World History Project - Origins (beta)

On Demand

Era 1: Our Big History (13.82 billion years ago to the future)

Human history started billions of years before humans existed. It may sound like a riddle, but using scales and frames to understand the various contexts of our past will show how...

Khan Academy

On Demand

Era 2: Early Humans (250,000 years BP to 3,000 BCE)

In humans’ 250,000 year history, farming is a very recent development. What caused us to stop looking for food and start making it? What were the many, many consequences of this...

Khan Academy

On Demand

Era 3: Cities, Societies, and Empires (6,000 BCE to 700 CE)

Like farming, the idea of a “city” is another one that’s been around so long, we forget something caused the first cities to appear. The consequences? Class differences, portable...

Khan Academy

On Demand

Era 4: Regional Webs (200 to 1500 CE)

Societies generally grow and expand. What can we learn when they collapse? How do we restructure after a plague or a political failure? Era 4 also shines light on the so-called...

Khan Academy

On Demand

Era 5: The First Global Age (1200 to 1750 CE)

We’ve arrived at what many consider one of the most important turning points in history, when the world became globally interconnected for the first time. What changed and what...

Khan Academy

On Demand

Era 6: The Long Nineteenth Century (1750 to 1914 CE)

You might expect a 164-year period called “the long nineteenth century” to feel like a long time. But democracy, industry, imperialism, and a growing human population meant change...

Khan Academy

On Demand

Era 7: The Great Convergence and Divergence (1880 CE to the future)

This era begins when cars were new, and it ends when… well, it’s really still going today! So it’s time to think about what connects and what divides us. And it’s time to figure...

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