Letter: Millennium won't start when this year stops

Father Time did not establish the Christian method of counting time since the birth of Jesus, the Monk Dionysiuus Exiguus calculated the date of the birth of Jesus in 532 A.D., which was accepted by the Catholic Church and eventually the Western world.

Yes, Katherine, a thousand years is a millennium. However, there was never a year zero. The first year was 1 A.D. and after the accumulation of an additional 999 years the second millennium began with 1001 and will run until Jan. 1, 2001, the start of the third millennium with the accumulation of another 1,000 years. Tens, hundreds and thousands all begin with a one, not a 0: 10, 100, 1000. The year 2000 A.D. is the last year in the 20th century and thus the second millennium.

These facts may be checked with the Center for Millennium Studies in Boston University and the The New Millennium Experience Co. Ltd. in London.

If it will make you feel any better, Katherine, the worthy Monk miscalculated the start of the Christian calendar by at least 4 years, thus the millennium has already passed and we all missed it.

ERLAND R. NIELSEN

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