The world’s largest database of social change milestones from throughout human history
We are building the world’s largest database of social change milestones, from the first fire to today’s good news. Change is not only possible, it has happened consistently throughout human history.
Filter by era, country, topic, actor, source, and more. Submit your own milestones!
3782
social change milestones archived
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- Today (2017 C.E. - ???)
- Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
- Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
- Post-classical (500 - 1500 C.E.)
- Civilization (3000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.)
- Agriculture (10000 - 3000 B.C.E.)
- Prehistory (250000 - 10000 B.C.E.)
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Era
- Today (2017 C.E. - ???)
- Modernity (1500 - 1945 C.E.)
- Post-modernity (1945 - 2016 C.E.)
- Post-classical (500 - 1500 C.E.)
- Civilization (3000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.)
- Agriculture (10000 - 3000 B.C.E.)
- Prehistory (250000 - 10000 B.C.E.)
Year
Topics
Region
Countries
State/Province
Institution
Sources
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~18,000 B.C.E. ???Humans invent the bullroarer, perhaps in modern-day Ukraine
The bullroarer, rhombus, or turndun, is an ancient ritual musical instrument and a device historically used for communicating over great distances.
-
~15,000 B.C.E ???Humans invent the canoe
Constructed between 8200 and 7600 BC, and found in the Netherlands, the Pesse canoe may be the oldest known canoe.
-
~15,000 B.C.E. ???Aboriginal Australians develop complex religious beliefs now referred to as “The Dreaming”
The Dreaming is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities.
-
~17,000 B.C.E. ???Kebarian Culture thrives in the Levant
Kebarian culture was an archaeological culture in the eastern Mediterranean area (c. 18,000 to 12,500 BP). The Kebaran were a highly mobile nomadic population, composed of hunters and gatherers in the Levant and Sinai areas who used microlithic tools.
-
~18,000 B.C.E ???Humans invent pottery, perhaps in modern-day Jiangxi province in China
Xianrendong and Yuchanyan caves in northern China are the oldest of a growing number of sites which support the origins of pottery as having occurred not just in the Japanese island Jomon culture of 11,000-12,000 years ago, but earlier in the Russian Far East and South China some 18,000-20,000 years ago.
-
~20,000 B.C.E. ???Humans domesticate the wolf and create dogs
Early humans formed an unlikely partnership with another animalthe grey wolf
-
~20,000 B.C.E ???Humans invent wrestling, the first ever sport
Cave paintings have been found in the Lascaux caves in France that have been suggested to depict wrestling in the Upper Paleolithic around 15,300 years ago.
-
~20,000 B.C.E. ???Humans migrate from Siberia to Americas across the Bering Land Bridge
As of 2008, genetic findings suggest that a single population of modern humans migrated from southern Siberia toward the Bering Land Bridge as early as 30,000 years ago, and crossed over by 16,500 years ago.
-
~20,000 B.C.E. ???Early humans create paintings at Cave of Altamira in modern-day northern Spain
There are 18 caves in northern Spain which together represent the apogee of Upper Paleolithic cave art in Europe between 35,000 and 11,000 years ago.
-
~22,000 B.C.E ???Humans occupy and settle the Bluefish Caves in northern Yukon
Bluefish Caves is an archaeological site in Yukon, Canada from which a specimen of allegedly human-worked mammoth bone has been radiocarbon dated to 24,000 years before present, earlier than the generally accepted age for habitation of the New World.
-
~18,000 B.C.E. ???Humans invent the bullroarer, perhaps in modern-day Ukraine
The bullroarer, rhombus, or turndun, is an ancient ritual musical instrument and a device historically used for communicating over great distances.
-
~15,000 B.C.E ???Humans invent the canoe
Constructed between 8200 and 7600 BC, and found in the Netherlands, the Pesse canoe may be the oldest known canoe.
-
~15,000 B.C.E. ???Aboriginal Australians develop complex religious beliefs now referred to as “The Dreaming”
The Dreaming is a term devised by early anthropologists to refer to a religio-cultural worldview attributed to Australian Aboriginal beliefs. It is used to represent Aboriginal concepts of Everywhen during which the land was inhabited by ancestral figures, often of heroic proportions or with supernatural abilities.
-
~17,000 B.C.E. ???Kebarian Culture thrives in the Levant
Kebarian culture was an archaeological culture in the eastern Mediterranean area (c. 18,000 to 12,500 BP). The Kebaran were a highly mobile nomadic population, composed of hunters and gatherers in the Levant and Sinai areas who used microlithic tools.
-
~18,000 B.C.E ???Humans invent pottery, perhaps in modern-day Jiangxi province in China
Xianrendong and Yuchanyan caves in northern China are the oldest of a growing number of sites which support the origins of pottery as having occurred not just in the Japanese island Jomon culture of 11,000-12,000 years ago, but earlier in the Russian Far East and South China some 18,000-20,000 years ago.
-
~20,000 B.C.E. ???Humans domesticate the wolf and create dogs
Early humans formed an unlikely partnership with another animalthe grey wolf
-
~20,000 B.C.E ???Humans invent wrestling, the first ever sport
Cave paintings have been found in the Lascaux caves in France that have been suggested to depict wrestling in the Upper Paleolithic around 15,300 years ago.
-
~20,000 B.C.E. ???Humans migrate from Siberia to Americas across the Bering Land Bridge
As of 2008, genetic findings suggest that a single population of modern humans migrated from southern Siberia toward the Bering Land Bridge as early as 30,000 years ago, and crossed over by 16,500 years ago.
-
~20,000 B.C.E. ???Early humans create paintings at Cave of Altamira in modern-day northern Spain
There are 18 caves in northern Spain which together represent the apogee of Upper Paleolithic cave art in Europe between 35,000 and 11,000 years ago.
-
~22,000 B.C.E ???Humans occupy and settle the Bluefish Caves in northern Yukon
Bluefish Caves is an archaeological site in Yukon, Canada from which a specimen of allegedly human-worked mammoth bone has been radiocarbon dated to 24,000 years before present, earlier than the generally accepted age for habitation of the New World.
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Submit a Milestone
Did we miss a social change milestone? What social progress have you seen around the world that I should include? Let us know!
NOTE: We cannot guarantee we will post all stories submitted here. We only post stories that represent milestones in human development (as opposed to “feel good” stories). We want something that would make sense to put on a timeline of human progress. For example, a story like “Random customer leaves a huge tip” isn’t a great fit. “Country X passes economic inequality reform bill” is a great fit.