IN reply to Ernest Allen regarding the correct date for the start of the 21st century (Letters, November 25), you asked if the year 1900 is regarded as being in this century or the last.
The answer is that 1900 is popularly regarded as being in the 20th century but was, in fact, the centennial year of the 19th century.
The Great Exhibition of 1851 was to mark the mid-point of the 19th century and this was repeated in 1951 with the Festival of Britain.
The Oxford Dictionary gives both the official dates for the 20th century (1901-2000) and the popular dates (1900-1999).
R WHITAKER, Orchard Street, Great Harwood.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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