What I really can't stand is how the 1% of the population who wants to say that the Millennium begins on Jan 1, 2001 sort of look down their nose at the 99% of the population who say it begins on Jan 1, 2000. I remember on the McLaughlin Group, a talking head named Zuckerman said that the Millennium begins on 2000, and John McLaughlin scoffed and said, "We don't mind you conducting your education on television." Shortly after Thanksgiving 1999, I saw a newspaper article about a crazy old man who was absolutely obsessed with saying the Millennium will take place on Jan 1, 2001. He went so far as to file a lawsuit against M&M's for having an advertising campaign about the Millennium.
When the year changed from 1989 to 1990, TIME magazine chose a "Man of the Decade". The McNeil Lehrer Newshour spent an entire week doing a "decade in review". Everyone called it "the end of the decade". At that time, there was not a single lunatic, a single lone nut, who screamed, "It is not the end of the decade! The decade does not end until next year!" This is because it was universally understood that the "decade" being referred to was 1980 - 1989. Why then, when the year changed from 1999 to 2000, were we subjected to a tiny number of weird people making a similar remark that "It is not the end of the millennium"? Why was it not equally universally understood that the millennium being referred to was 1000 - 1999?
What most people choose to call something is what most people call it. Another way of phrasing that is what is "correct" is what most people call it. If most people said that the name of the millennium changed on October 3, 1978, and henceforth it would be called "The Banana Peel Millennium", then that would be its name, because that would be what it was called. Of course, that would be illogical. It would also be illogical to say that the name we choose to call the year and decade would change at Jan 1, 2000 but that the name we call the century and millennium would not. The year and decade would end but the century and millennium would still be going on?
Whether you think the point in time people call "The Millennium" is on January 1, 2000, or January 1, 2001, obviously, it is more exciting to watch the year change from 1999 to 2000, than 2000 to 2001. Why is this? You could say years that end in "000" occur only once every thousand years. However, that's equally true for any three digit combination. Years that end in "973" happen only once every thousand years also. Did you really excited about 1973, saying, "Hey! Years that end in 973 only come around once a millennium!" The difference is that "000" has a pattern you can see just by looking at it, whereas "973" does not. Of course, there exists mathematical formuli that will put out "973" or any series of numbers, but if it's complicated, you won't see it with your own eyes. If all the numbers are the same, it jumps out. If it's, "1, 2, 3, 4..." you'll obviously see it. If it's the prime numbers, probably most people won't see it. If it's a string of zeros, it obviously is very noticeable. With "1973", the pattern is to complex to see with your own eyes. Also, 2001, seems to have a less obvious pattern than 2000, so most people would get less excited about it. Also, some people noticed the date September 9, 1999, since the date was 9-9-99. I remember Bill Maher on TV saying, "oooh, spooky!"
People get excited about seeing the millennium digit in the year change. They say this happens only once every years. However, Jan 1, 2000 is the only time in which the millennium digit changed according to our calendar system, and people alive at the time were aware of it's significance. When the year, according to our calendar system, changed from 3000 B. C. to 2999 B. C., from 2000 B. C. to 1999 B. C., from 1000 B. C. to 999 B. C., and from 1 B. C. to 1 A. D., obviously no one alive at the time attached any significance to those points in time since they didn't use our calendar system. Obviously, they could not have imagined that they were passing through a point in time that would later have significance attached to it according to calendar system that would not be invented for millennia. Also, in the year 1000 A. D., their calendar system differed from ours. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered that 10 days be dropped from the calendar. Therefore, if people alive at the time noticed Jan 1, 1000 A. D., they were not noticing the day we call Jan 1, 1000 A. D. They would have sailed through the day we call Jan 1, 1000 A. D., without recognition. Furthermore, obviously the sentient entities in existence on the day we call Jan 1, 3000 A. D., will not be using our calendar system, or probably anything we would recognize as a calendar system at all. No one alive today could possibly begin to fathom how different these beings will be from anything we could possibly begin to imagine. Over the next few centuries, we will genetically alter ourselves beyond recognition. They won't resemble any currently existing lifeform. It will be far more different than you could possibly begin to imagine. Obviously, they will not be using our calendar system. Therefore, out of all the points in time that correspond to a change in the millennium digit of the year, according to our calendar system, only one was acknowledged in any way by people alive at the time. That is January 1, 2000. Therefore, the celebration of the change of the millennium digit is not something that happens once every thousand years. It's something that only happens once. In fact, there's never been a calendar system anywhere in the world that was in use for so long that it happened twice for the same calendar system. To me, this makes the event seem less significant.
The day that we call January 1, 2000 will be called by the following names in the following calendar systems.
Gregorian January 1, 2000 Babylonian Year 2749 Buddhist Year 2544 Chinese Cycle 78, year 16 (Ji-Mao), month 11 (Wu-Yin), day 25 (Wu-Wu) Egyptian Year 6236 Ethiopian 23 Takhsas 1993 French Décade II, Duodi de Nivôse de l'Année 208 de la Révolution Greek 22 Kiyahk 1716 Hebrew 23 Teveth 5760 Islamic 24 Ramadan 1420 ISO Day 6 of week 52 of year 1999 Julian December 19, 1999 Mayan Long count = 12.19.6.15.0; tzolkin = 9 Ahau; haab = 8 Kankin Persian 11 Dey 1378This shows how the names for the intervals of time are arbitrary, and it's silly to attach such significance to the name changing according to a particular system.
Another feeling people have is that we must be very lucky to be alive to see the number in the millennium decimal place of the year, according to our calendar system, change because most people do not. In a sense this is true but not as much as you might think. The human species evolved about 100,000 years ago. For the vast majority of that time, a tiny number of people were alive at any given time. However, that length of time is so enormous, that of every one to have lived since the species evolved, a tiny percentage are alive today. However, most people think of the beginning of humanity as the beginning of human civilization. It depends how you choose to define this, but written language, a good defining characteristic of civilization, began around 3500 B. C. Of everyone to have lived since then, a large fraction are currently alive right now. It is less than 50%, but a sizable minority of everyone to have lived since 3500 B. C. is alive today. This is because the population of the Earth in the 20th Century exploded to previously unimaginable levels. All the people alive today were also alive when the number in the thousand's decimal place in the year, according to our calendar system, change because they were alive on Jan 1, 2000. Therefore, for that reason alone, a large fraction of everyone alive since 3500 B. C. was alive at a point in time which corresponded to the millennium digit changing according to our calendar system because they were alive on Jan 1, 2000. That makes you seem less lucky to be alive to see this happen.
Here is the world population in various years which illustrates my point. It was the invention of agriculture between 8000 B. C. and 3000 B. C. that caused the leap in population between those dates. The 20th Century numbers, which are the most accurate, are from the middle of the year.
100,000 B. C. - 40,000
8000 B. C. - 5 million
3000 B. C. - 100 million
1 A. D. - 250 million
1750 - 750 million
1950 - 2.55 billion
1960 - 3.03 billion
1970 - 3.70 billion
1980 - 4.45 billion
1990 - 5.27 billion
2000 - 6.08 billion
2011 - 7.00 billion
As long as we're talking about human populations, it's interesting to consider the percentage of the population to have lived in two centuries or millennia. When a new century first begins, 100% of the population has lived in at least two centuries. This quickly drops below literal 100% as babies are born shortly after midnight. You could measure from conception. It makes no difference here. The percentage of the population to have lived in two centuries gradually decreases throughout the century until at the end, it is near zero. It does not drop to literal 0% since even at the very end, there are a few elderly people to were born in the previous century. Then when the new century begins, it instantly jumps back up to literal 100%. Then it starts decreasing again. If you measure the percentage of the population to have only lived in one century, it's the opposite. At the beginning of the century, it's literally 0%, and then rises to almost 100%. If you look at the percentage of the population to have lived in three centuries, the percentage is slightly above zero for short intervals at the beginning of each century, and literal 0% the rest of the time. You could do the same thing for millennia. The percentage to have been alive in two millennia is literal 100% at the very beginning of the millennium, and quickly drops below that. It drops down to literal 0%, where it remains for about 90% of the millennium. The percentage to have lived in only one millennium starts at literal 0%, rises up to literal 100%, and remains there for about 90% of the millennium. The percentage of the population to have lived in three millennia is always literal 0%.
The points in time that correspond to changes of the millennium according to our calendar system just randomly ended up that way due to the details of the calendar system that were arbitrarily chosen. However, just for the fun of it, let's look at the world at some of these points.
3000 B. C. - Bricks first used in Egyptian and Assyrian cultures. First cities in Sumer and Egypt. Windmill Hill culture in Britain. Phoenicians settle along eastern cost of Mediterranean. Invention of the wheel. Newgrange in Ireland is built around this time. The first tombs on Malta are built.
2000 B. C. - Bronze Age under way in Northern Europe. Jomon culture flourishes in Japan. The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is only 450 years old. In their new state, the Egyptian pyramids still have their original casing stone. They are perfectly smooth and gleam pure white in the Sun. The majority of the construction of Stonehenge took place from around 2500 B. C. to around 2000 B. C. so on this date Stonehenge is mostly finished and begins its long decline. The last woolly mammoth dies on Wrangler Island, Alaska, around 2000 B. C. The oldest organism currently alive in 2000, a specific bristlecone pine in California, is only about 700 years old in 2000 B. C.
1000 B. C. - In 1065 B. C., the New Kingdom in Egypt ends with the death of Ramses XI. Smedes, a rich merchant, becomes Pharaoh and founds the XXIst dynasty. Minoan Civilization existed from around 2000 B. C. to 1500 B. C. It was succeeded by Mycenean Civilization which last until around 1000 B. C. In 1045 B. C., Crodron, the king of Athens is killed. The largest organism alive in 2000, the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park in California, germinated around 1000 B. C.
1 A. D. - In 44 B. C., Julius Caesar was assassinated. The Battle of Actium, in which Octavian defeats Anthony and Cleopatra, was in 30 B. C. In 27 B. C., Octavian is given supreme power by the Senate, and the title of Augustus. This begins the Principate. The Roman poets Virgil and Horace die in 8 B. C. Herod the Great dies in 4 B. C. In 5 A. D., Rome acknowledges Cymbeline, King of the Catuvellauni, as king of Britain. Augustus dies in 14 A. D., and is succeeded by his stepson Tiberius.
1000 A. D. - The Viking Biarni Heriulfsson, blown off course, sights cost of North America. Battle of Svolder, Sweyn kills Olaf of Norway and annexes Norway to Denmark. Ethelred II, or Ethelred the Unready, ravages Cumberland. Gunpowder perfected by the Chinese. Ethelred ruled England from 978 to 1016. In 1007, Ethelred buys two years peace from the Danes for 36,000 pounds of silver. In 1066, William the Conqueror invades England and wins the Battle of Hastings.
2000 A. D. - In 1969, humans first walked on the Moon. Gorbachev came to power in 1985 which quickly led to the end of the Cold War. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Hopes that the world would become a paradise of democracy were short-lived. The late 1990's, were plagued by ethnic warfare throughout the world. Russia saw increasing influence of organized crime. In 1998, Bill Clinton became the second president in American history to be impeached. Around the year 2000, human society was revolutionized by the Internet. They had the technological ability to put humans on Mars but chose not to. Presumably, the first manned flight to Mars will finally take place in the early 21st Century.
3000 A. D. - In the first few centuries after 2000, humans colonize the entire solar system. Throughout the Third Millennium, humans would use genetic engineering to alter themselves beyond recognition. There will be nothing resembling naturally occurring lifeforms. There will not be a definite boundary between life and nonlife. The sentient entities in existence in 3000 will not bare resemblance to anything we would recognize. Perhaps they will not even be composed of normal baryonic matter. Around the year 3000, these sentient entities will take the first trips to nearby stars.