The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-11
WHEN DOES IT BEC|N2
A Contribution to the Twentieth
Cen fury Controversy.
THE PROOF OF HISTORY
All Events Date From the Birth Of
Christ - Nineteen Centuries IN
completed Until the End
OF 1900

The question as to when the Goth
century will begin is still agita.ins
many people. A well known and learned
college professor, who is at present Wis
ting in Butte, sends to the Standard the
following contribution on tho subject:
To the Editor IF the Standard:
So much has been said in the Stand
ard and in other of the leading journals
of the day on this subject that one
would suppose it unnecessary to give il
further notice.
1 am informed that on Thanksgiving
day the officiating clergyman a Il union
service in this city was understood TO
affirm distinctly that the close of ibis
year-1S99--wo be the end of The nth
century and that the year 1900 would
be the first year of the Goth century.
/ is not here asserted that much i'm
portance attaches to this subject, or
that the opinion anyone may choose to
entertain about it is of much conse-
quence. During the year 1900 the few
who think with our reverend friend can
relieve themselves and amuse their
friends by assuming that they are i!V-
ing in the Goth century and thus are
whole century ahead of the great mass
of mankind. When the year 1901 comes
in we will all agree that the old century
has passed away and the new age has
taken its-place. No further interest will
attach to the principle involved until
the year 1899 A. d. arrives, and by that
time all those now living will have gone
to the land where duration is not meas
ured by years or centuries.
1t seems to the writer that there can
be no valid reason for asserting that
the 10Th. century ends until the close of
the year 1900 A. d.
l,;. ,-ciN, Il irt, poJ
basis. We have only to ascertain
whether the commencement of the year
1899 A. D. marked the terminal ton of
1899 years from the commencement of
our era, or only the beginning of the
1,S99th year.
The idea of dating all the events of
| history from the birth of Christ seems
to have originated with Dionysius EX-
ignus a celebrated theologian and
scholar, who lived in the sixth century.
To him we owe the invention of the
system of time notation. known as the
common or Christian era. DionySius as
sumed the annunciation Of the birth of
Christ as his starting point and that
His advent took place on Dec. 25 fol-
lowing. All events that occurred in the
ages after that were to be reckoned
from the starting point, counting that
first year as the year l A. D., the sec
ond year as the year 2 A. d. and so on.
Following out this method we see that
the year 1900 A. D. is only the 1,900th
year of the era, and of course the 10
centuries will not have been completed
until this 1,900th.- year has run its
course e34s
AS to dates of events that happened
previous to the beginning of this era
Dionysius in his system noted them by
reckoning backward from his initial
point. The year next preceding the
birth of Christ was to be called the year
! B. c., the second year before that
event was called the year B. c. and
so on.
This method of Dionysius' has been
adopted by the Christian nations gen.
| orally and has been so long in use that
| there is no probability that it will ever
be superseded. There is, however, one
| exception to this general acceptation.
| For certain reasons astronomers have
| departed from the general rule with
| reference to dates preceding the Chris
| tan era. The prefer to designate the
year before the commencement Of that
| era as the year 0 B. c., whereas DiOny-
sius called it the year B. c. All as
| Economical dates of eclipses. conjunc-
| tons of planets. etc. occurring before
| the Christian era differ from the civil
date of those events by one year. If a
| historian, for example. should state
| that an eclipse took place on a certain
day in the year 100 B. c. the astronom-
| ical date of the event would be 80 B. c.
| These statements seem all that is nee
essary to offer in favor of the conclus-
| ions to which with very few exceptions,
all thinking men have come on this
| subject, to-wit: That the 10Th century
will begin with the LIST of January, 1901
| A. D, N. r. L.
| Butte, Mont, Dec. 3, 1899
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