21 August, 2012

Historical Timelines (Yeah, it's redundant) - We Humans Be Badass

I recently overheard a cafe conversation where a woman, while talking to her mother, said, "People have literally been around for over 3,000 years!".  While I do not know the full context of their conversation, but as I was cringing, I was reminded that many people tend to think of human history only in terms of the Egyptian pyramids, the earliest of which was probably some 4,600 years ago.  It is good to remind ourselves of the hundreds of thousands of years that preceded that, for hominids, and the likely 250,000 - 200,000 years of Homo sapiens since then.

Here are some options:

A heepin' helpin' of history, including timelines for "major civilizations".  Check out its "Pre-History" section too, which goes back to our humble beginnings: http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html

Starting at 10,000 BC (that's 12,012 years ago, Folks): http://ehistory.osu.edu/world/TimeLineDisplay.cfm?Era_id=4


Contemporary yet very thorough timelines of specific people, times, and places.  Read it with a British accent: http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/

An interesting history of the Church (Christians, namely Catholics), and fascinating in that one can click on any period and expand it to more fleshed out little timelines: http://www.historytimeline.org/