Interactive
The Timeline
832 dated events from 353 case files, from deep time to plans for 2080. Every date comes from its case file. Approximate dates are marked, and planned or projected events are drawn with a dashed outline.
- Happened
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Events are in date order, but the spacing isn't to scale: each era gets room for its events. Scroll sideways, or use the arrow keys when the timeline is focused.
Millions of years agoApproximate
Evaporation of a shallower Gulf of Mexico leaves the thick salt layers that feed today's brine pools
Nature · Dark Facts
About 5 million years agoApproximate
A Pliocene marine incursion likely leaves the seawater that becomes Blood Falls' brine
DD-725 The Glacier That Bleeds
Nature · Locations
about 32,000 years agoApproximate
The most recent Red Sea incursion adds to the Danakil salts
Nature · Locations
around 19 BCEApproximate
Herod the Great begins enlarging the Temple Mount platform, with its western retaining wall
Locations · History
70 CEApproximate
Roman forces destroy the Second Temple; the retaining walls largely survive
Locations · History
70 CEApproximate
Roman forces capture Jerusalem and destroy the Second Temple
History · Locations
71 CEApproximate
Vespasian and Titus hold their triumph in Rome
History · Locations
81-82 CEApproximate
Titus dies; Domitian builds the arch for the deified Titus
History · Locations
Leonardo da Vinci moves to France as François I's first painter, architect and engineer
DD-688 da Vinci's Double Helix
History · Locations
Marcello Malpighi uses a microscope on a frog's lung and describes capillaries
Science · Tech
1820sApproximate
Giuseppe Valadier restores the arch, filling missing parts with travertine
History · Locations
Rudolph Wagner watches white blood cells roll along vessel walls in a frog's foot
Science · Tech
The oldest known gyotaku, a crucian carp caught by Lord Sakai Tadaaki, is dated to this year
History · People
An 1855 US patent covers an early version of the tube-squeezing pump
Tech · Science
The Saucona Iron Company, Bethlehem Steel's earliest predecessor, is formed
History · Locations
The H. L. Hunley becomes the first submarine to sink an enemy warship
Military · Tech · Science
Friedrich Ahlborn publishes his study of the Zanonia seed's stability
Nature · Science
Igo Etrich and Franz Wels fly a tailless glider modeled on the seed
Nature · Science
Bethlehem's Grey mill rolls the nation's first wide-flange structural beams
History · Locations
First flight of the Etrich Taube, whose wing is based on the seed
Nature · Science
C.T.R. Wilson builds the first cloud chamber at Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory
Science · History
Griffith Taylor discovers Blood Falls, and its color is first blamed on red algae
DD-725 The Glacier That Bleeds
Nature · Locations
B'nai B'rith founds the Anti-Defamation League in Chicago, led by Sigmund Livingston
History · People
World War I begins, with Bethlehem able to make 1.1 million tons of steel a year
History · Locations
Böttcherstraße 4 in Bremen is rebuilt for Ludwig Roselius
Locations · History
First successful air-to-air refueling, over San Diego
Military · Tech · History
Three southern Illinois coal men conceive a CO₂ blasting cartridge (1924 or 1925)
Tech · Science
The Safety Mining Company takes over the patents under the trade name Cardox
Tech · Science
Wilson shares the Nobel Prize in Physics for the cloud chamber
Science · History
Arne Ölander first sees the shape-memory effect in a gold–cadmium alloy
Science · Tech
Walter Baade and Fritz Zwicky propose that supernovae leave behind neutron stars
Space · Science
30 Meissen porcelain bells are added to Bremen's Haus des Glockenspiels
Locations · History
Jack Northrop founds Northrop Aircraft in Hawthorne, California
Military · Tech · Space
He becomes shah after his father abdicates under British-Soviet occupation
People · History
The German navy begins building the bunker at Bremen-Farge
History · Military · Locations
The Battle of Stalingrad ends in February with a Soviet victory
Locations · History
1940sApproximate
The Tbilisi hilltop is set aside for a 100-meter Stalin monument that's never built
DD-028 The Chronicles of Georgia
Locations · History
RAF 617 Squadron's Grand Slam bombs break through part of the roof
History · Military · Locations
B-50A Lucky Lady II flies nonstop around the world using in-flight refueling
Military · Tech · History
Grable test: the M65 Atomic Cannon fires the only nuclear artillery shell in history
Military · History
He briefly flees, then returns after a coup ousts Prime Minister Mosaddegh
People · History
Harbin's first government ice-lantern show opens in Zhaolin Park
Locations · People
Ace Books' Metropolis paperback dates the story to 'The World of 2026 A.D.'
History · Tech · Media
1960s or 1970sApproximate
The lake's water forest is planted
Sources disagree: the 1960s (for flood control) or the 1970s.
Locations · Nature
1960sApproximate
Josef Kaiser invents the grass ski in Germany (sources give 1960 to 1966)
History · Locations
Eames-designed Galton boards appear at the IBM Pavilion at the New York World's Fair
Science
Apollo 15's David Scott and James Irwin make the first drive on the Moon in the LRV
Space · History
Cannikin is detonated 5,875 feet beneath Amchitka Island, Alaska
Military · History
Intel releases the 4004, the first commercial microprocessor, with 2,300 transistors
Tech
The protest group becomes the Greenpeace Foundation, and U.S. tests at Amchitka end
Military · History
The original sword is replaced with a slotted steel blade
Locations · History
Bardeen and Petterson predict that a thin disk's inner part aligns with the black hole's spin
Space · Science
Julius Erving wins the first dunk contest with a free-throw-line dunk
People · History
The first European Championships; Germany's ski association adds a grass-skiing section
History · Locations
Duga-1 begins operating in July, and the Woodpecker signal appears worldwide
Military · History · Tech
Ken Carter begins his St. Lawrence 'Super Jump' rocket-car project
People · Cars · History
Oracle Version 2, the first commercial SQL relational database, is released
People · Tech
The first World Championships are held at Bryce Resort, Virginia
History · Locations
With Carter away, Kenny Powers makes the jump; the car travels about 506 ft and lands short
People · Cars · History
Approximate
Fully automatic tables that shuffle and build the walls arrive in Japan
Tech
The Alvarez team proposes that an asteroid impact ended the Cretaceous
Science · Space · History
Ford shows the Probe IV concept car, built with Ghia, with a drag coefficient of about 0.15
Tech · Cars
The memorial sculpture 'Vernichtung durch Arbeit' is erected
History · Military · Locations
UNESCO inscribes the Ellora Caves, including the Kailasa temple, as a World Heritage Site
Locations · History
Matsushita airs the National Neo Hi-Top 'Because the Building Is There' ad
Tech · History · Media
ABC's Wide World of Sports stages its last World Record High Dive at SeaWorld San Diego
People · History
Ken Carter is killed during a rocket-car jump in Peterborough, Ontario
People · Cars · History
1980sApproximate
Toshio Fukuda's CEBOT (cellular robot) applies one connector to a whole robot, in the late 1980s
Tech · Space
The U.S. National Fishing Enhancement Act calls for a national artificial reef plan
Nature · Tech
STS-51A crew uses MMUs to capture two stranded satellites, the MMU's last flight
Space · History
The FIS takes over grass skiing; the International Grass Ski Federation dissolves
History · Locations
Randy Dickison dives from 172 ft in Hong Kong but breaks his femur
People · History
Katakai successfully launches its first 4-shaku shell, recognized by Guinness
Tech · Locations
UCLA's Nancy Kedersha and Leonard Rome discover vaults in rat-liver cells
Science · Nature
The B-1B reaches initial operating capability on nuclear alert
Military · History
Michael Jordan's free-throw-line dunk wins the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in Chicago
People · History
Buran's only spaceflight: two orbits and an automatic landing
Space · History · Locations
After Khomeini's death, the Assembly of Experts chooses Khamenei as leader
People · History
Berlin surgeons bridge an 8-year-old to heart transplant with the EXCOR
Science · Tech
The number of oil fires peaks as the ground war begins
History · Military · Dark Facts
Mount Pinatubo's climactic eruption sends an ash column more than 35 km high
Nature · Science
Hildebrand and colleagues identify Chicxulub as the impact crater
Science · Space · History
Hong Kong passes the Bedspace Apartments Ordinance
People · Dark Facts · Locations
Miguel Alcubierre publishes the warp-drive metric in Classical and Quantum Gravity
Space · Science
1990sApproximate
Mark Yim, Gregory Chirikjian and Satoshi Murata build chain and lattice modular robots, in the early 1990s
Tech · Space
Russia and Kazakhstan sign the Baikonur lease ($115 million a year)
Space · History · Locations
Northrop acquires Grumman and becomes Northrop Grumman
Military · Tech · Space
Orbiter 1.02 and the OK-MT mockup are moved into the MZK
Space · History · Locations
Berdzenishvili and Gabunia win the State Prize of Georgia for the memorial
History · Locations
Sahai and Nyman measure the Boomerang Nebula with the SEST radio telescope in Chile
Space
Boeing buys Rockwell's defense business and takes over the program
Military · History
Chalermchai Kositpipat begins rebuilding Wat Rong Khun at his own expense
Locations · People
Pfenning and Ford estimate a 100-meter warp bubble needs more negative energy than the visible universe holds
Space · Science
The annual Didgoroba commemoration begins at the monument
History · Locations
Rosie the great white is caught in tuna nets off South Australia (some sources say 1998)
Nature · Locations
The festival merges with Heilongjiang's International Ski Festival
Locations · People
The MIK 112 roof collapses, destroying the flown Buran and killing eight workers
Space · History · Locations
Construction stops, with the monument never fully finished
DD-028 The Chronicles of Georgia
Locations · History
British Airways flies the last commercial Concorde service
Tech · History
The Delmarva bird flu outbreak exposes problems with existing culling methods
Dark Facts · Science
The EU stops allowing atrazine, largely because of groundwater limits
Nature · Science
Hurricane Wilma's eye shrinks to about 2 nautical miles across
Nature · Science
USDA and the AVMA conditionally approve water-based foam for floor-reared poultry
Dark Facts · Science
PSR J1748-2446ad, spinning 716 times a second, is reported as the fastest known pulsar
Space · Science
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate suspends cypermethrin sheep dips over water pollution
Tech · Nature
Approximate
The Tree of Prosperity show debuts at Wynn Macau, by its show integrator's date
Locations · Tech
Alan Weisman's The World Without Us lays out how a city empty of people would go green
Nature · Locations
Daniel White publishes a spherical-coordinate formula on Fractal Forums
Science · Tech
The first commercial floating PV system is installed on a winery pond in Napa Valley, California
Tech · Nature
Lost Metropolis footage is found at the Museo del Cine, Buenos Aires
History · Tech · Media
Eyjafjallajökull's ash, drifting over Europe in April and May, leads to more than 100,000 cancelled flights
Nature · Science
Conversion to conventional-only is completed under New START
Military · History
MIT's femto-photography films light at an effective rate of about a trillion frames per second
Tech · Science
The FDA approves the EXCOR Pediatric under a Humanitarian Device Exemption
Science · Tech
The last main generator is completed, bringing capacity to 22,500 MW
Locations · Tech
Baumgartner jumps from 38,969.4 m, from a balloon capsule launched at Roswell, New Mexico
People · History
IBM researchers at Almaden make the film's 242 frames
Science · Tech · Media
Stewart revives and describes additional Arapaima species, such as A. leptosoma
Nature
NASA's Curiosity rover photographs Earth and the Moon in the Martian evening sky
Space · Science
In a test, the EKV tells its target apart from countermeasures
DD-011 EKV: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle
Military · Tech
2010sApproximate
Guizhou starts covering barren hills with solar panels
Tech · Locations
Artist Mark Rademaker and NASA physicist Harold White present the IXS Enterprise concept art
Space · Science
First shipboard no-load EMALS shots on USS Ford push the empty shuttle past 180 knots
Military · Tech
Studies find 20 tree species regenerating in Pripyat and abundant wildlife around Chernobyl
Nature · Locations
Laso Schaller leaps from a 193 ft cliff, counted as a jump, not a dive
People · History
Valve adds the Kazotsky Kick taunt to Team Fortress 2 in the Gun Mettle Update
Media · History
The Denkort Bunker Valentin memorial officially opens
History · Military · Locations
Beijing's Shougang soil cleanup builds what researchers called China's first negative-pressure membrane yard
Tech · Locations
Saudi Arabia announces tougher drifting penalties, up to SR60,000 and confiscation
Cars · Locations
IODP-ICDP Expedition 364 drills Chicxulub's peak ring
Science · Space · History
Nielsen and colleagues use eye-lens radiocarbon to estimate Greenland shark ages
Nature · Science
Anduril Industries is incorporated by Palmer Luckey and four co-founders
Military · Tech
Transistor features reach around 10 nanometers, a thousandfold shrink since the early 1970s
Tech
A radar survey traces a brine pathway more than 300 feet long inside Taylor Glacier
DD-725 The Glacier That Bleeds
Nature · Locations
An F/A-18 Super Hornet makes the first fighter launch from the ship
Military · Tech
It becomes the first professional sports stadium certified LEED Platinum
Locations · Tech
Caltech's T-CUP reaches 10 trillion frames per second in a single shot
Tech · Science
After African swine fever spreads, China bans feeding food waste to pigs
Tech · Nature
Europa Nostra lists it among Europe's seven most endangered heritage sites
Locations · History
Jongerius ecoduna's 1-hectare algae plant opens in Bruck an der Leitha
Science · Tech
The retractable roof is demonstrated, opening in 8 minutes 10 seconds
Locations · Tech
The Pentagon cancels the Redesigned Kill Vehicle meant to replace the EKV
DD-011 EKV: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle
Military · Tech
Nepal begins government-funded clean-up campaigns on Everest
Dark Facts · Locations · Nature
The U.S. ban on methylene chloride in consumer paint and coating removers takes effect
Science · Tech
Patsyk, Sivan, Segev and Bandres report the first observation of branched flow with light, in Nature
Science
MD-160 is towed from Kaspiysk to Derbent, Dagestan, for display
Military · Tech · History
Census: the median subdivided unit is 11 m², about 6 m² per person
People · Dark Facts · Locations
Researchers revive an Adineta rotifer from 24,000-year-old Siberian permafrost
Nature · Science
Workers file a federal lawsuit alleging forced labor; BAPS says the artisans were volunteers
Locations · History
The James Webb Space Telescope launches with Northrop Grumman's sunshield
Military · Tech · Space
Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai's plume reaches about 57 km, into the mesosphere
Nature · Science
State of exception declared after at least 92 killings
Locations · History
The design puts a city strip between two mirrored walls 500 meters tall and 170 km long
Locations · Tech
A SoCO survey finds subdivided flats rent for a median HK$50 per sq ft
People · Dark Facts · Locations
UT Austin chemists publish light-patterned hard-and-soft polymers in Science
Tech · Science
A van falls from the bridge and five people die; the scenic area closes
Locations · Tech
A leaked draft board presentation puts full completion at $8.8 trillion by 2080
Locations · Tech
An analysis finds the red comes from iron-rich nanospheres, not crystalline rust
DD-725 The Glacier That Bleeds
Nature · Locations
Bellwether announces a propulsion partnership with Schubeler for its Oryx prototype
Tech
The FDA approves Casgevy and Lyfgenia, the first cell-based gene therapies for sickle cell disease
Science · Nature
GITAI and KDDI announce robots attaching an antenna to a 5-meter test tower
Tech · Space
A 54-day clean-up ends after recovering four bodies and a skeleton
Dark Facts · Locations · Nature
Lockheed Martin is chosen to build the Next Generation Interceptor
DD-011 EKV: Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle
Military · Tech
Nepal sets aside about Rs5 million ($37,400) for each body recovered
Dark Facts · Locations · Nature
Vasuki indicus is described as a possible rival to Titanoboa in size
Nature · History
The electoral council declares Maduro the winner of a disputed presidential election
People · History
The government announces GOV.UK Wallet, starting with the Veteran Card
Tech · People
Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator breaks the sound barrier
Tech · History
Fortune reports about $1.88 billion in Karp stock sales since the start of 2024
People · Tech
Disney Research's Blue joins Jensen Huang onstage at the GTC 2025 keynote, where NVIDIA announces Newton
Tech
Iranian state media shows a large underground missile facility
Military · Locations
Indian pilgrimages to Kailash resume after a pause of about five years
Nature · Locations
Israel-Iran war; analysts report strikes on missile bases
Military · Locations
China launches 20 city pilot programs to turn food waste into animal feed
Tech · Nature
Baumgartner dies in a motorized paragliding crash at Porto Sant'Elpidio, Italy
People · History
The US Coast Guard releases its Marine Board of Investigation report
Science · Dark Facts
SAWES's S1500 aerostat flies at 1,500 m in Hami, Xinjiang
Tech · Science
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces a national digital ID, to be mandatory for right-to-work checks
Tech · People
FBI Director Kash Patel announces the FBI is ending its partnership with the ADL; the ADL issues a statement
History · People
Iran's passive-defense chief says underground sites are largely intact
Military · Locations
The S2000 rises to 2,000 m and feeds 385 kWh into the grid
Tech · Science
The government drops the plan to require the digital ID itself for right-to-work checks
Tech · People
DSNY starts eight snow melters, its first use of them since 2021
Tech · Locations
The Basic Housing Units Ordinance sets minimum standards for subdivided flats
People · Dark Facts · Locations
A B-52H radar test aircraft crashes on takeoff at Edwards AFB, killing all eight crew
Military · History
Israel's defense ministry and Rafael complete Iron Dome upgrade tests, including joint use with Iron Beam
Military · Tech
The AVMA's depopulation guidelines rank water-based foam as Tier 2, below whole-house gassing
Dark Facts · Science
IBM joins two cryogenic modules into one ultra-cold environment
Science · Tech
Crowdsourced maps count over 137,000 U.S. license-plate cameras, more than 80% of them Flock's
Tech · Cars
Israel receives the first Tamir interceptors fully produced in the US (East Camden, Arkansas)
Military · Tech
Planned
Revised ball distance testing at a 125 mph clubhead speed takes effect
Science · Tech
Planned
Final (fourth) phase in state incentive filings, about $119.4 billion in all
Tech
PlannedApproximate
Expected completion of the nine-building plan
Locations · People
Planned
Full-completion date in the leaked 2023 draft, before the project was put on hold
Locations · Tech