Universe Timeline

Compresses the history of the universe into a single year. Add "Universe Timeline" to your calendar.
Date Day of week Time Event
1/1/23 Sunday The Big Bang. Beginning of the space and time.
1/4/23 Wednesday Methuselah star. Oldest known star in the universe.
1/6/23 - 1/24/23 Friday - Tuesday Reionization era. Early stars start ionizing interstellar gas.
1/8/23 Sunday First black holes form
1/14/23 Saturday Mass star formation. Universe starts to heat once again.
1/16/23 Monday First galaxies form
1/17/23 Tuesday GRB 090423. Oldest gamma ray burst ever observed.
1/22/23 Sunday Hubble ultra deep field
1/26/23 Thursday Quasar CFHQS J2329-0301. Oldest known quasar.
1/30/23 Monday PST B1620-26. Oldest known exoplanet.
2/1/23 Wednesday Milky Way forms
2/14/23 Tuesday GRB 140419A supernova. Second oldest gamma ray burst.
2/25/23 Saturday BX442 galaxy. Oldest known spiral galaxy.
3/2/23 Thursday Kapteyn b. Oldest known exoplanet lying within the habitable zone.
3/5/23 Sunday Milky Way's cosmic halo forms
3/16/23 Thursday Star formation rate peaks. Universe starts to cool Temperature averages around 13000 K.
3/29/23 Wednesday Oldest population I stars. First stars abundant in metals.
3/31/23 Friday Universe becomes habitable. First life-friendly star systems emerge.
4/14/23 Friday JKCS 041. Oldest galactic cluster.
4/19/23 Wednesday Universe reaches 1/3 of its present diameter
4/22/23 Saturday Milky Way star formation rate stabilizes
4/28/23 Friday Barnard's star forms. Oldest close solar neighbor.
5/7/23 Sunday Oldest known evidence for dark energy
5/13/23 Saturday Milky Way's thin disk starts to form
5/21/23 Sunday Lalande 21185
5/23/23 Tuesday Lacaille 9352
6/3/23 Saturday Milky Way star formation rate begins to decline
6/8/23 Thursday Mizar forms
6/16/23 Friday GRB 080319B. Most powerful gamma ray burst ever observed by humans.
6/16/23 Friday Arcturus forms. 4th brightest star in the night sky.
6/27/23 Tuesday Universe cools below 5 K
6/29/23 Thursday Growth of large galaxies slows
7/2/23 Sunday 1/2 the age of the Universe
7/5/23 Wednesday Alpha Centauri forms. Closest star system to the Sun.
7/7/23 Friday Alnitak forms. Left star of the Orion's Belt.
7/13/23 Thursday Milky Way starts spiralizing
7/15/23 Saturday Age of an average earth-like planet
7/21/23 Friday 61 Cygni forms
7/26/23 Wednesday Dark energy overtakes gravity. Universe's expansion rate starts to accelerate.
7/31/23 Monday Tau Ceti forms
8/8/23 Tuesday Solar nebula starts collapsing
8/8/23 Tuesday Milky way becomes a spiral galaxy
8/16/23 Wednesday Gliese 570 forms
8/25/23 Friday Proxima Centauri forms. Closest star to the Sun.
8/29/23 Tuesday SN 2005ap supernova. Brightest supernova ever observed.
9/2/23 Saturday The Sun forms
9/2/23 Saturday Proto-earth forms. Planets, asteroids and comets form from the Sun's protoplanetary disk.
9/3/23 Sunday Formation of the Moon. Theia impacts Earth, the Moon forms from the coalesced debris.
9/6/23 Wednesday Oceans form on Earth. Asteroids bring water to Earth.
9/6/23 Wednesday First known minerals. Zircons form at Jack Hills, Australia.
9/10/23 Sunday Mintaka forms. Right star of the Orion's Belt.
9/11/23 - 9/19/23 Monday - Tuesday Life emerges on Earth
9/14/23 - 9/22/23 Thursday - Friday Late Heavy Bombardment
9/14/23 Thursday Earliest known rock. (Aggregate of minerals).
9/17/23 Sunday Greenstone rock belt
9/22/23 Friday Oldest banded iron formation
9/27/23 Wednesday Vaalbara supercontinent emerges
9/30/23 Saturday Last universal ancestor. Split between bacteria and archaea.
9/30/23 Saturday Cyanobacteria fossils. Warrawoona, oldest fossil evidence of life on Earth.
10/5/23 Thursday Compressional tectonics
10/6/23 Friday Barberton event. One of the largest impacts ever, left a 300 mi / 480 km crater.
10/8/23 Sunday Ur supercontinent forms
10/8/23 Sunday Anoxygenic photosynthesis developed by bacteria
10/11/23 Wednesday First land bacteria
10/13/23 Friday Cyanobacteria develop true photosynthesis. Life begins to produce oxygen.
10/16/23 Monday Zeta Reticuli forms
10/16/23 Monday Kenorland supercontinent emerges
10/16/23 Monday Tides decline below 1000 ft / 300 m
10/18/23 Wednesday Vaalbara supercontinent breaks up
10/21/23 Saturday Major komatiite eruption
10/21/23 Saturday First eukaryotes emerge. Early estimate.
10/24/23 Tuesday Oldest known giant carbonate platform
10/25/23 Wednesday Zeta Puppis forms
10/26/23 Thursday Great Oxygenation event. Bacterially produced oxygen starts to accumulate in the atmosphere.
10/26/23 Thursday Movement of the tectonic plates commences
10/29/23 Sunday Suavjarvi impact event left oldest still recognizable crater
10/29/23 - 11/5/23 Sunday - Sunday Huronian glaciation. First snowball earth period.
11/1/23 Wednesday Continental red beds form
11/3/23 Friday Atmospheric oxygen level surpasses one percent
11/3/23 Friday Ozone layer forms
11/6/23 Monday Earliest known eukaryote fossils (acritarchs)
11/6/23 Monday Earliest multicellular life. Francevillian Group Fossil.
11/8/23 Wednesday Vredefort impact event. One of the largest impacts ever left a 190 mi/ 300 km crater.
11/11/23 Saturday Atmospheric oxygen level surpasses 15 percent
11/11/23 Saturday Natural nuclear reactor forms in Oklo, Gabon
11/13/23 Monday Sudbury impact, event left a 160 mi / 260 km crater
11/14/23 Tuesday Supercontinent Columbia forms
11/15/23 Wednesday Vishnu Basement Rocks. Oldest rocks in the Grand Canyon.
11/17/23 Friday Oldest sand dune ergs
11/19/23 Sunday Mitochondria assimilate into eukaryotic cells
11/22/23 Wednesday Supercontinent Columbia breaks up
11/23/23 Thursday Geologic platform covers expand
11/24/23 Friday Population of stromatolites rapidly rises
11/25/23 Saturday Procyon forms. Brightest star in Canis Minor.
11/27/23 Monday Greenville orogeny starts
11/30/23 Thursday Supercontinent Rodinia forms
11/30/23 Thursday Bangiomorpha pubescens. First sexually reproducing organism.
12/1/23 Friday Population explosion of eukaryotes
12/2/23 Saturday Earliest flagellate protists
12/9/23 Saturday Population of stromatolites starts to decline
12/10/23 Sunday Protista population explodes
12/11/23 Monday Kaigas glaciation. Snowball earth period.
12/12/23 Tuesday Supercontinent Rodinia breaks apart
12/12/23 - 12/14/23 Tuesday - Thursday Sturtian glaciation. Snowball earth period.
12/14/23 Thursday Marinoan glaciation. Snowball earth period.
12/16/23 Saturday Fossilized worm impressions in China
12/16/23 Saturday Avalon explosion. Ediacaran fauna emerges.
12/17/23 Sunday Cambrian explosion. Exponential diversification of life, most major animal phyla appear.
12/18/23 Monday First trilobites
12/20/23 Wednesday 2:20 AM Plants and arthropods colonize the land
12/20/23 Wednesday 5:31 AM Ordovician extinction event. 60% of all species go extinct.
12/20/23 Wednesday 9:23 PM First air-breathing animals
12/21/23 Thursday 1:15 PM First tetrapods
12/21/23 Thursday 10:46 PM First tree-like plants
12/22/23 Friday 5:07 AM Late Devonian extinction. 70% of all species go extinct.
12/23/23 Saturday 6:31 AM First amniotes
12/23/23 Saturday 12:52 PM First reptiles
12/23/23 Saturday 10:23 PM Atmospheric oxygen level peaks at 35%. Arthropods grow into unprecedented sizes.
12/24/23 Sunday 1:33 AM Pangaea forms. Last supercontinent.
12/25/23 Monday 8:40 AM Permian extinction event. Largest extinction event in history, 90-96% of all species go extinct.
12/25/23 Monday 9:18 AM Sirius forms . Brightest star in the night sky.
12/25/23 Monday 9:21 PM First dinosaurs
12/26/23 Tuesday 1:10 AM First mammals
12/26/23 Tuesday 4:24 PM Triassic extinction event. 75% of all species go extinct.
12/26/23 Tuesday 11:23 PM First giant sauropods
12/27/23 Wednesday 5:44 AM Pangaea splits into Laurasia and Gondwana
12/27/23 Wednesday 8:16 AM First stegosaurs
12/27/23 Wednesday 9:36 PM First birds
12/28/23 Thursday 3:57 AM Madagascar splits from Africa
12/28/23 Thursday 1:28 PM First flowering plants
12/28/23 Thursday 1:28 PM Laurasia and Gondwana begin to drift apart
12/29/23 Friday 4:42 AM Spinosaurus evolves. Largest of all carnivorous dinosaurs.
12/29/23 Friday 8:31 AM First bees
12/29/23 Friday 2:52 PM Indian subcontinent splits from Gondwana
12/29/23 Friday 9:13 PM Australia splits from Antarctica
12/30/23 Saturday 4:50 AM Tyrannosaurus rex evolves
12/30/23 Saturday 6:06 AM Cretaceous extinction event. 75% of all species vanish.
12/30/23 Saturday 9:54 AM First primates evolve
12/30/23 Saturday 1:05 PM First modern birds
12/30/23 Saturday 4:15 PM Indian subcontinent collides with Asia. Tiber and Himalayas start to rise.
12/30/23 Saturday 6:09 PM Whales return to the water
12/30/23 Saturday 10:36 PM Antarctic ice cap begins to grow
12/31/23 Sunday 1:46 AM Grasslands become widespread
12/31/23 Sunday 4:57 AM South America separates from Antarctica
12/31/23 Sunday 7:29 AM First elephants. Eritreum melakeghebrekristosi.
12/31/23 Sunday 12:34 PM Divergence of great apes and lesser apes
12/31/23 Sunday 2:28 PM First bovids
12/31/23 Sunday 5:01 PM First large horses
12/31/23 Sunday 6:55 PM Rigel forms. Brightest star in Orion.
12/31/23 Sunday 7:14 PM Betelgeuse forms. Second brightest star in Orion.
12/31/23 Sunday 8:11 PM Last common ancestor humans and chimpanzees
12/31/23 Sunday 8:13 PM - 8:36 PM Messinian salinity crisis. Strait of Gibraltar closes tight, Mediterranean Sea dries out.
12/31/23 Sunday 9:27 PM Australopithecus evolves
12/31/23 Sunday 10:05 PM Great American Interchange. Isthmus of Panama rises, North and South America join, extensive fauna exchange follows.
12/31/23 Sunday 10:24 PM Current ice age begins
12/31/23 Sunday 10:36 PM First members of the genus Homo appear
12/31/23 Sunday 11:02 PM First controlled use of fire by Homo erectus
12/31/23 Sunday 11:30 PM Last reversal of the Earth's magnetic field
12/31/23 Sunday 11:35 PM Yellowstone Caldera erupts
12/31/23 Sunday 11:40 PM Earliest human engravings. Zig-zag patterns on shells in Java.
12/31/23 Sunday 11:48 PM Earliest instances of burial
12/31/23 Sunday 11:50 PM Neanderthals evolve
12/31/23 Sunday 11:52 PM Anatomically modern humans appear in Africa
12/31/23 Sunday 11:56 PM Humans begin migrating out of Africa
12/31/23 Sunday 11:57 PM Toba supervolcanic eruption. Human population falls to 10,000.
12/31/23 Sunday 11:58 PM 23:58:40 Neanderthals go extinct
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:25 First domesticated dogs
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:39 Beginning of agriculture
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:46 Wheel invented
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:48 Writing invented
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:49 Great Pyramid
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:52 Iron Age begins
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:55 Julius Caesar
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:58 Galileo Galilei
12/31/23 Sunday 11:59 PM 23:59:59 Charles Darwin