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Laozi (Chinese characters)
White whirlwind · Public domain
Figure Zhou Kingdom, China philosopher

Laozi

550 BCE – 490 BCE · 60 years

The enigmatic sage who kept the royal archives of Zhou, wrote the most translated book in Chinese history, and disappeared through a mountain pass on the back of an ox — never to be seen again.

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On the record: Laozi

Wikipedia

The opening of the article, and a way into the rest of it without leaving the site.

Laozi on Wikipedia.

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Running at the same time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

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Landmark

Bukhara

500 BCE – still standing

Polity

Finno-Ugric taiga hunter-gatherers

Attested 2000 BCE – 1200 CE

Figure · Athens

Pericles

495 BCE – 429 BCE

Landmark

Afrasiab (Ancient Samarkand)

500 BCE – 1220 CE

Figure · Northern India / Nepal

Buddha

563 BCE – 483 BCE

Landmark

Charyn Canyon

3000 BCE – still standing

Figure · State of Lu, China

Confucius

551 BCE – 479 BCE

Landmark

Lake Issyk-Kul

3000 BCE – still standing

Dated moments inside this span

Events the timeline places between 550 BCE and 490 BCE.

500 BCE Bukhara 500 BCE Afrasiab (Ancient Samarkand) 550 BCE Temple of Artemis at Ephesus 546 BCE Pasargadae 528 BCE Bodh Gaya (Mahabodhi Temple) 528 BCE Sarnath

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Pasargadae Landmark · Middle East 546 BCE – 330 BCE Meroe Polity · Middle East 500 BCE – 400 CE Mesopotamian Trade Network Trade route · Middle East 3000 BCE – 500 BCE Conquests of Cyrus the Great Conflict · Middle East 559 BCE – 530 BCE Persepolis Landmark · Middle East 515 BCE – still standing Hindu kingdoms Polity · South Asia 500 BCE – 1715 CE
Image credits 7 pictures from Wikimedia Commons
  • Laozi (Chinese characters) White whirlwind · Public domain
  • Bukhara Euyasik · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Pericles Copy of Kresilas · Public domain
  • The Buddha พระมหาเทวประภาส วชิรญาณเมธี (ผู้ถ่าย-ปล่อยสัญญาอนุญาตภาพให้นำไปใช้ได้เพื่อการศึกษาโดยอยู่… · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Charyn Canyon Bgag · CC0
  • Confucius Anonymous Chinese painter of the Western Han period · Public domain
  • Issyk-Kul Қайырқан Әсем · CC BY-SA 4.0