The Wikidata History Map is an interactive tool that visualizes historical events from Wikidata on a dynamic world map. By leveraging the vast database of Wikidata the map allows users to explore events ranging from ancient battles and natural disasters to political summits and cultural milestones - providing a unique way to see how history unfolds across time and space.
Each historical event is represented on the map by an icon corresponding to its type (e.g., battles, earthquakes, treaties), making it easy to identify different categories of historical occurrences at a glance.
How to Use the Map
Users can navigate the map by entering a specific date or date range (e.g., "1996," "1996 1," or "1996 1 26" for year, month, or day). A duration control adjusts the time span, while a limit control sets how many events appear on-screen. The interface includes buttons to jump to the previous or next time period, making it simple to browse through history chronologically. Hovering over an event marker displays a brief summary, while clicking on it opens a persistent popup with links to the corresponding Wikidata page - where you can also click through to read more about the event on Wikipedia.
Key Features
The map supports a wide variety of event types, each with a distinct icon—such as ⚔️ for battles, 🌋 for volcanic eruptions, and 🎭 for cultural events. Users can filter events by adjusting the date range and zooming into specific regions. The tool also remembers your last view settings, so returning users can pick up where they left off. Additionally, a help menu explains date formatting and navigation controls, making the tool accessible even to first-time users.
The Wikidata History Map joins a long list of interactive mapping projects that are dedicated to mapping the history of the world. Some of these include:
- Chronas is an interactive that map visualizes Wikipedia entries by date and by location and also shows country borders for different dates in history.
- TimeMap.org is an interactive, web‑based “Google Maps of History” created by MapTiler (the team behind OldMapsOnline and MapTiler.com). It allows you to see historical boundaries, country names, rulers, conflicts, and notable figures overlaid on a modern, zoomable map.
- OpenHistoricalMap - a community-driven, open online map project that lets users explore the world through time. This one doesn't map historical events as such - but reveals how cities and countries themselves change through time.