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
11 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
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
Gunpowder
Chinese alchemists seeking longevity mix saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal.
China
Ottoman and European cannon
Gunpowder artillery moved from tubes and bombards to siege-breaking guns.
Eurasia
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