The following dates and events are from Steven Hawking's book, The Universe in a Nutshell (c) 2001:
| TIME | EVENT |
| 0 | "The Big Bang", the origin of the universe |
| 0 to 10-43 s | "Plank Era", unknown physics (quantum gravity?) |
| 10-43 s to 10-35 s | "Grand Unification Theory Epoch" The balance of matter and antimatter tips in the balance of matter |
| 10-35 s to10-10 s | "Quark Soup" Electro-weak force dominates and quarks and antiquarks exist. |
| 10-10 s to 1 s | "Hadron and Lepton Era" Quarks combine to form protons, neutrons, mesons, and baryons |
| 1 s to 3 min | Protons and neutrons combine to form nuclei of Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, and Deuterium |
| 3 min to 300,000 years | Matter and radiation couple - the first stable nuclei form |
| 300,000 years to 1 billion years | Decoupling of matter and energy. |
| 1 billion years to present | Clusters of matter form quasars, stars, and galaxies. The stars form heavier nuclei. |