The first year in the calendar is 1 AD/CE not 0 AD/CE because 0 AD/CE doesn't exist and the year directly before 1 AD/CE is 1 BC/BCE.

    In calendars, the number zero is never used because when talking about years or months or days in calendars, only natural numbers can be used (like, 1, 2, 3, etc).

    by bahhaar-blts

    7 Comments

    1. People say it’s obvious… but most still think a decade starts in the year starting with 0 (2000, 2010, 2020, etc). Our decade started on Jan 1, 2021!

    2. When I was a kid I had similar surprise. Being Greek, I was taught the Greek version of BC / AD, which is translated as “Before Christ” and “After Christ”. So at one point I thought that AD began after 33 AD, and that the numbers were counting after the Crucifixion. Basically that it was “Before Christ” / “Christ Years” / “After Christ”, which would mean that each time one calculated the amount of years through the BC / AD point, they would have to add or subtract 33 years. 

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