Humans excel in many areas, but grasping the concept of time in perspective proves to be a challenging task. The vastness of time in human history, and especially in natural history, far surpasses the length of our lives and recent history, making it incredibly difficult to comprehend. Putting it into context, if we consider the Earth’s formation as the stroke of midnight and the present moment as the next midnight, 24 hours later, modern humans have only existed since 11:59:59 PM — merely one second. Extending this analogy to human history, if we imagine it as a 24-hour span from one midnight to the next, then the time since Christ would amount to just 14 minutes.
To aid in gaining a better perspective, a series of expanding timelines have been created to represent the history of time. Each timeline encompasses all the previous ones, with colors assisting in distinguishing between them. The length of each timeline accurately reflects the time it represents.
Regarding dates, the furthest in the past, many dates remain a topic of ongoing debate. To streamline these timelines, widely accepted dates have been utilized without indicating every ancient date with a ~ sign or asterisk signifying ongoing debate.
For educators, parents, and individuals averse to profanity: here is a sanitized, Rated G version.
Posters
You can acquire the poster of this graphic here. It is available in both standard poster size and a long, vertical format. Also, a more aesthetically pleasing and less provocative version is offered.
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If you enjoyed this, these are also recommended:
The AI Revolution: The Road to Superintelligence – A detailed and somewhat unsettling examination of the future
SpaceX’s Big Rocket: The Full Story – An article collaborated on with Elon Musk, indicating the potential for humans to reach Mars by 2025.
The Fermi Paradox – Exploring the absence of evidence for alien life despite expectations
Additionally, two other large graphics created over an extensive period:
Horizontal History – Providing a perspective on human history
The Death Toll Comparison Chart – Illustrating significant mortality figures
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