Earth's History Timeline

By Jeehyun
  • 13,700 BCE

    Big Bang

    The Big Bang theory states that the universe began as a hot and infinitely dense point, which is only a few millimeters wide—similar to a supercharged black hole. About 13.7 billion years ago, this tiny singularity violently exploded, and from this came matter, energy, space, and time.
  • 4600 BCE

    Formation of Earth

    About 4.5 billion years ago, a nearby star exploded, and as the different materials in its region of space collided, it made a planet.
  • Period: 4600 BCE to 4000 BCE

    Hadean Eon

    The Hadeon Eon is the informal division of Precambrian time (began about 4.6 billion years ago), occurring between about 4.6 billion and 4.0 million years ago.
  • 4567 BCE

    Planetary Accretion

    This was when the formation of Earth, as well as other planets in the solar system, began.
  • 4500 BCE

    Formation of Moon

    Approximately 70 million years after Earth formed, an enormous asteroid the size of Mars smashed into Earth, and the materials from both Earth and the asteroid was thrown out into orbit. Over time, this material smashed together to form Moon.
  • 3900 BCE

    Late Heavy Bombardment

    About 3.9 billion years ago, a hail of meteors attacked Earth. Inside the meteors were crystals that looked like grains of salt, and inside the crystals were minute droplets of water. Although there was only a small amount of water existing in each meteor, as they bombarded Earth over 20 million years, pools of water have grown. As there were puddles of water created on Earth, the Earth's core remained molten, but its surface has cooled enough to form the crust.
  • 3800 BCE

    Beginning of Life on Earth

    Before, the Moon was so close to Earth, and its gravity was overwhelmed—creating huge ties raced across the planet’s surface. But over time, the Moon moved away, the waves calmed down and the planet started to spin slower. It's predicted that life on Earth began approximately 3.8 billion years ago.
  • 1500

    Formation of Earth's Core

    About 1.5 billion years ago, Earth's inner core formed, and some scientists say that this happened as the inner core 'froze' from the surrounding molten iron outer core.