Timeline

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Bronze timeline “Fifteen meters of history” with information board in Örebro , Sweden

A timeline (also time table or timeline ) is a representation of time periods and sequences of temporal events in the form of a graph or table . The time sequence is shown as a spatial sequence, e.g. B. earlier events are higher up and later events further down. In addition to the order ( ordinal scale ), there is also the option of displaying time intervals using spatial distances ( interval scale ) : the greater the distance between two points on the bar, the greater the time interval between the corresponding events.

General

Illustrated timeline of the history of the CIA

The term “timeline” or “timeline” is mostly used to describe a graphical representation of the course of time in the form of a straight line, in which individual events are entered through markings crossing the straight line, like a number line. Periods such as B. an epoch are then displayed as sections between two such events and highlighted in color if necessary. In addition, this form of representation offers space to add further text or illustrations to the events or periods. It is also possible to display different timelines one above the other or next to one another. In this way, different developments can be juxtaposed that took place during the same time. An example of such a synoptic representation is Arno Peters ' "Synchronous Optical World History" . There events from all parts of the world and all areas of life are ordered synchronously in a timeline.

Artistically designed timelines can also be found on the facades of historical buildings. Such elaborately designed illustrations of historical events are also known as history friezes.

Time tables, on the other hand, are mostly presentations in the form of a table, which, similar to a tabular curriculum vitae, list dates or periods in chronological order and, if necessary, provide additional information in a further column. Time tables usually start with the earliest date. However, it can also be useful to show the chronological sequence in reverse, starting with the latest date. Chronological tables were first used by the Encyclopedia Britannica as a means of showing individual subjects in their historical development. A chronology usually sorts according to years or time segments. Periods of the same length are not necessarily filled with the same amount of information or text. The chronicle has a somewhat similar task , often summarizing periods from a systematic point of view, but presenting historical events in much more detail and usually in prose form. However, the chronicle can also be strictly divided into equal periods of time.

In nature, too, there are easily readable representations of chronological sequences, for example in the layering of sedimentary rocks or in the annual rings of trees. In a sense, these represent natural timelines.

Example of a horizontal timeline

The example builds on the list of Old Norse languages .

Periodization of North Germanic:

Example of a vertical timeline

The list of governing mayors of Berlin is used for the example of a vertical timeline .

Michael Müller (Politiker, 1964) Klaus Wowereit Eberhard Diepgen Walter Momper Eberhard Diepgen Richard von Weizsäcker Hans-Jochen Vogel Dietrich Stobbe Klaus Schütz Heinrich Albertz Willy Brandt Otto Suhr Walther Schreiber Ernst Reuter

The governing mayors of West Berlin from 1948 until today:

See also

Web links

Commons : Timeline  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Michael Sauer : The timeline. In: Hans-Jürgen Pandel / Gerhard Schneider (ed.): Handbook of media in history lessons. 3rd edition Schwalbach / Ts. 2005, pp. 197-210.