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The Practical Light Bulb（1880s gaslight-era engraving）

AccelerationFour-dimensional view148 years agoThe Electrical Age

1879

The Practical Light Bulb

Edison's team developed a long-lasting carbon-filament incandescent lamp.

Art style · 1880s gaslight-era engraving

Origin of Life on EarthDinosaurs and MammalsAI Agents
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Civilization metrics

Each sparkline shows the documented history of a metric on a logarithmic time axis. The dot marks the selected moment.

Kardashev index

0.606

Based on primary energy power · Type I = 1

World population

1.47Bpeople

1/6 of today

Total human primary energy power

1.1×10¹²W

1/18 of today

Compute per dollar

—

No reliable data yet · data begins 1945

Fastest delivery time for a message from London to New York

20 seconds

669 times slower than today

Fastest speed reached by humans

170km/h

1/235 of today

Near this moment

The eight closest milestones. Select a title to jump there.

  1. 1866-07-27Computing

    A permanent undersea cable entered service, under the slogan "From two weeks to two minutes." Source

  2. 1869-03-06Humanity

    Mendeleev presented his periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society and predicted undiscovered elements. Source

  3. 1876-03-10Computing

    Bell transmitted speech by telephone for the first time. Source

  4. 1879Energy

    Edison's team developed a long-lasting carbon-filament incandescent lamp. Source

  5. 1882-03-24Humanity

    Koch announced that tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium, establishing the germ theory of disease. Source

  6. 1882-09-04Energy

    Edison's Pearl Street Station began supplying electricity to customers in Manhattan. Source

  7. 1886-01-29Energy

    Karl Benz patented a three-wheeled car powered by an internal combustion engine. Source

  8. 1890Computing

    The US Census processed its data with Hollerith's tabulating machines. Source

Capabilities

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Scenes across eras

Each era illustrated in its own style.

Every timeline entry cites its source. Metrics interpolate logarithmically between sourced data points. Forecasts include institutional and community views, and attributed site scenarios; years are not guaranteed realization dates. Illustrations are AI-generated in each era's style.