Over time a new piece of evidence may emerge. This new piece of evidence may lead to an event or time in history being reinterpreted. Reinterpretation means to see something in a new or different light. New evidence sometimes creates doubt about what we believe happened during some events, and therefore it needs to be studied carefully.
One example of this is the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 following its collision with an iceberg. New evidence has recently come to light on what caused the supposedly unsinkable ship to sink. It states that the hull of the ship was weakened due to a major fi re there, making it easier for the iceberg to breach the hull. Historians and scientists are studying the evidence to establish whether this theory is correct.
COLLABORATE: You have learned about the possibility of history having to be reinterpreted when new evidence is discovered. Work in small groups to fi nd an example of something else that had to be re-examined and reinterpreted due to new evidence being found.
In this
topic, you will learn about:
How history can be reinterpreted
Front page of The New York Times newspaper the day after the sinking of the Titanic
1. Defi ne the term chronology in your own words. 2. List three ways historians put events in order. 3. What centuries do these years belong to: (a) AD 1066; (b) 514 BC? 4. Which is earlier: 30 BC or 41 BC? 5. Defi ne the term reinterpretation in your own words.
. 10
I understand how events are put into chronological order and that some events may need to be reinterpreted later.
