In recent years I've come to appreciate history more than I did in school as a kid. But as I re-learn my history, I have only a rough framework in which to plug in these historical events. I don't have a good enough understanding of what was happening in the rest of the world when something important was happening in Italy or America.

I'd love a spreadsheet style historical timeline.

• The x-axis would be broken up by decades (memorizing exact years is too much, but knowing roughly which decade things happened in seems close enough to be useful).
• The y-axis would be broken up by country.
• By simply plugging in important events in the correct decade/country intersection, you can begin filling in a more complete picture of world history.
• As you horizontally scroll, you'd get a picture of history progressing through time.