timeline of the unverse by charlie sanabria Charlie Sanabria Timeline of the Universe

Last updated January 1st 2026.

The history of the universe in a single image (sort of)

Inspired by Carl Sagan and his book Cosmos, I decided to create a timeline of historical events I learn about. Only those events which I can talk about in depth and tell a proper story about (without Googling things) go here.

Download the high-resolution image here

Image list:

Public domain via Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/big-bang-explosion-pop-fireball-818580/

  1. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Earth_formation.jpg

  2. Image by Dietzel65 under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany  via Wikimedia Commons 

  3. Image by Vassil under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons  

  4. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DimetrodonKnight.jpg

  5. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pangaea_to_present.gif

  6. Image by Tillman under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons

  7. Image by Obsidian Soul under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons

  8. Image by FunkMonk under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons 

  9. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Impact_event.jpg

  10. Image by Cicero Moraes under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  11. Image by Animal Party under  Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons (image was cropped and digitally altered)

  12. Image by Lillyundfreya under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons (image was cropped)

  13. Image by Lillyundfreya under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons  (image was cropped)

  14. Image by Dr. Günter Bechly under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons 

  15. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spreading_homo_sapiens_la.svg

  16. Image by Tim Evanson under Creative Commons  Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons

  17. Public domain via Pixabay
    https://pixabay.com/en/ancestor-stone-age-caveman-1257195/

  18. Image by Rotatebot under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  19. Image by Dbachmann under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons 

  20. Image by S Larctia under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons

  21. Image by Skies under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  22. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustrerad_Verldshistoria_band_I_Ill_107.jpg

  23. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AnaximanderRelief.jpg

  24. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Democritus2.jpg

  25. Image by Jlorenz1  under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons

  26. Image by Fotogeniss under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  27. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aristarchos_von_Samos_(Denkmal).jpeg

  28. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eratosthene.01.png

  29. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hero_of_Alexandria.png

  30. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PSM_V78_D326_Ptolemy.png

  31. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancientlibraryalex.jpg

  32. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_a_Man,_Said_to_be_Christopher_Columbus.jpg

  33. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nikolaus_Kopernikus.jpg

  34. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gregory_XIII.jpg

  35. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johannes_Kepler_1610.jpg

  36. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei,_1636.jpg

  37. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GodfreyKneller-IsaacNewton-1689.jpg

  38. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christiaan_Huygens.jpg

  39. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Night_Council_At_Fort_Necessity_from_the_Darlington_Collection_of_Engravings.PNG

  40. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:O!_the_fatal_Stamp.jpg

  41. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Massacre_high-res.jpg

  42. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Lexington,_1775.png

  43. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Army_-_Artillery_Retreat_from_Long_Island_1776.jpg

  44. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Crossing_the_Delaware_by_Emanuel_Leutze,_MMA-NYC,_1851.jpg

  45. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg

  46. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bridgewater_foundary.gif

  47. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_prominence_on_the_sun_erupted.jpg

  48. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_flight2.jpg

  49. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tunguska_event_fallen_trees.jpg

  50. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1910Ford-T.jpg

  51. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ernest_Rutherford_LOC.jpg

  52. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aldrin_Apollo_11_original.jpg

  53. Image by Momotarou2012 under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  54. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Viking_spacecraft.jpg

  55. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1984_CPA_5560.jpg

  56. Public domain via NASA
    http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/spacecraft/voyager.jpg

  57. Public domain via NASA
    http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/

  58. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pioneer_Venus_orbiter.jpg

  59. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Logo_HGP.jpg

  60. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christian_Doppler.jpg

  61. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Edison2.jpg

  62. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Edwin-hubble.jpg

  63. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Ilc_9yr_moll4096.png/640px-Ilc_9yr_moll4096.png

  64. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Bonifatius_Donareiche.jpg/345px-Bonifatius_Donareiche.jpg

  65. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Negotiations_about_Iranian_Nuclear_Program_-_the_Ministers_of_Foreign_Affairs_and_Other_Officials_of_the_P5%2B1_and_Ministers_of_Foreign_Affairs_of_Iran_and_EU_in_Lausanne.jpg/640px-thumbnail.jpg

  66. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giordano_Bruno.jpg

  67. Image by James.Leek under Copyleft Free Art License via Wikimedia Commons

  68. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Edmund_Halley.gif

  69. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World_Magnetic_Declination_2015.pdf

  70. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lspn_comet_halley.jpg

  71. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artist%27s_impression_of_the_Milky_Way_(updated_-_annotated).jpg

  72. Image by Vysotsky under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  73. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dog_anatomy_lateral_skeleton_view.jpg

  74. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Accretion_disk.jpg

  75. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_Herschel01.jpg

  76. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Uranus2.jpg

  77. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Julia_Margaret_Cameron_-_John_Herschel_(Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art_copy,_restored).jpg

  78. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alhazen,_the_Persian.gif

  79. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mencius2.jpg

  80. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Qinshihuang.jpg

  81. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fraunhofer_2.jpg

  82. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faraday-Millikan-Gale-1913.jpg

  83. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Clerk_Maxwell.png

  84. Image by Sasha Krotov under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canyon-diablo-meteorite.jpg

  85. Image by Joe Mabel under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gas_pump_lead_warning.jpg

  86. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oceanic_gyres.png

  87. "no known copyright restrictions." via Flickr
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cecilia_Helena_Payne_Gaposchkin_(1900-1979)_(2).jpg

  88. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atlantic_bathymetry.jpg

  89. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Wegener_ca.1924-30.jpg

  90. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Faraday_magnetic_rotation.jpg

  91. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnet0873.png

  92. Image by DrBob~commonswiki under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons  

  93. Public Domain via Hubble Site
    http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2007/17/image/a/

  94. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vera_Rubin.jpg

  95. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_Experiment_on_a_Bird_in_an_Air_Pump_by_Joseph_Wright_of_Derby,_1768.jpg

  96. Public domain

  97.  Public domain

  98. Public domain
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leyden_jar_showing_construction.png

  99. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BenFranklinDuplessis.jpg

  100. Public Domain via Pixabay
    https://pixabay.com/en/lightning-storm-night-firebird-342341/

  101. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luigi_Galvani,_oil-painting.jpg

  102. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alessandro_Volta.jpeg

  103. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sir_Humphry_Davy,_Bt_by_Thomas_Phillips.jpg

  104. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Christian_%C3%98rsted_daguerreotype.jpg

  105. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Westinghouse.jpg

  106. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_Pitney_Brown_engineer_1857_1932.png

  107. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:N.Tesla.JPG

  108. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Hertz

  109. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Guglielmo_Marconi.jpg

  110. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roentgen2.jpg

  111. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:J.J_Thomson.jpg

  112. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marie_Curie_c1920.jpg

  113. Image by Macroscopic Solutions under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic via Flickr 
    https://flic.kr/p/B5HcMA

  114. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solvay_conference_1927.jpg

  115. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JosephWright-Alchemist-Cropped.jpg

  116. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Chadwick.jpg

  117. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Otto_Hahn_(Nobel).jpg

  118. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edwin_McMillan_Nobel.jpg

  119. Image under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License based on a work at the National MagLab

  120. Image by Setrese under Creative Commons license Attribution 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Electron_neutrino.svg

  121. Image by Harp under Creative Commons license Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Quark_structure_proton.svg

  122. Image by  CERN under Creative Commons license Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CMS_Higgs-event.jpg

  123. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbain_Le_Verrier

  124. Image by NASA’s Earth Observatory under Creative Commons License Attribution 2.0 Generic via Flickr 

  125. Image by Toony under Creative Commons license Attribution 3.0 Unported via Wikimedia Commons

  126. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UNFCCC_parties.svg

  127. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eug%C3%A8ne_Delacroix_-_Le_28_Juillet._La_Libert%C3%A9_guidant_le_peuple.jpg

  128. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
    https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duplessis_-_Louis_XVI_of_France,_oval,_Versailles.jpg

  129. "File:Bildnis Alexander von Kluck.png" by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

  130. Public domain

  131. Public domain

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  134. Public domain

  135. Public domain

  136. "night-sky-stars" by diamondtdesign is marked with CC0 1.0

  137. Google Earth

  138. Public domain

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  142. Public domain

  143. This image comes from Los Alamos National Laboratory, a national laboratory privately operated under contract from the United States Department of Energy by Los Alamos National Security, LLC betweeen October 1, 2007 and October 31, 2018. Unless otherwise indicated, this information has been authored by an employee or employees of the Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), operator of the Los Alamos National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. Government has rights to use, reproduce, and distribute this information. The public may copy and use this information without charge, provided that this Notice and any statement of authorship are reproduced on all copies. Neither the Government nor LANS makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any liability or responsibility for the use of this information..

  144. Photo by Argonne National Lab under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

  145. Public domain

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  151. Public domain

  152. Photo by Ryan Somma under CC BY-SA 2.0

  153. Photo by José-Manuel Benito under CC BY-SA 2.5 

  154. Photo by Didier Descouens under CC BY-SA 4.0

  155. Photo by ICAR, Iran under CC BY-SA 4.0

  156. Photo by Ramessos under CC BY-SA 3.0

  157. Photo by Sémhur under CC BY-SA 4.0

  158. Photo by Ninara under CC BY 2.0 

  159. Photo by Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira under CC BY-SA 3.0

  160. Public domain

  161. Public domain

  162. Photo by Steve Harris under CC BY-SA 2.0 [cropped]

  163. Public domain

  164. Public domain

  165. Photo by Tim Moffatt under CC BY 2.0

  166. Public domain

  167. Photo by MusikAnimal under CC BY-SA 4.0

  168. Photo by Dennis Jarvis under CC BY-SA 2.0

  169. Photo by Xevi V under under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

  170. Photo by david__jones under CC BY 2.0

  171. Photo by tutincommon under CC BY-NC 2.0

  172. Photo by Carsten ten Brink under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

  173. Photo by tutincommon under CC BY-NC 2.0

  174. Public domain

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  179. Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) under CC BY-SA 4.0

  180. Public domain

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  182. Photo by Tevaprapas under  CC BY-SA 3.0

  183. Photo by Dan Diffendale under CC BY-SA 2.0

  184. Public domain

  185. Photo by Avantiputra7 under  CC BY-SA 4.0

  186. Photo by Photo Dharma under CC BY 2.0 

  187. Public domain

  188. Photo by Gary Lee Todd under CC BY-SA 4.0

  189. Photo by Uploadalt under under CC BY-SA 3.0

  190. Public Domain

  191. Public Domain

  192. Smithsonian Institute

  193. Public Domain

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  200. Photo by Anthony Surace under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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  216. Image by Butko under Creative Commons  Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic via Wikimedia Commons

  217. Public Domain

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  219. Photo by Patrick under CC BY-SA 2.0

  220. Public Domain

  221. Photo by Joel Bellviure under CC BY-SA 4.0

  222. Photo by Shakko under under CC BY-SA 3.0

  223. Photo by Frans Vandewalle under CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED

  224. Public domain

  225. Public domain

  226. Image by Sailko under CC BY-SA 3.0

  227. Image by Carole Raddato under CC BY-SA 2.0

  228. Public Domain

  229. Image by Petar Milošević under CC BY-SA 4.0

  230. Public Domain

  231. Image by Morgan Phoenix under CC BY-SA 3.0

  232. Public Domain

  233. Image under the Licence Ouverte 1.0 

  234. Public Domain

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  237. Image by Classical Numismatic Group, LLC under CC BY-SA 2.5 

  238. Image by Classical Numismatic Group, LLC under CC BY-SA 3.0

  239. Public Domain

  240. Image by the Wellcome Collection, under CC BY 4.0

  241. Public Domain

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