thearchivist.funEvent date
An event date is meaningful only after the event has been defined. Prototype creation, announcement, public release, regional availability, and widespread adoption can happen at different times. A record that simply says launched may hide several incompatible milestones. Write the event in a sentence before assigning its date. Then identify which source supports that occurrence and at what precision. If the evidence establishes a month, preserve the month rather than adding an arbitrary day for sorting. Keep announcement and publication dates in separate notes when they help explain the evidence. When sources disagree, describe the disagreement or narrow the event to the one that is supported. A timeline becomes easier to compare when each entry makes clear what its date represents, rather than treating every dated source as the event itself.
Context and provenance
The date of the specific occurrence a historical record describes.
Sources and evidence
Editorial review: 2026-09-23. New evidence may change this account.