Milestones were stones placed beside a road to mark the distance in miles between destinations. The term is also a significant event in life or an important change in a stage of development of a person or project.
Milestones from Birth to Age 6
- Grabs things placed in her hand
- Follows moving object with her eyes
- Smiles
- Makes cooing and gurgling sounds
- Explores by mouthing and banging objects
- Opens mouth for spoon
- Knows familiar faces
- Says first word
- Sits unsupported
- Learns to crawl
- Understands simple commands
- Stacks two blocks
- Scribbles with crayons
- Learns to walk
- Follows simple, one-step directions
- Gets potty trained
- Begins to sort by shapes and colors
- Explores surroundings
- Begins to make believe play
- Uses 2-3 word sentences
- Walks up steps, alternating feet
- Asks short questions
- Puts together simple 4-12 piece puzzle
- Sorts by shape and color
- Counts up to 5 objects
- Can follow three instructions given all at once
- Builds tower of 7-9 blocks
- Balances on one foot for five seconds
- Interested in cause and effect
- Wants to know what words mean
- Invents make believe games with simple rules
Milestones for Children and Adults
- First day of school
- Learning to read
- Turning 16
- Your first kiss
- Getting your drivers license
- Graduating from high school
- Your 21st birthday
- Graduating from college
- Passing the Graduate Record Examination
- Attending graduate school
- Moving out of your parents’ house
- Scoring your dream job
- Getting a big promotion
- Learning to cook
- Learning to budget
- Falling in love
- Moving in together
- Getting married
- Buying a house
- Having a baby
- Retiring
Scientific Milestones
- 1543 – Copernicus – heliocentric model
- 1628 – William Harvey – blood circulation
- 1638 – Galileo Galilei – laws of falling body
- 1751 – Benjamin Franklin – lightning is electrical
- 1838 – Matthias Schleiden – all plants are made of cells
- 1842 – Christian Doppler – Doppler effect
- 1895 – Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen – discovers x-rays
- 1905 – Albert Einstein – special relativity theory, explanation of Brownian motion
- 1925 – Erwin Schrödinger – Schrödinger equation (Quantum mechanics)
- 1929 – Edwin Hubble – Hubble’s law of the expanding universe
- 1952 – Jonas Salk – developed and tested first polio vaccine
- 1997 – Roslin Institute – Dolly the sheep was cloned
- 2001 – The first draft of the human genome is completed
- 2012 – Higgs boson is discovered at CERN
Milestones in American History
- Revolutionary War – 1775 to 1783
- Declaration of Independence – 1776
- Ratification of the Constitution
- Passage of the Bill of Rights
- Louisiana Purchase – 1803
- War of 1812
- Civil War 1861 to 1865
- Assassination of Abraham Lincoln – 1865
- World War I – 1914 to 1918
- World War II – 1939 to 1945
- Manhattan Project – 1942 – led to development of atomic bomb
- Korean War – 1950 to 1953
- Vietnam War – 1956 to 1975
- 1959 – Hawaii became the 50th state
- Assassination of John F. Kennedy – 1963
- Apollo 11 – moon landing – 1969
- 2008 – Barack Obama becomes the first Black president
- September 11, 2001
- Death of Osama bin Laden – 2011
Reviewing these milestones from different contexts shows how our personal worlds change and how events have caused a change in how we think, feel or act. For more insight into the effects of milestones, check out these famous milestone quotes.
