This page follows the timeline from the release of World of Warcraft through present day as it applies to the players.
(After all, 
What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been!)
2001
September 2 - World of Warcraft announced[1]
2004
The original login screen. This was the longest-running login screen, being the login for two years and one month.
Early in the year - World of Warcraft Beta testing
November 23 - World of Warcraft launches in North America, Australia and New Zealand.
- Starting level cap is 60
- Only Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor available at launch.
- Starting races:
November 24 - WoWWiki Launched[2]
December 18 - Patch 1.2.0
- Maraudon added
2005
February 11 - World of Warcraft launches in Europe
March 7 - Patch 1.3.0
- Dire Maul added
March 23 - The first legendary item ever to appear to players in the game drops, [Talisman of Binding Shard].
April 8 - Patch 1.4.0
- PvP Honor System
May - The Leeroy Jenkins video becomes popular[3]
June 7 - Patch 1.5.0
- Battlegrounds introduced
July 12 - Patch 1.6.0
- Blackwing Lair added
- Darkmoon Faire added
September 13 - Patch 1.7.0
- Zul'Gurub added
- Arathi Basin battleground added
- Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza
- Corrupted Blood begins as the result of a glitch in Zul'Gurub[4]
October 28–29 - BlizzCon
- Burning Crusade announced
October 10 - Patch 1.8.0
- Corrupted Blood fixed
November 16 - World of Warcraft is featured as a question on the game show Jeopardy!
November 23 - WoW Insider (Later WoW.com) launches.[5]
2006
The Characters of South Park in Make Love, not Warcraft. L to R: Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny.
January 3 - Patch 1.9.0
- The Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj added
- The Temple of Ahn'Qiraj added
- Gates of Ahn'Qiraj event begins
- Faction-Linked Auction Houses
January - Blizzard comes under scrutiny by LGBT groups for prohibiting advertising a guild as being LGBT-friendly.[6]
January 23 - Medivh-US becomes the first server to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj[7]
March 28 - Patch 1.10.0
- High-Level Armor Set Upgrade Questlines
- Quest Experience to Gold Conversion at Level 60
- Weather Effects
- Linked Flight paths
April - The "-50 DKP/More dots" Onyxia Wipe Animation becomes popular.
June 20 - Patch 1.11.0
July 7 - Wowhead website launched
August 22 - Patch 1.12.0
- Cross-Realm Battlegrounds
- World PvP Objectives
September 11 - Burning Crusade announced to be released on January 16, 2007
October
- Beta begins for Burning Crusade
- World of Warcraft Trading Card Game released
October 4 - The TV show South Park features a Warcraft-themed episode, Make Love, not Warcraft.
December 5 - Patch 2.0.1
- Looking for Group Interface Tool
- PvP Arenas
December 14 - Burning Crusade cinematic trailer released
2007
The World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade login screen debuted with patch 2.0.1 and was the game login screen for one year and 11 months.
January 9 - Patch 2.0.3
- Dark Portal Opens event
- Kruul begins attacking places in Azeroth
January 16 - The Burning Crusade Expansion released
- Level cap raised to 70
- Outland added
- Draenei and Blood Elf Races Added
- Eye of the Storm Battleground added
May 22 - Patch 2.1.0
- The Black Temple added
August 3–4 BlizzCon
- Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Announced
September 27 - Patch 2.2.0
- Voice chat introduced.
November 13 - Patch 2.3.0
- Zul'Aman added
- Guild Banks
- Mudsprocket quest hub added to Dustwallow Marsh
2008
In July 29, 2008 a magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck near Blizzard's offices, causing them to post a message on their login screen about the effect on their in-game and telephone support.
The World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King login screen. This login screen debuted in patch 3.0.2
January - World of Warcraft gets to 10 million subscribers globally[8]
March 25 - Patch 2.4.0
- Isle of Quel'Danas added
- Magister's Terrace added
- Sunwell Plateau added
- The Shattered Sun Offensive begins.
April 3 - Proudmoore-US becomes the first server to complete the Shattered Sun Offensive[9]
July - Beta begins for Wrath of the Lich King
August 21 - Wrath of the Lich King cinematic released.
September 15 - Wrath of the Lich King release date announced to be November 13, 2008
October 14 - Patch 3.0.2
- Achievements
- Inscription
- Barbershop
- Several changes were made to the gameworld to prepare for Wrath of the Lich King:
- The original Naxxramas removed
- Dalaran removed
- Alliance boats rerouted
- Stormwind Harbor added
- New Horde Zeppelin Towers
October 23
- The Zombie Infestation heralds the start of the Second Scourge Invasion
November 10
- The Scourge begin regular attacks on Stormwind City and Orgrimmar
November 13 - Wrath of the Lich King Expansion released
- Level cap raised to 80
- Northrend added
- Death knight Class Added
- Strand of the Ancients Battleground added
November 23 - All players logging in are awarded 
[Baby Blizzard Bear] and WoW's 4th Anniversary
2009
During the countdown to the Battle.net merger, Blizzard offered a companion pet to accounts that merged before the deadline.
April 14 - Patch 3.1.0
- Ulduar added
- Argent Tournament added
- Dual Talent Specialization
Late April - a player is banned for exploiting the game after using a mistakenly-mailed Game Master artifact called [Martin Fury].[10]
August 4 - Patch 3.2.0
- Crusaders' Coliseum added
- Isle of Conquest battleground added
- Instance Lock Extension
August 21–22 - BlizzCon 2009
- Cataclysm Expansion Announced
September 2 - Faction Change service offered.
September 22 - Patch 3.2.2
- Onyxia's Lair revamped to level 80
October 12 - Announcement that all World of Warcraft accounts must be merged with Battle.net accounts.[11]
October 27 - Race Change service offered
November 11, 12 - The deadline passes for account mergers with Battle.net for US, EU players.
November 22 - All players logging in are awarded 
[Onyxian Whelpling] and WoW's 5th Anniversary
December 8 - Patch 3.3.0
- Frozen Halls added
- Icecrown Citadel raid added
- The Lower Spire is open at release.
- Cross-Server Instance grouping
- Improved Dungeon Finder
2010
January 5 - The Plagueworks of Icecrown Citadel opens.
January 19 - The Crimson Hall of Icecrown Citadel opens.
February 2 - Patch 3.3.2
- The Frostwing Halls, the final wing of Icecrown Citadel, opens.
- The Lich King encounter is implemented.
February 12 - The People's Republic of China approves Burning Crusade for release.
May 3 - The Friends & Family phase of the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm alpha begins.[12]
June 22 - Patch 3.3.5 in North America.
- Real ID is implemented.
June 30 - Closed Beta for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm begins.[13] Patch 3.3.5 in Europe.
- The Ruby Sanctum opens.
July 6 - Blizzard announces their intention to have Real ID names visible when posting on the official forums.[14] This resulted in a massive outcry against the idea, based primarily on concerns about privacy issues and potential harassment.
July 9 - Due the overwhelming flood of criticism, Blizzard rescinds their plan to put Real ID names on the official forums.[15]
August 10 - The People's Republic of China approves a heavily edited Wrath of the Lich King for release.[16]
September 7 - The first in-game events leading up into the Cataclysm Expansion begin, with Operation: Gnomeregan (Alliance) and Zalazane's Fall (Horde).
References
- ^ Web Archive - Fusion NET: Blizzard Entertainment Announces World of Warcraft.
- ^ Wikipedia: WoWWiki.
- ^ Wikipedia: Leeroy Jenkins.
- ^ Wikipedia: Corrupted Blood Incident.
- ^ WoW.com: The Queue: A trip down memory lane.
- ^ Error Macro: Gay Rights Within World of Warcraft.
- ^ About.com: Gates of Ahn'Qiraj Opened.
- ^ Blizzard Press Release World of Warcraft Reaches New Milestone: 10 Million Subscribers.
- ^ WoW.com: Proudmoore server hits Phase 4 first.
- ^ Examiner.com: The WoW Martin Fury scandal.
- ^ WoW.com: Battle.net accounts required by November 11th.
- ^ Cataclysm Alpha has begun!. MMO-Champion. Retrieved on 2010-07-01.
- ^ Blizzard Entertainment Begins Closed Beta Test for World of Warcraft®: Cataclysm™. Activision Blizzard. Retrieved on 2010-06-30.
- ^ http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=25626109041
- ^ http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25968987278&sid=1
- ^ China is finally getting Wrath of the Lich King. WoW.com.