World History Timeline
Put events in order and see how one change led to the next.
World History Timeline helps students build a mental map of time. The first level shows a drawn timeline with five bands: Ancient, Classical, Medieval, Early modern and Modern. Students read a marked year, tap the band where an event belongs and put three events in order. Level 2 then works on the arithmetic of dates, such as which century a year falls in and how many years lie between a BCE date and a CE date.
Levels 3 to 7 walk through the ancient and classical world, the medieval world, the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, revolutions and empires, and the modern world. Questions ask which came first, who or what is described, what caused an event and what it led to. The final level mixes every period. All events and clues are short original sentences based on standard textbook facts.
What children practice
- Place an event in its era on a timeline
- Convert years into centuries, including BCE years and the missing year zero
- Find the years between two events on either side of year 1
- Order events from the ancient world through the medieval period
- Connect the Renaissance, the Reformation, exploration and the Enlightenment
- Trace revolutions, industrialization, imperialism, the world wars, the Cold War and decolonization as causes and effects
Levels
- Eras: Bands on the timeline
- Centuries: BCE, CE and years between
- Ancient and classical: To 500 CE
- Medieval world: 500 to 1500
- Renaissance to Enlightenment: 1450 to 1800
- Revolutions and empires: 1760 to 1914
- The modern world: 1914 to today
- Course mix: Everything
How it works
- Eight levels move forward in time from eras and centuries to the modern world, and Level 8 mixes all periods.
- Rounds include tapping a band on the timeline, putting event cards in order, choosing which came first, matching events to centuries, typing a number and picking a cause or an effect.
- To go on, a student needs five correct answers and a short practice timer at each level.
- The hints show how the date arithmetic works, and a correct answer is followed by a short note on the event.
Best for: A good fit for grades 9 to 12 in world history or global studies, and for students who know the stories but mix up the order.
Tip for parents: Draw a long line on paper and have your child add one event from every unit they have studied. Seeing the gaps and the overlaps makes the order easier to remember.
Questions parents ask
Why are some dates marked c.?
Historians disagree on those dates, so the game marks them with c. for circa. They are never used in questions about order, first or last, centuries or years between, which keeps every answer clear.
Are the five era bands official?
They are this game's own convention, and the band edges are printed on the picture so nobody has to guess. Era questions only use events well away from an edge.
How does the game handle BCE and CE?
Years before 1000 are shown as BCE or CE, and there is no year zero, so 1 BCE is followed by 1 CE. The hints spell out how to count across that gap.
Ready to try it?
World History Timeline is free with a parent account. A parent adds a child profile, and the child's progress is saved.