Dionysius Exiguus invents Anno Domini
A monk drawing up Easter tables invents our era
In 525 the Roman monk Dionysius Exiguus, computing Easter dates, began counting years 'since the Incarnation' instead of from Emperor Diocletian. Europe had no zero then, which is why 1 BC is followed directly by AD 1.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 6th century
Did you know
For five centuries nobody knew they were living in AD anything. The monk Dionysius Exiguus devised Anno Domini dating in 525; it caught on thanks to Bede (731) and Charlemagne's court. Share →
There is no year zero because Dionysius Exiguus, inventing AD dating in 525, had no zero. Just 103 years later the Indian Brahmagupta wrote down rules for adding and multiplying with zero. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Middle East
- c. 500 Completion of the Babylonian Talmud — 25 years earlier
- 529–534 Code of Justinian — 4 years later
Africa
- c. 500 Austronesian settlement of Madagascar — 25 years earlier
Asia
- c. 538 Buddhism reaches Japan — 13 years later
Americas
- c. 500 Rise of Tiwanaku — 25 years earlier
Alive at the time
- Justinian I (aged 43)
- Aryabhata (aged 49)
- Theodora (aged 25)
- Khosrow I (aged 24)