What is History? Chapter 1, Lesson 1

Why Study History? History is the study of people and events of the past. What happens in the past affects the future. Ex: The creation of the wheel affected the use of horse-drawn carts. This leads to the creation of the car.

A way to measure time is by labeling groups of years. Measuring Time A way to measure time is by labeling groups of years. Decade – 10 years Century – 100 years Millennium – 1,000 years

Measuring Time Era - A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic. Prehistory – The first of these long periods. Known as the time before people developed writing. Ancient History Writing was invented 5,500 years ago. Ended c. A.D. 500. (c. means around or about) Middle Ages – the medieval period. c. A.D. 500 to c. A.D. 1400 Modern History – begins c. A.D. 1400 to the Present day

Measuring Time Calendars – A tool used for arranging days in order. Cultures around the world have created about 40 different calendars. Some based on the cycles of the moon. Chinese, Jewish, and Ancient Egyptians calendars were based on the appearance of the moon.

Measuring Time Julian Calendar Invented by Julius Caesar Began counting years from the founding of Rome A years was 365 ¼ days long. The years with the complete day were called leap years. Was not precise lost several minutes each year. For about every 128 years, 1 day was lost.

Measuring Time Gregorian Calendar By A.D. 1852, Julian Calendar lost about 10 days. Pope Gregory XIII created a new calendar. Years began count from the birth of Jesus Christ. The days between Oct. 4th and 15th were dropped of THAT year. Contains leap years like the Julian Calendar. A century may not be a leap year if it is not divisible by 400. By doing this, the calendar will not lose day for thousands of years.

Gregorian Calendar Not all countries accepted the Gregorian calendar right away. Took almost 3 centuries to be adopted. Today, most of the world uses this calendar. Other calendars are also based on religious events. Jewish calendar begins 3,760 before the Gregorian calendar. Muslims date there calendar from when Muhammad left Makkah (Mecca) to go to Madinah (Medina) This was A.D. 662 on the Gregorian calendar.

Dating Events B.C. – Before Christ A.D. – Anno Domini In B.C., years are count down to 1. A.D. – Anno Domini Latin for “Year of the Lord.” When transitioning between B.C. to A.D. there is no Year 0. B.C.E – Before Common Era C.E. – Common Era B.C.E. and C.E. are non religious versions of B.C. and A.D.

Using Timelines A timeline is a tool used to track the passage of time Shows the order of when events occurred. Shows the time between events. Usually evenly spaced. In the event that a timeline covers a long period of time, a slant or a break appears to show an omitted section of time.

Digging up the Past Archaeology – the study of the past through artifacts. Artifacts are objects created by people. Paleontology – Look towards prehistoric times Study fossils to see what the world was like. Fossil – a preserved remain of an animal or plant. Anthropology – Study of Human cultures and how these develop over time.