title: When is the beginning of time in MySQL
body: <p>I posted a question as to why the following query filed to search the date.</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * FROM  Stuff Where Sell_by &lt;= 2013-07-04;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I was given the newbie answer of "You are searching for the result of the equation 2013-07-04"  </p>
  
  <p>That makes perfect sense to me.  So I use the following and it come out just fine:</p>
  
  <pre><code>SELECT * FROM  Stuff Where Sell_by &lt;= '2013-07-04';
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>But it raises another question:  If 2013 minus 7 minus 4 is 2002.  (I assume that is what MySQL is saying)  </p>
  
  <p>When is day Zero?  (And what is there any significance to that date?)</p>