Counting years

[jlenze at tln.lib.mi.us]

On Sat, 1 Jan 2000, Gary E. Masters wrote:

> The more I think of it, the more I see it as just a matter of definition.
> OK.  There was no "zero" year.
> But why not make the first millennium to be 999 years and then start each
> following one with the "zero" year?  Makes sense to me.
> 

First, check a reliable reference source, e.g.
http://psyche.usno.navy.mil/millennium/whenIs.html
We have had this cite linked from our page of reference sources for about
a year and a half now.  For those who need further explanation: when
counting we start with the number 1, when we reach 100 we have finished
counting a hundred (or century if counting years).  The second hundred
starts with 101 add is finished at 200.  Think of money.  If you want to
count how many dollars worth of pennies you have you finish each dollar's
worth when you reach a number ending in 00.  You start each new dollar's
worth with a number ending in 1.  If you do it differently, I'll gladly
sell you dollars for pennies, or better yet hundreds for singles ;)

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