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- pronunciation:
- bi
si
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abbreviation |
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B.C. is an abbreviation of the words "before Christ." The abbreviation B.C. is used in dates when people are talking about things in history that happened before the time of Jesus Christ. The year before Christ was born is called "1 B.C." The year before that is called "2 B.C." Jesus Christ is considered both God and man in the religion of Christianity, and he is an important figure in the history of the world. The calendar that most people use nowadays was shaped by believers of Christianity. That's why the year of Christ's birth was chosen as a way to divide older times from newer times. This calendar is not the first or only calendar that people in the world have created, but most people nowadays use this calendar that uses Christ's birth in this way. Instead of "B.C.," though, people often use "BCE" nowadays, which stands for "before the Common Era." The words are different but it also refers to the birth of Jesus Christ.
The famous Greek philosopher Plato was born around the year 438 B.C. He died around the year 348 B.C. Notice how the numbers in years B.C. get smaller as time goes forward. |
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