[rattlsnak]

Everything ive read says it went online Aug 4th..?

In the Terminator storyline, Skynet was originally installed by the military to control the national arsenal on August 4, 1997. On August 29 it gained self-awareness[1], and the panicking operators, realizing the extent of its abilities, tried to pull the plug. Skynet perceived the attempt to deactivate it as an attack and came to the conclusion that all of humanity would attempt to destroy it. To defend itself, it determined that humanity should be exterminated.