For all of us a certain age – you know who you are – it has been 25 years ago since a world meltdown was predicted because of changing of computer clocks from 1999 to 2000.

Y2K, geek shorthand for Year 2000, caused issues because early computers used only the the last two digits of the year in order to date files. This was done early on because memory was such a valuable commodity and dates such as 1999 took up more memory to store than simply using 99.

As time kept ticking toward the end of the century people started getting seriously concerned that the computers of the world would simply quit working when the date changed to double zeros.

In many cases the programming had been set up on very early computers and then simply transferred through to various updates to the programs. The issue existed in software and hardware that could have handled the four-digit date, but it was never corrected. A pamphlet put out by Ohio Department of Aging encouraged people to prepare for Y2K much the way they would for a large storm by having a three-day supply of food on hand and prepare for possible power outages.

I recall a lot of worrying taking place at The Times over the switch. We had various computer systems around the building that performed different functions. The writing and the design of the paper took place on Apple computers, which were Y2K ready from the start. Would the third-party software work though?

We had meetings to talk about it, then we had more meetings. We finally decided to do a test.

Weeks before, we picked a time and then changed all the computer clocks to a few minutes before midnight on Dec. 31. Then we waited. As the “clock” struck midnight, nothing happened.

The switch to a new year, century and millennium would happen on Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000.

Normally with a holiday paper we would print it a little early and get everyone off the roads before things got crazy. The City of Marietta had decided to end the year with a bang and planned a fireworks display at the levee at the stroke of midnight. “The lights are on, the water running,” mayor Joe Matthews told some of the 2,000 people that braved the cold to attend the fireworks.

Looking at the front page a quarter of a century later, it is clear that we waited until after midnight to layout the page. The Times that day reported no issues around Marietta or across Ohio. The state had spent $130 million to get ready for the switch and had 85 workers from 13 agencies on hand in a command center just in case something was missed.

Y2K did not bring down the power grid either, the press ran as it always had, my car started when I got in it a few hours later and the traffic lights all worked on the way home. The sun even came up the next day.

Y2K did cause problems. Systems, including those at some newspapers, had to be updated. Computers in some businesses had to be replaced, businesses around the world spent a lot of time and money preparing for the new century by updating, and sometimes replacing outdated hardware.

Art Smith is online manager of The Times, he can be reached at asmith@mariettatimes.com