| DATE | EVENT |
| 13.8 ba | Universe is born |
| 4.54 ba | Earth is formed |
| 4.53 ba | Moon orbits earth |
| 3.6 ba | Life emerges |
| 3.5 ba | Multicellular life emerges (cyanobacteria-like organisms) |
| 1.5 ba | Fungus evolved |
| 850 ma | Plant ancestors (multicellular photosynthesizing organisms) evolved on land |
| 542 ma | Beginning of current ice age |
| 535 ma | Vertebrates evolved |
| 470 ma | First terrestrial plants evolved |
| 440 ma | Ordovician-Silurian extinction event (85% of species lost) |
| 385 ma | Trees evolved |
| 360 ma |
Late Devonian extinction event (70% of species lost) Animals begin to move onto land from oceans for first time |
| 252 ma | Permian-Triassic extinction event (90-96% of species lost) |
| 201.3 ma | Triassic-Jurassic extinction event (70-75% of species lost) |
| 200 ma | Mammals evolved |
| 66 ma | Cretaceous-Paleogene extinct event (75% of species lost, dinosaur extinction) |
| 40 ma | Grass evolved |
| 20 ma | Apes |
| 4 ma | Australopithecus emerges |
| 3.4 ma | Toolmaking |
| 2.5 ma |
Homo genus emerges Stone toolmaking |
| 2 ma |
Homo Erectus emerges Homo genus migrates out of Africa |
| 600,000 ya | Moravia first settled by Homo species (current day Czech Republic) |
| 500,000 ya | Stone-tip spear developed in Africa (NOTE: spearmaking has been observed in primates and may predate human evolution) |
| 400,000 ya | Fire tamed |
| 350,000 - 500,000 ya | Homo Sapien emerges |
| 300,000 - 400,000 ya | Shell art |
| 200,000 ya |
Homo sapien migration out of Africa Earliest evidence of Neanderthal seafaring Evidence of medicinal herb usage by Neanderthals |
| 135,000 BCE | African mega droughts drive humans toward coastlines |
| 115,000 BCE | Earliest jewelry and self-ornamentation by Neanderthals (shell beads, corvid feathers) |
| 113,000 BCE | Beginning of last glacial period |
| 74,000 BCE | Lake Toba supereruption - possible 'bottlenecking' of human population to >10,000 individuals |
| 63,000 BCE | First humans in Australia |
| 50,000 BCE | "Modern" human behavior emerges (abstract thinking, planning depth, emergence of art and culture, hunting large game) |
| 40,000 - 70,000 BCE | Clothing invented |
| 38,000 BCE |
Cave paintings (oldest) Neanderthal extinction Earliest music instruments - bone flutes (Swabian Alps) |
| 30,000 BCE | Oldest cave-art depiction of humans being harmed by man-made weapon |
| 29,000 BCE | Oldest clay figuine - Czech Republic |
| 26,000 BCE | First evidence of string and rope making |
| 21,000 BCE | Theopetra cave wall - oldest known human-made structure (Greece) |
| 20,000 BCE |
Earliest pottery - china Bering strait land bridge (presumed not hospitable for human migration til ~11,500 BCE) Last glacial maximum period - lowest sea levels |
| 13,000 BCE |
Natufian culture - early sedentary people, preagriculture Oldest massacre (comitted by Natufians against Qadan culture) First evidence of humans in North America (Florida) |
| 12,700 BCE | Bølling-Allerød interstadial period - an abrupt warm period near end of last glacial period with massive deluges and sudden sea level rises in areas by 100+m |
| 12,500 BCE | First evidence of humans using tools in North America (Florida) |
| 12,000 BCE |
Canine domestication Jomon culture - sedentary Japanese settlements |
| 10,700 BCE | Wheel invented |
| 10,000 BCE |
First agriculture - levant Tell Qaramel - oldest known tower structure (Syria) |
| 9,700 BCE | Cessation of last glaciation period |
| 9,000 BCE |
Gobekli Tepei Indus Valley agriculture Animal husbandry |
| 7,500 BCE |
Cat domestication Pengtoushan culture - sedentary culture in China of rice farmers and pottery-making |
| 7000 BCE |
Possible construction of Yonaguni Monument First protowriting found in China, Serbia |
| 6500 bc | Final submergence of Doggerland (land bridge between Britain and Europe) |
| 6000 BCE | Agriculture and animal husbandry in Africa |
| 5500 BCE |
First metalworking - copper Scandinavian cultural senditism Tolheim Death pit (oldest mass grave in Europe) |
| 5000 BCE |
Mesoamerican agriculture Earliest sailing ships |
| 4900 BCE | Goseck Circle |
| 4000 BCE | Civilization born: Uruk - first city to house 10,000+ (modern day Iraq) |
| 3600 BCE |
Minoan civilization Bronze age in Europe (Yamna culture) |
| 3500 BCE |
Norte chico civilization - first in South America Minoan civilization |
| 3300 BCE |
Indus Valley civilization begins Cuneiform - first written language (Sumeria) |
| 3000 BCE |
Jain religion Scientific method first developed (Egypt) Egyption civilization Ethiopian civilization Stonehenge begun |
| 2400 BCE |
Enheduanna - first author or poet recorded by history (Sumeria) Abacus invented (Babylon) |
| 2000 BCE | Mayan civilization |
| 1900 BCE | Chinese civilization |
| 1800 BCE | Epic of Gilgamesh - considered first great epic/story |
| 1750 BCE | Hindu religion |
| 1500 BCE | Sanskrit developed in India |
| 1300 BCE |
Mesoamerican civilization Chinese written language Nan Madol - Micronesian megalithic city |
| 800 BCE |
Derinkuyu underground city (Turkey) Viking age |
| 700 BCE |
Vimana (flying buildings and vessels) described in texts in India Atoms as concept first developed; India |
| 500 BCE |
Baghdad battery Magnets discovered |
| 460 BCE | Hippocrates lays foundation for modern medicine |
| 100 BCE - 0 AD |
Steam engine concept (Hero of Alexandria, Greece) Teotihuacan - largest city in Precolonial Americas Antikythera mechanism Christian religion Antibiotic folk medicine first described Mt. Vesuvius erupts |
| 400 AD | Nazca lines |
| 536 AD |
Pumapunku - megalithic site with very percisely cut stones; Bolivia Siddharta lives; start of Buddhism |
| 700 AD |
Iron age Islamic religion founded |
| 800 AD | Gunpowder invented |
| 1000 AD | Firearms invented (China) |
| 1100 AD | Magnetic compass invented |
| 1200 AD |
Incan empire Metal firearms invented Baghdad sacked by Mongolian army |
| 1400 AD | Voynich manuscript |
| 1550 AD |
Steam engine developed (Turkey) Microscope invented |
| 1600 AD |
Planetary movements predicted by Kepler Telescope invented Electricity discovered Early calculator invented (Napier's bones) Slide rule invented |
| 1700 AD |
Gravity discovered (Newton's laws) Modern battery invented |
| 1800 AD |
First scifi book written (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley) First general purpose computer invented Theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin Vaccines developed |
| 1900 AD |
Modern antibiotics Theory of Relativity Atomic energy |