Begun in 1248, construction stalled around 1473 for lack of money. For nearly four centuries, a wooden crane stood on top of the unfinished south tower, becoming a symbol of the city. Work resumed in 1842, guided by medieval plans of the facade rediscovered in the meantime, and the cathedral was completed in 1880. With spires 157 meters high, it became the tallest building in the world, for just four years.
Around 2300 BCE, Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, became high priestess of the Moon god at Ur. She composed hymns to the goddess Inanna and put her name to them. She is the oldest person identified as the author of a literary work, about 1,500 years before Homer.
Squeeze Earth's 4.5 billion years into a single 24-hour day. Homo sapiens shows up around 11:59:54 p.m., roughly six seconds before midnight. All of written history, from Sumerian tablets to today, fits into the final tenth of a second. A cosmic blink.