Wikipedia:Today's featured article/September 5, 2004

Anno Domini (Latin for "In the Year of the Lord"; commonly abbreviated AD) refers to the conventional numbering of years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It defines an epoch based on the traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Jesus. Years before the epoch were denoted a.C.n. (for Ante Christum Natum, Latin for "before the birth of Christ"), although BC (Before Christ) is now usually used in English. The Anno Domini era is the only system in everyday use in the Western hemisphere, and the main system for commercial and scientific use in the rest of the world. Some non-Christians or secular persons, however, object to a system based upon an event in the Christian faith; for this reason, the same epoch is also referred to as the Common Era, abbreviated CE. (more...)

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