See also Dashes
Dates used in text following British spelling are ordered Day Month Year. Do not use punctuation in dates.
Dates used in text following US spelling are ordered Month Day, Year. A comma is placed between the day and the year.
British: 19 October 1958; US: October 19, 1958
To cater to religious diversity in an increasingly secular age – following the example of most schools, publishers and media organisations such as the BBC – we are moving away from using BC and AD, and instead using BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era). Use BCE for all relevant dates but CE only when there’s potential confusion. Both BCE and CE follow the numeral.
Caesar reigned from 27 BCE to 14 CE.
Use numerals, not words. For spans of decades, include the century.
1960–80
Use an apostrophe when omitting the century in a year.
1960s or ’60s
Do not use an apostrophe before decades from XX00 to XX20 – these must be written out in full to avoid ambiguity.
2000s (not 00s)
Use numerals, not words.
2nd century CE
4 CE
4 BCE
Always repeat at least the last two digits or the full date for the second date.
1939–45 or ‘from 1939 to 1945’ (never ‘from 1939–45’)
Repeat entire year if different century or if the years are BCE.
1877–1903; 327–321 BCE