Message text written by "Michael D. Porter"
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Unfortunately, our forebearers in the Middle Ages, who weren't as good
at math as we, and who were even more caught up in millenial fever,
started counting at year 1000.... We just inherited the tendency from
them. <g>
Cheers.
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So your saying that we are celebrating 1000 years from the last millenial
celebration?
Actually the year numbering system is a totally arbitrary system based on a
best guess date of the birth of the central figure of the Christian faith,
Jesus, who's birth has been places by modern scholars at or before 4 BCE.
The Orthodox Hebrew world uses their own calendar which is well past 5,000,
the Chinese have their own calendar, and the Muslim world (there are more
muslim adherents thna there are Christians in this world) also uses their
own. Outside problems related to data base shortcuts in computer systems
there is no more significance to the rollover in the year number than there
is to the rollover on your spedometer.
But if you need a reason to party then celebrate the end of the 1900's!
Dave
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