12. The millennium bug
In the late 20th century the world became more and more reliant on computers for its daily operations. In particular, businesses relied on large mainframe computers to record information, control communications, and operating systems including the electrical power grid, water distribution, and banking. Up to the final decade of the 20th century, nearly all programmers saved memory space by abbreviating the date, recording the final two years and omitting the “19”. Computers recognized “99” as referring to 1999. As the turn of the century neared, the belief spread that the calendar turning to “00” would be unrecognizable to the computers which controlled so much of society’s infrastructure. Prognosticators spread the alarm, that January 1, 2000, would see the complete breakdown of society.
Another major concern arose over computers used to prepare and project budgets or debts such as mortgages. Projections into the 21st century were feared as potential causes for malfunctions. Still another concern arose over the fact that early programmers frequently used the entry “9999” as the indication of an end of the program. Thus, the fear arose that September 9, 1999, (entered as 9/9/99) would lead to widespread system failures. In reality, programmers recognized the problem as early as the 1960s, and work to address any potential failures was well underway, though the general public was for the most part unaware of them. Fearmongers and profiteers ensured the public was aware of the potential for disaster.