Century Boundaries Debate

Commenters argue over the correct definition of centuries, the start of the 21st century, and phrases like 'turn of the century' or 'a century ago,' often correcting misconceptions about historical timelines.

➡️ Stable 0.5x Politics & Society
3,045
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1961
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
1
2008
6
2009
30
2010
54
2011
48
2012
54
2013
73
2014
77
2015
107
2016
154
2017
133
2018
177
2019
214
2020
274
2021
339
2022
276
2023
338
2024
356
2025
304
2026
30

Keywords

AFAIK e.g IDK SURE wikipedia.org imgur.com YBP WWI BC AD century 20th 100 years 20th century ago centuries 100 turn historians 1900

Sample Comments

cfmcdonald Dec 1, 2020 View on HN

You do realize that this century started only 20 years ago?

zerostar07 Aug 21, 2011 View on HN

"around the turn of the century" - we are 10 years late people!

hnthrowaway0328 May 26, 2024 View on HN

I think the turn of the century.

pstuart Jun 7, 2025 View on HN

That was generations ago. What about in this century?

yuppie_scum Oct 20, 2021 View on HN

It’s pretty early in the century

throwawayjava Jan 11, 2018 View on HN

If by "a century ago" you also mean "less than 2 years ago", then sure.

KerrAvon Aug 7, 2024 View on HN

genuinely curious which century you mean?

noblethrasher Apr 4, 2017 View on HN

I think you meant 20th (or 21st) century.

ttfkam Dec 25, 2023 View on HN

More than 100 years? Are you SURE about that?

Fnoord Dec 22, 2018 View on HN

That was previous millennium. We're in 2018 now.