Letter: Start of millennia cause of confusionI

Monday, March 29, 1999 | 12:43 p.m.

So we either have or have not completed two thousand years of the Christian era when our clocks strike 12 o'clock midnight on Dec. 31, 1999. Should we not be starting a new millennium on Jan. 1, 2000? Why wait another full year for that distinction?

If I live long enough to become 100 years old, should I also have to wait an additional year to celebrate? Days, weeks, months, years and centuries should use the same yardstick as millennia. Come on! Give me a break!

I am no mathematician, but I was an accountant, so I can count. So, don't forget to count millennium years from the beginning, that is the 00 years. So, we have years 1900, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09. Ten complete years. One decade. Right?

For centuries, the same thing -- 10 centuries equal one thousand years (a millennium). Remember, the year 1000 plus 1,000 years equals Year 2000, the beginning of a new millennium, Jan. 1, 2000.

The problem for nonbelievers is "If you start counting from the Year 2001 you are skipping (eliminating) one whole year." The zero-ending years start each new decade, century or millennium. The years ending in 9 complete each such period.

Years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 equal the first new decade. Count them. Believe me!

The new millennium is introduced by Father Time on Jan. 1, 2000.

Katherine D. Ahrens