The archive, read across nations

Themes

10 tags, 4,471 events, 184 nations — the same record turned ninety degrees.

Every event in the archive carries one thematic tag. Inside a nation’s chronicle that tag does one small thing — it tints a single point on the timeline. Gathered across every nation at once, the same tags become collections: each page below holds every event the corpus records under that heading, in order, with the sources it was verified against and a link back to the chronicle it came from.

Nothing here is rewritten or re-interpreted for the collection. An event reads the same on its theme page as it does on its nation’s own.

10 collections · 4,471 sourced events · 184 nations · 3,368 references · 3,600,000 BCE – 2026

Or read it period by periodBrowse the atlas by nation

The collections

  1. 011,610 events · 184 nations

    Politics & Power

    3100 BCE – 2026

    Earliest
    c. 3100 BCEMemphis founded as royal capitalEgypt
    Most recent
    to 2026Ongoing cross-strait disputeTaiwan

    Read all 1,610 →

  2. 02852 events · 179 nations

    War & Rupture

    1274 BCE – 2025

    Earliest
    c. 1274 BCEBattle of KadeshEgypt
    Most recent
    2025M23 retakes GomaDR Congo

    Read all 852 →

  3. 03343 events · 137 nations

    Colonisation

    518 BCE – 1975

    Earliest
    c. 518 BCEAchaemenid Persia annexes the Indus landsPakistan
    Most recent
    1975Decolonisation of the African empirePortugal

    Read all 343 →

  4. 04322 events · 162 nations

    Formation

    100,000 BCE – 2012

    Earliest
    Deep prehistoryThe Cradle of HumankindSouth Africa
    Most recent
    August 2012Federal Government of Somalia establishedSomalia

    Read all 322 →

  5. 05291 events · 132 nations

    Economy & Trade

    5000 BCE – 2026

    Earliest
    c. 7,000–10,000 years agoIndependent invention of agriculture at KukPapua New Guinea
    Most recent
    presentContested status and an oil prospectFalkland Islands

    Read all 291 →

  6. 06282 events · 174 nations

    Independence

    938 – 2021

    Earliest
    938 CEBattle of Bach Dang and independenceVietnam
    Most recent
    12 December 2021Third referendum and Kanak boycottNew Caledonia

    Read all 282 →

  7. 07255 events · 125 nations

    Culture & Ideas

    1,800,000 BCE – 2022

    Earliest
    c. 1.8 million years agoHomo habilis and Oldowan tools at OlduvaiTanzania
    Most recent
    20 November - 18 December 2022Qatar hosts the FIFA World CupQatar

    Read all 255 →

  8. 08205 events · 112 nations

    Religion

    3000 BCE – 2014

    Earliest
    c. 3300–2500 BCEThe Hal Saflieni HypogeumMalta
    Most recent
    2014Sharia penal code phased inBrunei

    Read all 205 →

  9. 09198 events · 107 nations

    Peoples & Migration

    3,600,000 BCE – 2023

    Earliest
    c. 3.6 million years agoHominins leave footprints at LaetoliTanzania
    Most recent
    September 2023Azerbaijani offensive and the Karabakh exodusArmenia

    Read all 198 →

  10. 10113 events · 83 nations

    Catastrophe

    2500 BCE – 2025

    Earliest
    c. 2500 BCEThe temple builders disappearMalta
    Most recent
    16 September 2025UN Commission of Inquiry finds genocidePalestine

    Read all 113 →