eventspast

Eventspast is a data platform that aggregates historical events from diverse sources into a unified repository. It provides a structured model for storing events that have already occurred, along with provenance and time information to support research, education, and data visualization. The project emphasizes accuracy, interoperability, and open access to historical data.

Core data model elements include Event, Source, and Category. Each event has fields such as date or approx_date, location (with coordinates when available), a plain-language description, and optional tags. Sources record bibliographic metadata and links to original materials, enabling traceability. The platform exposes a RESTful API and supports export in JSON and CSV, with filters for date range, geography, category, and confidence level. Time normalization and multilingual labeling facilitate cross-border comparisons.

Eventspast originated from collaboration among libraries, museums, and academic researchers to promote reusable historical data. Since its early releases, it has incorporated community contributions and standardized metadata schemas to improve interoperability with other datasets.

Users employ eventspast for academic research, classroom activities, and timeline visualizations. Typical applications include constructing chronological narratives, mapping historical events, or benchmarking data against other event datasets. Limitations include incomplete coverage, varying source quality, and potential biases in the underlying materials.

Governance is designed to be community-led, with guidelines for data licensing, citation, and quality control. Future plans focus on expanding subject domains, improving multilingual support, and enhancing data validation and deduplication processes.