George Fox@georgejfox
It seems like a simple question, but the answer might make you scratch your head.
Is January 1, 2020 the first day of the next decade? Technically, no. Wait, what?
This is thanks to a couple of religious scholars way back when. Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus calculated the year of Jesus Christ's birth using the Roman numeral system which has no concept of zero. Later, an English cleric named Bede started marking historical events counting up from 1 and here we are.
Think of it like this. Not having a year zero is like naming the ground floor "one". If you're on floor 1 and want to go up 10 floors you'll be on floor 11.
10 years is the measure of a decade. Therefore, 2021 is the first year of the third decade of this millennium. It's a fact. Don't believe me? Check out Farmers Almanac and TimeAndDate.com. They might do a better job of explaining it.
Can we still celebrate the beginning of the 20s on New Years' Eve 2019? It's a safe bet.
Aside from historical sticklers and Jerry Seinfeld trying to trick Neumann, essentially everyone follows the custom of using round numbers to mark the beginning of the decades.
Just don't book your reservation for the beginning of the decade. They might take you literally and your party will be a year late. And quite lame.
