Explore time

By subject

Categories

• Ancient & MedievalEmpires, rulers, battles and turning points before the modern age.39 moments · 2 with a page
• Modern HistoryRevolutions, wars, politics and social change in the modern era.38 moments · 1 with a page
• Natural WorldLife, evolution, extinctions and the changing planet.39 moments · 4 with a page
• ScienceDiscoveries and experiments that changed how we understand reality.39 moments · 2 with a page
• TechnologyMachines, computing, transport and inventions.38 moments · 3 with a page
• SpaceAstronomy, spaceflight and cosmic milestones.38 moments · 2 with a page
• Art & CultureArtworks, books, architecture and cultural milestones.47 moments · 1 with a page
• Film & TelevisionCinema, television and screen culture.38 moments · 4 with a page
• MusicComposers, recordings, bands and landmark releases.41 moments · 4 with a page
• Internet & GamingThe web, creators, platforms and video games.38 moments · 3 with a page
• ExplorationJourneys, expeditions and encounters across the world.39 moments · 4 with a page
• SportsCompetitions, records and sporting institutions.39 moments · 4 with a page
• ArchaeologyAncient sites, discoveries and the human past revealed.39 moments · 4 with a page

By period

Explore by era

Eight periods covering the whole timeline, each one continuing where the last ends. The boundaries are conventions rather than claims, and every era says where it cuts.

• Deep TimeEarth, life and extinction before anything recognisably human.4.6 billion BC – 3.3 million BC · 35 moments
• PrehistoryTool-making, migration and the long human past before writing.3.3 million BC – 3001 BC · 4 moments
• Ancient WorldThe first cities, states and empires, and the records they left.3000 BC – 476 AD · 32 moments
• Middle AgesKingdoms, faiths, trade routes and manuscripts across a thousand years.477 AD – 1453 AD · 20 moments
• Early ModernPrinting, long-distance voyages, revolutions in science and in states.1454 AD – 1799 AD · 74 moments
• 19th CenturyIndustry, empire, railways, photography and the first electrical age.1800 AD – 1899 AD · 83 moments
• 20th CenturyWorld wars, flight, broadcasting, spaceflight and computing.1900 AD – 1999 AD · 214 moments
• 21st CenturyThe web as everyday infrastructure, and the moments still settling.2000 AD – 2026 AD · 50 moments

Further from where you would guess

Surprising moments

• Gutenberg’s movable-type printing system is operating in MainzTechnology · Approximately 1450 AD
• Rosetta Stone is discoveredArchaeology · 1799 AD
• The first video is uploaded to YouTubeInternet & Gaming · 23 Apr 2005 AD
• Julius Caesar crosses the RubiconAncient & Medieval · 49 BC
• Oldest publicly available PewDiePie video is uploadedInternet & Gaming · 2 Oct 2010 AD