History Main / WhatYearIsThis

* Inverted in the ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13250586/1/Ranma-Restart-Bid-for-Freedom Ranma Restart: Bid for Freedom]]'', after landing in the past and being separated from Ranma, Ran (female Ranma) is asked by Cologne what year she thinks it is. Ran replies Heisei 1 (1989), only to be informed that it's actually Showa 52 (1977).

* In ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', this is used as part of the containment improvement procedures for [[http://www.scpwiki.com/scp-2718 SCP-2718]]. [[spoiler:Whenever a workstation is found to have accessed SCP-2718, a specialized engineer is dispatched to further reduce the likelihood that someone will come across the article, which cannot be deleted nor can it be access-restricted through conventional means. The engineer then has to take a heavy-duty amnestic, and if they are able to recall the current year or name the current [[UsefulNotes/ThePresident U.S. President]], it means either the amnestic didn't work or they didn't take it, and they are to be terminated. The idea is to make sure that ''no one'' knows about SCP-2718, due to it being an [[GoMadFromTheRevelation extremely dangerous cognitohazard]].]]

* This kind of thing happens in early January.

** Desmond on starts down this road because of his time jumping.

* Averted in book seven of ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure''. When Bobby asks passers-by on Quillan about things absolutely anyone would know, their response is to back away slowly.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Discworld/NightWatch'', Vimes averts this -- mostly because he doesn't ''know'' he time-traveled until later. Instead, he has an OhCrap moment when he encounters his wife as a teenage girl. Later in the story Dibbler (who is not a time traveler) asks him what year it is so he knows what to put after the word "Est." on his tray.

* In ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny'', Vivio was GenreSavvy enough to ask this to an unusually young-looking Yuuno who seemed perplexed when Vivio called him Head Librarian, confirming her fears that she had somehow landed in a TimeTravel story.

%%* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': "Past Tense, Part I"

->''When first spontaneously catapulted into another era, a simple glance at a nearby news vendor (whether robotic or lovable suspendered urchin) should suffice to pinpoint the date. There is no need to walk up to a stranger, shake them by the shoulders, and say "The year, man! What YEAR is it?!".''

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

'''The Doctor:''' Right, nice year . . . bit dull.

'''The Doctor:''' Well ...\\

[[folder:Music Video]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* A variation appears in the movie ''Film/{{Jumanji}}''. Finally released after spending twenty-six years trapped in a board game, Alan jumps on the hood of Carl's police car and demands, "What year is it?". Carl replies, "It ''was'' brand new", referring to the make of the car.

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''

* After being unexpectedly thrown over a thousand years into the future, Series/{{Merlin}} does this in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8016336/1/Only-A-Boy Only a Boy]]'' at right about the time he's starting to get hysterical from finding out he's a legend in this time period. The woman he's talking to assumes he's been drugged.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor does this in far too many episodes to count. Answers like the one given above usually point him in the direction of his latest adventure in the process.

* The Romulans asks "What is the current [[AlternativeCalendar Stardate]]?" to Captain Robau at the beginning of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[Film/StarTrek2009 prequel/reboot]]. Modified from the norm: he is not uncertain of the date -- he is certain of an incorrect date. He is just asking that question because he figures Captain Robau is screwing with him. [[spoiler:When he finds out they're in the wrong year, the Romulan commander kills Robau in a fit of rage.]]

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* Goes a bit wrong in [[http://www.sailorsun.org/index.php?comicID=289 this]] ''Webcomic/SailorSun'' strip.

* if he possessed a computer capable of connecting to the internet, our erstwhile traveler could simply go to [[http://www.worldtimeserver.com World Time Server]]. (Offer void before 1998)

* A commercial aired during the 2012 Major League Baseball postseason for State Farm Insurance showed a member of the Cubs's field crew talking with a State Farm agent about a "discount double check." He says that he used to do an "ivy double check" after each game and reaches into the ivy outside Wrigley Field, pulling out "an old cell phone... a French horn... Andre Dawson?" "What year is it?" asks Dawson. After some brief info about State Farm, Dawson runs off with a baseball shouting "Caught it! Whoo!" (Dawson retired from Major League Baseball in 1992 and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.)

** Inverted towards the end of "[[GroundhogDayLoop Cause and Effect]]". Captain Picard asks Captain Morgan Bateson what date it is so he can determine when tbe ''U.S.S. Bozeman'' was caught in the time anomaly; Bateson declares that it's 2278 (90 years ago).

'''The Doctor:''' Well . . .\\

'''The Doctor:''' 2005 . . .\\

'''The Doctor:''' Tell you what . . . bet you're gonna have a really great year.
** When Rose goes on her first time travel adventure with the Doctor, she calls her mother from five billion years in the future, only to find herself a bit stymied with this question.
-->'''Rose:''' What day is it?
-->'''Jackie:''' Wednesday, all day. You got a hangover?

* The Romulans asks "What is the current [[AlternativeCalendar Stardate]]?" to Captain Robau at the beginning of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[Film/StarTrek prequel/reboot]]. Modified from the norm: he is not uncertain of the date -- he is certain of an incorrect date. He is just asking that question because he figures Captain Robau is screwing with him. [[spoiler:When he finds out they're in the wrong year, the Romulan commander kills Robau in a fit of rage.]]