Timeline of History

Below is a time line of the main stages in the history of the Universe. This website also contains a geological time scale.

(Note that in the following, bya means “billion years ago”)

 

13.7 bya Creation of the Universe

13.6 bya First Galaxies

12 bya Milky Way Galaxy

4.65 bya Solar System

4.5 bya Earth Structure

4 bya Oldest Rocks

4 bya Origin of Life?

3.9 bya Archaea?

3.5 bya Blue Green Bacteria

2 bya Respiration

1.5 bya Eukaryotes

1 bya Air

(Note that in the following, mya means “million years ago”)

700 mya Sponges

650 mya Jellyfish

600 mya Ancestral Flatworms

550 mya

500 mya Moss

450 mya Bony fish

400 mya

Earth 400 mya

390 mya Lobe Finned Fish

380 mya Insects

350 mya Invertebrates onto Land

300 mya Invertebrates Free From Water

250 mya

200 mya Mammals

150 mya

100 mya

65 mya Meteorite

50 mya Grasses

40 mya Cow Family

3 mya Homo Erectus Recent Ice Age

(Note that in the following, kya means “thousand years ago”)

700 kya Fire

120 kya Neanderthals

100 kya People

11 kya Farmers Nomads

6 kya Cities

5 kya Kings and Peasants

3 kya Iron

2 kya Roman Empire

1.6 kya Byzantium

1500 Years ago Dark Ages

1400 Years ago Islam

1000 Years ago Middle Ages

550 Years ago Colonialism Renaissance

450 Years ago Copernicus

350 Years ago Science

250 Years ago Industrial Revolution

225 Years ago Capitalism Democracy Law

200 Years ago Industrial Growth

150 Years ago Communism

100 Years ago New Industrial Nations

75 Years ago Totalitarian Dictatorships

55 Years ago Nuclear Weapons

50 Years ago Other Technology

Today

50 Years in the future

200 Years in the future

2 Thousand Years in the future

10 Thousand Years in the future

10 million years in future

20 Million Years in the future

30 Million Years in the future

40 Million Years in the future

50 Million Years in the future

60 Million Years in the future

70 Million Years in the future

80 Million Years in the future

90 Million Years in the future

100 Million Years in the future

110 Million Years in the future

120 Million Years in the future

130 Million Years in the future

140 Million Years in the future

150 Million Years in the future

160 Million Years in the future

170 Million Years in the future

180 Million Years in the future

190 Million Years in the future

200 Million Years in the future

250 Million Years in the future

5 Billion Years in the future

10 Billion Years in the future

1000 Billion Years in the future