Counting Intervals Without A Zero
The absence of a year 0 leads to some confusion concerning the boundaries of longer decimal intervals, such as decades and centuries. For example, the third millennium of the Gregorian calendar began on Monday, 1 January 2001, rather than the widely celebrated Saturday, 1 January 2000. Likewise, the 20th century began on 1 January 1901.
This rule arose because the Gregorian calendar begins with a year 1 instead of 0. Cardinal and ordinal numbering of years is therefore identical: The year 10 is the tenth year of the calendar and the end of the first decade. The year 11 is the first year of the second decade, and so on. In spite of this rule, years ending in 0, rather than 1, are commonly perceived as marking the beginning of a new decade, century, or millennium. Decades, however, are more used as a collective term (e.g. the 1930s) rather than a periodic term (e.g. 1930–1939).
Read more about this topic: 0 (year)
Famous quotes containing the words counting and/or intervals:
“If you’re counting my eyebrows, I can help you. There are two.”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“It can be demonstrated that the child’s contact with the real world is strengthened by his periodic excursions into fantasy. It becomes easier to tolerate the frustrations of the real world and to accede to the demands of reality if one can restore himself at intervals in a world where the deepest wishes can achieve imaginary gratification.”
—Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)