Recently, there has been much debate about when the old decade ends and the new one begins. Some say this decade ends on December 31, 2019, and the start of the new one begins January 1, 2020. For others, the new decade doesn’t start until January 1, 2021; the old one concluding on December 31, 2020.But which is correct?As you think about New Year’s resolutions, here’s one we should all make together:
resolve to insist that decades begin with the year ending in the numeral 1 and finish with a 0. For a decade to begin, we must start with the year ending with 1 (2021) and finish with 10, or so far as chronology is concerned, a year ending in 0 (2030).
For example, January 1, 2001, opened the 21st century and the start of the new millennium, just as the year 1 A.D. marked the beginning of the Christian era. Of course, many of us will remember the wild celebrations that were touched off at midnight on December 31, 1999. But was that a year too soon? Yes!
That fact was known even to comedian Jerry Seinfeld. And if at the stroke of midnight on December 31st, you think you’ll be celebrating the start of a new decade, guess again. As was the case 20 years ago, you’ll be one year early, for the new decade will actually start in the year 2021.
If you want to criticize anybody for this confusion, you can point the finger of blame at two men: Dionysius Exiguus, also known in some reference works as “Dennis the Short,” and the Northumbrian monk Bede, also known as the “Venerable Bede.”
