3.3 million years · one continuous record
All of Human History
Every invention, discovery and turning point, laid out on a single coiling spiral — the centre is three million years ago, the rim is today. Drag to pan, scroll to zoom, or jump straight to a year.
In view · 3.3 million BCE – 2026
17 entriesHafted spears
Stone points bound to wooden shafts, as at Kathu Pan.
Southern Africa
Wooden throwing spears
The Schoeningen spears, balanced javelins of spruce, preserved in waterlogged sediment.
Central Europe
Bow and arrow
Microlithic points at Sibudu Cave bearing impact fractures consistent with arrows.
Southern Africa
Spoked wheel and chariot
Light spoked wheels transform the cart into a fast war vehicle.
Central Asia
Chariot warfare of the steppe
Sintashta cultures paired spoked wheels with trained horse teams.
Central Asia
Cavalry replaces the war chariot
Improved bitting, riding seats and horse breeding on the Eurasian steppe made mounted archers more effective than chariot crews.
Eurasian steppe
Assyrian siege engineering
Assyrian armies standardised battering rams, siege ramps and engineer corps.
Mesopotamia
Crossbow in China
Bronze trigger mechanisms made the crossbow a mass-issued infantry weapon of the Warring States.
China
Stirrup
A foot support that anchors a rider, enabling shock cavalry.
China and Central Asia
Greek fire
A pressurised incendiary weapon defended Constantinople at sea.
Byzantium
Gunpowder
Chinese alchemists seeking longevity mix saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal.
China
Rocket arrows and fire lances
Song and Jin armies mounted gunpowder tubes on arrows and spears.
China
Ottoman and European cannon
Gunpowder artillery moved from tubes and bombards to siege-breaking guns.
Eurasia
Blast-furnace cast iron cannon
Cheaper cast barrels replaced hooped wrought-iron guns.
Europe
Matchlock firearm
A trigger-held burning cord freed the shooter's hands to aim.
Europe
Portuguese arquebuses reach Japan
Matchlocks landed at Tanegashima and were mass-produced within a decade.
Japan
Atomic weapons
Fission bombs are used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
United States and Japan