datetime strftime methods require year >= 1900

[John Hunter]

>>> from datetime import date
>>> dt = date(1005,1,1)
>>> print dt.strftime('%Y')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in ?
ValueError: year=1005 is before 1900; the datetime strftime() methods require year >= 1900

Does anyone know of a datetime string formatter that can handles
strftime format strings over the full range that datetime objects
support?

Thanks,
John Hunter