Examples of good online timelines?

December 17, 2010 9:38 AM

What are some good examples of timelines you've seen online? Bonus points for those that aren't flash based. We're looking at creating a timeline covering approximately two hundred years in about fifty pictures with captions. Give us some design inspiration before the Holidays.
posted by advicepig to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Just because someone had to:
xkcd's Lord of the Rings narrative timeline.
posted by canine epigram at 9:43 AM on December 17, 2010

It's pretty simple design, but I'm rather fond of the submarine history timeline. There are two or three more that follow on from the end of that one - links at the bottom.
posted by Ahab at 10:02 AM on December 17, 2010

Javascript one from Good Magazine about Prop 8
Flash one from MacDowell Colony (not the most user friendly, but I imagine this is the look you're going for?)
Fancy one about breakfast cereals
Flash one from BBC about British history
posted by jng at 10:09 AM on December 17, 2010

Heilbrunn timeline of art history
posted by fire&wings at 10:51 AM on December 17, 2010

Apple history, created with Capzles
FGCU
posted by sleepcrime at 12:06 PM on December 17, 2010

Here is one on British history
posted by MighstAllCruckingFighty at 12:17 PM on December 17, 2010

Minard's map of Napoleon's Russian campaign may not quite be a timeline, since it sort of conflates time and location, but it is a classic of information visualisation and still studied in university-level viz courses.
posted by d. z. wang at 1:03 PM on December 17, 2010

This isn't a timeline strictly speaking, but it's the same concept (and an awesome presentation): Atlantis
posted by ella wren at 3:21 PM on December 17, 2010

I did an interesting timeline for a New York Architecture exhibition in PHP/Wordpress and Javascript/JQuery. Draggable, editable via WP, with links in each cell to edit.

New New York 2010 (click on "the city we imagined" link)
posted by Invoke at 3:38 PM on December 17, 2010

Simile Timeline
posted by signal at 4:44 PM on December 17, 2010