Best Fan-made Charts of 2024 | End of Year Review

Matt Baker returned to UsefulCharts after recovering from surgery. He announced that new videos would resume on the channel every second Friday.

UsefulCharts conducted its annual review of fan-made charts from 2024. Baker had already reviewed the first six months in July, so this episode concentrated on submissions from the second half of the year. Pasted text

The annual selection combined three different approaches. Baker presented five personal favorites, identified the five most-upvoted Reddit posts from the second half of 2024, and invited the subreddit's two moderators to select ten additional charts.

Baker's five favorites from the first half of 2024 covered religion, languages, American law, public health, and European history. They were History of Early Christian Texts, Evolution and Classification of European Languages, Timeline of US Supreme Court Justices, Timeline of COVID Variants, and Transit Diagram of Northern European History.

A Roman Empire territorial chart showed nearly 1,500 years of expansion and decline. Its horizontal axis represented time, its vertical axis represented the territory Rome controlled, and its colors identified the imperial dynasties.

The Roman Republic acquired approximately half the territory Rome would eventually control. The chart demonstrated that much of Rome's expansion occurred before the establishment of the empire under Augustus.

Rome reached its greatest territorial extent under Emperor Trajan, not the earlier Julio-Claudian dynasty. Expansion accelerated under the Julio-Claudians, but the empire's territorial peak came afterward.

The Roman Empire's third-century crisis appears as a dramatic territorial contraction followed by recovery. The chart illustrates how close the empire came to fragmentation before political and military reunification restored much of its territory.

The fall of the Western Roman Empire did not end Roman imperial history. The chart continued through the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, showing its subsequent recoveries, territorial losses, and eventual disappearance.

Emperor Justinian temporarily restored substantial territories to the Eastern Roman Empire. His reconquests appear as a significant reversal of the longer pattern of territorial decline.

Emperor Heraclius achieved a brief recovery before the empire suffered major losses to expanding Islamic armies. The chart illustrated how quickly the restored territorial position deteriorated during the seventh century.

The Macedonian dynasty presided over another Byzantine recovery, particularly under Basil II. After that resurgence, the empire gradually lost territory until Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453.

A World Religions Founders Family Tree organized religious history around individuals rather than religions. Unlike Baker's own World Religions Family Tree, it connected founders, prophets, religious leaders, gods, angels, and other spiritual beings through genealogical and mythological relationships.

The Iranian religion section placed Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu within a detailed Zoroastrian cosmology. It included lesser spiritual beings such as the Amesha Spentas and other divine entities associated with Ahura Mazda.

The Iranian genealogy connected religious mythology with royal history. It traced mythical first humans, legendary early Iranian kings, Zoroaster, and historical Persian emperors, distinguishing a much broader tradition than a simple list of religious founders.

The same religious chart connected Hindu deities to India's lunar and solar dynasties. It also incorporated Chinese gods and their traditional relationships with China's ruling dynasties, showing how religious mythology and royal genealogies overlap.

An Italian Royal Family Tree included dynasties absent from Baker's own European Royal Family Tree West. Among the additional families were the Medici, Sforza, and Grimaldi, the last of which continues to rule Monaco.

The Italian genealogy was created by the artist who placed second in the previous year's poster contest with a German Royal Family Tree. Baker considered both charts exceptionally faithful to the official UsefulCharts visual style.

A Mormon Denominations Family Tree illustrated the extensive fragmentation of the Latter Day Saint movement. Baker emphasized that hundreds of Mormon denominations exist beyond the largest church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with competing claims to religious legitimacy.

Joseph Smith's assassination in 1844 created a leadership succession crisis. The Mormon movement's founder died at 38 without having clearly designated a successor, leaving rival leaders and factions to determine who should inherit his authority.

Brigham Young and Sidney Rigdon emerged as the two principal immediate succession candidates. Rigdon had been Smith's senior adviser, while Young was president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Most Mormons accepted Brigham Young's leadership and eventually relocated to Utah. This group became the main branch of the movement, with its institutional center remaining in Utah.

A minority supported Sidney Rigdon, who relocated to Pennsylvania. His followers established a separate organization called the Church of Jesus Christ of the Children of Zion.

Rigdon's organization collapsed after only a few years, and he eventually abandoned Mormonism. Members who remained reorganized under William Bickerton, a more recent convert.

William Bickerton's followers established the Church of Jesus Christ, which survived as a separate denomination. Baker identified it as the third-largest Mormon denomination at the time of the episode.

Strang challenged the Mormon succession despite having joined the movement only months before Joseph Smith's death. He claimed to possess a letter appointing him as Smith's successor, a document Baker treated skeptically.

Strang established a Mormon settlement on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan and proclaimed himself king. His followers formed a short-lived religious kingdom, but his rule ended when he was assassinated six years later.

Joseph Smith III eventually became the leader of another major Mormon branch. Smith's eldest son had been only 11 when his father died, but he was 23 by the time Strang died, making him a viable successor for Mormons who had rejected the Utah leadership.

Joseph Smith III led the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This organization became the second-largest Mormon denomination and changed its name to Community of Christ in 2001.

The Mormon genealogy revealed that the movement's competing denominations arose from several distinct succession claims. Leadership authority was contested through institutional seniority, apostolic office, alleged written appointment, and hereditary succession.

Baker considered producing a dedicated episode about the history of Mormon denominations. He acknowledged that the chart contained many additional branches that could not be adequately explained during the annual review.

A Classical Antiquity Family Trees chart extended further into late antiquity than UsefulCharts' official ancient-history genealogies. Instead of beginning in earlier ancient history, it started around the 800s BCE and continued to approximately 400 CE.

The Classical Antiquity chart included the Gupta, Sasanian, and Aksumite dynasties. These represented India, Persia, and Ethiopia respectively, and Baker noted that none appeared in the company's existing official ancient-history charts.

The Classical Antiquity chart closely reproduced the official UsefulCharts design language. Baker considered its appearance sufficiently convincing that viewers might initially mistake it for one of his own publications.

Reddit's fifth-most-upvoted chart of the second half of 2024 compared the ages of American presidents. It displayed each president's age when entering office and when leaving, allowing viewers to compare presidential generations.

Joe Biden was the first American president to serve while in his eighties. Baker noted that presidents serving in their seventies had been exceptionally uncommon before Ronald Reagan.

Theodore Roosevelt, not John F. Kennedy, was the youngest person to become president. The chart distinguished the youngest president overall from the youngest person elected to the presidency.

Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday was suggested as a possible inspiration for the presidential age chart. Baker associated its subject with the attention Carter received upon reaching his centenary in 2024.

The fourth-most-upvoted chart documented the House of Capet and its numerous royal branches. Baker regarded the Capetians as perhaps the greatest royal dynasty because its descendants ruled France and multiple other European countries over long periods.

The Capetian chart included a visual overview of its branches through their coats of arms. Baker had originally considered choosing it among his personal favorites before discovering that it had already qualified through Reddit's upvote rankings.

The third-most-upvoted chart listed the Chief Mousers of the British government. The position is traditionally associated with the reign of Henry VII, although Baker noted that reliable administrative documentation begins only in 1929.

The Chief Mouser became an officially paid government position in 1929. The cat at 10 Downing Street initially received a government allowance of one penny per day.

Larry was the serving Chief Mouser at 10 Downing Street and was approximately 17 years old at the time of the episode. A former stray, he had originally been adopted during David Cameron's premiership, initially for Cameron's children.

The second-most-upvoted chart traced British royal genealogies back into antiquity and legend. Its enormous family tree included William the Conqueror, Julius Caesar, and numerous figures from traditional British and Irish histories.

Baker explicitly warned that no provable genealogical connection exists between modern European royalty and individual figures from ancient history. The earliest sections of the British genealogy relied heavily on legendary accounts rather than historically verifiable family relationships.

The British genealogy incorporated legendary kings of Ireland and Brutus of Troy. Brutus was presented as the mythical first king of Britain, traditionally believed to have arrived on the island from Troy.

The most-upvoted chart mapped each American president's favorite president. Inspired by a video from historian and YouTuber Mr. Beat, it connected presidents into chains of personal admiration.

Donald Trump's favorite-president chain was presented as Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. The chart identified Jackson as Trump's favorite, Jefferson as Jackson's favorite, and Washington as Jefferson's favorite.

Joe Biden's favorite-president chain was presented as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington. The chart ultimately connected both the Trump and Biden chains to Washington.

George Washington emerged as the common endpoint of the favorite-president relationships. Baker observed that the chart's chains eventually led back to the first American president, illustrating his central position in the historical preferences being mapped.

The subreddit's moderators selected ten additional charts, largely concentrating on royal genealogy. Baker explained that royal family trees had historically been the channel's main subject and remained especially popular within its Reddit community.

A chart of monarchs in Spain stood out for combining Muslim and Catholic rulers. Baker observed that many genealogical charts of medieval Iberia concentrate almost exclusively on Christian dynasties, leaving Muslim political history underrepresented.

The Spanish monarchs chart also used a distinctive design instead of imitating UsefulCharts' house style. Baker praised the creator for producing an effective original visual presentation.

A Spanish Carlist Pretenders chart documented a succession dispute beginning in 1833. The Spanish throne passed to Isabella II, but supporters of a competing male-line succession argued that Carlos, Count of Molina, possessed the stronger dynastic claim.

Isabella II's marriage to her cousin did not resolve the Carlist succession dispute. Although her husband belonged to the dynasty's male line, he was not its most senior male-line representative.

The Carlists developed an alternative succession line that continued until 1936. Their original male-line branch descended from Carlos eventually became extinct, forcing supporters to reconsider which dynasty they regarded as legitimate.

After 1936, Carlist supporters divided among competing dynastic claims. Some accepted the main Spanish royal line, others supported an alternative line involving female succession, and another faction turned toward the Bourbon-Parma branch.

Baker had not previously covered Carlism in a dedicated video despite repeated viewer requests. The chart illustrated a complex succession dispute that remained outside the subjects addressed in his earlier royal genealogies.

Malaysia's monarchy combines nine hereditary royal houses in a rotating national kingship. Seven of the nine monarchies are sultanates, while the other two have different traditional royal titles.

Malaysia's nine hereditary rulers select a national monarch for a five-year term. The arrangement differs from ordinary hereditary succession because the federal kingship rotates through an election conducted among the rulers themselves.

Sultan Abdullah of Pahang served as Malaysia's monarch until January 2024. He was succeeded by Sultan Ibrahim of Johor, whom Baker identified as his brother-in-law.

The Malaysian royal genealogy was created by Nic L., the previous year's UsefulCharts poster-contest winner. The chart brought together the seven sultanate genealogies to explain the country's interconnected royal institutions.

A genealogy of Johan Willem Friso demonstrated his extraordinary influence on European royal ancestry. Known as a royal ancestor of Europe, he appears in the ancestry of virtually every reigning European monarch and many descendants of former ruling dynasties.

Johan Willem Friso's descendants extend across both reigning and deposed royal houses. Baker highlighted the British royal family, the head of the House of Hanover, and the principal Russian throne claimant among the chart's examples.

A genealogy of the medieval Low Countries showed how nine political territories eventually passed into the hands of a single heiress. The territories belonged to the historical region encompassing parts of today's Netherlands and neighboring countries, rather than the modern Dutch kingdom alone.

Mary of Burgundy, known as Mary the Rich, inherited an exceptional concentration of territories in the Low Countries. Her inheritance made her marriage politically consequential far beyond the region itself.

Mary's marriage to Maximilian linked her inheritance to the Habsburg dynasty. Maximilian subsequently became Holy Roman Emperor, strengthening the dynasty's position across central and western Europe.

A subsequent Habsburg marriage connected Maximilian's descendants to the inheritance of Castile and Aragon. This dynastic combination helped produce the enormous collection of territories ruled by Charles I of Spain, also known as Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

A separate humorous chart illustrated the extraordinary number of titles held by Charles I. Baker suggested that listing all his titles could occupy so much space that the chart would have room for little else.

A Napoleon and His Marshals chart combined the Bonaparte family tree with Napoleon's highest-ranking military commanders. Its purpose was to show the political and familial connections between the imperial household and the generals who served it.

One of Napoleon's marshals married Napoleon's sister, while another eventually became king of Sweden. These examples demonstrated that Napoleon's military leadership network extended into Europe's ruling dynasties.

The creator of the Napoleon chart had submitted several other polished genealogies during the preceding six months. Baker highlighted two additional works that closely matched the UsefulCharts style and expressed interest in the creator's future projects.

A personal ancestry chart traced its creator's family into European nobility and royalty. Although it began with the creator's own relatives, its upper sections incorporated extensive royal genealogies through documented noble ancestry.

The personal genealogy was considered strong enough to compete in the poster contest on artistic merit. Baker indicated that the private family information at the bottom made it less suitable as a commercial poster, despite the quality of the larger genealogy.

A Greek Mythology Family Tree included considerably more figures than Baker's official version. Its additional deities included Phobos, god of fear; Himeros, god of desire; and Melinoe, associated with ghosts.

The Greek mythology genealogy also expanded the representation of demigods and mortal descendants of gods. Its broader treatment connected divine family relationships to more human characters from Greek mythology.

The Greek chart included Artius, identified as a god of useful arts. Baker humorously noted the resemblance between this description and the UsefulCharts name.

A Mongol Empire genealogy traced the ruling dynasty through the empire's successor states and almost into the present. It demonstrated how descendants of the Mongol imperial family continued to occupy political positions long after the original empire disappeared.

The Mongol genealogy connected a prime minister of the short-lived Alash Autonomy to Genghis Khan's family. The Alash Autonomy emerged in the Kazakh region following the Russian Revolution.

The Alash leader was presented as a likely direct male-line descendant of Genghis Khan. Baker traced the proposed ancestry through the leader's great-great-great-grandfather Barak Sultan and the ruling families of the Kazakh Khanate.

The Kazakh royal lineage was traced through Urus Khan of the White Horde and Jochi, founder of the Golden Horde. Jochi was traditionally recognized as Genghis Khan's firstborn son, although Baker acknowledged uncertainty surrounding that relationship.

The Mongol family tree illustrated the long survival of Genghis Khan's dynastic descendants. The genealogy suggested that members of his extended family remained connected to political leadership into the twentieth century, although some of the ancient connections were uncertain.

UsefulCharts organized its third consecutive annual poster contest. Two fan-made charts would be selected for professional printing and commercial sale through the UsefulCharts store.

The poster contest included a revenue-sharing arrangement with the creators. Baker said that profits from the commercially printed charts would be shared with the people who designed them, although no specific percentages were disclosed.

Baker changed the contest procedure by allowing viewers to choose the winners. Rather than selecting the two winning charts himself, he announced that he had chosen five finalists and would determine the winners through a public vote.

Voting was conducted through the UsefulCharts YouTube community tab. Viewers were given three days to vote, and the two charts receiving the most votes would be printed and sold.

The announced finalists included an updated Christian Communions chart. The creator was identified as X Vincho, and the chart was one of the works offered to viewers for the final selection.

The Classical Antiquity Family Trees chart also qualified as a poster-contest finalist. It had already appeared among Baker's personal favorites because of its extensive genealogies and coverage of late antiquity.

An Evolution and Classification of Languages chart was nominated for the poster contest. The creator was credited as A Triplet, and the chart's subject overlapped with the linguistic genealogies featured in the channel's earlier 2024 review.

A Genealogies of Selected Combatants in the Trojan War chart was another announced finalist. Credited to Guest 53, it concentrated on the ancestry of figures associated with the Trojan War.

The episode announced five finalists but identified only four in the supplied transcript. The fifth finalist's identity cannot be established from the available spoken text.

The contest results were not announced during the episode. Baker closed by directing viewers to vote, with the winning charts scheduled to be announced after the three-day voting period.

Fan-made charts served as both community contributions and potential commercial products for UsefulCharts. The annual review showcased independent creators, identified designs popular with viewers, and provided a process for turning selected charts into posters that could generate income for their creators.