Archive - Friday, 29 January 1999


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2000 is not the start of MIllennium

CAN someone please explain why plans are afoot to celebrate the new Millennium at the end of 1999 and, indeed, why the year 2000 is being hailed as the start of the new Millennium, other than it being a nice round number?

By midnight on December 31, 1999, only one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine years will have passed since the (supposed) birth of Jesus of Nazareth, on which our present calendar is based. Therefore the new Millennium does not begin until January 1, 2001, making the forthcoming celebration at the end of this year one year premature.

2001

Orford

Editor's note: Several readers have written to highlight this fact. While we at the GUARDIAN are aware of the reality, we have decided to join with the rest of the community and indeed world in celebrating the year 2000 - it is after all the end of an era.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.