Millennially Speaking, Please Help Us Celebrate Century

The debate of the century in fact, of the millennium rages.

Do the century and millennium end this Dec. 31, or Dec. 31, 2000?

Mathematical purists say both end next year, arguing that when people count to 100, or 1,000, they start at 1, and end at the number they are trying to reach. Therefore, this reasoning says, the millennia start in the year 1 A.D., 1001 and 2001. This century started in 1901, and has another year in it.

But there are other ways to look at it. For example, it makes just as much sense to say the 1900s are all the years that start with 19, and thus they end when the years start with 20.

Besides, the calendar has some built-in errors. This is supposed to be the 1,999th year since the birth of Jesus Christ. But the medieval monk who tried to determine Jesus’ birth missed by several years, and we’ve all been off ever since.

Why not just give that first century credit for however many years the monk missed, close it off at 99 A.D. and say the other centuries start at the years ending in double zeros?

The debate on the end of the century isn’t new. One hundred years ago, newspapers showed that people referred to both 1900 and 1901 as the start of the new century.

Overshadowing this debate is one important fact: Popular culture has deemed that the century and millennium turn over on Jan. 1. That’s why The Spokesman-Review is marking the end of the century this year.

As part of our coverage, we are asking readers’ help in compiling a list of 10 events that most shaped the Inland Northwest in the 1900s.

Readers also are invited to send in nominations for the top entertainment acts that played the Inland Northwest this century.

The IN Life section also asks readers to search their memory banks for help in looking back at a century’s worth of the region’s best concerts, theater, classical music, books and locally made movies.

Send suggestions by fax to staff writer Jim Camden at (509) 459-5482, by e-mail to jimc@spokesman.com, or by mail to End of the Century, c/o Jim Camden, Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.