Transcript BCvsADx
B.C. vs. A.D. and B.C.E. vs. C.E. Before we can understand what happened in the past (history) we have to understand when it occurred That means understanding our own calendar The current year is 2016 However, what does “2016” really mean? 2016 means that it is 2,015 years since some event. The event that the modern calendar is based on is the birth of Jesus Christ, calculated to be 2,016 years ago. So, if you were born in 2000, you were born 2,000 years after Jesus. If you were born in 1977, you were born 1,977 years after Jesus Following the year, usually comes an abbreviation, A.D. (2015 A.D.) A.D. is an abbreviation for a Latin phrase, Anno Domini, which means “In the year of our Lord.” Which is a fancy way of saying, 2,016 years since Jesus was born. Obviously, the world did not just magically appear with the birth of Jesus, a lot happened before he showed up. The time before Jesus is labeled too, as B.C., or “Before Christ” The year 44 B.C. (when Julius Caesar was assassinated) was 44 years before the birth of Jesus The Great Pyramid of Giza was finished in 2540 B.C., 2,540 years before Jesus was born. Jesus is the central figure, everything else is years since he was born (AD), or before he was born (BC). Big Bang 13.8 Billion B.C. Wheel Invented 3500 BC Parthenon 433 BC Bigger Dates Jesus 1 AD Columbus 1492 AD Declaration of Man Today 9/11 Independence Lands on 2001 AD 2015 1776 AD Moon AD Bigger Dates 1969 AD To figure out how long ago something happened, you need to do some math For things that happened in A.D., you will do some simple subtraction. For things that happened in B.C., you will do some easy addition. This is literally the only math you have to do in this class. Seriously. A.D. Dates: (example 1492 A.D.) ◦ Take the current year, (2016 A.D.) and SUBTRACT the year you’re studying (1492 A.D.) 2016 -1492 523 years ago, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. B.C. Dates: (example 2540 B.C.) ◦ Take the current year, (2016 A.D.) and ADD the year you’re studying (2540 B.C) 2016 +2540 4555 years ago the Great Pyramid of Giza opened Calculate the number of years ago the following events took place: ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ 566 B.C. Buddha is born 44 B.C. Julius Caesar is assassinated 1215 A.D. The Magna Carta is signed 1914 A.D. World War I begins ◦ Remember, you subtract A.D. dates from this year, and add B.C. dates to this year As simple as this system is, not everyone wants to refer to dates as A.D. and B.C. because they wish to distance themselves from Christianity, or religion in general. For them, they agree in the way the A.D. and B.C. works, but they don’t want Jesus involved. So, some historians refer to A.D. as C.E., meaning, “Common Era” and B.C. as “Before Common Era” So, C.E. is interchangeable with A.D., and B.C.E. is interchangeable with B.C. All math is the same.