Bede’s history book popularized the system of relating all dates to the birth of Christ by using the term “BC” for Before Christ, and “AD” for Anno Domini, a Latin phrase for “in the year of our Lord.” These Christian designations for historical time periods are quickly giving way today to the more secular terms “BCE,” Before the Common Era, and “CE,” Common Era. Nevertheless, the point of transition from one period of time to the other is still right there at the birth of Christ, and Bede helped make it so.
