STAFFELSTEIN/ANNABERG, Germany -- Two German towns celebrated Monday with rousing festivities the start of the "new millennium", steadfastly claiming that the rest of the world did its sums wrong when it celebrated the new millennium a year ago. The town of Staffelstein, in southwestern Germany, bases its claim on its most famous ancestor, the mathematician Adam Riese, born in the town in 1492. The scientist later moved to Annaberg, Saxony, where he ran a mathematics school until his death in 1559. The mayor of Staffelstein, Georg Mueller, said: "A millennium makes up exactly 1,000 years. The first millennium ended on December 31, 1000 and the second millennium on December 31, 2000".

(DPA)