Karl Julius Ploetz (8 July 1819 – 6 February 1881) was a German author of scholarly works,[citation needed] most notably his Epitome of History published in the English language in 1883.
He is credited with the idea of arranging historic data by dates, geographic location, and other factors.
As later used in the English language, Encyclopedia of World History credited with being one of the most complete and comprehensive academic tools available before the electronic revolution.
His work was a compilation of factual world events designed to help the students and the general reader.
The name of the original work (in a form of a handbook) was Auszug aus der alten, mittleren und neueren Geschichte.