1. Using Timelines to Understand History

2. Similar to Number Lines 0-212 1 CE2 BCE1 BCE2 CE3 CE

3. The Christian Calendar BC = “Before Christ” AD = “Anno Domini” – No, it does not mean “after death”. – Latin meaning: “the year of our lord”. – Now is 2013 years since the birth of Jesus.

4. The New System BCE means “Before the Common Era” – 44 BCE = 44 BC CE means “Common Era” – 2013 CE = 2013 AD

5. Other Calendars It is currently the year: 2013 on the Christian calendar 5774 on the Hebrew calendar 1434 AH on the Islamic calendar Year of the Snake on the Chinese calendar

6. Relative Time YA = “years ago” Dinosaurs died out 65 million YA Earliest humans: 4 million YA

7. Rough Estimates of Dates Ca. = circa = “around the time of” Remember: circa sounds like “circle” which is round. First stone tools were made ca. 2 million years ago.