'ABY-BBY' dating system

< 'ABY-BBY' dating system
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"We have taken as our calendar 'zero point' the date of the Battle of Yavin, the destruction of the first Death Star, and the first overwhelming victory of the Rebel Alliance."
―New Republic Historical Council[1]

The 'ABY-BBY' dating system was a 12-month/368-day calendar[2] created by the New Republic Historical Council following the Galactic Civil War. Around 25 ABY,[1] it became the official galactic calendar,[3] replacing the Great ReSynchronization calendar used during the Imperial Era.[4] The 'ABY-BBY' dating system differentiated years occurring before the Battle of Yavin (designated as BBY) from those following it (ABY). The New Republic Historical Council chose the Battle of Yavin as its zero point, instead of the Battle of Endor, declaring the former the more significant galactic event.[1] This calendar has been employed throughout the galaxy for more than one century and was still in use at the time of the Sith–Imperial War.[3]

Behind the scenes

The 'ABY-BBY' dating system was originally known out-of-universe as BSW4/ASW4, which means "before/after Star Wars: Episode IV." The BSW4/ASW4 notation was used in the timeline of the second edition of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe and The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels.[5][6] The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons eschewed acronyms altogether and listed dates as YEARS, with 0 YEARS being the events depicted in Episode IV.[7] The first Essential Guide to use the BBY/ABY notation was The Essential Chronology.[1] This practice continued in The Essential Guide to Alien Species and beyond.[8]

The 'ABY-BBY' dating system has been widely used out-of-universe, and, although it was not designed as an in-universe calendar,[9] The Essential Chronology de facto made it one.[1]

Sources

Notes and references

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Essential Chronology
  2. ↑ StarWarsDotComBlogsLogoStacked Don't Read This!!!!!! on Had a slight weapons malfunction. But everything's perfectly all right now — Sue Rostoni's StarWars.com Blog (original site is defunct)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. I ("A Timeline of Galactic Events")
  4. ↑ Galaxywide NewsNets
  5. ↑ A Guide to the Star Wars Universe, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
  6. ↑ The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
  7. ↑ The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons
  8. ↑ The Essential Guide to Alien Species
  9. ↑ SWInsider "Star Wars Q&A" — Star Wars Insider 58