We can thank Gerbert of Aurillac and Leonardo Fibonacci (better known nowadays for his spiral), particularly, for introducing Arabic numerals, developed in the Mideast, to Europe and thus to much of the rest of the world.
This year, expressed in Roman numerals, is much simpler to write than some years. Imagine if we'd been saying to each other, 22 years ago, "Party like it's MCMXCIX!"
