FOLLOWING my earlier remarks, you posed the question: "Is the year 1900 considered as being in this century or the last?" (Letters, November 25).

There is no doubt that 1900 was the final year of last century, hence the name for that century being the 19th century.

The present century commenced on January 1 1901, and will end at midnight on December 31, 2000, ie the end of the 20th century and also the end of the second millennium

In my previous letter, I suggested that the year 2000 could be regarded as a run-up year to the start of the new millennium on January 1, 2001.

Richard Johnson (Letters, November 26) makes an excellent suggestion - that the year 2000 should be an 'Advent Year,' leading to the celebration of the 2000th birthday of Our Lord Jesus Christ - a year of celebration of the most momentous event of all time.

ERNEST ALLEN, Vancouver Crescent, Blackburn.

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