World history, global history or transnational history is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. It examines history from a global perspective. It is not to be confused with comparative history, which, like world history, deals with the history of multiple cultures and nations, but does not do so on a global scale. World history looks for common patterns that emerge across all cultures. World historians use a thematic approach, with two major focal points: integration (how processes of world history have drawn people of the world together) and difference (how patterns of world history reveal the diversity of the human experience). This book lists a sequential list of significant world events from The Big Bang, 13.8 billion years ago, until the present 2014. It is designed to be a concise reference guide to give an easy to read perspective of time and world history.