Earth, human origins & Black histories
Explore moments that shaped our world.
Move through selected moments in Earth’s past, human origins, African histories, and diaspora histories. Use the timeline to ask questions and make connections; it is a selection, rather than a complete account of the past.
- ↔Drag or swipe sideways
- ↕Scroll on the dates bar to move through time
- ◉Tap any card to read its story
Show rows
About the dates: the earliest dates come from fossils, tools, and DNA, so they are estimates, and scientists update them as new discoveries are made. Each period uses its own scale so that 300,000 years and the last 100 years both fit on one line. About haplogroups: a haplogroup is a big family branch of DNA passed down from mother to child (mitochondrial DNA) or from father to son (Y-DNA). Following them shows how people moved across the world over thousands of years.
BoYour timeline helper
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