Markxxx: [[This millenium ran from 1000-2000. This is a millenium.
The argument that there is no year O doesn’t jive. If you want to get that technical, please adjust for all the changes in the calender, including switching over from the Julian to the Gregorian Calender, from the time when the new year began March 25 to Jan 1.]]
In what possible sense is the lack of a Year Zero “technical?” If you start with 1 and count off a thousand, the next thousand begins with 1001. This is not higher mathematics.
The difference from the Julian to the Gregorian Calendars amounts to a 13-day deviation as of February 28, 2000, according to the World Almanac. This was a correction–the Julian calendar year was out of sync with Earth–but if you want to celebrate the Third Millenium and the 21st Century on December 19, 2000, go right ahead. (And what other “changes” in the calendar are you refering to? Leap years are also a correction to make the calendar conform with the actual orbit of Earth arount the Sun.)
New Years–the point at which the year changes–is completely arbitrary. Granted this would make the Dawn of the Third Millenium March 25, 2001 (or March 12, if you insist on cutting those 13 days); it would NOT make it March 25, 2000.
I quote the World Almanac: "A century consists of 100 consecutive years. The 1st century AD may be said to have run from the years 1 THROUGH (my emphasis) 100. The 20th century by this reckoning would consist of the years 1901 THROUGH (again, my emphasis) 2000 and would technically end Dec. 31, 2000, AS WOULD THE MILLENIUM (once again, my emphasis). The 21st century would thus technically begin Jan. 1, 2001. (As would the Third Millenium, I would add.) (The World Almanac and Book of Facts 1999, Copyright 1998 Primedia Reference Inc., softcover p. 322.)
The dating system is completely arbitrary…but if we’re going to give some sort of significance to 100 and 1000-year periods from the beginning of the measurement, let’s do it right.
Jophiel: [[ Oh, they know. They never said this millenium is ending, they just want you to know right away that their the offical channel. You’ll notice Coke is already flashing the Olympic logo in their ads and we don’t have an Olympic Games this year either.]]
Perhaps…though “Time Lab 2000” makes me wonder.
[[As long as we keep sending the aliens old WWII footage, they’ll underestimate our arms and technology.]]
Our latest hi-tech bomber–the B-2–runs the risk of crashing if it’s not repainted after every flight. I’m not sure I’d denigrate World War II equipment…
[[Judging from what I’ve seen, we have about six more months until “The story of the guy who dated the sister of the guy who made Traveler’s saddle. Next on Civil War Journal.”]]
Hey, that might be more interesting than you think.
Sylence: [[Here we go again.]]
Yeah, every hundred years, just like clockwork. Maybe we should change the dating system, starting with a Year Zero so we don’t have this problem. We could date Year Zero from the invention of steam power, or the beginning of the atomic age, or the year we landed on the moon, or the invention of Pringles Potato Crisps. Something important.
Guy Propski: [[Weren’t there milleniums BEFORE 1 A.D.? Like 1,000 B.C. to 1 B.C., etc., ad infinitum?]]
Ah, but those poor culturally deprived souls didn’t KNOW it was 1 BC, or 1000 BC, or whatever. The Julian Calendar was adopted in what is now 46 BC, which THEY thought was Roman Year 709. No wonder they didn’t have good stuff like the internet, and microwave popcorn, and blue M&Ms.
[[History didn’t start with the birth of Christ.]]
Neither did AD, actually. I’ve seen estimates on the birth of Jesus ranging from 7 BC to AD 4, but I’ve never seen anybody seriously contend that it was in 1 BC or AD 1. Regardless of whether Jesus existed, regardless of whether he was the Messiah or a loon, atheists and Biblical scholars alike are sure he wasn’t born when Little Dennis (the monk who determined the division of BC and AD hundreds of years after the fact) said he was.
AWB: [[The 2nd millenium AD is 1001-2000 inclusive. The 1000’s (a millenium by definition) is 1000-1999.]]
You’ve hit the nail on the head, AWB. What it amounts to is how long we’ve owned the car versus when the odometer turns over.
Rich Barr
massivemaple@hotmail.com
AOL Instant Messenger: Hrttannl