MILLENNIUM ALWAYS BRINGS WORRIES 

Ever since man invented the calendar (today we use the Julian version with a Gregorian correction), which really wasn't that far back on the line of time, he has worried about the change between ages and especially about the turn of millennia.

Every age had its own death threat: During the Middle Ages, from 476 A.D. to 1450 A.D., leprosy was common. As we left the Middle Ages in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Black Plague caused fear and panic, and reduced the European population by an estimated 25 million souls, about one-third of the population. The revival from that calamity in turn triggered the Renaissance, which brought its own disease, syphilis. Ironically, the Black Plague caused the Renaissance, as survivors inherited the wealth left by plague victims, thus increasing by 50 percent general wealth among the survivors.

Tuberculosis was the scourge of the Industrial Age, especially in the early days and around the turn of the last century. Today, AIDS adds to the fears of approaching the new millennium.

All the foregoing shows that disease, usually new to a certain segment of humanity, comes and goes, fortunately with lesser effect as we advance in medicine, science and technology and in awareness of the benefits of cleanliness, diet and fitness.

The term millennium was once known in the Christian community as being the period during which Christ was supposed to return. Since then it has been associated with the years 1001 and 2001. The second millennium starts on January 1, 2001, not on the same day in the year 2000.

What does this little bit of history mean? That as time progresses, each era has its problems, some serious, but humans as a species manage to survive, usually in ever-increasing comfort. Events and trends occur, usually regardless of human intervention. We must go with the flow.

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