History Main / WhatYearIsThis

* In ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' #371, a time-travelling lawman appears out of thin air and asks a bystander "What's the date, citizen?" He has to ask a second time, less politely, before the bystander pulls himself together enough to reply.

* One piece of 4chan [[MemeticMutation copy pasta]] advice for InstantSeduction involves disappearing for a week, growing a beard, getting a tan (including wedding ring tan line), and being found "semi-conscious" in the target's house, [[NakedOnArrival naked]] and injured, demanding to know the answer to this question. Somehow, CoitusEnsues.

* The "Where Am I?" version happens in ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. In "A Human Reaction", John Crichton finally makes it back to Earth (or so he thinks), crashlands Farscape One on a beach in Sydney Harbour, walks up to a woman there and asks her to confirm that he's landed in Australia. The woman stares at him...then John realises she's staring ''past'' him at the squad of soldiers and a Blackhawk helicopter coming over the ridge.

* The "Where Am I?" version happens in ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. In "A Human Reaction", John Crichton finally makes it back to Earth (or so he thinks), crashlands Farscape One on a beach in Sydney Harbour, walks up to a woman there and asks her to confirm that he's landed in Australia. The woman stares at him...then John realises she's staring ''past'' him at the squad of soldiers and a Blackhawk helicopter walking towards him.

* The "Where Am I?" version happens in ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. In "A Human Reaction", John Crichton finally makes it back to Earth (or so he thinks), crashlands Farscape One on a beach in Sydney Harbour, walks up to a woman there and asks if he's handed in Australia. The woman stares at him...then John realises she's staring ''past'' him at the squad of soldiers and a Blackhawk helicopter walking towards him.

* Caroline asks [=DeWitt=] this question in ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' for entirely non-time-travel related reasons: at the time, she's both amnesiac and being confronted with the implausibly futuristic mind-altering technology that's the premise of the show. [[note]]This is also an ActorAllusion, because Caroline is played by the [[Creator/ElizaDushku same actress]] as Faith from the above ''Buffy'' example. Some would say it's an [[ObligatoryJoke echo]] of that scene.[[/note]]

* 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 [[LaserGuidedAmnesia 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 [[HeKnowsTooMuch they are to be terminated]]. The idea is to make sure that [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow no one knows about SCP-2718]], due to it being an [[GoMadFromTheRevelation extremely dangerous cognitohazard]].]]

* Wiki/TheOtherWiki used to have [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_year the answer]] to the question, but not anymore.

* In the ''Literature/{{Deathlands}}'' novel "Ice and Fire", a man wakes up from cyrogenic freezing and asks not only what year it is, but "Who am I?" Once his brain starts working again, he asks what year it is "and what in the name of God Almighty is happening?" having realised that [[AfterTheEnd something bad has happened]] if he's been woken by armed strangers instead of doctors and nurses.

* In the ''Literature/{{Deathlands}}'' novel "Ice and Fire", a man wakes up from cyrogenic freezing and asks not only what year it is, but "Who am I?" Once his brain starts working again, he asks what year it is "and what in the name of God Almighty is happening?" having realised that [[AfterTheEnd something bad has happened]] if he's been woken by armed men and women instead of doctors.

* In the ''Literature/{{Deathlands}}'' novel "Ice and Fire", a man wakes up from cyrogenic freezing and asks not only what year it is, but "Who am I?" His brain eventually starts working again, and he isn't happy that the "five years, tops" he'd been told he'd be asleep has now become a century in a post-Apocalyptic DeathWorld.

More subtle travelers [[NewspaperDating seek out a newspaper]], if such thing exists during the time he traveled to.

* In a Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} UK ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers Generation 1]]'' story, when Galvatron travels back in time to 1986, he asks this question of a passing human. The human answers before running off in terror.

* In ''Film/BlackKnight'', Creator/MartinLawrence's character Jamal finds himself in TheMiddleAges in England. When he finally realizes that it's not a theme park, he asks a servant girl if it is a certain date. She confirms that it is. He then, just to make sure, asks if the certain year is correct. She is a little confused that his year starts with a 2 and replies something that starts with "It is the year of our Lord..." Needless to say, Jamal is a little freaked out, especially since he'd just witnessed a beheading.

* Subverted in an episode of ''Series/SevenDays''. The hero finds himself in a civil war battle, which is far further back than the one week the time machine can go. He grabs someone and asks, "What year is this? 1861?" The guy responds, "Dude, what are you talking about?" The hero realizes he just landed in the middle of a reenactment.

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in a short gag from ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' where [[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons George Jetson]] pops in, stating 'I come from the far future year of 2002!' while Harvey squint at his 2005 calendar.

* A version where it's not the year, but with the same "How could anyone not ''know'' that?" factor -- [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Ebenezer Scrooge]] asking an urchin what day it is. "Why, it's Christmas Day, sir!"

* A variant in AChristmasCarol: Scrooge has been doing some time travel, and enough of it to make him think he may have been gone too long and missed Christmas. He doesn't think he may have the wrong year, but he's still confused enough to ask "What day is this?" And when he asks some boy in the street, the boy is clearly surprised that it's Christmas, and he's meeting a man who is so clueless that he doesn't know it's Christmas.

* An ad for Amazon's Alexa shows a guy in a t-shirt asking a bunch of panicking people calmly, "Excuse me? Excuse me? What year is it, please?" One of them shouts at him "It's 79 A.D.! Run for your lives!" as he and the others flee an exploding volcano. Back in the present, the man is in his living room, telling his daughter that this is when Mount Vesuvius erupted, having gotten this information from Alexa, though he claims he "just remembered it." The daughter then asks him what the volcano's name was and he turns back to Alexa.

* An ad for Amazon's Alexa shows a guy in a t-shirt asking a bunch of panicking people calmly, "Excuse me? Excuse me? What year is it?" One of them shouts at him "It's 79 A.D.! Run for your lives!" as he and the others flee an exploding volcano. Back in the present, the man is in his living room, telling his daughter that this is when Mount Vesuvius erupted, having gotten this information from Alexa.