Why is the year Jesus Christ was born called 1 AD? SHIRLEY AU Yuen Long Merchants Association Secondary School The term AD originally meant anno Diocletiani, meaning the year of the Emperor Diocletian, who ruled the Roman Empire from 284 until 305. Dates were calculated from the year he became emperor, so our modern 284 was, to the Romans, 1 AD.
Diocletian was famous for two things - dividing the Roman Empire and persecuting Christians.
The Diocletiani system of calculating dates lasted until the 6th cen tury. Then a monk and scholar called Dionysius Exiguus from Scythia (now part of Ukraine) decided to change the calendar in honour of Christ. He decided that years should be calculated from the birth of Christ, so the year 248 anno Diocletiani became 532 anno Domini (the year of Our Lord).
Most historians believe Dionysius miscalculated the birth of Christ. It is now generally believed that Christ was born between 6 BC and 4 BC. He was also responsible for setting Christmas as December 25. Despite these mistakes, his is the calendar we still use to this day.
It is rather ironic that the initials which originally were in honour of the emperor who carried out the last large scale persecution of Christians were adopted in honour of Christ.
Why do animals follow people's instructions? ALICE CHER Yuen Long Merchants Association Secondary School Some animals that have been domesticated can be trained to follow people's instructions. One such animal, the dog is descended from wild wolves and is thought to be the first animal to have been domesticated. Dogs have been selectively bred throughout the centuries to perform tasks such as hunting and retrieving game, guarding property and being companions for humans.