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4500 BCE
Earth is born
4543.9 billion years
Earth grew from a cloud of dust and rocks surrounding the young Sun. Earth formed when some of these rocks collided. -
3800 BCE
The origin of life
3.8 billion years
Nobody knows exactly when life began. The oldest confirmed fossils, of single-celled microorganisms, are 3.5 billion years old. Life may have begun a bit earlier than that, but probably not while huge rocks were still raining down on Earth. -
500 BCE
Plants colonise the land
500 million years
Some animals ventured onto land as far back as 500 million years ago, but they only visited briefly - perhaps to lay eggs in a place without predators. Plants were the first to take up permanent residence on land. -
300 BCE
The Pangea
300 million years ago
For the last time, all Earth's continents came together to form one giant supercontinent, the Pangaea. However, it teared itself apart until it became the familiar modern continents. -
200 BCE
Triassic extinction
20l million years ago
The dinosaurs were flourishing on land, and in the sea giant reptiles called ichthyosaurs had become the top predators. Many years ago, these reptiles extincted. -
65 BCE
Death of dinosaurs
65 million years ago, a huge chunk of rock from outer space smashed in the Earth. The explosion was devastating,until the point that it cause the extiction of the dinosaurs.