[Tex/LaTex] Creating a timeline

Question

I am working on my thesis and need to create a timeline similar to this:

I tried Chronosys package but am not sure if this is a good choice.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{chronosys}
\begin{document}
\startchronology[startyear=1935, stopyear=2010, startdate=false, stopdate=false, height=0.5em, arrow=false]
\chronoevent{2001}{First event}
\chronoevent{2000}{Second event}
\chronoevent{1988}{Third event}
\chronoevent{1984}{Fourth event}
\chronoevent{1979}{Fifth event}
\chronoevent{1942}{Sixth event}
\stopchronology
\end{document}

Can someone give me suggestions of packages I could use to create such timeline? Or how to do it using Chonosys?

Answer 1

Current version of chronos is available at:
https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/342699/ (2016-12-06)

Something like this?

\documentclass[border=10pt,multi,tikz]{standalone}
\usepackage{pgfcalendar}
\usepackage{datenumber,xparse,fp}
\usetikzlibrary{arrows.meta,backgrounds,fixedpointarithmetic}
\makeatletter
\newcounter{chronos@date}
\newcounter{chronos@startdate}
\newcounter{chronos@enddate}
\newcounter{chronos@startyear}
\newcounter{chronos@endyear}
\newcounter{chronos@yeardate}
\newcounter{chronos@thingdate}
\newcounter{chronos@otherthingdate}
\newif\ifchronos@onlyyears
\chronos@onlyyearsfalse
\newif\ifchronos@marks
\chronos@marksfalse
\newif\ifchronos@onlytext
\chronos@onlytextfalse
\newif\ifchronos@timeline@showyears
\chronos@timeline@showyearstrue
\newif\ifchronos@eventyearsonline
\chronos@eventyearsonlinefalse
\pgfkeys{/pgf/number format,
  int detect,
  set thousands separator={},
}
\tikzset{%
  /handlers/.chronos too/.code={%
    \edef\chronos@tempc{\pgfkeyscurrentpath}%
    \edef\chronos@tempd{#1}%
    \tikzset{%
      \pgfkeyscurrentpath @too/.code={%
        \tikzset{%
          /chronos/\chronos@tempd/.append style={##1},
        }%
      },
      \chronos@tempc/.forward to=\chronos@tempc @too,
    }%
  },
  chronos/.code={% https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/159856/ - Claudio Fiandrino
    \tikzset{%
      align=center,
      anchor=mid,
      fixed point arithmetic,
      /chronos/.cd,
      #1,
    }%
    \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@unit{(\chronos@width-20pt)/(\thechronos@enddate-\thechronos@startdate)}%
    \draw [/chronos/timeline@line, line width=\chronos@height] (-10pt,0) coordinate (chronos pre) -- +(\chronos@width,0) coordinate (chronos post);
    \coordinate (chronos base) at (0,-.5*\chronos@height);
    \coordinate (chronos top) at (0,.5*\chronos@height);
    \coordinate (chronos foot) at (0,{-.5*\chronos@height-\chronos@borderheight});
    \coordinate (chronos head) at (0,{.5*\chronos@height+\chronos@borderheight});
    \coordinate (chronos start) at (0,0);
    \coordinate (chronos end) at ([xshift=-10pt]chronos post);
    \ifdim\chronos@borderheight>0pt
      \fill [bottom color=chronos@borderinner, top color=chronos@borderouter] (chronos pre |- chronos head) rectangle (chronos post |- chronos top);
      \fill [top color=chronos@borderinner, bottom color=chronos@borderouter] (chronos pre |- chronos base) rectangle (chronos post |- chronos foot);
    \fi
    \ifchronos@timeline@showyears
      \pgfmathsetcounter{chronos@startyear}{\chronos@startyear}%
      \pgfmathsetcounter{chronos@endyear}{\chronos@endyear}%
      \def\tempa{none}%
      \ifx\chronos@stepfrom\tempa
        \def\tempa{01}%
        \ifx\chronos@startmonth\tempa
          \ifx\chronos@startday\tempa
            \else\stepcounter{chronos@startyear}%
          \fi
          \else\stepcounter{chronos@startyear}%
        \fi
      \else
        \pgfmathsetcounter{chronos@startyear}{\chronos@stepfrom}%
      \fi
      \def\tempa{12}%
      \def\tempb{31}%
      \ifx\chronos@endmonth\tempa
        \ifx\chronos@endday\tempb
          \stepcounter{chronos@endyear}%
        \fi
      \fi
      \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@nextstep{int(\thechronos@startyear+\chronos@stepyears)}%
      \foreach \i in {\thechronos@startyear,\chronos@nextstep,...,\thechronos@endyear} {%
        \pgfcalendardatetojulian{{\i}-01-01}{\c@chronos@yeardate}%
        \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@tempa{(\thechronos@yeardate-\thechronos@startdate)*\chronos@unit}%
        \def\tempa{on line}%
        \ifx\tempa\chronos@timelineyears
          \node (chronos@year@\i) [/chronos/.cd, timeline@years, timeline year on line] at (\chronos@tempa pt,0) {\i};
          \ifchronos@marks
             \path [/chronos/timeline mark on line] (chronos@year@\i.south) -- (chronos@year@\i |- chronos base);
             \path [/chronos/timeline mark on line] (chronos@year@\i.north) --  (chronos@year@\i |- chronos top);
          \fi
        \else
          \node (chronos@year@\i) [/chronos/.cd, timeline@years, timeline year off line] at (\chronos@tempa pt,0) {\i};
          \ifchronos@marks
            \path [shorten <=.5*\chronos@height, /chronos/timeline mark off line] (\chronos@tempa pt, 0) -- (chronos@year@\i);
          \fi
        \fi
      }%
    \fi
    \ifchronos@eventyearsonline
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/timeline years=on line,
    }%
    \fi
  },
  chronos set date/.code args={#1:#2:#3:#4}{%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/.cd,
      #4 year={#1},
      #4 month={#2},
      #4 day={#3},
    }%
    \pgfcalendardatetojulian{{#1}-#2-#3}{\c@chronos@date}%
    \setcounter{chronos@#4date}{\thechronos@date}%
  },
  chronos date/.style args={#1-#2-#3}{%
    /tikz/chronos set date/.expanded={#1:#2:#3:thing}%
  },
  chronos period date/.style args={#1-#2-#3}{%
    /tikz/chronos set date/.expanded={#1:#2:#3:otherthing}%
  },
  /chronos/.search also={/tikz},
  /chronos/.cd,
  start year/.store in=\chronos@startyear,
  start month/.store in=\chronos@startmonth,
  start day/.store in=\chronos@startday,
  end year/.store in=\chronos@endyear,
  end month/.store in=\chronos@endmonth,
  end day/.store in=\chronos@endday,
  thing year/.store in=\chronos@thingyear,
  thing month/.store in=\chronos@thingmonth,
  thing day/.store in=\chronos@thingday,
  otherthing year/.store in=\chronos@otherthingyear,
  otherthing month/.store in=\chronos@otherthingmonth,
  otherthing day/.store in=\chronos@otherthingday,
  step years/.store in=\chronos@stepyears,
  step from year/.store in=\chronos@stepfrom,
  start date/.style args={#1-#2-#3}{%
    /tikz/chronos set date/.expanded={#1:#2:#3:start},
  },
  end date/.style args={#1-#2-#3}{%
    /tikz/chronos set date/.expanded={#1:#2:#3:end},
  },
  timeline width/.store in=\chronos@width,
  timeline height/.store in=\chronos@height,
  width/.forward to=/chronos/timeline width,
  height/.forward to=/chronos/timeline height,
  timeline border height/.store in=\chronos@borderheight,
  timeline border inner colour/.code={\colorlet{chronos@borderinner}{#1}},
  timeline border outer colour/.code={\colorlet{chronos@borderouter}{#1}},
  timeline years set/.store in=\chronos@timelineyears,
  timeline years/.is choice,
  timeline years/.forward to=/chronos/timeline years set,
  timeline years/above/.code={%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/timeline@years/.style={above, anchor=south, yshift=.5*\chronos@height},
    }%
  },
  timeline years/below/.code={%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/timeline@years/.style={below, anchor=north, yshift=-.5*\chronos@height},
    }%
  },
  timeline years/on line/.code={%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/timeline@years/.style={anchor=center},
    }%
  },
  only years/.code={%
    \chronos@onlyyearstrue
    \tikzset{%
      /tikz/chronos date/.style={%
        /tikz/chronos set date/.expanded={##1:01:01:thing}%
      },
      /tikz/chronos period date/.style={%
        /tikz/chronos set date/.expanded={##1:01:01:otherthing}%
      },
    }%
  },
  only text/.code={%
    \tikzset{/chronos/only years}%
    \chronos@onlytexttrue
  },
  background/.code={%
    \colorlet{chronos@background}{#1}%
  },
  timeline marks/.is if=chronos@marks,
  timeline show years/.is if=chronos@timeline@showyears,
  timeline no years/.code={%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/timeline show years=false,
    }%
  },
  lines/.style={draw, {Triangle[width=0pt 3,reversed,length=0pt 1.5]}-{Triangle[width=0pt 3,reversed,length=0pt 1.5]}, shorten <={.5*\chronos@height}},
  events/.style={fill=chronos@background, fill opacity=.75, text opacity=1, draw opacity=1, rounded corners, align=center, font=\footnotesize},
  period/.style={draw},
  period event line/.style={/chronos/lines},
  period event/.style={/chronos/events},
  event line/.style={/chronos/lines},
  event/.style={/chronos/events},
  event years on line/.is if=chronos@eventyearsonline,
  event year on line/.style={/chronos/timeline@years, /chronos/timeline year on line},
  special date/.store in=\chronos@specialdate,
  timeline@line/.style={draw},
  timeline line/.chronos too=timeline@line,
  timeline year off line/.style={fill=chronos@background, text opacity=1, fill opacity=.75},
  timeline mark off line/.style={draw, {Triangle[width=0pt 3,reversed,length=0pt 1.5]}-, thin, shorten >=-2pt},
  timeline year on line/.style={text=chronos@background, inner sep=1pt},
  timeline mark on line/.style={draw=chronos@background, shorten >=1.5pt},
  timeline mark too/.code={%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/.cd,
      timeline mark on line/.append style={#1},
      timeline mark off line/.append style={#1},
    }%
  },
  timeline year too/.code={%
    \tikzset{%
      /chronos/.cd,
      timeline year on line/.append style={#1},
      timeline year off line/.append style={#1},
    }%
  },
  timeline mark/.forward to=/chronos/timeline mark too,
  timeline year/.forward to=/chronos/timeline year too,
  start date=1001-10-01,
  end date=1003-06-14,
  timeline width=100mm,
  timeline height=1pt,
  timeline border height=0pt,
  chronos date=1850-01-01,
  chronos period date=1851-01-01,
  step years=1,
  timeline years=above,
  background=white,
  timeline border inner colour=black,
  timeline border outer colour=chronos@background,
  step from year=none,
  special date=none,
}
\NewDocumentCommand \chronos@showdate { m }
{%
  \ifchronos@onlytext\relax
  \else
    \ifchronos@onlyyears\relax
    \else
      \csname chronos@#1day\endcsname/\csname chronos@#1month\endcsname/%
    \fi
    \csname chronos@#1year\endcsname
  \fi
}
\NewDocumentCommand \chronosevent { O {} m O {} +m D () { -10pt } }
{%
  \tikzset{%
    chronos date/.expanded={#2},
  }5
  \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@offset{(#5 < 0pt) ? (#5-.5*\chronos@height-.5*\chronos@borderheight) : (#5+.5*\chronos@height+.5*\chronos@borderheight)}%
  \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@anchor{(#5 < 0pt) ? "north" : "south"}%
  \scoped[on background layer]{\path [postaction={/chronos/event line, #1}] ({(\thechronos@thingdate-\thechronos@startdate)*\chronos@unit pt},0) -- +(0,\chronos@offset pt) node [anchor=\chronos@anchor, /chronos/event, #3] {\chronos@showdate{thing}\\#4};}
  \ifchronos@eventyearsonline
    \edef\tempa{none}%
    \edef\tempb{\chronos@specialdate}%
    \ifx\tempa\tempb\else\let\chronos@thingyear\chronos@specialdate\tikzset{/chronos/special date=none}\fi
    \node [/chronos/.cd, event year on line] at ({(\thechronos@thingdate-\thechronos@startdate)*\chronos@unit pt},0) {\chronos@thingyear};
  \fi
}
\NewDocumentCommand \chronosspecialdate { m }
{%
  \tikzset{%
    /chronos/special date=#1,
  }%
}
\NewDocumentCommand \chronosperiod { O {} m O {} m O {} +m D () { -10pt } }
{%
  \tikzset{%
    chronos date/.expanded={#2}, chronos period date/.expanded={#4}
  }%
  \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@offset{(#7 < 0pt) ? (#7-.5*\chronos@height-.5*\chronos@borderheight) : (#7+.5*\chronos@height+.5*\chronos@borderheight)}%
  \pgfmathsetmacro\chronos@anchor{(#7 < 0pt) ? "north" : "south"}%
  \path [postaction={line width=\chronos@height, /chronos/period, #1}] ({(\thechronos@thingdate-\thechronos@startdate)*\chronos@unit pt},0) -- ({(\thechronos@otherthingdate-\thechronos@startdate)*\chronos@unit pt},0);
  \scoped[on background layer]{\path [postaction={/chronos/period event line, #3}] ({(.5*\thechronos@otherthingdate+.5*\thechronos@thingdate-\thechronos@startdate)*\chronos@unit pt},0) -- +(0,\chronos@offset pt) node [anchor=\chronos@anchor, /chronos/period event, #5] {\chronos@showdate{thing}--\chronos@showdate{otherthing}\\#6};}
}
\makeatother
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}
  [
    chronos={%
      timeline width=150mm,
      timeline height=5mm,
      start date=1935-01-01,
      end date=2010-12-31,
      only text,
      events/.append style={font=\sffamily\scriptsize, fill=none},
      timeline year={font=\sffamily\small},
      timeline no years,
      event years on line,
      timeline border height=5pt,
    },
  ]
  \chronosspecialdate{}
  \chronosevent{2001}{The \emph{Mr.~Men}\\celebrate their 30th\\anniversary}(10pt)
  \chronosevent{2000}{Vouchers replace\\cash support for\\asylum seekers}
  \chronosevent{1988}{Section 28 prevents state\\schools `promoting homosexuality'}(35pt)
  \chronosevent{1984}{Miners' strike ends}
  \chronosevent{1979}{Labour government\\falls \& Thatcher\\wins power}(10pt)
  \chronosspecialdate{WWII}
  \chronosevent{1942}{People discover\\some stuff\\\& lots of people\\get killed}
\end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

See this answer for details.