Y (2K)

The year 2000, Y2K, did have another association. Some feared the so-called Y2K bug or millennium bug would be devastating. The Y2K bug was a fault built into computers. It came about because early developers of computer programs were uncertain that computers would have a future. Grace Murray Hopper and Robert Berner created COBOL (COmmon Business-Oriented Language), a standard programming language that began one of the keystones of computer languages and software. One of their purposes was to keep the language simple so anyone could use it.

To cut corners wherever possible, they built in standardized dates with two digits each for the day, month, and year, as in 061458 for June 14, 1958. This short form could also mean 1558 or 2058. Berner accidentally solved the problem without recognizing it in the late 1950s when the Mormons asked him to adapt the computer's storage capability to the massive genealogical library in Salt Lake City. Genealogical records embrace centuries, so Berner created a "picture clause" in COBOL that allowed years to be written with four digits. When others adapted COBOL, they ignored Berner's saving device. Notably, IBM made the two-digit-year formula part of its System/360 computers, which were as pervasive in the 1960s as Windows systems and software are today.

By the mid-1970s, organizations and programmers were beginning to recognize the potential obstacle. The Pentagon promised adjustments for the coming century beginning in 1974, but the transition reportedly proceeded slowly. Programmers began experimenting with plugging 2000-plus dates into their systems and software and found they did not compute. It was not until 1995, however, that Congress, the media, and the public all seemed to "discover" the problem. As of 1999, 1.2 trillion lines of computer code still needed fixed, and up to $600 billion were reportedly spent to reprogram and test vulnerable computers.

The Y2K phenomenon was put to an early test on September 9, 1999. Computer shorthand used to include the messages "0000" at the start of a file and "9999" to end or delete a file. Those predicting the worst for Y2K also expected computer files to disappear on September 9, 1999. Few incidents were reported in the days following 9999.