (E4.04)

20-Oct - Stella leaves Ted at the alter, Robin returns to New York (E4.05)

10-Nov - Robin moves in with Ted (E.07)

17-Nov - Ted gets the contract to build the new GNB HQ building (E4.08)



24-Nov: NAKEDMAN! (4.09)

Dec - We meet MacLaren's Bartender Doug (who has apparently been there all along (E4.10) (retcon)



2009

2-Feb - Robin gets a new job hosting the early morning talk show on Channel 12 (E4.14)

2-Mar - We finally meet Barney's Mom (Loretta, despite Rhonda calling her Patty in The Yips) who apparently got "really sick" about 7 years before and so Barney has had a fake wife (Betty) and son (Tyler) the whole time. Although what he did with any of these people for James's wedding (2007, above) is anyone's guess. (E4.15) (retcon)

9-Mar - Ted briefly dates his old highschool sweetheart Karen, mentioned in many previous episodes (E4.16)

23-Mar - Ted loses his job due to losing the GNB HQ contract and decides to start his own architecture firm (E4.18)

13-Apr - Ted starts his new Architect firm Mosbius Designs (E4.20)

23-Apr - Ted finds closure with Stella. We think that the Stella/Tony stuff happens on day one of Ted's 3-day-design marthon of the Rib Town building (E4.24)

25-Apr - Ted's 31st Birthday - Missy! "The day of the goat" and Barney and Robin finally make out, Barney tells Robin he's in love with her. (E3.17, 4.09, 4.24)

Aug - We think that Ted starts teaching at Columbia university going by E4.24 and comments by the writers (E5.01)

Sep - We discover that Barney and Robin have been in a relationship all summer (E5.01)

Sep - The gang discover the third doppleganger (Lily). At this stage they have found Marshall and Robin's. (E5.02)



Oct - the ending bar scene from "Intervention". (4.04) Again, the "one year later" title provides basis for this.

Oct - Robin takes duel citizenship in order to avoid being deported for the second time (E5.05)



Nov - Robin and Barney split up (E5.07)

16-Nov - Robin meets Don Frank, her new co-anchor at COGUNY (E5.08).

Nov - The fourth Slapbet slap, in Slapsgiving 2 (E5.09)





2010





Dec - Robin starts work at Worldwide News (E6.12)



2011

Jan - Marshall's dad dies (E6.13).

Feb 14th - Barney and Nora win the laser tag tournament and begin dating soon after. They break up after their second date.

Feb - Marshall and Lily agree that Marshall will quit GNB to get a job in Environmental law.

March - Barney finally meets his real Dad, Jerome Whitaker, his wife Cheryl, their son Jerome Jnr (J.J.) but doesn't yet meet his half-sister Carly who is in college.





Unknown, but after 2010



- Punchy's wedding happens (E6.09)

- The Wedding happens - we don't know who is getting married, but we know Ted meets The Mother there. (E6.01)

- Marshall quits smoking the day his son is born, and Ted quits two weeks into dating the children's mother. (E5.11)

- The lightsaber becomes commercially available between 2013-2015. Lily and Marshall have Thanksgiving at Marshall's parents in St Cloud, breaking their tradition of having Ted, Barney and Robin over. (4.14)

- Lily and Barney fight while Lily is heavily pregnant. This is at least one year after 2010. Also, at the same time, Ted comes into MacLaren's pub wearing a green dress and saying "Okay, now we're even". (6.11)







2013



- Robin quits smoking (E5.11)





2014

- It is likely that Ted's first child (a girl) is born around this date, making her 16 when the story first begins (PS+)





2016

- It is likely that Ted's second child (a boy) is born around this date, making him 14 when the story first begins (PS+)







2017



- Barney quits smoking (E5.11)







2020



-

Wesleyan college

20th reunion - Ted, The Mother, Marshall and Lily attend. (3.05)



2029

- Lily and Marshall's death folder scene. (3.02)





2030

- Future Ted begins his story (E1.01)

.





(E5.03)- Marshall gets his Fiero after several of his brothers' "tests". (E2.17)- The group, sans Robin, sees Mustache Marshall on Ted's first blind date with Jen (E5.02)Marshall stabs Lily while duelling with Ted over the apartment (E1.08)Jan - Katie comes to New York, and they visit the Empire State Building. (E2.12) Assume she is 17 at this point - Ted, says all 17 year old boys only wanting sex, and she said Kyle didn't cheat on her with her lab partner when he could have, so they must be the same age.Feb - The second slap, after Barney's play Suck It Lily. (E2.16)8-Feb - Robin starts to date Don at this point (E5.15)22-Mar - Lily's 32nd Birthday (E5.18 - possibly told out of order by Ted, see Birthdays)10-May - The Gang meet Ted's doppleganger (E5.22) at Robot's Vs Wrestlers17-May - Tony's film "the Wedding Bride" is released (E5.23)June - Robin and Don split, Don moves to Chicago (E5.24)Sep - Lily thinks she's seen Barney's doppleganger (E5.24), signifying it's time for her and Marshall to begin trying for a baby. (This is not actually Barney's doppleganger, but the gang humour Lily). We also know that Lily quits smoking the day she decides to try to get pregnant from (E5.11)Sep - Ted meets up with Cindy again (E6.01) No mention if she's still room mates with The Mother.Sep - James Stinson finally meets his real Dad, Sam Gibbs, and James and Tom's son's name is revealed (Eli) (E6.02)Oct - Ted meets Zoey Van Smoot, who will become his nemesis. (E6.05)Nov - Ted meets up with Cathy again (from Spoiler Alert) and he isn't wearing a wedding ring. So presumably he's not yet married the Mother. (E3.08)Nov 10th - Barney's father is revealed to be Jerome Whitaker (see entry from 1981) at a party Barney attends with his friends at the Natural History Museum (E6.08)Nov - Robin is reunited with her childhood friend Jessica Glitter at the Hoser Hut. Robin Sparkles first appearance "Space Teens" is revealed to the gang via Barney (E6.09)Nov 25th - Thanksgiving. Ted, then Barney become the Blitz. Ted and Zoey reconcile. (E6.10)