Ten Events in the History of the Universe
Ten events spanning the history of the universe organized by powers of ten.
Date Range | Date | Event | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1010 | tens of billions of years ago |
13-14 billion years ago |
Universe began | |
109 | billions of years ago |
4.5 billion years ago |
Earth formed | |
108 | hundreds of millions of years ago |
500 million years ago |
First fossilized animals | |
107 | tens of millions of years ago |
65 million years ago |
Extinction of the dinosaurs | |
106 | millions of years ago |
3 million years ago |
First stone tools made | |
105 | hundreds of thousands of years ago |
300 thousand years ago |
First modern humans | |
104 | tens of thousands of years ago |
40 thousand years ago |
First figurative art | |
103 | thousands of years ago |
5 thousand years ago |
First writing | |
102 | hundreds of years ago |
1492 | Columbus: east meets west | |
101 | tens of years ago |
1969 | First people on the moon |
Memorize these ten dates as a framework for understanding deep time.