Timeline Project Ideas

The hardest part of a timeline project is often choosing the subject. A good one has a clear start and end, enough documented dates to fill the timeline, and more than one strand of events you can show side by side. The ideas below are grouped by class, and each one suggests how to split the events into layers, which is what makes a timeline more than a list of dates.

Where we have an example timeline on the subject, it is linked so you can see how much material there is before you commit. Once you have picked, Timeline Projects for School walks through building the project and handing it in.

History

• A revolution. The American Revolution or the French Revolution, with one layer for political events, one for battles and one for the people who led them.
• A war from both sides. Give each side its own layer, so the timeline shows what one side was doing while the other made its moves. World War I and the Cold War both work well. Make a Comparative Timeline covers the setup.
• An ancient civilization. Ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia, with layers for rulers, buildings and wars. Most of the dates are BC, which Make a BC and AD Timeline explains.
• A hard decade. The Great Depression, split into the economy, government policy and everyday life.
• A trade route. The Silk Road, with a layer for each region along it. This one spans centuries, so expect to use years rather than exact dates.

Science and technology

• How a theory developed. Atomic Theory is a classic: one event per model of the atom, with a layer for the experiments that disproved each one.
• An invention. The printing press, photography or the internet. Use one layer for the technology and another for how people used it.
• A medical breakthrough. The history of vaccines, with the discoveries on one layer and the diseases they ended on another.
• Space exploration. The Space Race, with the United States and the Soviet Union on separate layers, or the Apollo Program mission by mission.

A person's life

A biography timeline works for almost any class. Pick someone whose life overlapped with major events, such as Marie Curie, Charles Darwin or Abraham Lincoln, and give their personal life, their work and the world around them a layer each. Make a Biography Timeline has more on what to include.

English, music and art

• The plot of a novel. Make a Book Report Timeline covers picking the events and handling books that never mention a date.
• A literary movement. Romanticism or the Harlem Renaissance, with the writers on one layer and their major works on another.
• A style of music. The history of jazz or rock and roll, with a layer for the artists and one for the recordings that changed the style.

Personal and family projects

• Your own life. A common assignment for younger students. Make a Timeline of Your Life covers laying out the homes, schools and milestones you remember.
• Your family's history. Interview a grandparent and give each branch of the family its own layer. Make a Family History Timeline covers what to include and how to handle dates you are not sure of.
• Something you already know well. A subject you care about is easier to research. The Olympic Games and the history of video games both have plenty of dates to work with.

Turning an idea into a project

Most of these subjects are too big to cover in full, so narrow them. "World War I" becomes "the war at sea, 1914 to 1918", and "the internet" becomes "the internet before 1995". A narrower subject gives you room to explain each event instead of just listing it.

Aim for somewhere between 8 and 15 events. The free plan allows up to 10 events on each timeline, which is enough for most class projects, and Plans and Pricing covers the paid plans if you need more.

If you still cannot decide, our history timelines collection covers more than 2,000 subjects. Pick one that catches your interest and check its dates against your own sources rather than copying it.