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

["John Wayman" <trecker@optusnet.com.au>]

You are absolutely right again David.

It will be interesting to see what develops this year to celebrate the
Millennium. Unlike the pyrotechnic mayhem we witnessed on TV this week, the
real event will occur in one place and at one time.

It will happen 11 hours after we have welcomed the new year, and our country
has turned 100. They will be interesting events to watch,


Cheers
John Wayman

"David Bromage" <dbromage@fang.omni.com.au> wrote in message
cdTb4.93$%v.360108@news0.optus.net.au">news:cdTb4.93$%v.360108@news0.optus.net.au...
> 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