When did they live?

What's the most distinctive feature of history writing?

Time.

History is about the past, which means one of the most important aspects of history writing is positioning the subject in the past.

When did this person live?

This is not only important from a factual point of view, but it also helps us understand the context and significance of the figure in their own era.

For example, when did Alexander the Great, who conquered most of the known world in just a few decades, live?

Alexander the Great (Source)

Alexander the Great, also known as Alexander III or Alexander of Macedonia is known as one of the greatest generals in all history.

Alexander was born in 356 B.C.E. in Pella, Macedonia, to King Philip II. As a young boy, Alexander was taught to read, write, and play the lyre. He developed a life-long love of reading and music. When Alexander was a teenager, his father hired Aristotle to be his private tutor. He studied with Aristotle for three years and from Aristotle’s teachings, Alexander developed a love of science, particularly of medicine and botany. Alexander included botanists and scientists in his army to study the lands he conquered.

Alexander the Great(2023)

Dates and times help us order the events in a person's life as well as give us important context. (What else was going on at that time?)

When did key events happen in the early life of American entrepreneur Madam C. J. Walker?

Madame CJ Walker driving automobile Wikipedia

Madame C. J. Walker (Source)

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist, Madam C.J. Walker rose from poverty in the South to become one of the wealthiest African American women of her time. She used her position to advocate for the advancement of black Americans and for an end to lynching.

Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867, on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana, one of six children of Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove, former slaves-turned sharecroppers after the Civil War. Orphaned at age seven, Walker lived with her older sister Louvenia, and the two worked in the cotton fields. Partly to escape her abusive brother-in-law, at age 14 Walker married Moses McWilliams. When her husband died in 1887, Walker became a single parent of two-year old daughter Lelia (later known as A’Lelia).

Seeking a way out of poverty, in 1889, Walker moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where her four brothers were barbers. There, she worked as a laundress and cook. She joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, where she met leading black men and women, whose education and success likewise inspired her. In 1894, she married John Davis, but the marriage was troubled, and the couple later divorced.

Madam C.J. Walker(2015)

What timing language did we see in these snippets?

Alexander was born in 356 BCE...
Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867...
At age 14 Walker married...
When her husband died in 1887...

In English, we can locate things in time the same way we locate them in space, using words such as:

In, on, at, before, after, upon, from, to...

We also have a range of words and phrases used exclusively for time:

During, until, as soon as, once, later...

These are all called prepositions or prepositional phrases (if more than one word).

We have a whole lesson on prepositional phrases if you want to get good at them.

Marie Curie was a famous scientist who pioneered radiation research. Can you put some of her major life events in order? Any surprises?

(If you get stuck, the answers are below.)

Irene and Marie Curie (Source)

Drag these sentences into the right order

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She and her husband, Pierre Curie, discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity, as well as two new elements: polonium and radium.
Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for their research on radioactivity.
She moved to Paris to study physics and mathematics at the Sorbonne, University of Paris.
She developed mobile radiography units to provide x-ray services to WW1 field hospitals.
She received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her discovery of radium and polonium, and her work on the isolation of radium.
Marie Curie died from aplastic anemia caused by prolonged exposure to radiation.
Marie Curie became the first woman to hold a professorship at the Sorbonne.
Marie Curie was born as Maria Sklodowska in Warsaw, Poland.

Writelike

1867: Born in Warsaw.

1891: Moved to Paris (24 years old)

1898: Discovered radioactivity, polonium and radium (31 years old)

1903: Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics (36 years old)

1906: Appointed as Professor at the Sorbonne (39 years old)

1911: Awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (44 years old)

1914-1918: Developed mobile radiography units (47-51 years old)

1934: Died of aplastic anemia (67 years old)

Notice how when talking about people, we can not only talk about time in terms of years and dates; we can also talk about it in terms of the individual's lifespan, or age. How does knowing Marie Curie's age at different milestones affect how you think about her life and achievements?

Describing historical figures

When did they live?