Regardless of all the "hype" you may have seen and heard, the beginning of the new millenium was on January 1st, 2001. The purpose of this page is to help explain why this is so.
You do not have to just take my word for it, though. At the bottom of this page are quotes from "official" and significant sources which agree with 2001 being the start of the next millennium. There are also links to the official governmental sites in the USA and England, which state the next millennium starts on January 1, 2001.
I have talked with some people who work in major news organizations about the mislabling of 1/1/2000 as the start of the next millennium. Many have told me their organization knew 2001 was the start of the next millennium, but they did not wish to contradict their advertisers who all want to have "Millennium Sales." Some of these companies in the later part of 2000 planned on saying "Oops, we made a mistake. Now lets have a 'real' millennium sale." However, the public's reactions to the exploitation of the millennium sales of 1999 made most companies drop their plans for 'Real Millennium' sales.
Here are some side notes:
1. 1999 and 2000 were in the "20th Century." This was because the last year of that century starts with a 20, instead of a 19. We are now in the 21st Century, because the last year of this century wil be 2100.
2. 1999 was the last year of the 1900s. By definition, the 1900s are years which begin with a 19. 1999 was also the last year of the 1000s. However, to make a millennium, you have to have 1000 years, so 1000 is included with the years 1 through 999 to make 1000 years. The same thing would apply to the second millennium based on the Gregorian calendar.
3. Regardless of when, where, why, or by whom the Gregorian calendar was invented, there is no year Zero in the Gregorian calendar. I challenge anyone who believes there was a year Zero to produce a quote from any significant history book or encyclopedia documenting any event which happened in the year Zero. I have never seen any such listing, and I have researched the subject for years. For the purists among you, the Gregorian calendar was invented in 1582. It was determined that 10 days needed to be removed to bring the calendar back into the correct season. This happened, depending on the country, from around that time into the 1900s. This fact is not reflected in Explanation #5 below. That is designed merely to show how many days there would be in two millennea.
4. Many people have sent me e-mails trying to explain why there should be a year Zero. While I have seen many well-prepared and logical arguments, there is still one major problem. Regardless of how logical a year Zero may be to some people, the Gregorian calendar does not have one. It was designed that way. No amount of explanations can change this simple fact.
Here are five explanations why the year 2000 has to end before the next millennium can begin:
Explanation #1
Were you 1 year old the day you were born? Of course not. You did not become 1 year old until the end of your first year.
The calendar is very similar with one exception, it started with the year 1. There was no year 0. Therefore, the first year has not been completed until the end of the year 1, which would be on December 31, 0001.
A decade is a group of 10 years. The decade is not finished until the end of the 10th year. Therefore, the first decade would have ended on December 31, 0010. The 2nd decade started on January 1, 0011.
The decade ends after all 10 years have passed.
A century is a group of 100 years. The century is not finished until the end of the 100th year. Therefore, the first century would have ended on December 31, 0100. The 2nd century started on January 1, 0101.
| 91
| 92
| 93
| 94
| 95
| 96
| 97
| 98
| 99
| 100
|
The century ends after all 100 years have passed.
A millennium is a group of 1000 years. The millennium is not finished until the end of the 1000th year. Therefore, the first millennium would have ended on December 31, 1000. The 2nd millennium started on January 1, 1001.
| 991
| 992
| 993
| 994
| 995
| 996
| 997
| 998
| 999
| 1000
|
The millennium ends after all 1000 years have passed.
Therefore, the 2nd millennium will end on December 31, 2000. The 3rd millennium will begin on January 1, 2001.
| 1991
| 1992
| 1993
| 1994
| 1995
| 1996
| 1997
| 1998
| 1999
| 2000
|
The second millennium ends after all 2000 years have passed.
Explanation #2
You go up to an Automated Teller Machine to get $2000 in $1 bills. Each bill is like one year. The machine slowly feeds out each $1 bill, one at a time.
You cannot take a bill until the machine has finished feeding it out. Even though you can see part of it and touch it, you do not have the first bill until the machine has finished rolling it out. This is true for every one of the 2,000 bills.
Finally, you see the 2000th $1 bill. Even though you can see and touch part of it, you will not have your $2000 until this 2000th bill has completely come out of the machine. Just because the 2000th bill has started coming out, you do not have it in your hands, so you cannot use it.
The end of the millennium is exactly the same. Since all decades, centuries and millennia started in a year ending in 1, they are not finished until the end of the appropriate year ending in 0.
So this millennium will not end until the end of the year 2000 (December 31, 2000, one second after 11:59:59pm).
Explanation #3 (by Jay Bodenstein)
If you have three large baskets of apples, each containing 1,000 apples, and
you consumed 1999 of them, ONE of the original "two thousand" apples would
remain and the third thousand would still be untouched. The third thousand
or the next millennium cannot begin until the last apple of the FIRST two
thousand is completely consumed!!
Explanation #4 (suggested by Eric Seddon)
Ever heard of the Indianapolis 500? It is a car race held each year on Memorial Day in the United States. The first vehicle to complete 200 laps around the 2.5 mile track (500 miles), wins. Like the Gregorian Calendar numbering system, the first lap is Lap #1. Simply stated, the race is not over until the end of the 200th lap, not the start of the 200th lap.
To carry the analogy one step further, the Earth runs one lap around the Sun each year. When the Earth completes lap #1, it finishes Year #1. When the Earth completed lap #1000, it finished year #1000. This made a millennium, 1000 years. So, when the Earth finishes lap #2000, it will have completed year #2000, thus completeing another millennium. You complete the 2000th year at the end of the 2000th lap, not the start of that lap.
Explanation #5
Based on the Gregorian Calendar, the day before January 1, 1 A.D., was December 31, 1 B.C.
There are 365 days in each year, except for leap years which have 366 days. So, 100 years would have 36,525 days, comprised of 36,500 regular days, and 25 leap year days, give or take a day (365 1/4 days per year times 100 years). Then, a millennium would have 365,250 days (1000 times 365 1/4 days). Two millenniums (yes, I know there is a different word in latin for plural millennium) would have 730,500 days (365 1/4 days times 2000 years). There is one other minor exception, century years (ex.: 1700, 1800, 1900) which are not evenly divisible by 400, are not have leap years.
The begining of the first decade, century and millennium was on January 1 in the year 1. So if you start adding from that day....
1/1/1 - 12/31/1 = 365 days
1/1/2 - 12/31/2 = 365 days
1/1/3 - 12/31/3 = 365 days
1/1/4 - 12/31/4 = 366 days
1/1/5 - 12/31/5 = 365 days
1/1/6 - 12/31/6 = 365 days
1/1/7 - 12/31/7 = 365 days
1/1/8 - 12/31/8 = 366 days
1/1/9 - 12/31/9 = 365 days
1/1/10 - 12/31/10 = 365 days
1/1/11 - 12/31/11 = 365 days
1/1/12 - 12/31/12 = 366 days
1/1/13 - 12/31/13 = 365 days
1/1/14 - 12/31/14 = 365 days
1/1/15 - 12/31/15 = 365 days
1/1/16 - 12/31/16 = 366 days
1/1/17 - 12/31/17 = 365 days
1/1/18 - 12/31/18 = 365 days
1/1/19 - 12/31/19 = 365 days
1/1/20 - 12/31/20 = 366 days
1/1/21 - 12/31/21 = 365 days
1/1/22 - 12/31/22 = 365 days
1/1/23 - 12/31/23 = 365 days
1/1/24 - 12/31/24 = 366 days
1/1/25 - 12/31/25 = 365 days
1/1/26 - 12/31/26 = 365 days
1/1/27 - 12/31/27 = 365 days
1/1/28 - 12/31/28 = 366 days
1/1/29 - 12/31/29 = 365 days
1/1/20 - 12/31/30 = 365 days
1/1/31 - 12/31/31 = 365 days
1/1/32 - 12/31/32 = 366 days
1/1/33 - 12/31/33 = 365 days
1/1/34 - 12/31/34 = 365 days
1/1/35 - 12/31/35 = 365 days
1/1/36 - 12/31/36 = 366 days
1/1/37 - 12/31/37 = 365 days
1/1/38 - 12/31/38 = 365 days
1/1/39 - 12/31/39 = 365 days
1/1/40 - 12/31/40 = 366 days
1/1/41 - 12/31/41 = 365 days
1/1/42 - 12/31/42 = 365 days
1/1/43 - 12/31/43 = 365 days
1/1/44 - 12/31/44 = 366 days
1/1/45 - 12/31/45 = 365 days
1/1/46 - 12/31/46 = 365 days
1/1/47 - 12/31/47 = 365 days
1/1/48 - 12/31/48 = 366 days
1/1/49 - 12/31/49 = 365 days
1/1/50 - 12/31/50 = 365 days
1/1/51 - 12/31/51 = 365 days
1/1/52 - 12/31/52 = 366 days
1/1/53 - 12/31/53 = 365 days
1/1/54 - 12/31/54 = 365 days
1/1/55 - 12/31/55 = 365 days
1/1/56 - 12/31/56 = 366 days
1/1/57 - 12/31/57 = 365 days
1/1/58 - 12/31/58 = 365 days
1/1/59 - 12/31/59 = 365 days
1/1/60 - 12/31/60 = 366 days
1/1/61 - 12/31/61 = 365 days
1/1/62 - 12/31/62 = 365 days
1/1/63 - 12/31/63 = 365 days
1/1/64 - 12/31/64 = 366 days
1/1/65 - 12/31/65 = 365 days
1/1/66 - 12/31/66 = 365 days
1/1/67 - 12/31/67 = 365 days
1/1/68 - 12/31/68 = 366 days
1/1/69 - 12/31/69 = 365 days
1/1/70 - 12/31/70 = 365 days
1/1/71 - 12/31/71 = 365 days
1/1/72 - 12/31/72 = 366 days
1/1/73 - 12/31/73 = 365 days
1/1/74 - 12/31/74 = 365 days
1/1/75 - 12/31/75 = 365 days
1/1/76 - 12/31/76 = 366 days
1/1/77 - 12/31/77 = 365 days
1/1/78 - 12/31/78 = 365 days
1/1/79 - 12/31/79 = 365 days
1/1/80 - 12/31/80 = 366 days
1/1/81 - 12/31/81 = 365 days
1/1/82 - 12/31/82 = 365 days
1/1/83 - 12/31/83 = 365 days
1/1/84 - 12/31/84 = 366 days
1/1/85 - 12/31/85 = 365 days
1/1/86 - 12/31/86 = 365 days
1/1/87 - 12/31/87 = 365 days
1/1/88 - 12/31/88 = 366 days
1/1/89 - 12/31/89 = 365 days
1/1/90 - 12/31/90 = 365 days
1/1/91 - 12/31/91 = 365 days
1/1/92 - 12/31/92 = 366 days
1/1/93 - 12/31/93 = 365 days
1/1/94 - 12/31/94 = 365 days
1/1/95 - 12/31/95 = 365 days
1/1/96 - 12/31/96 = 366 days
1/1/97 - 12/31/97 = 365 days
1/1/98 - 12/31/98 = 365 days
1/1/99 - 12/31/99 = 365 days
1/1/100 - 12/31/100 = 365 days
Total for 100 years = 36,525 days
1/1/1 to 12/31/99 would only equal 36,159 days.
1/1/1 - 12/31/100 = 36,525 days
1/1/101 - 12/31/200 = 36,525 days
1/1/201 - 12/31/300 = 36,525 days
1/1/301 - 12/31/400 = 36,525 days
1/1/401 - 12/31/500 = 36,525 days
1/1/501 - 12/31/600 = 36,525 days
1/1/601 - 12/31/700 = 36,525 days
1/1/701 - 12/31/800 = 36,525 days
1/1/801 - 12/31/900 = 36,525 days
1/1/901 - 12/31/1000 = 36,525 days
Total for 1000 years = 365,250 days
1/1/1001 - 12/31/1100 = 36,525 days
1/1/1101 - 12/31/1200 = 36,525 days
1/1/1201 - 12/31/1300 = 36,525 days
1/1/1301 - 12/31/1400 = 36,525 days
1/1/1401 - 12/31/1500 = 36,525 days
1/1/1501 - 12/31/1600 = 36,525 days
1/1/1601 - 12/31/1700 = 36,525 days
1/1/1701 - 12/31/1800 = 36,525 days
1/1/1801 - 12/31/1900 = 36,525 days
1/1/1901 - 12/31/2000 = 36,525 days
Total for 2000 years = 730,500 days
1/1/1 to 12/31/1999 would only equal 730,134 days.
Add it up yourself and see.....
Simple, isn't it?
I am not opposed to people celebrating the year 2000. The year 2000 is a major milestone for those who use the Gregorian calendar. It was well worth a major celebration. I just prefer to call things by their proper name.
Phil Konstantin
On This Date in North American Indian History
http://americanindian.net
indicates a recent addition to the list.
