Millennial Hysteria

It's a common misconception that it occupies a short space of time, as the calendar ticks over from 999 to 1000, say. In fact, millennial hysteria both creeps up and lingers on.

Religionists howling about an opera; religionists screaming about cartoons; religionists trying (again) to get Creationism on the science curriculum; religionists setting themselves on fire, blowing themselves up; armies marching across deserts.

In other news, the Alliance of Short Angry Cowboys is protesting at the portrayal of cultural hero Yosemite Sam in Warner Brothers cartoons.


A footnote of history:
c. 1000
Hungary and Scandinavia converted to Christianity. Viking raider Leif Eriksson discovers North America, calls it Vinland. Beowulf, Old English epic.
c. 1008
Murasaki Shikibu finishes The Tale of Genji, the world's first novel.
1009
Muslims destroy Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
1054
Final separation between Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Roman) churches.
1055
Seljuk Turks, Asian nomads, move west, capture Baghdad, Armenia (1064), Syria, and Palestine (1075).
1066
William of Normandy invades England, defeats last Saxon king, Harold II, at Battle of Hastings, crowned William I of England (“the Conqueror”).