Compare two eras

The Earth before us

This era has no events on this theme.

The Earth before us

This era has no events on this theme.

The Earth before us

• The Big Bangabout 13.8 billion years ago
• The first starsabout 13.5 billion years ago
• Birth of the Milky Wayabout 13 billion years ago
• Formation of the Solar Systemabout 4.6 billion years ago
• Birth of the Earthabout 4.5 billion years ago
• Formation of the Moonabout 4.5 billion years ago

The Earth before us

• Carboniferous forestsabout 320 million years ago

The Earth before us

This era has no events on this theme.

• If the whole history of the Universe lasted one year, the first dinosaurs would appear around Christmas and our species only in the last 12 minutes of 31 December.
• The sunlight you see right now left the Sun about 8 minutes ago: looking far out into space also means looking back in time.
• Tyrannosaurus and the sparrow on your balcony are relatives: both belong to the great family of theropod dinosaurs.

Prehistory

• The first homininsabout 7 million years ago
• Lucy the australopithecineabout 3.2 million years ago
• Homo habilisabout 2.4 million years ago
• Homo erectusabout 1.9 million years ago
• Homo heidelbergensisabout 600,000 years ago
• Neanderthalsabout 400,000 years ago

Prehistory

This era has no events on this theme.

Prehistory

• The first stone toolsabout 2.6 million years ago
• Taming fireabout 790,000 years ago
• The needle with an eyeabout 48,000 years ago
• Pottery spreadsabout 9,000 years ago
• Working with copperabout 7,000 years ago
• The invention of the wheelabout 5,500 years ago
• The Bronze Ageabout 5,300 years ago

Prehistory

• The first deliberate burialsabout 100,000 years ago
• The first permanent villagesabout 14,000 years ago
• The Neolithic Revolutionabout 12,000 years ago
• Taming the sheepabout 11,000 years ago
• The walls of Jerichoabout 10,300 years ago
• Çatalhöyükabout 9,000 years ago

Prehistory

• The cave art of Sulawesiabout 44,000 years ago
• The Venus of Willendorfabout 28,000 years ago
• The Lascaux caveabout 19,000 years ago

• In the DNA of many people living outside Africa today there is a tiny piece, around 1-2 per cent, inherited from the Neanderthals.
• Ötzi, the Iceman found on the Similaun glacier, had more than 60 tattoos on his skin, made with small cuts and charcoal dust: they are among the oldest we know of.
• The first tamed animal was not the sheep but the dog, which was already living alongside humans more than 15,000 years ago.

River civilisations

• Hatshepsut, the woman pharaohabout 1479–1458 BC
• The reign of Akhenatenabout 1353–1336 BC
• The reign of Ramesses IIabout 1279–1213 BC

River civilisations

• The unification of Egyptabout 3100 BC
• Sargon and the Akkadian Empireabout 2334 BC
• The Code of Hammurabiabout 1754 BC
• The Shang dynastyabout 1600–1046 BC
• The Bronze Age collapseabout 1200 BC

River civilisations

• Cuneiform writingabout 3200 BC
• Egyptian hieroglyphsabout 3200 BC
• The Egyptian calendarabout 2800 BC
• The drains and baths of Mohenjo-daroabout 2450 BC
• Babylonian mathematicsabout 1800 BC
• War chariotsabout 1700 BC
• Writing on oracle bonesabout 1250 BC

River civilisations

• The first Sumerian citiesabout 4000 BC
• Uruk, the great cityabout 3000 BC
• Egyptian mummificationabout 2600 BC
• The cities of the Indus Valleyabout 2500 BC
• Trade between the Indus and Mesopotamiaabout 2300 BC

River civilisations

• The Step Pyramid of Djoserabout 2650 BC
• The Standard of Urabout 2600 BC
• The Great Pyramid of Gizaabout 2560 BC
• The Epic of Gilgameshabout 2100 BC
• The Ziggurat of Urabout 2100 BC

• Sumerian pupils went to a school called the ‘tablet house’, and on some tablets you can still read their exercises, full of mistakes.
• The 60 minutes in an hour and the 60 seconds in a minute come to us from the Babylonians, who counted in groups of sixty.
• The pyramid workers were given bread and beer every day: in ancient Egypt beer, which was only slightly alcoholic, was an everyday drink.

Sea civilisations

• The Babylonian Exileabout 586 BC

Sea civilisations

• The Phoenicians spread outabout 1200 BC
• The Kingdom of Israelabout 1000 BC
• Traditional founding of Carthageabout 814 BC
• Greek colonies in the Westabout 750 BC

Sea civilisations

• The Proto-Sinaitic alphabetabout 1800 BC
• The eruption of Theraabout 1600 BC
• Linear Babout 1450 BC
• The Iron Age beginsabout 1200 BC
• The Phoenician alphabetabout 1050 BC
• Phoenician seafaringabout 1000 BC

Sea civilisations

• Minoan civilisation on Creteabout 2000 BC
• Phoenician purpleabout 1100 BC
• The Villanovan culture in Italyabout 900 BC
• Amphorae for oil and wineabout 800 BC
• The Etruscans, lords of the Tyrrhenian Seaabout 700 BC
• Coins in the Mediterraneanabout 600 BC

Sea civilisations

• The palace of Knossosabout 1900 BC
• The nuraghi of Sardiniaabout 1600 BC
• The gold mask of Mycenaeabout 1550 BC
• The Lion Gate at Mycenaeabout 1250 BC
• The Nora Stoneabout 800 BC
• Homer's poems are written downabout 750 BC

• In the palace of Knossos, more than 3500 years ago, clay pipes brought water in and carried it away: a kind of plumbing system.
• The word ‘Bible’ comes from Byblos, the Phoenician city where the Greeks bought papyrus to write on.
• The Etruscans wrote with letters borrowed from the Greeks: we can read their words aloud, but the meaning of many remains a mystery.

Ancient Greece

• Sappho, the poet of Lesbosabout 600 BC
• Thales studies natureabout 585 BC
• Pythagoras at Crotonabout 530 BC
• The Age of Pericles461–429 BC
• Herodotus writes the Historiesabout 430 BC
• Socrates is condemned399 BC

Ancient Greece

• The first Greek city-statesabout 800 BC
• The reforms of Solonabout 594 BC
• Cleisthenes and democracyabout 508 BC
• The Battle of Marathon490 BC
• The Battle of Thermopylae480 BC
• The Peloponnesian War431–404 BC
• The conquests of Alexander334–323 BC

Ancient Greece

• The Greek alphabetabout 750 BC
• Hippocrates and medicineabout 400 BC
• Euclid writes the Elementsabout 300 BC
• Archimedes of Syracuseabout 250 BC
• The Antikythera mechanismabout 100 BC

Ancient Greece

• The ancient Olympic Gamesabout 776 BC
• Life in Spartaabout 700 BC

Ancient Greece

• The theatre of Aeschylus472 BC
• The Parthenon447–432 BC
• The Library of Alexandriaabout 295 BC

• The athletes at Olympia competed without any clothes on, and married women were not even allowed to watch the games.
• In Athens, to send a politician thought to be dangerous away for ten years, citizens wrote his name on a piece of broken pottery called an ‘ostrakon’: that is where the word ‘ostracism’ comes from.
• The Parthenon stayed almost undamaged for more than two thousand years: it was badly damaged only in 1687, when a cannonball set off the gunpowder stored inside it.

Ancient Rome

• Hannibal crosses the Alps218 BC
• Spartacus leads the revolt73–71 BC
• Caesar crosses the Rubicon49 BC

Ancient Rome

• Traditional founding of Romeabout 753 BC
• Birth of the Roman Republicabout 509 BC
• The Laws of the Twelve Tablesabout 450 BC
• The First Punic War264–241 BC
• The murder of Julius Caesar44 BC
• Augustus, the first emperor27 BC

Ancient Rome

• The Appian Way312 BC
• Roman concreteabout 150 BC
• The Julian calendar46 BC
• Galen, a doctor in Romeabout AD 162
• The book with pages (the codex)about AD 300

Ancient Rome

• The Aqua Marcia aqueduct144–140 BC
• The Pax Romana27 BC – AD 180
• Pompeii buried by VesuviusAD 79
• The Baths of CaracallaAD 216

Ancient Rome

• Plautus and comedyabout 200 BC
• Virgil and the Aeneid19 BC
• The Colosseum opensAD 80
• Trajan's ColumnAD 113
• The Pantheonabout AD 125

• The year 46 BC lasted 445 days: Julius Caesar made it longer to bring the calendar back into line with the seasons.
• The dome of the Pantheon is made of concrete with no iron reinforcement, and it is still the largest of its kind in the world.
• The months of July and August are named after Julius Caesar and the emperor Augustus.

Early Middle Ages

• Emperor JustinianAD 527
• Muhammad's HijraAD 622
• Charlemagne, King of the FranksAD 768
• Alfred the GreatAD 871
• The Vikings reach Icelandabout AD 874
• The Vikings in Greenlandabout AD 985
• Leif Erikson in North Americaabout 1000

Early Middle Ages

• The Romano-Germanic kingdomsabout AD 480
• Justinian's CodeAD 529
• The Lombards in ItalyAD 568
• The spread of IslamAD 632–750
• Charlemagne crowned emperorAD 800

Early Middle Ages

• Paper reaches Samarkandabout AD 751
• Hindu-Arabic numerals head westabout AD 825
• The Diamond Sutra, oldest dated printed bookAD 868
• The Medical School of Salernoabout AD 950
• The heavy plough spreadsabout 1000

Early Middle Ages

• Benedictine monksabout AD 529
• The feudal system spreadsabout AD 900

Early Middle Ages

• Hagia Sophia in ConstantinopleAD 537
• The mosaics of San Vitale in RavennaAD 547
• Isidore writes the Etymologiesabout AD 625
• The Carolingian Renaissanceabout AD 790
• The Book of Kellsabout AD 800
• Writing music down with neumesabout AD 850

• The Diamond Sutra, printed in China in AD 868, is the oldest printed book that gives an exact date.
• Erik the Red called his new land Greenland to attract settlers, even though it is almost entirely covered in ice.
• The small letters you are reading come from Carolingian minuscule, the clear handwriting created in the time of Charlemagne.

Late Middle Ages

• Hildegard of Bingenabout 1150
• Frederick Barbarossa1155
• Francis of Assisiabout 1182
• Marco Polo sets off for Asia1271
• Joan of Arc1429

Late Middle Ages

• The East–West Schism1054
• The First Crusade1096–1099
• The Italian communesabout 1100
• Magna Carta1215
• The Hundred Years' War1337–1453

Late Middle Ages

• Watermills and windmillsabout 1100
• Paper arrives in Europeabout 1150
• Fibonacci and the Liber abaci1202
• Spectaclesabout 1286
• Public mechanical clocksabout 1350

Late Middle Ages

• The growth of medieval townsabout 1050
• The gold florin1252
• The Hanseatic League and northern tradeabout 1300
• The Black Death1347–1352

Late Middle Ages

• The Bayeux Tapestryabout 1070
• The University of Bolognaabout 1088
• Romanesque cathedralsabout 1100
• Gothic style at Saint-Denis1144
• Giotto paints in Paduaabout 1305
• Dante begins the Divine Comedyabout 1307

• The Hundred Years' War actually lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453, with long breaks between one round of fighting and the next.
• The founding date of the University of Bologna, 1088, was chosen in the 1800s by a committee led by the poet Giosuè Carducci.
• In Fibonacci's Liber abaci there is a problem about a pair of rabbits that gives rise to a famous series of numbers: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…

Early modern age

• Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence1469
• Leonardo designs machinesabout 1485
• Columbus's voyage1492
• Vasco da Gama reaches India1498
• Artemisia Gentileschiabout 1612

Early modern age

• The fall of Constantinople1453
• Luther and the Reformation1517
• The conquest of Tenochtitlán1521
• The Council of Trent1545–1563

Early modern age

• Gutenberg prints the Bibleabout 1455
• The first voyage round the world1522
• Copernicus puts the Sun at the centre1543
• The Gregorian calendar1582
• Galileo turns his telescope to the sky1609
• Kepler describes the orbits1609

Early modern age

• Tomatoes, maize and potatoes reach Europeabout 1550
• Regular newspapers1605

Early modern age

• Renaissance perspectiveabout 1420
• Brunelleschi completes the dome1436
• Michelangelo carves David1504
• Raphael paints the Vatican Rooms1508
• Shakespeare's theatreabout 1590

• Brunelleschi's dome weighs about 37,000 tonnes and is still the largest brick dome ever built.
• When the sailors came home from the first voyage round the world, they realised they had ‘lost’ a day: by always sailing west they had seen one sunset fewer than the people who stayed at home. Antonio Pigafetta noted it in his diary.
• Not everyone adopted the Gregorian calendar straight away: Great Britain and its colonies did so only in 1752, and Russia not until 1918.

Age of revolutions

• The European Enlightenmentabout 1720
• The Expedition of the Thousand1860

Age of revolutions

• The American Revolution1776–1783
• The French Revolution1789–1799
• Napoleon becomes emperor1804
• The Congress of Vienna1815
• The revolutions of 18481848
• The unification of Italy1861

Age of revolutions

• Newcomen's steam engine1712
• Watt's steam engine1769
• The first hot-air balloon flight1783
• Jenner's vaccine1796
• Volta's battery1800
• The first public steam railway1825

Age of revolutions

• The metric system1795
• The labour movementabout 1864
• Compulsory primary school (Coppino law)1877

Age of revolutions

• Diderot's Encyclopédie1751
• Manzoni's The Betrothed1827
• The Lumière brothers' cinema1895

• The first passengers in a hot-air balloon were not people: in September 1783, at Versailles, a sheep, a duck and a cockerel flew and landed safe and sound.
• Before the metre, France had hundreds of different units of measurement, which changed from one town to the next.
• To write The Betrothed in a language everyone could understand, Alessandro Manzoni went to Florence to ‘rinse his clothes in the Arno’, meaning to learn the Italian spoken by educated Florentines.

Early 20th century

• Marie Curie and her two Nobel Prizes1911
• Anne Frank writes her diary1942

Early 20th century

• The First World War1914–1918
• The Russian Revolution1917
• Totalitarian regimes in Europe1922
• The Second World War1939–1945
• The Shoahabout 1941–1945
• The Italian Resistance1943–1945

Early 20th century

• The first powered flight1903
• Special relativity1905
• Insulin against diabetes1922
• The discovery of penicillin1928
• Fermi and the first atomic pile1942
• The first general-purpose electronic computer1946

Early 20th century

• Maria Montessori's Children's House1907
• Radio for everyoneabout 1920
• The Great Depression1929
• Post-war rebuildingabout 1948
• Television spreadsabout 1950

Early 20th century

• Abstract artabout 1910
• Jazz spreadsabout 1920
• Talking pictures1927
• Picasso's Guernica1937

• The Wright brothers' first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered about 36 metres: less than the wingspan of a large airliner today.
• Penicillin was discovered almost by chance: Fleming came back from holiday and found a mould growing on a dish of bacteria left on his laboratory bench.
• In 1946 Italian women voted across the whole country for the first time, and 21 of them became members of the Assembly that wrote the Constitution.

Today

• The first human in space1961
• Martin Luther King and civil rights1963
• Nelson Mandela becomes president1994
• Malala wins the Nobel Peace Prize2014

Today

• Birth of the European Community1957
• The fall of the Berlin Wall1989
• The European Union1993
• The Paris Agreement on climate2015

Today

• The double helix of DNA1953
• The polio vaccine1955
• The first artificial satellite1957
• The Moon landing1969
• The internet's first ARPANET links1969
• The personal computer1977

Today

• Earth Day and the environmental movement1970
• Euro notes and coins arrive2002
• The global financial crisis2008
• The COVID-19 pandemic2020

Today

• Pop artabout 1962
• The Beatles1963

• The footprints the astronauts left on the Moon are still there: with no wind or rain, they could last for millions of years.
• The first message sent over ARPANET was supposed to be the word LOGIN, but the system crashed after two letters: only ‘LO’ arrived.
• The International Space Station goes all the way round the Earth in about 90 minutes: the people on board see about 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets every day.