What is the calendar date, of the first day of the 20th century?
This is the question version of the Final Jeopardy clue, that was given on 9/11/84.
All of the contestants answered incorrectly, and they all finished with $0!
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16 Answers
@Tropical_Willie You’re about a century too late, we are in the 21st century now.
Why are we in the 21 century if the years begin with a 20
January 1, 1900. That is when it was celebrated. I see you have a tag for year 0, which of course never existed, which means that the first century went from year 1 to 99, having only 99 years. There are those who say that the first century should have ended in the year 100, and the first year of the second century should the year 101, and therefore the start of the 20th century should be January 1, 1901. I read somewhere that the year numbering that we used was started some time in the fourth century, so those living in the first century never knew that their century would have only 99 years.
@SergeantQueen , We are in the 21st century because there are 20 centuries before our century. From year 1 to year 2000 is 20 centuries.
@SergeantQueen, after a person’s ninth birthday, she’s now in her tenth year, which begins when she finishes nine.
She’s in her first year when she’s born, and it stops being her first year when she turns one. Then she’s in her second year.
When we finished our nineteenth century, when it was all over, complete, done, that was at the end of the last day of 1900. The next day began the twentieth. We are now in the 21st, and we’ll reach the end of it when get to 2100.
Suppose you’re in a big auditorium, and there are 100 seats in each row. Start counting at seat number 1. When you get to the end of the first row, you’re at seat number 100. Seat number 101 is the first seat in the second row.
I’m surprised so many people got this question wrong, though I understand we tend to identify centuries by the first digits of the year (which works for 99 years of any named century). But still. If you know there was no year 0, it shouldn’t be difficult to figure out.
The important clue as to why no one got it right on the show was that it was a Final Jeopardy in 1984.
But by the time this Seinfeld aired in 1997, everyone knew when the Millennium rolled over, and that the 20th Century started on 1/1/1901.
@Brian1946 What did all the contestants say back then?
I think they all said Jan 1, 1900.
@Brian1946 Well it was still better than January 1st, 2001 :D
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