Historical outline.

Every reconstructed minute, arranged in time. 1876–1989. Hover a card for the file, click to open.

1. ── 1876
   10 MARCH 1876Around 4 p.m. · 5 Exeter Place, Boston, MA

   Bell → Watson

   Two rooms. One wire. Acid on a shirt-front.

   INVENTIONSIndustrial AgeENTER →
2. ── 1903
   17 DECEMBER 190310:35 local · Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, NC

   Wright Brothers · Kitty Hawk

   A wooden frame on a beach. In sixty seconds, gravity loses.

   INVENTIONSIndustrial AgeENTER →
3. ── 1912
   14 APRIL 191223:39 ship time · North Atlantic, 41°46′N 50°14′W

   RMS Titanic

   The ocean looks calm. The warning has not yet been given.

   DISASTERSIndustrial AgeENTER →
4. ── 1954
   6 MAY 195418:00 BST · Iffley Road Track, Oxford

   Bannister · Iffley Road

   A crosswind. A medical student. A barrier doctors said would kill him.

   SPORTS20th CenturyENTER →
5. ── 1969
   20 JULY 196920:16:40 UTC · Sea of Tranquility, Moon

   Apollo 11 · Tranquility Base

   They are seconds away from leaving Earth changed forever.

   EXPLORATION20th CenturyENTER →
6. ── 1989
   9 NOVEMBER 198923:29 CET · Bornholmer Straße crossing, East Berlin

   Fall of the Berlin Wall

   One officer, one crowd, one confused press conference — sixty seconds from history.

   WAR & POLITICS20th CenturyENTER →