Does a decade begin w/ 0 or 1?
I've asked this question often, & I remember one person saying that it begins with 1. So far, the general culture regards a decade (& thus, a century or millennium) to start with 0, to which I disagree. & besides, when a decade changes, you don't see much of a difference right away. Watch "Miracle," taking place in the 1980 Winter Olympics, but from the people's hair & clothes, you'd mistake it 2 b in the 1970s. Also, many cultures in 2000, particularly politics such as Arab-American relations, are more similar to the previous decade. This decade wouldn't truly be defined until Sept. 11, 2001. It's like state or county borders. W/o a sign, how would you know if you're in Oklahoma or New Mexico? Unless it's like the Haiti/D.R. border where you can distinguish both by the # of vegetation. (Haiti has cut down more trees).
Anyways, I'd like to know which of u Answerers think a decade either begins or ends with 0. Oh yeah. There was that "Seinfeld" episode where Jerry said that the third millennium begins at 2001.
Comments
If the calendar had started from day one, you would not have said "today is 22 December 0000". It would be 22 December 0001. There cannot be a year zero when you count, so the first decade would have begun on 1 January 0001 and ended on 31 December 0010, and so on.
A lot of influential newspapers and magazines got it wrong at the turn of the century when they termed 31 December 1999 as the end of the century and the new one beginning on 1 January 2000. However, as the print and audio-visual media seem to influence the thinking of the majority of the people, celebrations for the end of the millenium were held a year too early. Worse was that those in the minority who tried to correct this were laughed down.
I agree with people who say the third millenium began on 1 January 2001.
The decades are termed as "1960s". This would represent the years from 1960 to 1969. But as always, the borders are always a dilemma.
For a decade's fashion to make a mark, it takes time. The 70s style didn't develop overnight in the year 1971 or 1972. It is a gradual development that spread across the years. Similarly, it would die a gradual death too, giving way to the next decade's fashion statements to make a mark.
Technically begins with 1. Time magazine just published a cover, "The decade from hell" which ended in 2009 which sounded better to them and they even discussed the 0/1 issue.
A decade ends with a zero...thus it starts with a one.