# The new year one **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 7, 2001, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626 "2001-05-07T07:53:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/1 "2001-05-07T07:53:07Z")
Pretend you’ve been assigned the task of creating a new calendar system. You decide to toss out the putative birth of JC as the basis for your dating system, for whatever reason (not trying to start a religious debate here). What event would you choose as the turning point in human history, as the new year 1? Only one rule: the date of the event has to be reasonably precise - the invention of agriculture, for example, is right out, as we probably can’t date that with 1000 years, much less one. My suggestions: 1. European discovery of the Americas; 2. Edison’s first demonstration of the light bulb (signifying mass electricization); or 3. The end of WWII. Sua ---
**Author:** ![blur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dbc845/32.png) [@blur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blur)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/2 "2001-05-07T08:42:54Z")
How about the day man landed on the moon? ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Plankton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Dave\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/3 "2001-05-07T09:18:46Z")
How about the day when they finally invent a time machine? Hav’nt got my head round this yet. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/4 "2001-05-07T09:41:22Z")
The day I was born, June 13th, 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/5 "2001-05-07T09:51:03Z")
They do this in Japan all the time. The official calendar starts over at Year 1 every time the old Emperor dies. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/6 "2001-05-07T09:56:52Z")
So all we need is an Emperor. I nominate me. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/7 "2001-05-07T10:54:13Z")
Delusions of grandeur, **SPOOFE**? Down, boy, down! No, the epochal moment in the history of peoplekind was when the venerable, gracious, stunning **Ice Wolf** was born. You’re just too neo for the job, **SPOOFE**. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2001, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/8 "2001-05-07T23:53:04Z")
Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/9 "2001-05-08T09:00:05Z")
> [@](#): > > No, the epochal moment in the history of peoplekind was when the venerable, gracious, stunning Ice Wolf was born. You’re just too neo for the job, SPOOFE. Sorry. I’ll tell you what… I’ll fight you for it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/10 "2001-05-08T10:25:50Z")
> [@](#): > > _Orig. by SPOOFE_ > I’ll tell you what… I’ll fight you for it. 😃 You’re on, buddy boy! See you at dawn! Over by the sheds – bring a sword. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/11 "2001-05-08T10:28:22Z")
You can bring a sword… I’m bringing a shotgun. Who said the Emperor needs to fight fair? ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/12 "2001-05-08T10:44:42Z")
And now, folks, we hope to bring you back to your _normal_ programme. [sub]Hey, SPOOFE – can’t we talk about this reasonably? Wolf to shotgun-toting megalomaniac, that kind of thing?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/13 "2001-05-08T12:37:52Z")
The first day someone made an OpalCat reference, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Retief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Retief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retief)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/14 "2001-05-08T15:37:43Z")
The answer is obvious, the date SDMB first opened Or should we go back to the founder’s birth date, when exactly was Cecil born/hatched? Retief ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/15 "2001-05-09T01:35:59Z")
Doesn’t it make sense to start at the beginning of time? That would be September 21, 1957, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-year-one/64626/16 "2001-05-09T06:09:15Z")
How 'bout January 1, 1970? It would make Unix programming so much easier. Of course, we’d have to make it year 0, not year 1, but think how much effort we’d save arguing whether the new century starts in year 100 or year 101.