The New Millennium

["Otto G. Raabe" <ograabe@ucdavis.edu>]

December 26, 1999
Davis, CA

The year 2000 is a special year, but it is certainly not the beginning of
either a new century or new millennium. 

Unlike a car's odometer which begins at zero, the calendar begins with year
one. Since there are 2000 years in twenty centuries and two millennia, the
year 2000 is the last year of the 20th Century and 2nd Millennium.  The
"new" millennium and 21st Century begin in 2001. 

Various commentaries, announcements, and news reports have indicated
acceptance of and promoted the popular fallacy that a new millennium begins
on January 1, 2000. However, this is a factual matter of simple arithmetic,
not a debatable issue of choice. Check with the U.S. Naval Observatory for
verification or any major encyclopedia for confirmation.

Otto

		*****************************************************
		Prof. Otto G. Raabe, Ph.D., CHP
              Institute of Toxicology & Environmental Health (ITEH)
		   (Street address: Building 3792, Old Davis Road)
		University of California, Davis, CA 95616
		Phone: 530-752-7754  FAX: 530-758-6140
		E-mail ograabe@ucdavis.edu
              *****************************************************
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