What are the big turning points of the history of the universe?
• Big Bang: 13.73 billion years ago. +/- 100 million years. • Formation of galaxies and stars: 13 billion years ago. The first stars are hydrogen and helium only. • Death of stars: Important because a dying star creates the higher elements of matter and these shoot out. 12 billion years ago. • Creation of our solar system: 4.6 billion years ago. Our star formed out of the dust of an earlier explosion often called Tiamat. • Emergence of life, Evolution of life, Formation of life, Development of life (it is unadvisable to call it creation as this would imply a creator): 3.8 billion years. Single-cell bacteria arose first. • Origins of Homo Sapiens: 200,000 thousand years ago. This number keeps moving. Some authorities have said 100,000 years. • Development of agriculture and civilization: 8,000 years ago. • Fossil Fuel usage and industrialization, the Industrial Revolution: 200 years ago. The Montessori School system has adopted the Big History system in their curriculum using books such
