Bar chart in 1786: History 뿯½ History

Compare categories on a shared baseline — the default honest chart for reports, ads and assignments. Bar chart encodes values as length of rectangles on one baseline. William Playfair, Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786. In reports, ads and assignments it fits comparing a handful of categories at one time. Skip it when too many categories, 3-D extrusion, or dual-axis tricks.

This page gathers anatomy, fit, craft, failure modes and work / ads / school recipes for Bar chart. When the story is: comparing a handful of categories at one time. Skip it in cases like: too many categories, 3-D extrusion, or dual-axis tricks. William Playfair, Commercial and Political Atlas, 1786

Yes if one claim is visible at a glance in Meta, Google and retail print; otherwise link to a full figure. Yes for lab reports and poster boards if axes, units and a source line are present. Excel or Google Sheets or PowerPoint; export SVG/PDF. Do not rely on hue alone. Label directly and check greyscale.