THE COSMIC CALENDAR (Adapted from Sagan, C. The Dragons Of Eden)    

Event	Years after Big Bang or relative to a crucial Date	Cosmic Calendar  Date
THE BIG BANG FIREBALL	0	January 1 12:00 AM
UNIVERSE BECOMES  TRANSPARENT	~ 3 x 10  5	January 1, 12:01 AM
GALAXIES FORM  (INCLUDING OUR MILKY WAY)	~ 1-2 x 10  9	~January 25-February 28
ORIGIN OF THE  SOLAR SYSTEM	~10 x 10   9 = FT	~September 9
FORMATION OF THE EARTH	FT+ 10 6	~September 9 + 6 hrs
ORIGIN OF LIFE ON EARTH	FT +  0.25 x 10 9	September 21
OLDEST KNOWN SURFACE  ROCKS	FT +  0.5 x 10 9	October 3
OLDEST FOSSILS (Stromatolites--algae)	FT +  0.7 x 10 x 10 9	October 8
EARTH DEVELOPS  OXYGEN-RICH  ATMOSPHERE	FT +  1.25 x 10 9	December 1
FIRST DINOSAURS	FT +  4.25 x 10 9	December 24
FIRST HUMANS	Present - 10 6	December 31,  ~10:30 PM
INVENTION OF THE ALPHABET	Present - 5 x 10 3	December 31,  ~11:59:50 PM