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HUMAN HISTORY—
Explore the civilizations, people, events, and ideas that connect human history, from roughly 300,000 BC to today. Inspired by John B. Sparks' 1931 Histomap, this map invites you to follow a story or find your own path.
Not sure where to begin? Choose a theme and follow a journey through connected moments, with short explanations at every stop. Explore at your own pace.
Move through time. Drag or scroll the map, choose an era, or use the timeline at the left. Time flows from top to bottom; regions run from the Americas on the left to East Asia on the right.
Zoom to discover more. Use Ctrl+scroll on a computer, pinch on a phone, or tap the + and − buttons. More names and details appear as you zoom in. On phones, drag sideways to explore neighbouring regions.
Follow a connection. Select a person, event, idea, or civilization to read its story. Your selection and its connections stay visible as you zoom out. Use search to find a subject (/ on a keyboard), and the sun or moon button to switch between light and dark themes.
Story panels put videos and Wikipedia links near the top. The all-ages edition also includes individually selected books with recommendation sources and Amazon links. Subjects without a selected video include a clearly labelled YouTube search to help you explore further. Book selections are independent of Amazon rankings.
Ribbons are illustrative. Their widths are design choices, not measurements of power, population, or territory. Some ribbons group several states or dynasties. The scale compresses deep prehistory and expands later periods; empty space reflects this selective collection, not an absence of history.
Dates may be approximate, traditional, or selected milestones. Era labels and regional groups are navigation aids. Connections suggest related reading, comparisons, or influence; a line alone does not establish direct contact or causation.
Summaries and tour notes are project editorial text, revised with AI assistance and checked against linked Wikipedia articles. Live Wikipedia extracts are labelled separately and may change after review. Images also load from Wikipedia; book covers, when available, come from Open Library. Use Feedback to suggest a historical correction or report a problem.
World population readouts interpolate between selected published estimates and are especially uncertain in early periods. No estimate is shown before 10,000 BC. Population sources ↗
Open the person icon for your explored moments and settings. Guests save progress in this browser. Optional accounts, when available, sync explored moments across devices. No account is needed to use the map.
Map edition
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