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This chronology aims at representing the most relevant events that allowed humanity to understand where we come from, what is our current understanding of the Universe, its impact on ourselves, to better apprehend our future.
A chronology willing to be universal
Even if we try to be as much objective and relevant as possible, note that all chronologies are subjective in the way that they are focusing on a particular view, topic and kind of information shared.
In order to apprehend this chronology in the best conditions and most transparent way, note that:Â
The Brief Global Chronology
Beginning of the Universe 🌌
Time before year 0 (Year 2000 of the Gregorian Calendar) | Beginning of the known Universe | Approx. time After Bing Bang (ABB) |
---|---|---|
- 13 700 000 000 years | Big Bang | 0 ABB |
- 13 700 000 000 years + 1/100 sec. | First protons, neutrons & electrons | 1/100 sec. ABB |
- 13 700 000 000 years + 1 seconde | First appearance of deuterium nuclei (heavy hydrogen) | 1 second ABB |
- 13 700 000 000 years + 1/4 hour | Appearance of helium nuclei | 15 minutes ABB |
- 13 699 700 000 | Appearances of helium and hydrogen atoms | 300 000 years ABB |
- 13 699 000 000 | Formation of cold clouds of cosmic gas | 1 000 000 years ABB |
- 13 600 000 000 | Formation of the first galaxies | 100 000 000 years ABB |
- 13 100 000 000 | Oldest black hole known & observed (1342+0928) | 1 800 000 000 ABB |
- 10 000 000 000 | Formation of stars and planets | 5 000 000 000 ABB |
- 4 570 000 000 | Formation of the Earth, molten lava ball then cooling | 9 430 000 000 ABB |
- 4 500 000 000 | Collision of Mars-sized debris with Earth / Formation of the Moon | 9 500 000 000 ABB |
- 4 100 000 000 | First chain of nucleotides | 9 900 000 000 ABB |
- 4 000 000 000 | Most ancient rocks, steam condensation | 10 000 000 000 ABB |
- 3 800 000 000 | First little deep oceans, composed of a carbon base | 11 200 000 000 ABB |
Beginning of Life 🌱 on Earth 🌎
Time before year 0 (Year 2000 of the Gregorian Calendar) | Beginning of Life on Earth | Approx. time After Bing Bang (ABB) |
---|---|---|
- 3 500 000 000 | First bacterian cell, appearance of DNA & Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) known | 11 500 000 000 ABB |
- 3 400 000 000 | Appearance of photosynthesis of oxygen | 11 600 000 000 ABB |
- 2 800 000 000 | Tectonic plates / Continental drift | 12 200 000 000 ABB |
- 2 700 000 000 to - 1 600 000 000 | Appearance of Eucaryote | 12 200 000 000 ABB |
- 2 500 000 000 | Complete development of bacteria | 12 500 000 000 ABB |
- 2 400 000 000 | 1st mass extinction (Great Oxidation) | 12 600 000 000 ABB |
- 2 200 000 000 | Appearance of nucleus cells | 12 800 000 000 ABB |
- 2 000 000 000 | Increased oxygen level in the atmosphere | 13 000 000 000 ABB |
- 1 800 000 000 | Cells begin to use oxygen as a source of energy | 13 200 000 000 ABB |
- 1 500 000 000 | Bacteria fuse to form composite organisms (Proterozoic) | 13 500 000 000 ABB |
- 1 300 000 000 | The oxygen level in the atmosphere reaches its current level (21%) | 13 800 000 000 ABB |
- 1 000 000 000 | Begin of sexual reproduction | 14 000 000 000 ABB |
- 800 000 000 | Mitochondria and Chloroplasts | 14 200 000 000 ABB |
- 700 000 000 | First animals (Moluccas without shells) | 14 300 000 000 ABB |
- 600 000 000 | Appearance of shells and skeletons | 14 400 000 000 ABB |
- 541 000 000 to - 485 000 000 | Appearance of eye (association of photosensitive and pigmented cells) | 14 400 000 000 ABB |
- 500 000 000 | Early plants (Palaeozoic) / Appearance of brain structure in worms | 14 500 000 000 ABB |
- 445 000 000 | 2nd mass extinction (Ordovician) | 14 555 000 000 ABB |
- 400 000 000 | First terrestrial animals (insects, amphibians ...) | 14 600 000 000 ABB |
- 385 000 000 | 3rd mass extinction (Devonian) | 14 615 000 000 ABB |
- 370 000 000 | Appearance of seeds (seed ferns) | 14 615 000 000 ABB |
- 300 000 000 | Beginning of the reign of the dinosaurs | 14 700 000 000 ABB |
- 252 000 000 | 4th mass extinction (Permian) | 14 748 000 000 ABB |
- 250 000 000 | Appearance of paleo-mammal brain | 14 748 000 000 ABB |
- 200 000 000 | 5th mass extinction (Triassic-Jurassic) / Early flying reptiles, first mammals (Mesozoic) | 14 800 000 000 ABB |
- 160 000 000 | Separation of the plates of the single continent (Pangea) / Beginning of the continental drift | 14 840 000 000 ABB |
- 100 000 000 | Early primates & flowering plants (Jurassic) | 14 900 000 000 ABB |
- 70 000 000 | The Earth is covered with vast forests, and still populated by monstrous reptiles | 14 930 000 000 ABB |
- 65 000 000 | 6th mass extinction (Cretaceous) / end of the dinosaurs' reign | 14 935 000 000 ABB |
- 60 000 000 | Explosion of biodiversity (Cambrian) | 14 940 000 000 ABB |
Beginning of Humankind đź‘Ł
Time before year 0 (Year 2000 of the Gregorian Calendar) | Beginning of the Humankind History | Approx. time After Bing Bang (ABB) |
---|---|---|
- 4 000 000 | Reign of Australopithecus (Australopithecus afarensis) | 14 996 000 000 ABB |
- 3 200 000 | Lucy | 14 996 800 000 ABB |
- 3 000 000 | Ape men start using tools | 14 997 000 000 ABB |
- 2 500 000 | Diversification into several Australopithecus species | 14 997 500 000 ABB |
- 2 000 000 | Appearance of 1st hominids: Homo habilis | 14 998 000 000 ABB |
- 1 600 000 | Homo Ergaster | 14 998 400 000 ABB |
- 1 400 000 | Disappearance of Australopithecus | 14 998 600 000 ABB |
- 1 000 000 | Installation of Homo Erectus in Asia and Europe | 14 999 000 000 ABB |
- 750 000 | First human use of fire | 14 999 250 000 ABB |
- 250 000 | Archaic form of Homo-Sapiens / Disappearance of Homo-Erectus | 14 999 750 000 ABB |
- 200 000 | Appearance of modern Homo-Sapiens | 14 999 800 000 ABB |
-150 000 to -100 000 | First domestication (wolf in dog) | |
- 125 000 | Reign of Neanderthal Men | 14 999 875 000 ABB |
- 65 000 | Installation of Homo-Sapiens in Oceania | 14 999 935 000 ABB |
- 35 000 | Early Palaeolithic writings & cave paintings (Altamira Cave, Spain) / Disappearance of Neanderthals | 14 999 965 000 ABB |
- 25 000 | Installation of Homo-Sapiens in America | 14 999 975 000 ABB |
- 17 000 | Lascaux cave parietal wall paintings | 14 999 975 000 ABB |
- 12 000 (- 10 000 BC) | First traces of villages | 14 999 988 000 ABB |
- 10 000 (- 8 000 BC) | Settlement & the emergence of agriculture | 14 999 990 000 ABB |
- 7 000 (- 5 000 BC) | Invention of the wheel / First villages on the Yellow River Valley, birth of Ancient China | 14 999 993 000 ABB |
- 5 600 (- 3 600 BC) | Birth of architecture in Malta | 14 999 994 400 ABB |
- 5 300 (- 3 300 BC) | Appearance of Sumerian writing | 14 999 994 700 ABB |
- 5 200 (- 3 200 BC) | First Egyptian dynasties | 14 999 994 800 ABB |
- 5 000 (- 3 000 BC) | First form of complex mathematics / Beginning of Hinduism / Top of the Sumerian Civilization in Mesopotamia | 14 999 995 000 ABB |
- 4 800 (- 2 800 BC) | Pyramids of Cheops | 14 999 995 200 ABB |
- 4 500 (- 4 500 BC) | Oldest mention of the city of Babylon | 14 999 995 500 ABB |
- 3 800 (- 1 800 BC) | Beginning of Judaism | 14 999 996 200 ABB |
- 3 400 (- 1 400 BC) | Birth of Tutankhamun | 14 999 996 600 ABB |
- 3 200 (- 1 200 BC) | Invention of the Alphabet | 14 999 996 800 ABB |
- 2 800 (- 800 BC) | Emergence of Classical Greece | 14 999 997 200 ABB |
- 2 753 (- 753 BC) | Foundation of the city of Rome | 14 999 997 700 ABB |
- 2 700 to - 2 500 (- 700 to - 500 BC) | Decline of Ancient Egypt | |
- 2 660 (- 660 BC) | Birth of the prophet Zoroaster / Beginning of Japan | 14 999 997 340 ABB |
- 2 605 (- 605 BC) | Advent of Nebuchadnezzar / Radiance of Babylon / Beginning of TaoĂŻsm | 14 999 997 395 ABB |
- 2 600 (- 600 BC) | Beginning of Mayan Empire | |
- 2 500 (- 500 BC) | Beginning of Buddhism | 14 999 997 500 ABB |
- 2 350 (- 350 BC) | Birth of Alexander the Great | 14 999 997 650 ABB |
- 2 247 (- 247 BC) | Birth of the Chinese Empire / Beginning of the reign of the 1st Chinese Emperor | 14 999 997 753 ABB |
- 2 217 (- 217 BC) | Hannibal | 14 999 997 783 ABB |
- 2 100 (- 100 BC) | Birth of Julius Caesar | 14 999 997 800 ABB |
- 2 018 (- 100 BC) | Most ancient written trace of watermills (by Romans) | 14 999 997 800 ABB |
- 2 000 (0 BC) | Beginning of Christianity / Birth of Jesus | 14 999 998 000 ABB |
- 1 900 to - 1 500 (100 to 400 BC) | Beginning of Hindu–Arabic numeral system | |
- 1 524 (476 AC) | Fall of the Occidental Roman Empire / Early Middle Ages | 14 999 998 476 ABB |
- 1 400 (600 AC) | Beginning of Islam | 14 999 998 600 ABB |
- 1 100 (900 AC) | Decline of Mayan Empire (except in the northern lowlands of Latin America) | 14 999 998 900 ABB |
- 1 000 (1 000 AC) | Viking colony in North America | 14 999 999 000 ABB |
- 675 (1 325 AC) | Foundation of Tenochtitlan by the Aztecs | 14 999 999 325 ABB |
- 562 (1 438 AC) | Incan Empire formed in Peru | 14 999 999 438 ABB |
Beginning of Global Sciences ⚗️ & Improved Knowledge Sharing 📚
Time before year 0 (Year 2000 of the Gregorian Calendar) | Beginning of the age of science and fast sharing knowledge | Approx. time After Bing Bang (ABB) |
---|---|---|
- 550 (1 450 AC) | Gutenberg printing | 14 999 999 450 ABB |
-518 (1 492 AC) | European rediscovery of America by Christopher Columbus / Early Renaissance | 14 999 999 482 ABB |
- 496 (1 504 AC) | Leonardo da Vinci paints Mona-Lisa (La Gioconda) | 14 999 999 504 ABB |
- 481 to - 478 (1 519 to 1 522 AC) | First world tour by Magellan / Beginning of Sciences | |
- 457 (1 543 AC) | Copernicus postulates a heliocentric universe | 14 999 999 543 ABB |
- 413 (1 587 AC) | Monte's Planisphere, Earth's largest early map | 14 999 999 687 ABB |
- 391 (1 609 AC) | Galileo makes first astronomical observations with a telescope | 14 999 999 609 ABB |
-336 (1 664 AC) | Newton's theory of universal gravitation | 14 999 999 664 ABB |
- 322 (1 678 AC) | Halley makes first global stars catalog | 14 999 999 678 ABB |
- 240 (1 760 AC) | Industrial Revolution begins in England | 14 999 999 760 ABB |
- 231 (1 769 AC) | Watt patents first practical steam engine | 14 999 999 763 ABB |
- 200 (1 800 AC) | Herschel discovers infrareds | 14 999 999 800 ABB |
- 199 (1 801 AC) | Ritter discovers ultraviolets | 14 999 999 801 ABB |
- 179 (1 821 AC) | Michael Faraday invents electric motor | 14 999 999 821 ABB |
- 163 (1 837 AC) | Slavery abolished in British Empire | 14 999 999 837 ABB |
- 161 (1 839 AC) | Birth of photography | 14 999 999 839 ABB |
- 151 (1 849 AC) | Charles Darwin publishes Theory of Evolution in his book The Origin of Species | 14 999 999 849 ABB |
- 134 (1 866 AC) | August Mouchot invents the first solar steam engine | 14 999 999 869 ABB |
- 131 (1 869 AC) | Dmitry Mendeleev inventes the periodic table | 14 999 999 869 ABB |
- 128 (1 872 AC) | Louis Pasteur makes the first vaccine on a human | 14 999 999 872 ABB |
- 121 (1 879 AC) | Invention of the light bulb | 14 999 999 879 ABB |
- 114 (1 886 AC) | Bell Alexander Graham patents the telephone | 14 999 999 886 ABB |
- 111 (1 889 AC) | Thomas Edison invents electric light | 14 999 999 889 ABB |
- 107 (1 893 AC) | Voting rights for women in New Zealand (1st worldwide) | 14 999 999 894 ABB |
- 106 (1 894 AC) | Nikola Tesla invents of the alternating current | 14 999 999 894 ABB |
- 105 (1 895 AC) | Wilhelm Roentgen discovers X-rays | 14 999 999 895 ABB |
- 97 (1 903 AC) | Wright brothers fly first motorized airplane | 14 999 999 903 ABB |
- 96 (1 904 AC) | First geothermal power plant by Prince Piero Ginori | 14 999 999 905 ABB |
- 95 (1 905 AC) | Albert Einstein announces the theory of Relativity | 14 999 999 905 ABB |
- 90 (1 910 AC) | Birth of public radio broadcasting credited to Lee de Forest | 14 999 999 910 ABB |
- 89 (1 911 AC) | Ernest Rutherford discovers structure of atom | 14 999 999 911 ABB |
Beginning of the Universe 🌌
- 55 (1 945 AC) | Master of nuclear fission / Birth of the United Nations (UN) / First electronic computer | 14 999 999 945 ABB |
---|---|---|
- 52 (1 947 AC) | Universal Declaration of Human Rights | 14 999 999 948 ABB |
- 50 (1 950 AC) | Invention of the first oral contraceptive pill | 14 999 999 953 ABB |
- 47 (1 953 AC) | Watson, Crick & Franklin discover DNA's structure | 14 999 999 953 ABB |
- 43 (1 957 AC) | Russia launches first satellite, Sputnik I / Publication of the « Synthesis of Elements in Stars » paper by B²FH | 14 999 999 957 ABB |
-31 (1 969 AC) | Armstrong & Aldrin walk on the Moon / Internet (ARPA) goes online | 14 999 999 969 ABB |
- 26 (1 974 AC) | Stephen Hawking publishes The theory of radiations (Hawking Radiation) | 14 999 999 974 ABB |
- 25 (1 975 AC) | Invention of the micro-processor | 14 999 999 975 ABB |
- 24 (1 976 AC) | Release of VHS recording cassette | 14 999 999 976 ABB |
- 23 (1 977 AC) | NASA launches Voyager 1 | 14 999 999 977 ABB |
- 22 (1 978 AC) | Louise Brown is the first baby born from an In Vitro fertilization | 14 999 999 978 ABB |
- 20 (1 980 AC) | First first gigabyte hard drive by IBM (same size than a fridge) | 14 999 999 980 ABB |
- 18 (1 982 AC) | Release of the first Compact Disc (CD) by a co-developped by Philipps & Sony (for music and audiobook) | 14 999 999 982 ABB |
- 10 (1 990 AC) | Public announcement of the World Wide Web | 14 999 999 990 ABB |
-3 (1 997 AC) | Release of the first digital versatile disc (DVD) by Sony | 14 999 999 993 ABB |
0 (2 000 AC) | Beginning of the 21st Century of the Gregorian Calendar | 15 000 000 000 ABB |
1 (2Â 001 AC) | The map of the human genome is complete | 15 000 000 007 ABB |
7 (2 007 AC) | First smartphone (iPhone by Apple) | 15 000 000 007 ABB |
12 (2 012 AC) | Voyager 1 becomes the 1st spacecraft to cross the Heliopause and enter the Interstellar medium / Higgs boson discovery in CERN | 15 000 000 012 ABB |
15 (2 015 AC) | First gravitational wave detected | 15 000 000 012 ABB |
19 (2 019 AC) | First picture of a black hole / Declaration of the 7th mass extinction (Anthropocene) | 15 000 000 019 ABB |
Other interesting perspectives on global chronology
1) Timelapse of the Entire Universe
In this 10 mins video realized by the YouTube Channel “MelodySheep”, discover a journey of all what we know of the universe’s history in a mindblowing timelaspe where each second represent 23 million years, and where we, humans, appear in the last second.
2) Timelapse of Earth History
In this one hour animated movie made by the collective and YouTube channel “Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell”, you will have a contemplative overview of earth history, where every second shows about a million years of the planet’s evolution. This musical train ride is a great way to experience how long a billion years really is.
3) The clock of Earth History
In this infographic representation, discover Earth’s history with time-spans of the eons to scale . Through it, have an overview of Earth’s 4,5 Ga history on a clock (“Ma” = a million years (Megayear) ago; “Ga” = a billion years (Gigayear) ago)
4) The Human Odyssey Map
In this interactive map created by the California Academy of Science, historic population and cropland data illustrate the relationship between the spread of human civilization and agriculture on Earth between 200,000 BCE to nowadays.
5) Continental Drift in a nutshell
This other interactive map allows you to see how far your hometowns have moved over 750 million years of continental drift.
The online map, designed by Ian Webster, features a range of tools that also make it easy to discover more about the Earth, such as where the first reptiles lived or when the first flower bloomed.
Any suggestions to add? Edits to proposed? Here you can!
This chronology is evolutive and collaborative, we are open to add new relevant events and update the already published one.
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