Why was the date "Jan 1st, 0001" (or its respective ancient calender equivalent) chosen as the start point of the calender? Did something in particular happen on that day?

by General_Stobo

I never understood how it was decided to start counting the calender we know today at its starting point. Did we start counting on Jan 1st 0001? Why? If not, when did we start counting and why wasn't that date chosen to be the start point? (ex, if we start counting on March 5th, 869, where did the year 869 come from?)

iwinagin

Thanks for an excellent question. There is always more to add to any conversation. To get you started Your Question has already been answered in the FAQ

But don't let that answer slow you down. The FAQ contains just about everything you could ever want to know about time date and calendars.