Date: Mon, 19 Jan 1998 19:16:36 -0600 From: Dan Goodman Subject: Happy tenth anniversary, 2000! (fwd) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 20 Jan 1998 00:52:05 GMT From: Keith Lynch Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Happy tenth anniversary, 2000! The first ever mention of the year 2000 problem (i.e. that lots of software will break that year) that I've been able to find was mailed to the RISKS Digest by Jeffrey R Kell ten years ago today, January 19th, 1988. It appeared in RISKS DIGEST 6.11 on January 22nd, 1988. I maintain a list of when various now common terms and concepts first appeared on the net, e.g. web pages, spam, Pentium, Netscape, Windows, MIME, anon servers, the year 2000 problem, and, of course, the SF-LOVERS e-mail discussion list (September 1979). It's at http://www.clark.net/pub/kfl/timeline.html But what about the year 2000 itself? When was it first explicitly mentioned, anywhere, in any context? The earliest I'm aware of is Edward Bellamy's utopian novel _Looking Backward_, published in 1888. Maybe I should have said happy 110th anniversary? Or does anyone know of a still older reference? Thanks. -- Keith Lynch, kfl[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]clark.net http://www.clark.net/pub/kfl/ I boycott all spammers.