Re: OT - Third Millennium (was: Merry Christmas)

[dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David Bromage)]

John  Wayman (trecker@optusnet.com.au) wrote:
: You must have failed maths at school and certainly haven't read information
: at the links sent to you by Bill Niven. Or perhaps you attended a $1000
: millennium dinner or got married or engaged at midnight NYE and want to
: maintain your naively innocent ignorance. It was a good excuse for a party
: anyway!

Aside from that, when the 21st eventually does start it will not start in
Kiribati, Chatham Island, Auckland, Sydney or anywhere else east of the
Prime Meridian. Under the Meridian Convention of 1884, any epoch of time
does not legally commence until it has passes through Universal Time
(Greenwich Mean Time). The first place to see the new century will be the
meridian running through the crosshairs of the Meridian Telescope at the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich in London.

Point of relevance: It was the fact that railways were spanning and
linking countries which was the catalyst for the creation of standard
time. Back in the mid 19th century, there could be up to 15 minutes
difference in time between, say, London and Edinburgh (and between
Victoria and New South Wales!).

The 21st century legally begins at Greenwich. If you wish to dispute this,
build a time machine and go back to 1884.

Cheers
David