So you want to know what year that cartoon was made?

A Basic Primer on Reading Roman Numeral Years

I've been watching Toon in with ME with my nephews. It's exactly the kind of show I love. Puppets, cartoons and a little bit of corn. My younger nephew wants to learn to read the dates. In other words, he wants to be the one to read the dates.

Some cartoons have number dates, others have roman numerals. I like the roman numeral dates. It's traditional. It's like a traditional clock, you need to learn how to read it.

It couldn't be simpler to read the year unless they used the numbers but where's the fun in that?

The Roman Numerals

M - 1000

C - 100

L - 50

X - 10

V - 5

I - 1

Common Specific Arrangements appearing in years

MCM -1900

XC - 90

IX - 9

XL - 40

IV - 4

A smaller number like "I" in front of a larger number like "X" means subtract.

Examples

MCMXXXVI - 1936

MCMLVIII - 1958

MM - 2000

MMXXII - 2022