Th year 1870 is in which decade

[margejustmight]

Think I have lost the plot this am.

In which decade is the year 1870. (1800's normally referred to as 19th century)

Many thanks

[Red-berry]

If its decade, its in the 1870s, if its century its in the 19th

[margejustmight]

Thanks Red-berry have a good day

[factor-fiction]

There is no definitive answer.

It could be argued that 1870 was the last year of the decade which started on 1861.

This makes sense if the first year in our calendar was 1 AD. The first decade would have covered years 1-10, the second 11-20 and so on up to 1861-1870.

But I think most people use the term decade to start a year earlier. So the 1970s is considered to be the decade (the seventies) that started in 1970 and finished in 1979. So 1870 would be considered to be in the 1870s.

We had the same argument with the Millennium. 1st January 2000 was generally regarded as the start of the new millennium but there were some who argued that the millennium didn't start until 1st January 2001.

[bibblebub]

there will always be pedants

[factor-fiction]

In this case the answer may be depend on whether the quiz setter is a pedant

[boxtops]

I'd say it was in the 1870s. We talk about the 1980s as being any year with 198~ in it - so 1870 is in the 187~s.