If we subscribe to the fact there was no year 0, the year 1 B.C. was followed by 1 A.D. A.D. means Anno Domini, Latin for “in the year of our Lord”, referring to the birth of Jesus Christ. C.E. means “Common Era”. B.C. means “Before Christ”. B.C.E. means “Before the Common Era”. I have to remind myself sometimes that it doesn’t matter if we say this is 2021 A.D. or 2021 C.E. They both mean the same date. The only reason I’ve heard for using B.C.E. and C.E. is to avoid reference to Christianity instead of B.C. and A.D. I say A.D. I suppose it’s a product of my upbringing. According to the calendar we use, the 1st century included the years 1-100. That means we started the 21st century January 1, 2001, not in January, 2000, the last year of the 20th century. I seem to recall people talking about when the 21st century actually began with some arguing it was January 1, 2000 and the rest correctly arguing it was January 1, 2001. Of course, all this matters naught on January 8, 2021. I just figured I’d end the week with something frivolous instead of more political nonsense.

That’s Coffeetalk. I’m Vic Dubois.