Welcome

Welcome to Surf the Millennium, World Book’s exploration of the past with a contemporary twist.

Surf the Millennium is an imaginative and historically accurate look at the past 1,000 years, presented as if the Internet had existed when Sundiata, the Lion King of Mali, founded his empire; a broken-hearted shah built the Taj Mahal; and a determined Florence Nightingale changed the face of modern medicine. Users access the feature with an offline Web browser launched from World Book 2000.

Each century, from the 1000’s to the 1800’s, has its own home page that links to other imaginary Web sites from that period. The 1400’s home page, for example, offers a link to reports from the front lines at the siege of Constantinople in 1453, a military campaign that led to the European exploration of the Americas. Other links allow users to read about the rise and fall of four mighty African empires, to sit in on the trial of Joan of Arc, and to peruse an enthusiastic real estate ad for a castle whose amenities include a suitably frightening, escape-proof dungeon. For the 1900’s we’ve assembled a distinguished panel of advisors who share their top ten events of the century each using a different and fresh approach.

Each feature includes a view of the events from a modern perspective and links to related World Book articles and actual Web sites. Each century home page also contains a list of the century’s "Notable Events" and a concise overview of that century to orient users.

Click here for information on how to start exploring