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Free Images Related to Historical Times History in high school was not my favourite subject. It was dull, dry and boring. We would read endless books about battles and treaties. We'd draw lines on maps outlining trading routes. The thought of yet another class in history drew shudders of fear. As I age, I now see how I too am now becoming a part of history. I hear myself saying things like, we didn't used to have those back in my day, we'd have to do things the old fashioned way. Remember when one had to actually stand up to change the channel on their television? I'd sit by the radio with my finger on the tape recorder hoping my favourite song would come on so I could make a copy onto a cassette. I guess I'm really now showing my age.
I have walked among the pyramids of the Mayans trying to decipher their symbolic carvings and have gazed over the Caribbean ocean from the Brimstone Hill Fortress in St. Kitts. When wandering the halls of Castillo San Felipe del Morro in Puerto Rico, one can't help but become fascinated with the people and events that took place here so many long years ago. We can learn from the past experiences of others. We can learn from both the good and the bad. Be not, young people, in such a hurry toward your own future, that you do not take the time to learn about the past from others. The old men you read about in history were once as young as you, filled with hope and awe. See them as they were, imagine yourself in their place, have empathy for those that walked these paths before us. Perhaps you too, in your older age, will come to love history and learning about the people and places of long ago. Talk to your parents and grandparents, for they have stories to tell. Don't regret opportunities lost. Cicero writes: "History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity." "A nation which does not know what it did yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do." ~ Woodrow Wilson ~
The images below have been arranged according to time eras - dates. A word first, however, about dates....
What do the letters B.C. and A.D. mean before years? B.C. means "before Christ" and A.D. means "anno domini" or "in the year of our lord". Anno Domini is Medieval Latin and is sometimes written out more fully as "anno Domini nostri Iesu (or Jesu) Christi" meaning "in the year of Our Lord Jesus Christ". In the modern calendar system, there is no "zero" year. Everything is measured based on what was the reckoned birth of Jesus of Nazareth. A.D. represents years starting from this time, while B.C. indicates years before this time era. In this system, the year of Christ's birth is A.D. 1. The year preceding this event is 1 B.C.
Please
note, BC numbers count backward, away from the birth of
Christ.
This Anno Domini calendar system was devised in 525 A.D. and adopted by the Pope in the sixth century A.D. It become popular after 800 A.D. How to write years The letters to label years may be written either AD or A.D. and BC or B.C. Note that when using the abbreviations, technically "AD" is placed before the year number. "BC" is placed after the year although this rule is not always followed. Example: AD 1988 and 44 BC
An incorrect assumption has been that since BC is the English language abbreviation for Before Christ, that AD means After Death. This is most definitely erroneous since this definition would not take into account the 33 years of Jesus' life. Since we all live in the AD era, we typically don't use AD behind current calendar years. I'm writing this in 2016. Although it is technically AD 2016, it is understood what era we are in and we only need to write 2016.
It is thought that the people keeping track of Christ's birth were off by about 4 years. Some think that He was born in 4 BC and died in 30 AD. This would make the entire calendar off by 4 years. It's far too late to correct this now! Cultural differences Various cultures use different calendar systems. Muslims use dates that relate to Mohammad's movement from Mecca to Medina called the Hijra. They use AH dates. Did you know.... that before AD, the Roman calendar was counted from "Ab urbe condita" which means "from the foundation of the city" referring to the founding of Rome !? Calendar Citations The chart below demonstrates the differences in expressing a date - in this case, February 21st, 2016.
Source: https://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/calendar/ I highly recommend visiting the above source for excellent public domain information about a multitude of calendars including a Calendar Calculator which will tell you the date in various formats. To be more inclusive to non-Christians, new terminology is sometimes used. Instead of AD, the era is referred to as the "Current" or "Common Era" and abbreviated as CE or C.E. Years prior to this time are referred to as "Before the Common, Christian or Current Era" and shortened to BCE or B.C.E. AD or A.D. = CE or C.E. BC or B.C. = BCE or B.C.E.
I know, I know, some of these images are in also in other image categories. I've collected them here so that anyone looking for historical events has an easier time locating them.
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You
have to get out in the world, see, feel and experience history for
yourself. I walked the haunted hallways of Carnton Plantation and
heard the stories of battles in the Franklin area of Tennessee. How
brave young wounded soldiers had to have their limps amputated and have
the doctor toss them into a pile of amputated flesh that reached the
height of the second floor window. I walked on old wooden floor
boards where blood stains still exist to this day in the makeshift
operating room of a bedroom. I listened to the stories of people who
hear the footsteps and smell the gunpowder of long ago soldiers walking
through the Carnton graveyard on foggy nights.
Correct
counting?
