A history timeline that puts historical events into perspective for family historians

If you’re like the family historian or genealogist in most families, you’ve worked long and hard to gather information about your ancestors and you love telling stories about all of your great finds. But have you also answered the question of “what was the world like during each person’s lifetime" so that you can include that in your interesting stories as well.  What historical, financial, and military events, inventions, and advances in communication, medicine, and transportation were taking place and shaping everyone's lives?  Do you have these revealing answers stored with your genealogy data so that they are ready to be shared and enjoyed by your children, grandchildren, and other family members?  If not, you may be missing a golden opportunity to have fun and enrich the lives of your family whenever the subject of family history comes up.

Being aware of the events that occurred during a person’s lifetime adds a great deal of value to your research and the interesting and insightful stories you like to tell.  Broadening your knowledge of U.S. history and being aware of what life was like in the past creates the basis for some very interesting discussions among family members as well.  We believe you'll find our history timeline series to be fun to read, a great asset to any storyteller, and a valuable addition to your history and genealogy research collection.

But beyond the hours of enjoyment and lots of new information of the type you like to have in your arsenal for family history storytelling, there is nothing more gratifying and heart-warming than hearing your children or grandchildren say "I want to be as good of a storyteller as you are when I grow up.". This is what we hope you'll get the most of as a result of owning our history timeline product. Like hugs and kisses, it's impossible to put a value on those few precious words and the feelings they evoke when you hear them, but in the end, that's what counts the most.

Enjoy history and discover the facts you want to know in a fun, interesting, and easy way!

All of us who have been bitten by the genealogy bug share the same desire - to enable our descendants to better understand our lives and those who came before us.  But, very few of us have the luxury of time to read all of the history books necessary to get the basic answers that we're really in search of as genealogists and family historians. In our first to be released History Timeline Volume #4 covering the years 1910 through 2011, you'll discover thousands of facts which will provide answers to questions as basic as when did you, your parents, or your grandparents:

• Have indoor plumbing or even toilet paper on a roll as basic conveniences
• Have sliced bread and a toaster to toast it in, or TV dinners and a microwave
• Have a ballpoint pen, touch-tone phone, email, or a cell phone to communicate with
• Have radio, TV, 45's, LP's, a transistor radio, 8-track tape, a Sony Walkman, or a VCR for entertainment

But our timeline of useful facts doesn't just contain information about inventions, even though the dates for many of them will amaze you. Each year is also packed with information about what was happening in each of the following twelve categories:

Why are our history timelines so unique?

Click above to download the foreword. Requires Acrobat X (10) reader

Really great storytellers love to have an endless arsenal of colorful and interesting information that they can easily weave into the fabric of the subject matter they love talking about most. We believe you'll find our history timelines totally unique because as family historians, history buffs, and avid storytellers ourselves, we've included the types of information and events that you and other family members will find the most fun, useful and interesting.  It's not just information; it's history in perspective to other events that were shaping life at the same time. By combining twelve different subject categories together in a single timeline covering 100 years, you'll be able to easily see the short and long-term changes and trends that influenced your ancestor's lives.  As Goldilocks might say - it's not over-done, it's not under-done, it's just right!

It's a wonderful and easy-to-understand reference tool to help you better understand and describe what life was like when you or your parents or grandparents were growing up.  All of the meaningful events, discoveries, inventions, and conveniences of the time are laid out chronologically to make your storytelling easier.  No single book or history timeline that we researched contains all of this information.  Our timelines are a compilation of research from hundreds of sources which have been painstakingly condensed down to give you a clear and concise overview of history during any time period.  Many of the short entries will probably spark your interest to learn even more about some of the events.

While there are many history timelines available, none are as complete or cover such a broad range of subjects in an easy-to-read format.  Most are narrowly focused in their content while some are utterly boring because of all of the facts and events that are included.  Most importantly, none lend themselves to the type of brief and interesting information that family historians and storytellers want to own.

You'll enjoy and be amazed at all of the facts and events that you never knew or have long forgotten.  As you review volume 4 and get a feel for the rapid pace of development and invention going on throughout the past century, not only will you be astounded, you will also be left wondering where is all of this heading. Two things are for certain.  It has been a slow methodical process that your ancestors were a part of, and there will be countless more changes, discoveries, and inventions in the future that will continue to come at an increasingly rapid pace.

Broaden your history and genealogy research collection today and become the storyteller everyone loves to listen to with Volume 4 today!

We are now releasing volume 4 of our history timeline collection covering the years 1910 though 2011.  Volumes 1-3, which will cover the years 1607 through 1909 in 100 year increments, will be released later.

Volume 4 is definitely a nostalgic view of history for readers of all ages because we can all relate to part of it. You'll see the 20th century unfold and evolve in a way you've never before experienced. Your ancestor's lives take on an interesting new perspective when they are viewed against a backdrop of history and innovation that is chronologically laid out in an easy-to-read fashion.

These are things that directly impacted the quality of life - not just obscure historical facts. As you travel across the timelines, you'll walk away with a greater appreciation of the hardships your ancestors faced when compared with life today. The significance of their hardships and accomplishments becomes even more meaningful when you understand the historical events that were happening at the time.

If you're like most family historians and want to know not just who your ancestors were, but also what the world was like during their lifetimes, we hope you’ll enjoy this easy & concise guide to U.S. history. Not only will you and your family enjoy the historical insights and nostalgia now, but it is something that future generations will enjoy as well. So treat yourself to a really fun genealogy product today that will put your colorful storytelling back into high gear. Volume 4 is a trip down memory lane that your whole family will enjoy!

Click above to view a sample page. Requires Acrobat X (10) reader.

What formats are the history timelines available in?

Our U.S. history timelines are available in both digital PDF and print format as shown below. You can choose between the 105-page book layout in PDF format, the long single-sheet chart in PDF format, or the printed version in chart format which measures 2 feet tall by 16 feet wide. The content of each version is identical. You can take a look at this sample page from our book to get a better idea of what's on each page. You can print either of the PDF files on your own if you'd like.

Ordering either of the PDF history timeline versions

The graphic on the left below shows a small 10-year sampling of the history timeline chart in its single-page layout so you can see its basic layout and organization. The actual full chart in its printed form measures 2 feet tall by 16 feet wide. In its digital format, you can easily scroll through the years and zoom in or zoom out at your convenience.  Excluding column and row headings, the chart has 12 rows of information and 102 columns of years which you can scroll across at your leisure. By clicking on the graphic to the right (below), you can also download a sample page from 1954 for a preview of how each year's information is presented in the 105-page digital PDF book format. All of the information is the same in both the 105-page digital book format, the single-sheet digital chart format, and the actual printed chart.

You will need the free Adobe Acrobat X (Acrobat 10) reader for PDF files to open these documents. Previous versions or competing versions of Adobe Acrobat will not work. Download the free Adobe Acrobat 10 reader now.

Ordering the printed timeline chart

The gorgeous printed version of volume 4 gives you the ability to scan across longer periods of time instantly and also allows several people to gather around your history timeline together. It's a wonderful conversation starter when it is displayed near a family tree chart. It measures 2 feet tall by 16 feet wide and is printed on 24 lb. bright white paper.  The font size is 9 pt. This printed version of volume 4 sells for $99.00 plus $24.00 S&H via USPS Priority Mail. The printed version of our history timeline chart comes rolled up in a very attractive and durable polystyrene storage tube with end caps which will keep it safe for years to come.  Although we routinely print and ship genealogy charts to numerous customers around the globe, at the current time we are only shipping our history timeline charts to U.S. addresses.

Contact us if you have questions

Please call us at 630-653-8400 or e-mail us at timeline@ancestryprinting.com if you have any questions about our history timeline offerings.