Timetoast.com is a free Web 2.0 technology that creates interactive timelines in minutes.  This site does require one to sign up for a free account; however, this program is quick and easy to use.  The timelines can be easily adjusted to view different time intervals, so you can zoom out or zoom in for perspective.  Other timelines created by other users are available for public use, so if you want to use a timeline but don't have the time to create one, then there might already be a timeline created for you to use during instruction.

The timelines can be published to give an embedded code that you can cut and paste into a blog, wiki, or placemark in GoogleEarth.

For example, here is a quick timeline for my science fair students for this year: