What is History? Presentation #3 Mr. Bridgeo

How do we measure or retrace the evolution of societies? The unit of time that historians use to measure time is the YEAR. For example, we do not say that World War II was fought for 27 months or that Canada has been a country for about days. The war was fought for 6 YEARS and Canada became a nation about 141 YEARS ago. Mr. Bridgeo

How do we measure or retrace the evolution of societies? Historians do not, however, only use years to measure time. There are terms used for Determinate durations of time (always the same):  A decade = 10 years  A century = 100 years  A millenium = 1000 years Mr. Bridgeo

How do we measure or retrace the evolution of societies? …and there are also terms for Indeterminate durations of time:  A Period (The Traditional Periods; definate beginning and a definite end)  A generation (all people born to similar aged-parents). Normally viewed as approximately 30 years. Mr. Bridgeo

How do we measure or retrace the evolution of societies? When we use centuries, often times they are written using roman numerals…  I = 1  V = 5  X = 10  L = 50  C = 100  D = 500  M = 1000 Centuries begin with 01 and end with 00 It is the same for centuries before and after the birth of Christ 356 BC is the IV century BC Here is a list of roman numerals from 1 to 21 I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI Mr. Bridgeo