At 11.30 pm 31st Dec 1999 I rang the London police information line and asked:
Is it the Millennium tomorrow?
The reply I got was: No
I then asked when was the Millennium
The reply I got was: January 1st 2001 … but 99% of the people believe its tomorrow. It’s best to go along with it.
What century did you think you were in during the year 2000?
A few days ago a British newspaper said that a footballer born in May 2000 who recently played in a European Championship game was the first person born in the 21st century to do so.
What would be the reaction, I wonder, if Trump were to tweet that the 21st century began on 1st Jan 2001 … and invite other world leaders to agree with him?
The year is an arbitrary number. There was never a Year 1, and 2001 is not 2000 years after anything.
2000, OTOH, is a nice, round, pretty number, and it notes the date after which all years start with a 2. Sounds like cause for celebration to me.
Also, I had no idea London PD was the internationally recognized authority on these matters.
In Aug 1999 I rang the BBC and spoke to a supervisor. I asked her when the 21st century began and she said: 1st Jan 2001. When I asked her why the BBC was telling people it was 1st Jan 2000 her reply was: WE’VE GOT GOVERNMENT PERMISSION.
On Jan 6th 2001 the Pope signed his Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte (At the beginning of the new millennium) which outlines the priorities of the Church for the 21st century and beyond. As far as the Catholics were concerned the year 2000 was a Jubilee Year … the LAST YEAR OF THE SECOND MILLENNIUM. For the Catholics the year 2000 was the last year of the 20th century.
Bully for them.
The year 1999 called. They want Y2K back.
IIRC Castro act actually banned millennium celebrations in Cuba in 1999 because the new dryer works fine in 2001, not 2000. Also Modi is the Prime Minister of India, not the President.
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I betcha the BBC just LOVE hearing your voice on the phone. 
“Fuck, it’s that OLD BLOKE again…tell him it’s 1985 and he’ll go away.”
In the early 1990s a member of the House of Lords, whilst speaking in a debate, referred to 1st Jan 2000 as the beginning of the 21sh century … and got a response of amused laughter. Everybody back then KNEW the next century was due to begin on Jan 1st 2001. When the Millennium Commission was set up it was allocated a number ending in 2001.
I tend to think that terminology matters in this regard. “The Twentieth Century” ran from January 1st, 1901 through December 31st, 2000, but “the nineteen-hundreds” ran from 1900 through 1999. The two aren’t exactly the same, although we only have to deal with the discrepancy once every hundred years.
The same would apply to millennia, except we don’t have the same familiar terminology. I don’t hear phrases like “second millennium” or “third millennium” very often. Which phrase someone uses defines what the beginning and end dates are.
And it’s ultimately trivial, anyway; just the round-number anniversary of a date that we might as well have picked out of a hat.
The first BBC broadcast 1st Jan 2000
Note at 0.53 … the first babies of tbe century have been born.Greenwich Observatory had a page that stated tbat they would not respond to any claims that the 21st century starts on 1st Jan 2000. Almost every reputable science-based site on the Net agreed with Greenwich … tne 21st century start date was 1st Jan 2001.BILLIONS OF PEOPLE world-wide had however been brainwashed to believe, to be absolutely convinced, that 1st Jan 2000 was the start of a new century.
What science was involved, exactly?
Modi is many things (a jackass, a religious extremist, an economic illiterate for instance). One thing he is not, is President of India, thats Ram Nath Kovind.
This is literally trivia.
I remember my junior year of high school we had an arguement withthe senior class above use who would the first class of the new millennium. Aside from that two year period i haven’t thought about it.
People usually say: Does it matter?
1st Jan 1901 … the world’s media welcomed in the 20th century.
1st Jan 2000 … the world’s media welcomed in the 21st century.
Thread title is correct. It really did start on Jan 1, 2000.
The Economist once had an article, maybe it was back around 2000, how the consideration of when the 21st century started is a metaphor for democratization or the rise of populism or whatever other positive/negative connotation term you want to use for: at one time ‘experts’ or pedants could point out how logically the 21st century stated Jan 1 2001 and people would listen. Nowadays the overwhelming common belief that centuries should start on the 00, though not logical wins out. Pedants point out it ‘really’ started in 2001, nobody else cares and goes on treating the start as Jan 1 2000.
Not sure how the Indian PM is significant here though. All due respect to India, I just don’t see why anyone in or particularly outside India would care if the Indian PM treats the 21st century as having started the same year as almost everyone else does.