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Re: SS Warrimoo
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2017 Jul 26, 09:48 -0400
From: Don Seltzer
Date: 2017 Jul 26, 09:48 -0400
On Wed, Jul 26, 2017 at 12:58 AM, Lu Abel <NoReply_LuAbel@fer3.com> wrote:
One of the things that most of these stories ignore is that the new century did not start until 1 January 1901, not 1 January 1900. That's because there was no year 0, so the first 100 years spanned from 1 to 100, the second from 101 to 200, etc, etc. As might be expected the popular press also got it wrong 17 years ago.
I once held a similar view, but no longer. All of our popular definitions of time-keeping are flexible to a degree. A year is 365 days, except when it isn't. A month is 30 days, except when it is 31 or 28 or 29. We have the occasional leap second, to the consternation of many. And then there is the mysterious 10 day gap in the 18th century for the English empire (which occurred at different times and for different gaps for other countries). I have no problem with a century of 99 years, particularly when it is merely an extrapolation far into the past when our current calendar didn't even exist.
The popular press did not get it wrong; they were reflecting the almost universally accepted popular concept of when the new century began.
Don Seltzer
