Although there has been little
discussion about the issue, the logic supporting the conclusion that this century will not
end until December 31, 2000, not this month but a year from now, seems
unassailable. If it’s years we are counting, the first ends in "1" and the
one hundredth year is "100." (A baby is "one" only after 12 months,
not the day of birth.) The correct end of this century would thus be at the end of the
last day of December 2000. That our society seems to so conveniently ignore the obvious is
somewhat remarkable. Has it always been the case?
A recent short article in the November issue of American Heritage magazine
looked at the issue at the close of the nineteenth century. There was a significant amount
of discussion in 1899 about when the twentieth century would actually begin. A poll of
fourteen college presidents resulted in twelve favoring January 1, 1901.
The "1900 camp" based its position on the fact that the current calendar was
not formulated until many centuries after the unknown birth of Christ, so January 1, 1900,
was as good a date as any other.
An editorial that appeared in the New York Times during December 1899
rejected such inexactness, arguing "...facts and reason, the authority of all
dictionaries, and the support of every chronologer and historian who ever lived, to say
nothing of the invariable understanding and custom of all lands and ages supported the use
of 1901."
When Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm and his Imperial Council adopted January 1, 1900, as the
date to begin the century, intellectuals and newspaper editors around the world were
aghast. One American editor acidly remarked: "Now let it be decreed that black is
white." Another said the Kaiser was "the only man of any prominence who cannot
count to one hundred."
No Doubt in Sidney: Although
the debate was pretty much one-sided, it continued. There was no doubt about when the
century would begin in at least one small town. Three Sidney papers were published in
December 1899. The Sidney Daily News, and two weeklies, the Sidney
Journal and the Shelby County Democrat all reported the end of 1899
in a matter of fact fashion. There was no effort by retailers to have an "end of the
century" sale, no listing of the great achievements of the nineteenth century, and no
forecasting about what the next 100 years would bring. No local editor decreed the
nineteenth century had ended.
One of the few references to the question was in the January 5, 1900, issue of the Democrat.
The author of the short article asserted: "It is plain that time must pass through
one hundred years to make a century, so time must go on through 1900 to complete the 19th
century; hence we will not be in the 20th century until January 1, 1901." He
concluded his piece with the tantalizing question: "Do you believe it?" Most
local people apparently did. The arrival of the New Year, 1900, was reported without
fanfare, although Reed's
Band did entertain on the courtsquare.