[blakeyrat]

... and now you know why the minimum DateTime value in SQL Server is Jan 1, 1753. It's the start of the first full year after the United States (colonies) transition to the Gregorian calendars.

(And, BTW, if you do have a need for older dates, it's very troublesome to project the Gregorian calendar back before its adoption-- use the Julian day count method instead. It's goofy but well-adopted and well-supported.)

[avar]

Imagine all the poor programmers in the alternate universe where the US was similarly stubborn about its calendar system as it is now about its measurement system, with everyone having to convert between Julian & Gregorian on a daily basis.

[Gudin]

using java.util.Date O.O