Trust the computer industry to shorten "Year 2000" to Y2K. It was this kind of thinking that caused the problem in the first place.

It is a little known fact that the Y1K problem caused the dark ages.

The new millennium excitement is bit overblown if you consider that the year 2000 will be:

• 2753, according to the old Roman calendar
• 2749, according to the ancient Babylonian calendar
• 6236, according to the first Egyptian calendar
• 5760, according to the Jewish calendar
• 1420, according to the Muslim calendar
• 1378, according to the Persian calendar
• 1716, according to the Coptic calendar
• 2544, according to the Buddhist calendar
• 5119 in the current Maya great cycle
• 208, according to the calendar of the French Revolution
• The year of the Dragon, according to the Chinese

- From "Calendar", by David Ewing Duncan

On a side note: Shortly after the year 2030, the total number of Americans who have died since the nation's founding in 1776 will surpass the number of Americans who are living then. (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)

Leap-year buffs have been waiting for the year 2000. Yes, it will have 366 days, with February 29 making up for the time lost annually when the approximate 365.25-day cycle is comptued as 365 days. But unlike most leap years that are divisible by four, centennial leap years must be divisible by 400. That means the last centennial leap year was 1600, and the next won't come along until 2400. (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)

Christians often point to the Bible's Book of Revelation as the basis for history's attachment to thousand-year increments. In particular, chapter twenty, verse two, states: "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years." (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)

Deferring Doomsday. Some New Agers believe that the world will end in 2012 since that's what they assume the Mayan calendar predicted. In fact, archeologists have deciphered Mayan texts that show the contrary: On December 23, 2012, the universal order will be strengthened, not annihilated. In fact, experts say the Mayan calendar advances well into the fiftieth century. (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)

Minor Technicality. Although the world has been gearing up for the celebration of a lifetime on December 31, 1999, the new millennium doesn't actually start for another year. The calendar's quirk stems from the sixth century Roman abbot Dionysius Exiguus, who devised a new basis for the church's calendar. He arbitrarily named Anno Domini, Christ's birth year, as A.D. 1 rather than A.D. 0 since Romans had no zero at the time. (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)

Bible Bombshell. The Bible's Book of Revelation has served as many Christian's basis for dire millennial predictions. Written in about A.D. 95, Revelations contains the postulation that the end times would occur two one-thousand-year periods after the resurrection. Afterwards, there would be a second coming, whereupon the saved would then live and reign with Christ for another thousand years. (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)

Start Celebrating Now! Most Christians accept the fact that Jesus was not born on December 25. But it's also probable that he wasn't even born two thousand years ago. Scholars often presume that jesus was born at least four years "before Christ." The gospel of Matthew fixes the birth during the reign of Herod, who most believe died in 4 B.C. (From 'Countdown to the Millennium' Calendar)