Interactive Timeline


Posted: 25 Jun 2025. Last modified on 07-Jul-25.

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Interactive Historical Timeline

This project provides a dynamic and interactive visualization of historical events using web technologies. It is designed to present chronological data in an organized and visually distinct manner.

Demo

Core Functionality

The timeline operates by processing structured historical data and rendering it into an interactive display. Key aspects include:

Setup and Execution

To deploy and execute this project, a standard web browser is the sole prerequisite.

  1. File Placement:
    • Save the primary HTML content, including embedded CSS (<style>) and JavaScript (<script>) tags, as index.html.
    • The timelineData JavaScript array, which contains all historical event information, must be saved as timelineData.js within the same directory as index.html.
    • The generateRandomCategoryColors JavaScript function should be saved as utils.js in the same directory.
    • Ensure index.html correctly references these external JavaScript files via <script src="timelineData.js"></script> followed by <script src="utils.js"></script>.
  2. Browser Launch: Open the index.html file using any compatible web browser. The timeline will render automatically upon loading.

Data Schema: timelineData

The timeline’s content is driven by the timelineData JavaScript array, structured as follows:

const timelineData = [
  {
    "category": "Main Event Grouping", // e.g., "Prominent Historical Figures"
    "events": [
      {
        "name": "Event Title",
        "start_year": 1776, // Integer year; negative values for BCE.
        "end_year": 1783,   // Integer year; identical to start_year for point events.
        "description": "Concise summary of the event.",
        "category": "Event Sub-Category" // Crucial for visual distinction via coloring.
      },
      // ... additional event objects
    ]
  },
  // ... additional main event groupings
];

Customization Guide

The project architecture supports straightforward modification and extension.