World Sports Almanac

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The almanac becomes the central catalyst for the conflict in the film. Elderly Biff steals the DeLorean time machine and uses the almanac to give his younger self on November 12, 1955. Armed with this information, the 1955 Biff places winning bets over the following decades, becoming one of the country's wealthiest and most corrupt men. He turns Hill Valley into a chaotic dystopia, secretly kills Marty's father George in 1973, forces Marty's mother Lorraine to marry him, and sends Marty to boarding school in Switzerland. This alternate 1985 is erased when Marty retrieves the almanac in 1955 and burns it, nullifying the changes to the timeline.

In Their Own Story

Marty secretly follows the 1955 Biff and watches him receive the almanac from his 2015 self. Marty then follows him to the high school dance, carefully avoiding interrupting the events from his previous visit. He finally gets the almanac, but loses it after being goaded into a fight with Biff. Marty chases after Biff's car on the hoverboard, getting the almanac back as Biff crashes into a manure truck. Marty burns the almanac, nullifying the changes to the timeline.

Reader's Guide

The almanac is a physical book containing the results of major sporting events from 1950 to 2000. It does not possess any special properties beyond the information it contains. Its utility depends entirely on the user's ability to act on the information before the events occur in their current timeline. When used by Biff Tannen, it enabled him to place winning bets consistently, accumulating vast wealth over thirty years. The book is vulnerable to fire; Marty destroys it by burning it in 1955, which erases the alternate 1985 timeline.

Did You Know?

• The almanac contains the results of major sporting events from 1950 to 2000.
• Marty purchases the almanac in 2015 before Doc Brown discovers it and warns him about profiting from time travel.
• Elderly Biff overhears Marty and Doc's conversation about the almanac and retrieves it after Doc discards it.
• Biff receives the almanac on November 12, 1955, the same date Marty had recently visited in the first film.
• Marty burns the almanac in 1955, nullifying the changes to the timeline that it had caused.