Characteristics of the centuries

 

I added this helpful Characteristics of the Centuries chart to the back of my Book of Centuries today.

It comes from this Parents Review article on the teaching of chronology, written by Dorothea Beale. We don't know if Ms Beale's chart was ever taken up by Miss Mason, or her schools, but since Miss Mason was editor of the Magazine, and other ideas from the article were adopted, we can assume that she at least thought a chart of this type was a good idea. I do too.

Ms Beale says this:

I would place before the child a map, in which the eighteen Christian centuries are brought together thus on a small scale with some characteristic to give it individuality.

I wonder why she said 18? At any rate, I have twenty. I haven't added the 21st - it's a little early to identify a characteristic for this present century yet, isn't it? The 20th Century is a different matter. More than 120 years have passed since Miss Beale wrote her article, and the century that was yet to be, now forms part of history.

So help me. What should we call the 20th Century, do you think? World Wars? Information Technology? Help me fill the blank space. What would you put there? Please help!