Can you tell the history about the number (if it is a number) zero
[0].  I'm putting together a small roll out campaign that will require
our employees to add leading zeros to certain tracking numbers where
they didn't have to before.

Wandakitty..

Interesting question.  I have provided  below several references
discussing the history of zero.  In a nutshell, it is pretty widely
accepted that the term zero comes from the Arabic word, al-sifer,
which the term cipher is derived from.  Sifer is a translation of the
Hindi word sunya, which means void or empty.

A Brief History of Zero
http://www.mediatinker.com/whirl/zero/zero.html

A History of Zero
http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Zero.html

Zero History
http://www.geocities.com/borhoo/History.htm

A Countdown to Zero
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/5numbers1.shtml

A history of Zero
http://www.mathematicsmagazine.com/nr8-2002/nr8-2002-hist_of_0.htm

Thanks for your question.  If you need any additional clarification,
please let me know.

Regards,

-THV

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