angelfromabove
Favorite Answer
Anno Domini (sometimes spelled Anno Domine, abbreviated as AD or A.D.) and Before Christ (abbreviated as BC or B.C.) are designations used to number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The calendar era that they refer to is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus Christ, with AD denoting years after the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of this epoch.
Anonymous
Rain is right.
Anno Domini is Latin for "Year of our Lord".
Some people use the term C.E. for "Common Era" instead of A.D. which is related to Christianity.
The (roman) Catholic (Christian) church was the dominant cultural force after the fall of the Roman empire around 400 AD. They were concerned with church history and considered the Birth of Jesus as the turning point in history. In those days the years were counted from some important date like the rise of a new emperor. There was no standard calender. Nobody really knows the day or even the year of the birth of Jesus.
Time keeping is a difficult and tricky business. There are all kinds of things to consider.
there are several major calenders such as the Hebrew, Chinese, Islamic and Mayan. The Mayan system is the reason there is such a fuss about 2012.
Anonymous
A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which refers to the time AFTER Jesus Christ was born.
For more info, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_Domini
Sicilian Godmother
A.D. is an abbreviation for anno domini which translates into "In the year of the Lord."
Michael E
A.D. stands for After Death, referring to the death of Christ.