[ale] [OT] Date change proposal

[Thompson Freeman]

On 08/11/2008 03:39:21 PM, Jim Kinney wrote:
> This may seem to come out of left field (as do many of my ideas...)
> but I
> would like some feedback on a proposal to renumber the calendar year.
> 
> The current scheme is based on an event that is controversial and not
> exactly well defined time-wise. Further is is oriented around a time
> period
> that is longer than a solar year. Having the year numbering system
> based on
> an event that is central to one religious culture denigrates all
> others.
> 
> I would like to propose a new calendaring scheme based around an 
> event
> that
> represents a human milestone achievement. Granted is tied to the
> accomplishments of a single country but it is clearly a global, human
> event.
> 
> In 1969 of our current counting practice, humans first set foot on a
> non-terrestrial object, the Moon.
> 
> Maybe I'm just a science nut but that is a milestone of human
> achievement
> that would make a better marker for calendaring than a nebulous date
> range
> of 32 years not well known in the past and not acceptable to some
> other
> cultures.

I recall a fictional proposal many years ago (but not the source) of 
tying the calendar to the first detonation of a nuclear device - ie. 
the Trinity test. Might as well start the era with a bang!