Year zero
Historians have never included a year zero. This means that between, for example, and , there are 999 years: 500 years BC, and 499 years AD preceding 500. In common usage "anno Domini" 1 is preceded by the year 1 BC, without an intervening year zero. Neither the choice of calendar system (whether Julian or Gregorian) nor the era ("Anno Domini" or Common Era) determines whether a year zero will be used. If writers do not use the convention of their group (historians or astronomers), they must explicitly state whether they include a year 0 in their count of years, otherwise their historical dates will be misunderstood.
Year 1900 problem
When handling the year 2000 problem, measures were sometimes taken to avoid or rectify this: modifying the national identification number, for instance. For example, year is recorded only with two digits in Bulgarian Uniform civil number; however, a solution was ready as early as the inception of the system in 1975: 20 was added to the month number for individual born before 1900 and 40 for those born in or after 2000.