One thing that I've also wanted was to be able to reason about the total timeline using the Holocene calendar[1] instead of the standard BC/BCE AD/CE timeline. It makes it easier to internalize how long ago (or how recent) certain civilizations were without having to do the wrap-around math in one's head. Would be nice to be able to maybe toggle that view.
Is there a process to provide feedback and correct errors on the map?
If I look up the "Grand Duchy of Lithuania" on wikipedia, the years for the state do not match the data on the map. Is it because the data is disputed, or Wikipedia is wrong or there is a bug on the Timemap?
There is a mistake, The "Northern" is missing from the Republic of Northern Macedonia.
"Northern" was added to the name in 2019, before it was just Republic of Macedonia.
> "The Prespa agreement of June 2018 saw the country change its name to the "Republic of North Macedonia" eight months later." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Macedonia
I agree it probably makes sense for the map to use UN recognized names of the time for times the UN was around and had recognized names for. Whether or not it's the absolute best answer in a given situation... it at least provides a definitive source to defer to for the modern period where the most debates might come from. For more historic names other methods need to be used and blended to the modern names which is sure to be a treat of user debate :).
Most of the place names are clickable, with the notable exception of Israel (both Judah and Samariah) around 900 BC, and for Israel (the united monarchy) around 1000 BC. The mouse cursor changes shape, but nothing happens if you already have the Wikipedia panel open; if it's not already open, you get a blank panel. Broken link?
Israel/Samaria should probably point to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria), Judah to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah, Israel/united to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Israel_(united_mona....
We also would have some inputs on some of the short-lived territories in the U.S. West that were important and had a role in later regional development. How much do we need to substantiate the addition of a specific territory to the project? Aside from the "lost state of Franklin", there were territories like Jefferson/Colona, Huron, Lincoln, Shoshone and a number of others that pop up from the late 1850's up to the 1890's.
The situation is fairly complex.
Since this is intended as a historical map going beyond the Bronze Age, there weren't always a thing called a constitution or international law. So while this does apply to whether we call this polity, "Taiwan, ROC" or "ROC" or "Taiwan", whether something is constitutional or not will not always apply historically.
They way history is taught misses a lot of the context that only makes sense when you put it into a map like this one.
If you could somehow "open source" at least the data side of this, I'd be glad to contribute. I have a bunch of history books from ancient latino civilizations.
It would also be cool to have filters of pre history, Hunter Gatherer, Early Farming, Bronze age and so on!
Why are the boundaries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden not shown for the Kalmar Union? They are for England at Scotland in 1620 when they were under the personal union of James, (VI of Scotland I of England). What's the reason for the difference?
Also many historical treaties did not define borders to the level of detail they we are used to today.
(And this had geopolitical consequences, e.g., the invading Spanish could not cross some of the bodies of water present in the sixteen hundreds that are not there now.)
Which means that - Congratulations! This is only the beginning! There is so much to add, both in granularity, a year is not enough during some events. But also when it comes to geography. Or why not integrate it with google maps, to get an even more precise granularity in the 2000s when all of this accelerates.
But it is very impressive and a huge time sink to be mesmerized by!
Either way, good job! As a low key OSM contributor, this motivates me to contribute to the mapping, if data can be added by the public.
Ux is great but I got in a state in maps where I couldn’t get back the control at the top that lets you pick people/battles without refreshing the page.
Question, why Ferdinand III does not appear under people during 1200s on the Hispanic area?
He is arguably the most important historical figure during that time period:
- Unified Castille and Leon
- Lead the reconquest that resulted in what is Spain today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_III_of_Castile
EDIT:
He was the literally the directly responsible of the map changes during that era
This is a really project and really helpful to understand history. I noticed that several data points about the Portuguese Colonial Empire are wrong, is there any place where I can submit a ticket about it?
When the royal succession crisis took place in 1580, according to the blood line, the King of Spain was indeed the next in line but both Kingdoms remain independent, you can also find evidence of this in the name: King Philip III was called King Philip I in Portugal, the following one (Philip IV) was named the Philip II. In Timemap, when you check 1580, it shows the Portuguese territories with the Spanish royal flag, which is wrong because everyone understood back then that if Spain tried to dictated anything about the Portuguese overseas territories, this would be taken as a declaration of war. This is reason why the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed, Portugal and Spain divide the world and would not step on each other.
Also found things like Malacca, the flag is missing the dates of duration: 1511-1641 Same for Macau, the map states that the Portuguese rule ended in 1845 but in reality it only became independent in 1999. Many other important missing bits that, although technically they don't as territories, do represent groups, example: The city of Nagasaki was built/shaped by Portuguese merchants during 1511-1641 and was indeed under Portuguese administration during 1580-1586.
Among many other bits that would make this reply too long for HN.
We just launched TimeMap on Product Hunt: https://www.producthunt.com/posts/timemap If you find what we’re building valuable, an UPVOTE there would mean a lot.
Stanford University recently hosted an event to introduce TimeMap to the world, which you can check out here:
* Recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZspMtwYI98
* Event page: https://events.stanford.edu/event/the-future-of-history-disc...
The talk dives into how TimeMap was built, including our use of Linked Data, OpenHistoricalMaps, LLM pre-processing, indexing algorithms, and more. It also highlights amazing partner projects like Pelagios, TimeMachine, and our amazing partner institutions such as the David Rumsey Map Collection, British Library, ETH Zurich and many others.
TimeMap has been a dream project of mine for years — I’m thrilled to see it coming to life and would love to hear your thoughts or feedback!
For context: I’m also the founder of OpenMapTiles.org, a MapLibre.org board member, author of GDAL2Tiles, and contributor to other open-source projects. Currently, I’m serving as the CEO of MapTiler.com.
Looking forward to the discussion, and thank you for taking the time to check this out!