Prior to <specific date>

[Jaro7788]

I wonder what tense we are expected to use when we talk about events that took place before a particular date. That is, which version is correct?

Prior to 2001, we lived in the twentieth century.

or

Prior to 2001, we had lived in the twentieth century.

Just to be clear: we assume that we had not said anything else about the events of 2001 before writing one of the sentences above (first time mentioned). If the previous part of the text were sth like "In 2001, we started the twenty-first century," we'd obviously need to use Past Perfect.

Thanks in advance!

[Dozy]

There is no need to use the past perfect in this sentence simply because of "prior to 2001". Provided there are no additional contextual circumstances that entail the past perfect, the first version is correct.

(I will not comment on whether or not the year 2000 was in the twentieth century as I think that one has been done to death!)