Future History

Where human purpose has been, and where it is going.

A free, citation-backed timeline of how human contribution changes over time. Start with any of 511 professions: scrub across two centuries and see employment, wages, tool eras, and the projection cone. Every datapoint cited.

From the recordMore trajectories in Trends →
This week, from the record

Billing clerks enter the record in 1870, at 38,000 people. There are 429,800 today. See the timeline →

Software Developers1945 to 2025 · 10 anchorsSix people in 1945. 1.69 million today.Scrub the timeline →Secretaries & Admin Assistants1900 to 2025 · 32 anchorsPeaked in 1970 at 3.9 million. Less than half remain.Scrub the timeline →Registered Nurses1900 to 2025 · 24 anchorsFrom 10,833 in 1900 to 3.4 million today.Scrub the timeline →Travel Agents1972 to 2025 · 27 anchors135,000 at the 1995 peak. The web took half.Scrub the timeline →

counted in a federal survey cited estimateThe dotted line only connects the dots: nothing between them is invented.

511 occupations

Management→31 roles

Business & Finance→26 roles

Tech & Data→19 roles

Engineering→28 roles

Science→27 roles

Social Services→13 roles

Legal→6 roles

Education→51 roles

Arts & Media→24 roles

Healthcare→62 roles

Healthcare Support→14 roles

Protective Services→14 roles

Food Service→14 roles

Cleaning & Grounds→7 roles

Personal Care→14 roles

Sales→18 roles

Admin & Office→39 roles

Farming & Fishing→1 role

Construction→24 roles

Repair & Maintenance→22 roles

Manufacturing→37 roles

Transportation→20 roles