A look at how the human race has survived throughout the ages.
On a unique planet, a unique species takes its first steps: Mankind begins. Threatened by extinction, we innovate to survive, and from humble beginnings we become the dominant creature on the planet.
Empires fall, but out of the chaos we discover iron and establish a new world order. From the birth of democracy in Athens to the creation of the Bible in Babylon, people power reshapes mankind.
The crucifixion of Jesus gives birth to global religion as the Roman Empire's vast infrastructure allows goods and ideas to flow across three continents.
Rome is sacked by barbarians and Europe enters a Dark Age. But from the fringes of the old empire two new forces remake the world, setting the stage for a clash of civilizations: the Crusades.
Genghis Khan sweeps south from Mongolia into China and creates a mighty empire that leaves 40 million dead bodies in its wake. But a greater killer stalks mankind: the Plague.
Gold from Africa kickstarts the rebirth of Europe. A new weapon allows a peasant uprising to unify China. The printing press revolutionizes the written word. America beckons.
The Aztecs' mighty empire dominates Central America. The great Constantinople is overrun by an Islamic army. Europeans race to find a new route to the spice-rich East; instead, Christopher Columbus lands in America.
In the Andes, the Spanish open up the largest silver mine in the world. Their coins transform the global economy. As trade booms, millions of people come to the New World as slaves and pioneers.
Mankind embarks on a new age of exploration and tames the wilderness. In North America, Siberia, and Australia, ancient traditions are swept away in the name of commerce and science.
The American Revolution inspires dreams of political and personal liberty as the Industrial Revolution replaces muscle power with machines, freeing mankind from nature's limits.
Mankind takes on godlike powers to feed billions of people, reshape the landscape, and re-engineer the human body. But the greatest power of all is unleashed over Japan in 1945.
The end of the Civil War allows mankind to go into overdrive. This is an age of innovation, transformation, and mass production, but the desire to build bigger, faster, and better leads to a titanic disaster.
