Back to home
Archive of Human Genius
The world’s largest database of good news and social change milestones from throughout human history
A Timeline of Human History
We are building the world’s largest database of social change milestones, from the first fire to today’s good news. Change is not only possible, it has happened consistently throughout human history.
Filter by era, country, topic, actor, source, and more.
Era Tomorrow (2026 C.E. - ???)
Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)
Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
Post-classical (500 - 1500 C.E.)
Civilization (3000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.)
Agriculture (10000 - 3000 B.C.E.)
Prehistory (250000 - 10000 B.C.E.)
Years All 10th Century B.C.E. 10th Century C.E. 10th Millennia B.C.E. 11th Century B.C.E. 11th Century C.E. 12th Century B.C.E. 12th Century C.E. 13th Century B.C.E. 13th Century C.E. 14th Century B.C.E. 14th Century C.E. 1500-1509 C.E. 1510s C.E. 1520s C.E. 1530s C.E. 1540s C.E. 1550s C.E. 1560s C.E. 1570s C.E. 1580s C.E. 1590s C.E. 15th Century B.C.E. 15th Century C.E. 1600-09 C.E. 1610s C.E. 1620s C.E. 1630s C.E. 1640s C.E. 1650s C.E. 1660s C.E. 1670s C.E. 1680s C.E. 1690s C.E. 16th Century B.C.E. 1700-09 C.E. 1720s C.E. 1740s C.E. 1750s C.E. 1760s C.E. 1770s C.E. 1780s C.E. 1790s C.E. 1800-09 C.E. 1810s C.E. 1820s C.E. 1830s C.E. 1840s C.E. 1850s C.E. 1860s C.E. 1870s C.E. 1880s C.E. 1890s C.E. 18th Century B.C.E. 1900-09 C.E. 1910s C.E. 1920s C.E. 1930s C.E. 1940s C.E. 1950s C.E. 1960s C.E. 1970s C.E. 1980s C.E. 1990s C.E. 19th Century B.C.E. 1st Century B.C.E. 1st Century C.E. 2000 C.E. 2001 C.E. 2002 C.E. 2003 C.E. 2004 C.E. 2006 C.E. 2007 C.E. 2008 C.E. 2009 C.E. 2011 C.E. 2012 C.E. 2013 C.E. 2014 C.E. 2015 C.E. 2016 C.E. 2017 C.E. 2018 C.E. 2019 C.E. 2020 C.E. 2021 C.E. 2022 C.E. 2023 C.E. 2024 C.E. 2025 C.E. 21st Century B.C.E. 23rd Century B.C.E. 24th Century B.C.E. 26th Century B.C.E. 27th Century B.C.E. 28th Century B.C.E. 29th Century B.C.E. 2nd Century B.C.E. 2nd Century C.E. 3rd Century B.C.E. 3rd Century C.E. 4th Century B.C.E. 4th Century C.E. 4th Millennia B.C.E. 5th Century B.C.E. 5th Century C.E. 5th Millennia B.C.E. 6th Century B.C.E. 6th Century C.E. 6th Millennia B.C.E. 7th Century B.C.E. 7th Century C.E. 7th Millennia B.C.E. 8th Century B.C.E. 8th Century C.E. 8th Millennia B.C.E. 9th Century B.C.E. 9th Century C.E. 9th Millennia B.C.E. Before 10th Millennia B.C.E.
Topic All #Resist Abortion rights & access Activism & Protests Agriculture Air pollution Animal husbandry & domestication Animal rights & well-being Architecture & design Artificial intelligence Arts, music, literature & entertainment Astronomy & space exploration Athletics & sport Black Lives Matter Blockchain & cryptocurrency Capital punishment Caste abolition Child well-being Circular economy & zero waste Cities Civilization Clean & renewable energy Climate crisis Clothing Colonialism Communication & language Conscious management Consumer rights & well-being Corporate responsibility COVID-19 Crime Culture Dark skies Death & Grief Debt Decolonization Democracy & voting Disabilities & special needs Discovery & exploration Drinking water; sanitation & hygiene Drugs & Entheogens Economic inequality Education Elections Electrification Environment Ethical sourcing Ethics Evolution Finance Flora & fauna Food & diet Free speech & censorship Fresh water conservation Gay rights Gender Genocide Government Green bonds Green space Gun safety Hate speech Healthcare Houselessness Human rights Immigration Independence Indigenous rights & well-being Infrastructure International cooperation Internet rights Journalism Justice system Kindness Kingdoms & empire Law LGBTQ+ rights & well-being Life expectancy & mortality Literature Local resilience Marine conservation Medicine Men's health & well-being Mental health & addiction Migration & settlement Military Mindfulness & self-care Minimum wage Mythology & folklore Nations Natural gas & divestment News & media No coal No fracking Nuclear disarmament Numbers & math Ocean health Oil Oil, natural gas & divestment Parenting Paris Agreement Peace Philanthropy Philosophy Physics Plastic pollution Police reform Pollution Poverty alleviation Prison justice Privacy & security Public health & disease Public safety Racial justice Refugees Religion Reparations Reproductive rights Responsible sourcing & consumption Revolution Rights of nature Same-sex marriage Seniors' rights & well-being Sexual assault & domestic violence Shamanism & rituals Social media Sustainability Sustainable Development Goals Technology & innovation Tourism Trade Transgender rights & well-being Transportation Trees & reforestation Universal basic income Water pollution Wildlife & land conservation Women's rights & well-being Workers' rights & well-being Youth & student movements
Country All Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Chad Cherokee Nation Chile China Colombia Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia European Union Faroe Islands Federated States of Micronesia Fiji Finland France French Polynesia Gabon Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Navajo Nation Nepal New Caledonia New Zealand / Aotearoa Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue North Korea North Macedonia Northern Ireland Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Poland Portugal Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Scotland Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South America South Korea South Sudan Soviet Union Spain Sri Lanka St. Kitts & Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Tahiti Taiwan Tanzania Thailand The Bahamas The Gambia The Netherlands The Philippines Timor Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tristan da Cunha Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wales Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe
Actor All Activists Artists & philosophers Athletes Business Cities Citizens Civil society Consumers Courts Early humans Engineers Finance Government Humanity Humankind Indigenous groups International organizations Inventors Kingdoms & empires Media & Journalists Military Nations Non-humans Regions Religious groups Science & academia Scientists & mathematicians Settlers & explorers States & provinces Utilities Workers World leaders
2024 C.E.
July 29 A new survey, undertaken by the Marine Conservation Society, found just one plastic bag, on average, for every 100 meters of coastline, down from five plastic bags in 2014. It was roughly a decade ago that governments began requiring retailers to charge consumers for single-use plastic bags.
2024 C.E.
July 29 The test, known as Shield, isn't meant to replace colonoscopies, but is generating enthusiasm among doctors who say it has the potential to boost the dismal rate of screenings for the second-highest cause of cancer death in the United States. Shield has previously been available to doctors as a screening tool, at an out-of-pocket cost of $895. With the FDA approval, Medicare and private insurance companies are much more likely to cover the cost of the blood test, making it more widely accessible for patients.
2024 C.E.
July 26 In a thoroughly debated session in the recent meeting in Madrid, the vote passed 351 to 205 to rename all current botanical species (over 200) with the species name caffra to affra. “Caffra,” also spelled Kaffer or Keffir, is a derogatory term used by Afrikaans speakers towards black people in southern Africa.
2024 C.E.
July 26 China remains the world leader on solar. It has already installed over a whopping 100GW of new solar capacity this year, bringing the country’s total solar fleet to over 700GW. Total solar generation capacity is up 51% year-on-year.
2024 C.E.
July 26 Ocean Energy has deployed its 826-tonne wave energy converter buoy OE-35 at the US Navy's Wave Energy Test Site off the coast of the island of Oahu ahead of it being hooked up to Hawaii's electricity grid. With a potential output of 1.25 MW, OE-35 harnesses energy from the waves using a remarkable double-flow air system.
2024 C.E.
July 24 Gov. Whitmer signed a slate of 39 bills into law, including H.B. 4718. The legislation, sponsored by bisexual state Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, states that in criminal trials, “evidence of the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of an individual’s actual or perceived sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation is not admissible” for the purposes of demonstrating “reasonable provocation.”
2024 C.E.
July 17 The tiger population density in a series of protected areas in western Thailand has more than doubled over the past two decades, according to new survey data. Thailand is the final stronghold of the Indochinese tiger, the subspecies having been extirpated from neighboring Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam over the past decade due to poaching, habitat loss, and indiscriminate snaring.
2024 C.E.
July 23 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law a broad climate change act that will set caps for large emitters and require every town and city to publish an adaptation plan. The Climate Change Bill aims to enable South Africa to meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris climate agreement. South Africa, which is the world's most carbon-intensive major economy and among the top 15 greenhouse gas emitters, is on track to miss those targets because of to its heavy reliance on coal for electricity.
2024 C.E.
May 22 Nine small island states have won a historic climate change case at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which ruled that all signatories to a United Nations treaty on marine activities must do more to protect the world’s oceans from climate change. The tribunal found that signatories to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea’s responsibilities to prevent marine pollution extend to greenhouse gas emissions, which harm oceans by altering the earth’s atmosphere.
2024 C.E.
July 18 President Joe Biden announced another round of student loan debt forgiveness, totaling $1.2 billion for 35,000 public-sector workers including teachers, nurses, and firefighters. The administration has now canceled more federal student loan debt than any prior administration – now totaling more than $168 billion for nearly 4.8 million Americans.
Load More
