Dates - exact date or century?

1. 0

   Baileybearposted 14 years ago

   I want to put a table in my hub with famous people, and would like the reader to have some indication of when they lived, but exact dates aren't important to the hub.
   
   Is it best to put an exact date (and should that be date born), eg 1781 or approx date c300 BCE (to nearest hundred or thousand?) or what century eg 16th century?
   
   If I go with century, does this mean 1700 - 1799 is 18th century?  What if a person lived between centuries?
   
   Hope that wasn't too confusing
   
   Thanks

   replyreport
   1. 59

      recommend1posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You should put as exact a date as possible - and ensure that it is accurate.  The date is important for cross referencing and comparison, such as what did people generally believe at a particular time, and that changes with certain inventions or events that also have a specific date.

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Baileybearposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         ok, thanks.  Which dates - a range from birth to death, or birth?

         replyreport
         1. 59

            recommend1posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Birth to death is normal like 1812-67 is the simplest and shortest.  For some things less precise is ok to use phrases like "the early part of the twentieth century" but you still have to look the guy up and that mouthful is more to write than sticking in the correct date anyway

            replyreport
2. 92

   AdeleCosgroveBrayposted 14 years ago

   Another option might be to draw up a time-line chart to show the sequence of characters in relation to each other.

   replyreport
3. 66

   KiaKitoriposted 14 years ago

   As recommended1 said you should use as many exact dates as possible.
   when speaking about people that are not kings presidents or emperors you put the date of birth and death for example Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)
   but when you speak about political figures you should put their dates when in power in addition to their birth and death dates.
   Then if you speak about dates that something took place and you are not sure the exact years you should mention the century that it took place (for example the renaissance as a cultural movement took place in the 14th to the 17th century.
   Also when speaking about centuries it is like you are always one number ahead. For example the 18 century is indeed 1700 to 1799.
   Then for ancient times you can use exact dated if you have them but in general is ok to use centuries to show that something took place around that date. For example when speaking about the beggining of colapse of Roman Republic and that was a rather long process then a one time precise happening you can say that the Roman Republic started to collapse in the second part of the 1st century BC beginning with Julius Caesar.Hope this helped.

   replyreport