MCMXC a.D.

MCMXC a.D. ("1990" in Roman numerals followed by an abbreviation of Anno Domini) is the first studio album from the German music project Enigma, headed by Romanian-German musician Michael Cretu, released in November 1990 on Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and Charisma Records in the United States.

Before he founded Enigma, Cretu had released several solo records, collaborated with various artists, and produced albums from his then wife, German pop singer Sandra. Following their marriage in 1988, Cretu developed an idea for a New-age music project named Enigma. MCMXC a.D. was recorded in eight months in 1990 at A.R.T. Studios located in Cretu's home in Ibiza, Spain. It is one of the first albums recorded onto a hard disk drive. Cretu makes extensive use of Gregorian chants, dance beats, and flute sounds.

MCMXC a.D. received some criticism for its sexual and religious themes and connotations. Nevertheless, the album was a worldwide success, reaching the top 10 in ten countries, including the UK, and No. 6 in the U.S. where it sold over 4 million copies and stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for 282 weeks. Four singles from the album were released—"Sadeness (Part I)", "Mea Culpa (Part II)", "Principles of Lust", and "The Rivers of Belief". "Sadeness (Part 1)" was the most successful single which topped the singles charts in several countries. The album was re-released with additional remixed tracks in 1991 and 1999.

1500

Year 1500 (MD) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.

The year was seen as being especially important by many Christians in Europe, who thought it would bring the beginning of the end of the world. Their belief was based on the phrase "half-time after the time", when the apocalypse was due to occur, which appears in the Book of Revelation and was seen as referring to 1500.

Events

January–June

July–December

500

Year 500 (D) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Patricius and Hypatius (or, less frequently, year 1253 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 500 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

Events

By place

Byzantine Empire

Britannia

0 (year)

Year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini (or Common Era) system usually used to number years in the Gregorian calendar and in its predecessor, the Julian calendar. In this system, the year 1 BC is followed by AD 1. However, there is a year zero in astronomical year numbering (where it coincides with the Julian year 1 BC) and in ISO 8601:2004 (where it coincides with the Gregorian year 1 BC) as well as in all Buddhist and Hindu calendars.

Historical, astronomical and ISO year numbering systems

Historians

The Anno Domini era was introduced in 525 by Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus (c. 470–c. 544), who used it to identify the years on his Easter table. He introduced the new era to avoid using the Diocletian era, based on the accession of Roman Emperor Diocletian, as he did not wish to continue the memory of a persecutor of Christians. In the preface to his Easter table, Dionysius stated that the "present year" was "the consulship of Probus Junior [Flavius Anicius Probus Iunior]" which was also 525 years "since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ". How he arrived at that number is unknown.