Epoch reference date: Encyclopedia II - Epoch reference date - CalendarsEach calendar era starts from an arbitrary epoch, which is often chosen to commemorate an important historical or mythological event.
For example, the epoch of the current civil calendar is the traditionally-reckoned year of the birth of Jesus, defined as year number 1. Thus, the first instant of January 1, 2006 CE should be exactly 2005 years since the epoch, but quirks in the development of the modern Gregorian calendar make this technically incorrect.
The traditional Chinese calendar uses 2637 BCE, a date in the life of the legendary Yellow Emperor, as its epoch. Several other calendars are also curre ...
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