3 September 2026

Where does it belong?

Johannes Gutenberg German inventor and craftsman

4000 BC2000 BC02000

Stretched by how much of it anyone can name

2,700 years

2,444 years

Johannes GutenbergYour guess500 BC

Thebesdated 3200 BC

the Charter of the United Nationsdated 1945

Arrows nudge. Page Up and Page Down move in jumps. Home and End go to either end.

Thebes ancient Egyptian city

Charter of the United Nations foundational treaty of the United Nations

Move the tag to where you think it belongs, then drop it.

Try another

How did these surviving forms of writing fit across deep time?

A Theban funerary manuscript, Gutenberg’s printing work and the United Nations Charter are selected orientation points, not a claim that one caused the next.

c. 1250 BC to 24 Oct 1945: about 3,194 years. This is the span the dated records below cover.

The game places Thebes at 3200 BC, the date its record gives for the city. This explanation starts later, with a manuscript made at Thebes in about 1250 BC, because it follows surviving writing rather than the city itself.

This expands the highlighted stretch of the timeline above. Each event sits at its date: a dot is a known date, a diamond an approximate one, and a bar a range of possible years.

Years before AD 1 are marked BC. There was no year zero: 1 BC was followed by AD 1, and every span on this site is counted that way.

1393 to 1403 Gutenberg is born in Mainz
Later archival evidence narrows Gutenberg’s birth to a ten-year range.
Estimated date: 1393 to 1403. The archive says his birth date is unknown and derives this range from later records.
Source: Göttingen State and University Library
1454 to 1455 The Gutenberg Bible is printed
Gutenberg and Johannes Fust produce a large-format typographic Bible in Mainz.
Estimated date: 1454 to 1455. The Library of Congress dates production to 1454 or 1455.
Source: Library of Congress
12 Mar 1455 A letter reports the new Bibles
A dated letter reports that Bible sections were being shown and buyers had been found.
Source: Library of Congress
25 Apr 1945 The San Francisco conference opens
Delegates of 50 nations begin work on the Charter and the court statute.
Source: United Nations
25 Jun 1945 Delegates adopt the Charter
Delegates unanimously adopt the Charter before its signing the next day.
Source: United Nations
26 Jun 1945 Representatives sign the Charter
Representatives sign the negotiated text in San Francisco.
Source: United Nations Treaty Collection

Endpoint sources: British Museum; United Nations Treaty Collection

What these are

Thebes

ancient Egyptian city

Thebes is an ancient city, an archaeological site and an emporium dating to 3200 BC. Its location is recorded as Egypt, Luxor Governorate and Qena Governorate.

Charter of the United Nations

1945 foundational treaty of the United Nations

The Charter of the United Nations is a constitutive treaty, a charter and an articles of association dating to 1945. Its location is recorded as United States.

Johannes Gutenberg

German inventor and craftsman (1400-1468)

Johannes Gutenberg was an inventor, a typographer and an engraver who lived from 1400 to 1468, a span of 68 years. Recorded as a citizen of Holy Roman Empire. The field of work on record is inventor.

0 people have guessed so far. The crowd's answer is revealed once 50 more have.

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How to read this

Two dates are already on the line. A third is on the tag. Drag it to where you think it goes, then drop it.

The true date appears where it belongs, and a band opens between the two: its width is how far out you were. Every mark says what its date measures, because they are not all alike: a person is a lifespan, a mission is a launch, a town is when it was settled.

Once enough people have played, the crowd’s marker joins them, showing where most people put it. Those are people who chose to play a game about time, so read it as what history enthusiasts think rather than as what everyone thinks.

Most people place things too recently. The further back something is, the more it collapses toward everything else back there. It is called the telescoping effect, and it is what this is about.