What's so common about the Common Era?
BC and AD I understand. They refer to a specific event that happened almost 2012 years ago. But BCE and CE are more puzzling. What happened back then that made everything going forward common, and everything that had gone before uncommon? Was it a sudden sea change? Or did some common things happen before before the Common Era (BCE) and the does the Common Era just refer to a time when lots more common things suddenly started happening?