LL-L: "Y2K" LOWLANDS-L, 12.DEC.1999 (06) [E]

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From: Edwin Michael Alexander [edsells at idirect.com]
Subject: LL-L: "Y2K" LOWLANDS-L, 12.DEC.1999 (01) [E]

At 01:14 PM 12/12/99 -0800, André van den Berg  wrote:

>Rome, 15 September, 1 BC
>
>Dear Cassius,
>
>Are you still working on the year zero problem? This change from BC to AD
>gives me a headache and we do not have much time left. I cannot see how the
>people will manage going the other way. After so many years counting down,
>we now have to start counting up. You would think that somebody should have
>planned this ahead and not leave the solution until the final minute.

Talk about revisionism!  In "1 BC" no one knew that it was 1 BC, since this
base of numbering the years did not come into use until around 600 AD.  And
your date would not read "15 September, 1 BC" but XV September I BC, since
the so-called Arabic Numeral System was not introduced into the West until
the 12th Century.  Of course, this explains the mystery why there was no
"Year 0", since the Roman Numeral System has no 0.  The first ten numbers
are I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X.  The second set of ten
numbers begins with XI and ends with XX, the first 100 numbers begin with I
and end with C, and the first thousand begin with I and end with M.  The
second millennium began with MI, and will end at the end of MM, with the
third millennium beginning in MMI (2001 in the Arabic system).

Ed Alexander
JAG REALTY INC.
80 Jones Street Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8R 1Y1
Pager: 905-545-0177  Fax: 905-525-6671 Email: edsells at idirect.com
Jag Realty Inc.: http://www.deerhurst.com/jag/
Ontario Ultra Series:  http://ous.kw.net/
Burlington Runners Club: http://www.deerhurst.com/brc/

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