While online resources such as Wikipedia provide quick and easy access to historical information, the vast quantity of facts and figures can make the browsing process overwhelming. Viewed out of direct context, it's also easy to miss the subtle and overt connections that link historical events and actors across time and space. Understandably, then, readers and members of the Scout staff alike were quickly enamored with Histography. This interactive timeline categorizes and contextualizes important historical events, providing instant access to billions of years of history.
Histography stands as a shining example of the exciting ways that web technology can make learning fun. Originally created as Matan Stauber's final project at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, the editorial stories and interactive timeline take readers into historical events that span an epic time frame, from the Big Bang to just a few months ago. Drawing from Wikipedia's seemingly infinite stash of entries, Histography self-updates daily so that readers never miss out on new interpretations of old events, or on the new events that are shaping the world today. The display is reminiscent of a sound wave; entries are ordered chronologically from left to right, increasing in quantity around certain pivotal points in history. Hovering over each black dot reveals the corresponding Wiki Page, Related Events, and even Video clips when available, while resizing the scale at the bottom of the timeline expands or narrows the focus, sharing entries that cover decades, centuries, and even millennia. Thematic timelines have also been created for certain topics, such as Literature, Music, Wars, Politics, Women's Rights, and others. From the fall of the Kanem Empire (in 1387) to the composition of the first blues song (in 1912), educators and the general reader alike will find much on the site to engage and intellectually enliven conversations of all kinds.
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