Thanks DMcG and BS, but I suggest you don't waste time on answering our nitpicker friend

Oh, I wasn't. I am afraid when someone has the choice of admitting they made a mistake and instead works hard to explain how it must be someone else in error however foolish it makes them look, it is obvious that any further discussion on the point is futile.


No, I was interested in whether there actually are any international standards for interpreting two digit years. That was completely independent to discussing the specific example.   In short, there isn't. unless the contest is 100% clear. In a book talking about the Napoleonic Wars, for example, the century would be clearly understood in most cases.