Timeline

Display of a list of events in chronological order

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File:A New Chart of History color.jpg

Joseph Priestley's A New Chart of History, 1765.

File:ChronoZoom Timeline Project.jpg

ChronoZoom is an example of interactive, zoomable timeline software.

File:Tidslinje 1.JPG

The bronze timeline "Fifteen meters of History" with background information board, Örebro, Sweden.

A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order.[1] It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.

Timelines can use any suitable scale representing time, suiting the subject and data; many use a linear scale, in which a unit of distance is equal to a set amount of time. This timescale is dependent on the events in the timeline. A timeline of evolution can be over millions of years, whereas a timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks can take place over minutes, and that of an explosion over milliseconds.[2] While many timelines use a linear timescale—especially where very large or small timespans are relevant -- logarithmic timelines entail a logarithmic scale of time; some "hurry up and wait" chronologies are depicted with zoom lens metaphors.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 2 Types
* 3 Uses
* 3.1 In historical studies
* 3.2 In natural sciences
* 3.3 In project management
* 4 Software
* 5 See also
* 6 References
* 7 External links
* 7.1 Open Source Software - Freeware
* 7.2 Educational Timelines

## History[edit | edit source]

Time and space, particularly the line, are intertwined concepts in human thought. The line is ubiquitous in clocks in the form of a circle, time is spoken of in terms of length, intervals, a before and an after.[3] The idea of orderly, segmented time is also represented in almanacs, calendars, charts, graphs, genealogical and evolutionary trees, where the line is central.[4]

Originally, chronological events were arranged in a mostly textual form. This took form in annals, like king lists. Alongside them, the table was used like in the Greek tables of Olympiads and Roman lists of consuls and triumphs.[5] Annals had little narrative and noted what happened to people, making no distinction between natural and human actions.[6]

In Europe, from the 4th century, the dominant chronological notation was the table. This can be partially credited to Eusebius who laid out the relations between Jewish, pagan, and Christian histories in parallel columns, culminating in the Roman Empire, according to the Christian view when Christ was born to spread salvation as far as possible. His work was widely copied and was among the first printed books. This served the idea of Christian world history and providential time. The table is easy to produce, append, and read with indices, so it also fit the Renaissance scholars' absorption of a wide variety of sources with its focus on commonalities. These uses made the table with years in one column and places of events(kingdoms) on the top the dominant visual structure of time.[7]

By the seventeenth century, historians had started to claim that chronology and geography were the two sources of precise information which bring order to the chaos of history. In geography, Renaissance mapmakers updated Ptolemy's maps and the map became a symbol of the power of monarchs, and knowledge. Likewise, the idea that a singular chronology of world history from contemporary sources is possible affected historians. The want for precision in chronology gave rise to adding historical eclipses to tables, like in the case of Gerardus Mercator. Various graphical experiments emerged, from fitting the whole of history on a calendar year to series of historical drawings, in the hopes of making a metaphorical map of time.[8] Developments in printing and engraving that made practical larger and more detailed book illustrations allowed these changes, but in the seventeenth century, the table with some modifications continued to dominate.[9]

The modern timeline emerged in Joseph Priestley's A Chart of Biography, published in 1765.[10] It presented dates simply and provided an analogue for the concept of historical progress that was becoming popular in the 18th century. However, as Priestley recognized, history is not totally linear. The table has the advantage in that it can present many of these intersections and branching paths. For Priestley, its main use was a "mechanical help to the knowledge of history", not as an image of history. Regardless, the timeline had become very popular during the eighteenth and 19th century. Positivism emerged in the 19th century and the development of chronophotography and tree ring analysis made visible time taking place at various speeds. This encouraged people to think that events might be truly objectively recorded.[11]

However, in some cases, filling in a timeline with more data only pushed it towards impracticality. Jacques Barbeu-Duborg's 1753 Chronologie Universelle was mounted on a 54 feet long scroll. Charles Joseph Minard's 1869 thematic map of causalities of the French army in its Russian campaign put much less focus on the one-directional line. Charles Renouvier's 1876 Uchronie, a branching map of the history of Europe, depicted both the actual course of history and counterfactual paths. At the end of the 19th century, Henri Bergson declared the metaphor of the timeline to be deceiving in Time and Free Will.[12] The question of big history and deep time engendered estranging forms of the timeline, like in Olaf Stapledon's 1930 work Last and First Men where timelines are drawn on scales from the historical to the cosmological. Similar techniques are used by the Long Now Foundation, and visual artists have presented the difficulties of chronological representation, like Francis Picabia, On Kawara, J. J. Grandville, and Saul Steinberg.[13]

## Types[edit | edit source]

There are different types of timelines:

* Text timelines, labeled as text
* Number timelines, the labels are numbers, commonly line graphs
* Interactive, clickable, zoomable
* Video timelines

There are many methods to visualize timelines. Historically, timelines were static images and were generally drawn or printed on paper. Timelines relied heavily on graphic design, and the ability of the artist to visualize the data.

## Uses[edit | edit source]

Main article: List of timelines

Timelines are often used in education[14] to help students and researchers with understanding the order or chronology of historical events and trends for a subject. To show time on a specific scale on an axis, a timeline can visualize time lapses between events, durations (such as lifetimes or wars), and the simultaneity or the overlap of spans and events.

### In historical studies[edit | edit source]

Timelines are particularly useful for studying history, as they convey a sense of change over time. Wars and social movements are often shown as timelines. Timelines are also useful for biographies. Examples include:

* Timeline of the civil rights movement
* Timeline of European exploration
* Timeline of imperialism
* Timeline of Solar System exploration
* Timeline of United States history
* Timeline of World War I
* Timeline of religion

### In natural sciences[edit | edit source]

Timelines are also used in the natural world and sciences, such as in astronomy, biology, and geology:

* 2009 flu pandemic timeline
* Chronology of the universe
* Geologic time scale
* Timeline of evolutionary history of life

### In project management[edit | edit source]

Another type of timeline is used for project management. Timelines help team members know what milestones need to be achieved and under what time schedule. An example is establishing a project timeline in the implementation phase of the life cycle of a computer system.

## Software[edit | edit source]

Timelines, no longer constrained by previous space and functional limitations, are now digital and interactive, generally created with computer software. Microsoft Encarta encyclopedia provided one of the earliest multimedia timelines intended for students and the general public. Hyperhistory[15] and ChronoZoom are other examples of interactive timeline software.

## See also[edit | edit source]

* Chronology
* ChronoZoom – an open source project for visualizing the timeline of Big History
* Detailed logarithmic timeline
* List of timelines
* Living graph
* Logarithmic timeline
* Many-worlds interpretation
* Sequence of events
* Synchronoptic view
* Timecode
* Timestream
* Timelines of world history

## References[edit | edit source]

1. ^ Grafton, Anthony; Rosenberg, Daniel (2010), Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline, Princeton Architectural Press, p. 272, ISBN 978-1-56898-763-7
2. ^ plarson (September 1, 2016). "Anomaly Updates". SpaceX. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
3. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 13.
4. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 14.
5. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 10–11, 15.
6. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 12.
7. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 15–16.
8. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 17–18.
9. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 19.
10. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 19–20.
11. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 20–21.
12. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. pp. 22–23.
13. ^ Rosenberg, Daniel; Grafton, Anthony. Cartographies of Time. New York City: Princeton Architectural Press. p. 23.
14. ^ DeCoito, Isha; Vacca, Stefano (October 30, 2020). "The Case for Digital Timelines in Teaching and Teacher Education". International Journal of e-Learning & Distance Education / Revue internationale du e-learning et la formation à distance. 35 (1). ISSN 1916-6818.
15. ^ "World History : HyperHistory". www.hyperhistory.com. Retrieved March 11, 2022.

## External links[edit | edit source]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Timeline.

### Open Source Software - Freeware[edit | edit source]

* Free Timeline Maker, free-timeline.com
* ChronoFrise
* histomania
* Timeline JS. Open-Source-Software, Northwestern University, Illinois, USA

Look up timeline in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

### Educational Timelines[edit | edit source]

* "British Library interactive timeline". bl.uk/timeline.
* "Port Royal des Champs museum timeline". port-royal-des-champs.eu/frise.

* v
* t
* e

Time

Key concepts|

* Past
* Present
* Future
* Eternity

File:Wooden hourglass 3.jpg

Measurement
and standards|

| Chronometry|

* UTC
* UT
* TAI
* Unit of time
* Orders of magnitude (time)

|

Measurement
systems|

* Italian six-hour clock
* Thai six-hour clock
* Hindu
* 12-hour clock
* 24-hour clock
* Relative hour
* Daylight saving time
* Decimal
* Hexadecimal
* Metric
* Sidereal
* Solar
* Time zone

Calendars|

* Main types
* Solar
* Lunar
* Lunisolar
* Gregorian
* Julian
* Hebrew
* Islamic
* Solar Hijri
* Chinese
* Hindu Panchang
* Maya
* List

Clocks|

* Main types
* astronomical
* astrarium
* atomic
* quantum
* hourglass
* marine
* sundial
* watch
* mechanical
* stopwatch
* water-based
* Cuckoo clock
* Digital clock
* Grandfather clock
* History
* Timeline

* Chronology
* History

* Astronomical chronology
* Big History
* Calendar era
* Deep time
* Periodization
* Regnal year
* Timeline

Philosophy of time|

* A series and B series
* B-theory of time
* Chronocentrism
* Duration
* Endurantism
* Eternal return
* Eternalism
* Event
* Perdurantism
* Presentism
* Static interpretation of time
* Temporal finitism
* Temporal parts
* The Unreality of Time

* Religion
* Mythology

* Ages of Man
* Destiny
* Immortality
* Dreamtime
* Kāla
* Time and fate deities
* Father Time
* Wheel of time
* Kalachakra

Human experience
and use of time|

* Chronemics
* Generation time
* Mental chronometry
* Music
* tempo
* time signature
* Rosy retrospection
* Tense–aspect–mood
* Time discipline
* Time management
* Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow

Time in science|

| Geology|

* Geological time
* age
* chron
* eon
* epoch
* era
* period
* Geochronology
* Geological history of Earth

|

Physics|

* Absolute space and time
* Arrow of time
* Chronon
* Coordinate time
* Proper time
* Spacetime
* Theory of relativity
* Time domain
* Time translation symmetry
* Time reversal symmetry

Other fields|

* Chronological dating
* Chronobiology
* Circadian rhythms
* Clock reaction
* Glottochronology
* Time geography

Related topics|

* Memory
* Space
* System time
* Tempus fugit
* Time capsule
* Time immemorial
* Time travel

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

Chronology

Key topics|

* Archaeology
* Astronomy
* Geology
* History
* Big History
* Paleontology
* Time

* Periods
* Eras
* Epochs

| Calendar eras|

* Human Era
* Ab urbe condita
* Anno Domini / Common Era
* Anno Mundi
* Bosporan era
* Bostran era
* Byzantine era
* Seleucid era
* Era of Caesar (Iberia)
* Before present
* Hijri
* Egyptian
* Sothic cycle
* Hindu units of time (Yuga)
* Mesoamerican
* Long Count
* Short Count
* Tzolk'in
* Haab'

|

Regnal year|

* Anka year
* Canon of Kings
* English regnal year
* Lists of kings
* Limmu

Era names|

* Chinese
* Japanese
* Korean
* Vietnamese

Calendars|

| Pre-Julian / Julian|

* Pre-Julian Roman
* Original Julian
* Proleptic Julian
* Revised Julian

|

Gregorian|

* Gregorian
* Proleptic Gregorian
* Old Style and New Style dates
* Adoption of the Gregorian calendar
* Dual dating

Astronomical|

* Lunisolar (Hebrew, Hindu)
* Solar
* Lunar (Islamic)
* Astronomical year numbering

Others|

* Chinese sexagenary cycle
* Geologic Calendar
* Iranian
* ISO week date
* Mesoamerican
* Maya
* Aztec
* Winter count
* New Earth Time

Astronomic time|

* Cosmic Calendar
* Ephemeris
* Galactic year
* Metonic cycle
* Milankovitch cycles

Geologic time|

| Concepts|

* Deep time
* Geological history of Earth
* Geological time units

|

Standards|

* Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA)
* Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)

Methods|

* Chronostratigraphy
* Geochronology
* Isotope geochemistry
* Law of superposition
* Luminescence dating
* Samarium–neodymium dating

Chronological
dating|

| Absolute dating|

* Amino acid racemisation
* Archaeomagnetic dating
* Dendrochronology
* Ice core
* Incremental dating
* Lichenometry
* Paleomagnetism
* Radiometric dating
* Lead–lead
* Potassium–argon
* Radiocarbon
* Uranium–lead
* Tephrochronology
* Luminescence dating
* Thermoluminescence dating

|

Relative dating|

* Fluorine absorption
* Nitrogen dating
* Obsidian hydration
* Seriation
* Stratigraphy

Genetic methods|

* Molecular clock

Linguistic methods|

* Glottochronology

Related topics|

* Chronicle
* New Chronology
* Synchronoptic view
* Timeline
* Year zero
* Floruit
* Terminus post quem
* ASPRO chronology

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