Guest#, that's an interesting link. The then-pope asserted in his book that Jesus was born several years before what is commonly accepted today was based on an error by the historian Dennis, the Small. However the pope doesn't go so far as to pin down the exact year. :)

I like this: "He (Dennis the Small) drew up the new system in part to distance it from the calendar in use at the time, which was based on the years since the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian."

That makes sense to me, that the old 'new' calendar was based on a known event, the years since the reign of a known leader. The new calendar being based on Jesus' birth doesn't make quite as much sense since no one seems to have written it down. :)

"Numbing", Mr. Red? Idle moments produce idle thoughts.