Poem
A bad night at the inn on the road to Brundisium
Horace, journey probably in the spring of 37 BCE; written soon after, The road from Rome to Brundisium
Latin
Travel account
The Great Khan's post houses
Marco Polo, dictated in 1298; about what Polo saw in China between about 1275 and 1291, Canbalu (Khanbaliq)
Old French
Travel account
Taking the waters at Bath
Fiennes, an undated visit before 1702, perhaps on one of her early journeys; written up about 1702; first printed 1888, Bath
English
Description
The Rooms of the Tremont House
Eliot, 1830, on the hotel opened in October 1829, Boston
English
Travel account
A free ticket on the first pleasure cruise
Thackeray, voyage of 1844; preface and book published 1846, Off Cape Finisterre and Vigo Bay
English
Travel account
The Program of the Grand Pleasure Excursion
Twain, programme dated February 1, 1867; book published 1869, New York
English
Literature
Karlsefni and Gudrid in Vinland
Saga of the Greenlanders, events of about 1000–1010; written down in the 1300s; copied in 1387, Vinland
Old Norse
Literature
Trade and Battle at Hóp
Saga of Erik the Red, events of about 1005–1010; written in the later 1200s; the oldest copy about 1310, Hóp, in Vinland
Old Norse
Letter
News of the First Voyage
Columbus, dated February 15, 1493, At sea, off the Azores
SpanishChecked
Letter
The Second Voyage Reaches the Islands of the Caribs
Chanca, written on Hispaniola, probably early 1494, Guadeloupe (the Spaniards’ Guadalupe; Karukera)
Spanish
Treatise
A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (Opening)
Las Casas, written 1542, printed 1552, Hispaniola (La Española)
Spanish
Report
The Images in the Field
Pané, written about 1496–1498 (events of about 1495–1497); printed in Italian, 1571, Hispaniola (La Española)
Italian
Letter
The First Meeting at Porto Seguro, 1500
Caminha, written April 26 to May 1, 1500, Porto Seguro
Portuguese
Letter
The Great Market of Tenochtitlan
Cortés, dated October 30, 1520; printed at Seville, 1522, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
Spanish
History
The Mexica Embassy and the Smallpox in Michoacán
Relación de Michoacán, compiled about 1539–1541, Tzintzuntzan
Spanish
History
The Smallpox in Mexico, 1520
Sahagún, compiled from the 1550s to the 1570s, Mexico-Tenochtitlan
Spanish
Annals
The Pestilence at Iximche
Xahil family annals, events of the early 1520s (Brinton dates the king’s death to 1521); written down later in the sixteenth century, Iximche
Kaqchikel
Narrative
Naked and Starving on the Gulf Coast
Cabeza de Vaca, printed 1542, Malhado (“Isle of Misfortune”)
Spanish
History
Inca Storehouses and the Palaces of Tumebamba
Cieza de León, printed at Seville, 1553, Tumebamba
Spanish
Travel account
Winter at Stadacona and the Cedar Cure
Cartier, events of December 1535 to April 1536; printed 1545, Stadacona, and the French fort on the Sainte-Croix River
French
History
The Lady of Cofitachequi, 1540
Gentleman of Elvas, printed 1557, Cofitachequi (Cutifachiqui)
Portuguese
History
The Bison Plains and the People Who Follow the Herds
Castañeda, written in the 1560s, more than twenty years after the events; surviving copy dated 1596, The Llano Estacado and the southern plains
Spanish
Literature
The People Made of Maize
Popol Vuh, a creation story; written down in Latin letters probably in the 1500s; the surviving copy made about 1700–1715, K’iche’ kingdom, highland Guatemala
K’iche’
Travel account
Making Manioc Flour in a Tupinambá Village
Léry, printed 1578, revised 1580, Guanabara Bay
French
Travel account
Bloody Point and the Two Captives
Best, events of late July and early August 1577; printed 1578, Frobisher's "strait" (Frobisher Bay), Meta Incognita
English
Report
The Sickness That Followed the English
Harriot, events of 1585–1586; first printed London 1588, reprinted Frankfurt 1590, Roanoke Island and the towns around it
English
Travel account
Into the Orinoco Delta
Raleigh, events of May 1595; printed London 1596, The mouths of the Orinoco
English
Treatise
How the Angola Trade Fed Cartagena
Sandoval, first printed 1627; this text from the second edition, 1647, Cartagena de Indias
Spanish
Travel account
Champlain Fights beside the Algonquin and Wendat
Champlain, events of late July 1609; printed 1613, The western shore of Lake Champlain, near Ticonderoga
French
Travel account
The Mi'kmaq and the French, and the Sickness among Them
Biard, printed 1616, Port-Royal, Acadia
French
History
The First Winter and Squanto's Corn
Bradford, events of January–spring 1621; written about 1630–1650, New Plymouth (Patuxet)
English
Dictionary
Corn, Land, and the Women's Fields
Williams, printed London 1643, from Williams's years among the Narragansett from the early 1630s, Narragansett country
English
Travel account
The Wendat Feast of the Dead
Brébeuf, events of spring 1636 (the Monday after Pentecost); written 1636, printed 1637, Ossossané, in Wendake (the Huron country)
French
Travel account
A Winter of Famine by Lake Superior
Radisson, events of the winter of 1659–1660; written about 1668–1669, The country southwest of Lake Superior
English
History
The Death of the Tattooed Serpent
Le Page du Pratz, printed 1758, The Natchez villages, near Fort Rosalie
French
Journal
A Visit to the Great Camp on the Plains
Henday, October 13–16, 1754, The great Archithinue camp
English
Memoir
Peace in the Town-House at Chota
Timberlake, events of December 1761; printed at London, 1765, Chote (Chota), Overhill Cherokee towns
English
Travel account
Trading with the Tlingit at Lituya Bay
La Pérouse, written 1786, printed 1797, Port des Français (Lituya Bay)
French
Kitchen, Farm and Fable
Recipes, farm work, animals, fables and lessons in Greek, Latin, Chinese and Japanese
About this collection ›Recipes
Roman recipes
Apicius, Compiled about 300–500 from older recipes; the surviving manuscripts were copied in the 800s, The Roman Empire
LatinChecked
Keeping Time
How people named the months and days, fixed the year and kept a diary
About this collection ›Dialogue
Where the months got their names
Macrobius, early fifth century CE; the dialogue is set in the 380s, Rome
LatinChecked
Manual
What to do on the farm each month
Tusser, 1580 edition; first printed, as a hundred points, in 1557, Cattiwade, Suffolk
Early Modern EnglishChecked
Diary
A diary for every day of the year
Pepys, January 1660 to June 1669, written day by day, London
Early Modern EnglishChecked
History
The Plague at Athens, and Pericles Answers the Athenians
Thucydides, after 430 BCE, Athens
GreekChecked
Memoir
The Plague at My Country House, and a Life for a Life
Aelius Aristides, early 170s CE, Smyrna (modern İzmir) and Aristides' country house outside the city
GreekChecked
Medical
Preface to the Treatise on Cold Damage
Zhang Zhongjing, c. 200–206, Han China
Classical ChineseChecked
Essay
Discourse on Epidemic Qi, and a Brother's Letter
Cao Zhi, 217 or soon after, Han China
Classical ChineseChecked
Sermon
The Plague as a Test: A Bishop's Sermon at Carthage
Cyprian, c. 252–253, Carthage, Roman North Africa (modern Tunisia)
LatinChecked
Annals
The Great Epidemic of 735–737
Shoku Nihongi, 735–737 (entries); compiled by 797, Heijō-kyō (Nara), Japan
Classical ChineseChecked
Government order
How to Care for the Sick in the Epidemic of 737
Council of State, 737, Heijō-kyō (Nara), Japan
Classical ChineseChecked
Essay
The Plague Goes Town by Town
Ibn al-Wardi, 1348 (the essay); the chronicle entries 1346–1349, Aleppo
Arabic
Chronicle
The Plague Comes to Messina and Catania
Anonymous of Catania, after April 1348, Messina and Catania, Sicily
LatinChecked
Chronicle
The Plague in the Bishop of Rochester’s Household
William Dene, soon after the events of 1348–1349, Rochester, Kent, England
LatinChecked
Chronicle
I Buried My Five Children with My Own Hands
Agnolo di Tura, 1348 or soon after, Siena
Italian
Letter
Engrafting against Smallpox
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, April 1, 1717 (Old Style); published 1763, Adrianople
English
Pamphlet
What the Africans of Boston Knew about Inoculation
Cotton Mather and Zabdiel Boylston, 1721, Boston
English
Memoir
Remembering the Yellow Fever of 1793
Samuel Breck, written 1830 or later (events of 1793); published 1877, Philadelphia
English
History
Philadelphia in Terror, 1793
Mathew Carey, November 1793, during the last weeks of the epidemic, Philadelphia
English
Pamphlet
We Have Seen More Humanity: An Answer to Carey
Absalom Jones and Richard Allen, January 1794, Philadelphia
English
Government report
The Plague Act and the House Searches, Bombay 1897
Government of India (R. Nathan, compiler), 1898, Bombay
English
Letter
Why Single Out One? A Scientist on Typhoid Mary
W. P. Mason, July 1909, North Brother Island, New York
English
Pamphlet
The Government Explains the Flu, 1918
U.S. Public Health Service, September 28, 1918, Washington
English
Literature
The Dream: a journey to the Moon
Johannes Kepler, Written in Prague about 1609; notes added 1620–30; published 1634, Frankfurt
LatinChecked
Literature
Greenhouses in Orbit
Tsiolkovsky, Written January–April 1917; printed in part in Priroda i liudi, 1918, and in full at Kaluga, 1920, Kaluga
RussianChecked
Statement
Signing the National Aeronautics and Space Act
Dwight D. Eisenhower, July 29, 1958, Washington
EnglishChecked
The Story of English
Everyday English from the Old English schoolroom to Shakespeare's farm
About this collection ›Annals
A year in a sentence: entries from the Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, entries for 802–1154; the Peterborough copy written about 1121–1155, Peterborough
Old EnglishChecked
Recipes
Recipes from the king's kitchen
Richard II's cooks, about 1390, as Pegge dated the roll, London
Middle EnglishChecked
English
Latin script
Spanish
Latin script
Latin
Latn script
French
Latin script
Classical Chinese
Han script
Italian
Latin script
Ancient Greek
Greek script
Arabic
Arabic script
Old Norse
Latin script
Portuguese
Latin script
German
Latin script
Early Modern English
Latn script
Russian
Cyrillic script
Old English and early Middle English
Latn script
Franco-Italian
Latin script
Middle English
Latn script
Kaqchikel
Latin script
K’iche’ Maya
Latin script
Japanese
Japanese script
London
Northern Europe
Paris
Western Europe
Philadelphia
Northern America
Rome
Southern Europe
Hispaniola (La Española)
Caribbean
Boston
Northern America
Han China
East Asia
Heijō-kyō (Nara)
East Asia
Florence
Southern Europe
Parma
Southern Europe
Mexico-Tenochtitlan
Central America
New York
Northern America
Washington
Northern America
Athens
Southern Europe
The road from Rome to Brundisium
Southern Europe
Smyrna
Western Asia
Carthage
North Africa
The Roman Empire
Southern Europe
Monte Cassino
Southern Europe
Constantinople
Southeastern Europe
Peterborough
Northern Europe
Vinland
Northern America
Hóp, in Vinland
Northern America
Canbalu (Khanbaliq)
East Asia
Aleppo
Western Asia
Messina
Southern Europe
Rochester
Northern Europe
Siena
Southern Europe
Italy
Southern Europe
Damascus
Western Asia
Tunis
North Africa
At sea, off the Azores
Southern Europe
Guadeloupe (the Spaniards’ Guadalupe; Karukera)
Caribbean
Porto Seguro
South America
Lake Guatavita
South America
Tzintzuntzan
Central America
Iximche
Central America
Malhado (“Isle of Misfortune”)
Northern America
Tumebamba
South America
Stadacona, and the French fort on the Sainte-Croix River
Northern America
Cofitachequi (Cutifachiqui)
Northern America
The Llano Estacado and the southern plains
Northern America
Yucatán
Central America
Arauco
South America
K’iche’ kingdom, highland Guatemala
Central America
Uwattibi (Ubatuba)
South America
Guanabara Bay
South America
Cattiwade, Suffolk
Northern Europe
Frobisher's "strait" (Frobisher Bay), Meta Incognita
Northern America
Roanoke Island and the towns around it
Northern America
The mouths of the Orinoco
South America
Cartagena de Indias
South America
Frankfurt
Western Europe
The western shore of Lake Champlain, near Ticonderoga
Northern America
Port-Royal, Acadia
Northern America
New Plymouth (Patuxet)
Northern America
Narragansett country
Northern America
Ossossané, in Wendake (the Huron country)
Northern America
The Amazon River
South America
Suzhou
East Asia
The country southwest of Lake Superior
Northern America
Bath
Northern Europe
Adrianople
Southeastern Europe
The Natchez villages, near Fort Rosalie
Northern America
Beijing
East Asia
The great Archithinue camp
Northern America
Chote (Chota), Overhill Cherokee towns
Northern America
Port des Français (Lituya Bay)
Northern America
Boldino
Eastern Europe
Off Cape Finisterre and Vigo Bay
Southern Europe
Bombay
Southern Asia
North Brother Island, New York
Northern America
Munich
Western Europe
Camp Devens
Northern America
Kaluga
Eastern Europe
Seattle
Northern America
Tokyo
East Asia
Houston
Northern America
Classical
600 BCE–600
Post-classical
600–1450
Early modern
1450–1750
Modern
1750–1900
Contemporary
since 1900
Northern America
Americas
Southern Europe
Europe
Northern Europe
Europe
South America
Americas
East Asia
Asia
Western Europe
Europe
Central America
Americas
Caribbean
Americas
Western Asia
Asia
North Africa
Africa
Southeastern Europe
Europe
Eastern Europe
Europe
Southern Asia
Asia
Travel account
History
Literature
Letter
Medical
Memoir
Chronicle
Treatise
Poem
Essay
Annals
Report
Pamphlet
Poster
Manual
Sermon
Recipes
Description
Diary
Dialogue
Rule
Government order
Note
Natural history
Narrative
Dictionary
Journal
Government report
Statement
Speech
Petrarch
Thucydides
Cato
Censorinus
Macrobius
Horace
Aelius Aristides
Zhang Zhongjing
Cao Zhi
Cyprian
Apicius
Benedict
Procopius
Shoku Nihongi
Council of State
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Saga of the Greenlanders
Saga of Erik the Red
Marco Polo
Matteo Villani
Ibn al-Wardi
Anonymous of Catania
William Dene
Jean de Venette
Agnolo di Tura
Boccaccio
Ibn Battuta
Ibn Khaldun
Richard II's cooks
Columbus
Chanca
Las Casas
Pané
Caminha
Rodríguez Freyle
Oviedo
Cortés
Relación de Michoacán
Sahagún
Xahil family annals
Cabeza de Vaca
Cieza de León
Cartier
Gentleman of Elvas
Castañeda
Landa
Ercilla
Popol Vuh
Staden
Léry
Tusser
Best
Harriot
Raleigh
Sandoval
Johannes Kepler
Champlain
Biard
Bradford
Williams
Brébeuf
Acuña
Wu Youxing
Radisson
Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Fiennes
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Cotton Mather and Zabdiel Boylston
Edmund Massey
Le Page du Pratz
Wu Qian
Henday
Timberlake
Brillat-Savarin
La Pérouse
Benjamin Rush
Samuel Breck
Mathew Carey
Absalom Jones and Richard Allen
Edward Jenner
Eliot
Pushkin
Thackeray
John Snow
Zola
Twain
Edward Everett Hale
Government of India (R. Nathan, compiler)
W. P. Mason
Abel Faivre
Fritz Erler
James Montgomery Flagg
Victor C. Vaughan
Tsiolkovsky
U.S. Public Health Service
Louis Dechmann
Kikuchi Kan
Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy
Natural Earth
Getting around
- /
- Search
- M T L G
- Map, Timeline, List or Gallery
- F
- Filters
- Esc
- Close a menu or card
- ← → + −
- Move and zoom the map or timeline
- ?
- This help
Drag the handles on the years bar to narrow the years; the colored marks show when sources were made. On the timeline, dragging and zooming do the same, the lanes follow Sort and group, and a number stands for several sources close together: choose it to zoom in. Every view is kept in the address, so you can bookmark or share it.
No sources match all of these filters.


