A chronological guide to the year ahead - 2010 - the 10th and LAST year of the 1st Decade Of The 21st Century:
Within our current daily, weekly, monthly, annual, centennial and millennial chronological conventions:
1.The 100th year of the 20th Century and last year of the 2nd Millennium was definitely and indisputably 2000.
2.The 1st year of the first decade of the 21st Century and of the 3rd Millennium was definitely and indisputably 2001 - obviously. The clue is in the number ‘1′.
3.The 10th and last year of the first decade of the 21st century will be 2010 - obviously. The clue is in the number ‘10′.
4.The last day of the first decade of the 21st century and 3rd millennium will definitely and indisputably be December 31st 2010.
There is a concerted effort by the BBC and other major media players to deny these facts for cynical commercial branding and packaging purposes. This is an abuse of their position of information stream control domination.
Clear thinkers will ignore them and respect and express true and honest chronological facts and conventions.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,one more to go!
Wishing you all a Happy New Year and Prosperous and Accurate 10th and Last Year of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century in 2010.
Let's hope the 10th and Last Year of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century - 2010 - brings us more warmth and humanity worldwide than all of the previous 9 years. We will then be in a much better position to look forward more joyfully and harmoniously to the 2nd Decade of the 21st Century when it arrives on the 1st of January 2011.
johng2 - 14 years ago
Matt, Saje, TG and all like minded people, you are not alone. I had this very conversation near the end of 1999 when some of (well most of) my friends insisted that the new century was upon us.
When I asked them to count a set of pencils they all started with '1', and when I asked them why they did this with pencils and not years, their arguments were to say the least far from intelligent.
I proved my point, I could at least count and that they were wrong.
To those who know how not to count, then have a good time in the second decade of the 21st century and I hope you all had a good time celebrating.
I also note that the BBC News has jumped on the 'end of decade' bandwagon as well.
To the rest of us that know how to count, we get the chance to a second and correct celebration of the start of the second decade of the 21st century in just over 52 weeks.
I agree with Saje here and have been trying to explain this to my friends with absolutely no luck. I'm convinced that we are likely going to have to agree to disagree and it will probably be those of us who know that Jan 1st, 2011 starts the new decade that will have to bend. Although I'm sure it will get mentioned somewhere in a news cast next year, probably alongside the statistic of when 11/11/11 comes around again, oh brother. ;)
Actually, since the Millennium (and therefore the decade) didn't officially start until January 1, 2001, I'm afraid the decade will not officially end until December 31st, 2010.
But who gives a damn about "official" anyway, right?
Diana Keng - 14 years ago
I like TG's explanation best. I vote for that too. :) Happy New Year, Roger!
TG - 14 years ago
The way you worded this, Roger, makes it different than what people are celebrating. They're celebrating the end of the 2000s decade (2000-2009). The decade you're asking about (first decade of this century) goes from (2001-2010) because the century didn't start until 2001.
People are not celebrating the end of the first decade this century. They're celebrating the end of the 00s decade.
H Frost - 14 years ago
If one thinks about it, measuring time (and not considering the change in its numeric representation as digits) results in one complete year from zero, etc. A person is 1 year old from zero. Therefore, this 1st decade of the 21st century actually is completed at 11:59 p.m. (midnight rolls over to a new day) on Dec. 31st, 2010! This decade of the "aughts" or "naughts" completed its first year on Dec., 31, 2001. Selecting 2010 is only correct if one measures from the start of each year and the after completing the year.
Yes, technically, counting from year 1, all decades begin also at 1 and end at 0. But since, in practice, we generally (and arbitrarily) label decades by the ten number, then we are at the end of the decade.
If one were to point out and insist that the decade ends at the 0, then I can only assume that you also referred to the period from 1991-2000 as "the 200th decade" instead of "the 90s."
Peter Adonis - 14 years ago
If you count 2000 as the first year of this decade, than midnight January 1st, 2010 will be ten years, or a decade. Making 2009 the last year of the decade and 2010 the first year of the new decade.
james gatlin - 14 years ago
The Oughts are over, but the first year of the numbering of centuries, decades, millenia, etc. starts with a 1 and ends with a 0, since there is no zero year. But the Oughts are by definition the years that start with a zero, the fifties the years that start with fives, etc., so the reckoning is different.
A chronological guide to the year ahead - 2010 - the 10th and LAST year of the 1st Decade Of The 21st Century:
Within our current daily, weekly, monthly, annual, centennial and millennial chronological conventions:
1.The 100th year of the 20th Century and last year of the 2nd Millennium was definitely and indisputably 2000.
2.The 1st year of the first decade of the 21st Century and of the 3rd Millennium was definitely and indisputably 2001 - obviously. The clue is in the number ‘1′.
3.The 10th and last year of the first decade of the 21st century will be 2010 - obviously. The clue is in the number ‘10′.
4.The last day of the first decade of the 21st century and 3rd millennium will definitely and indisputably be December 31st 2010.
There is a concerted effort by the BBC and other major media players to deny these facts for cynical commercial branding and packaging purposes. This is an abuse of their position of information stream control domination.
Clear thinkers will ignore them and respect and express true and honest chronological facts and conventions.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,one more to go!
Wishing you all a Happy New Year and Prosperous and Accurate 10th and Last Year of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century in 2010.
Let's hope the 10th and Last Year of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century - 2010 - brings us more warmth and humanity worldwide than all of the previous 9 years. We will then be in a much better position to look forward more joyfully and harmoniously to the 2nd Decade of the 21st Century when it arrives on the 1st of January 2011.
Matt, Saje, TG and all like minded people, you are not alone. I had this very conversation near the end of 1999 when some of (well most of) my friends insisted that the new century was upon us.
When I asked them to count a set of pencils they all started with '1', and when I asked them why they did this with pencils and not years, their arguments were to say the least far from intelligent.
I proved my point, I could at least count and that they were wrong.
To those who know how not to count, then have a good time in the second decade of the 21st century and I hope you all had a good time celebrating.
I also note that the BBC News has jumped on the 'end of decade' bandwagon as well.
To the rest of us that know how to count, we get the chance to a second and correct celebration of the start of the second decade of the 21st century in just over 52 weeks.
I agree with Saje here and have been trying to explain this to my friends with absolutely no luck. I'm convinced that we are likely going to have to agree to disagree and it will probably be those of us who know that Jan 1st, 2011 starts the new decade that will have to bend. Although I'm sure it will get mentioned somewhere in a news cast next year, probably alongside the statistic of when 11/11/11 comes around again, oh brother. ;)
Actually, since the Millennium (and therefore the decade) didn't officially start until January 1, 2001, I'm afraid the decade will not officially end until December 31st, 2010.
But who gives a damn about "official" anyway, right?
I like TG's explanation best. I vote for that too. :) Happy New Year, Roger!
The way you worded this, Roger, makes it different than what people are celebrating. They're celebrating the end of the 2000s decade (2000-2009). The decade you're asking about (first decade of this century) goes from (2001-2010) because the century didn't start until 2001.
People are not celebrating the end of the first decade this century. They're celebrating the end of the 00s decade.
If one thinks about it, measuring time (and not considering the change in its numeric representation as digits) results in one complete year from zero, etc. A person is 1 year old from zero. Therefore, this 1st decade of the 21st century actually is completed at 11:59 p.m. (midnight rolls over to a new day) on Dec. 31st, 2010! This decade of the "aughts" or "naughts" completed its first year on Dec., 31, 2001. Selecting 2010 is only correct if one measures from the start of each year and the after completing the year.
Yes, technically, counting from year 1, all decades begin also at 1 and end at 0. But since, in practice, we generally (and arbitrarily) label decades by the ten number, then we are at the end of the decade.
If one were to point out and insist that the decade ends at the 0, then I can only assume that you also referred to the period from 1991-2000 as "the 200th decade" instead of "the 90s."
If you count 2000 as the first year of this decade, than midnight January 1st, 2010 will be ten years, or a decade. Making 2009 the last year of the decade and 2010 the first year of the new decade.
The Oughts are over, but the first year of the numbering of centuries, decades, millenia, etc. starts with a 1 and ends with a 0, since there is no zero year. But the Oughts are by definition the years that start with a zero, the fifties the years that start with fives, etc., so the reckoning is different.