Understanding century dates involves grasping the seemingly counter-intuitive relationship between years and the century they belong to. Here's a breakdown to clarify this concept:
Defining a Century
A century is a period of 100 years. The confusion arises because the first century started at year 1, not year 0.
The Century-Year Relationship
-
The First Century: This encompasses the years AD 1 through AD 100.
-
Subsequent Centuries: Each subsequent century follows the same pattern:
- Second Century: AD 101 - AD 200
- Third Century: AD 201 - AD 300
- And so on...
Determining the Century
To determine the century a particular year belongs to, follow these steps:
- Drop the last two digits of the year. For example, if the year is 1945, drop '45' leaving you with '19'.
- Add 1 to the remaining number. Using the previous example, 19 + 1 = 20. Therefore, the year 1945 belongs to the 20th century.
- Exception: Years ending in '00'. For example, the year 2000 belongs to the 20th century, not the 21st. Years that end in 00 belong to the century equivalent to the number before the '00'.
Examples
Here are a few more examples:
- Year 650: 6 + 1 = 7. This is the 7th century.
- Year 1492: 14 + 1 = 15. This is the 15th century.
- Year 2023: 20 + 1 = 21. This is the 21st century.
- Year 1000: Belongs to the 10th Century.
The 21st Century
The 21st century started on January 1, 2001, and will end on December 31, 2100.
Understanding century dates involves recognizing that the numbering starts at 1 and that years ending in '00' belong to the century equivalent to the number before the '00'.
