So there is no year 0?
I know the first year was 1AD - but what was it the night before Jan 1,
0001, was it Dec 31, 0000, or Dec 31, 0001BC?
I'm asking how we look at it now, not how we looked at it then. When we (I
mean, historians who know this stuff) refer to an event happening on new
years eve before the first year, what would they call it?
Here's an off topic joke: on the day of the messiah's birth, the three wise
men were entering the manger to pay their respects. One tripped over the
threshhold and banged his knee on a rock, and screamed in pain, "Jesus
Christ!". Hearing this, Mary says "hey, that would be a great name for the
baby"
-----Original Message-----
From: m <mt_2@yahoo.com>
To: extropians@extropy.com <extropians@extropy.com>
Date: Saturday, December 11, 1999 3:38 AM
Subject: Re: millenial madness
>
>
>--- hal@finney.org wrote:
>> > AFAIK (and according to specialists) the first
>> century
>> > DID have 100 years, from 1 A.D. to 100 A.D.. The
>> 2nd
>> > century went from 201 to 300, etc.
>>
>> So how long was the first decade, and when did the
>> current decade begin?
>
>The first deacde had ten years;
> 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 AD !
>
>c/f centuries;
> 1,2,...,99,100 1st
> 101,102,...,199,200 2nd
>etc
>
>This, the *tenth* decade of the century, began in
>1991.
>I realise this contradicts the usage we ALL make, with
>the "90's" beginning in 1990, like calling year's the
>first of the "1800's","2000's" etc.
>
>A little thing I'd never considered before :)
>
>I realise isn't neat or intuitive, it's just what's
>necessary to keep the numbering consistent with a
>calendar invented before they used "0".
>
>hmmm..
>
>
>mike
>
>
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