Millennial Angst
Pick a calendar to celebrate turn of century
By DANA DUGAN
Express Staff Writer
If one wants to celebrate the start of the
new millennium and thought erroneously that last year was the Big Moment,
one may in good conscious do so again on the correct date: January 1,
2001.
Various calendars, other than our Gregorian
calendar, will show that dates are arbitrary depending on one’s religion
or cultural persuasions.
For example, Jan. 1, 2001, is Dec. 19,
2000, in the Julian calendar, which Julius Caesar created during his
reign.
During the reign of Julius Caesar, the
Julian calendar threw out the previous lunar system of counting days, and
established one in which the tropical interval between successive passages
of the Sun though the vernal equinox became the standard. Unfortunately,
by 1545 the vernal equinox had moved 10 day from its proper date. During
the reign of Pope Gregory Moore XIII, the new Gregorian calendar was
instated. At the same time those 10 days were omitted. The value
difference between he two calendars is .78 days per century, or 3.12 days
every 400 years.
The English and their American colonies
didn’t adopt the newer Gregorian calendar until the middle of the 18th
century. As a result, though George Washington was born on Feb. 11
according to the Julian Calendar, we celebrate his birthday on Feb. 22.
The Islamic calendar shows what will be
Jan. 1, 2001, instead, as 5 Shawwal 1421. It’s also the Alexandria year
of 7494 and the Persian year 1397, while the Kouki (Japan) year is 2661.
The Buddhist calendar shows January 2001 to be 12th month of the Earth
Hare year 2126.
The Jewish New Year 5762 begins in the
fall. Baha’i year is 157, and on the Coptic calendar it’s 1717. The
Persian date is 12 Dey 1379.
Also, year `01 will be the 226th year of
American Independence.
My personal favorite is the Discordian
calendar, according to which Jan. 1 is Sweetmorn, Chaos 1, Year of Our
Lady of Discord 3167.
As for our particular Gregorian calendar,
there was never a Year Zero, so counting must start at Year One. Hence,
year 1001 is the first year of the second millennium and the third
millennium actually starts on January 1, 2001.
All those pessimistic, conspiracy theorist,
end of the world nay-saying, cult-afflicted people who expected the end of
civilization to come last year were waiting for the wrong year. Oops.
In the long run the only real significance
last new year was possible computer glitches and writing the wrong date on
our checks, which is something we do all the time anyway.
Whatever year or millennium one is
enchanted with and intends to live by, celebrate it safely but with joy
and enthusiasm.
