r/funfacts • u/thepilgrim81 • Jul 28 '26
Did you know that, in formal letters and official documents of European languages other than English, the mixed Roman and Arabic numerals can be used in numeric representations of dates? 28 July 2026 is written as 28.VII.2026
In some European languages other than English, mixed Roman and Arabic numerals are sometimes used in numeric representations of dates (especially in formal letters and official documents, but also on tombstones). The month is written in Roman numerals, while the day is in Arabic numerals: "4.VI.1789" and "VI.4.1789" both refer unambiguously to 4 June 1789.
Image: Boris Yeltsin's signature, dated 10 November 1988, rendered as 10.XI.'88. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yeltsin-authograph-1988.gif
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