Information about 21st Century

The 21st Century is the present century of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on January 1, 2001 and is due to end December 31, 2100. However, more modern methods of dating begin the century in the year 2000.

Technologically, the major differences to date from the 20th Century are the changes brought about by the digital revolution of the 1980s and 1990s, and particularly the Internet. While the 20th century was marked by the rapid development of travel fueled mostly by petroleum, the 21st century is marked by concern over how to cope with consequences of pollution and resource depletion.

Academics suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".^[1] A less common variation would have been "twenty nought-five". Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Y2K hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, .

Many people, ranging from linguistic and academic experts to Internet bloggers, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a timeframe as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many,^[2][3] and the Vancouver Olympics, taking place in 2010, is being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten olympics", while 2011<ref name="preferMC" /> and 2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020.<ref name="preferMC" />

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

• 2001 The September 11, 2001 attacks ignite a global "War on Terrorism". On October 7, 2001 the United States invades Afghanistan.
• 2002 East Timor gains independence from Indonesia.
• 2003 International Criminal Court opens. On March 20, 2003 the United States invades Iraq, beginning Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the Iraq War.
• 2003 - 2005 A series of nonviolent revolutions known as the colour revolutions overthrow authoritarian regimes in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.
• 2004 EU Enlargement: 10 countries join, 8 of which are former Communist nations.
• 2005 UN Security Council decides war criminals in Darfur will be tried by the International Criminal Court (Resolution 1593) http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions05.htm
• 2006 Montenegro gains independence and becomes the 192nd member of the UN.
• 2006 On October 9th, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test.^[4]
• 2006 December 30, Saddam Hussein, former Iraq president, is executed in Baghdad.
• 2007 EU Enlargement: Romania and Bulgaria join the EU.
• 2007 On July 27th Tony Blair steps down as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Gordon Brown takes his place.

Science and technology

Space Exploration

• 2001 Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist by paying $20 million to board the International Space Station.
• 2002 Mars Odyssey arrives in orbit around Mars.
• 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1.
• 2003 The Chinese space program launches its first manned space flight, Shenzhou 5 on October 15.
• 2004 Mars Exploration Rovers land on Mars; Opportunity discovers evidence that that area of Mars was once covered in water.
• 2004 Cassini-Huygens probe arrives at Saturn.
• 2004 SpaceShipOne makes first privately-funded human spaceflight, June 21
• 2005 Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, January 14.
• 2005 Deep Impact probe impacts Comet Tempel 1, July 4.
• 2006 New Horizons launches on a 10 year voyage to Pluto January 20.
• 2006 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
• 2006 Pluto reclassified from being a planet to a dwarf planet, leaving the solar system with only eight planets.

Medicine

• 2003 Dolly the cloned sheep dies prematurely February 14.
• 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe.
• 2005 First successful partial face transplant (France)
• 2006 Australian of the Year Dr Ian Frazer developed a vaccine for cervical cancer

Personal Technology

• Mobile phone usage approaches 100% in Europe. http://www.mobiletracker.net/archives/2005/05/18/mobile-subcribers-worldwide

Other

• 2003 Discovery of an old dwarf human species, Homo floresiensis by modern humans (published in October, 2004).
• Discovery of four chemical elements, of atomic number 113, 115, 116 and 118.

Conflicts and civil unrest

• Sri Lanka civil war (1983-present)
• September 11, 2001 attacks on USA
• War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
• 12 October 2002 Bali bombing
• Iraq War (20 March 2003-present)
• Darfur conflict (2003-present)
• 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
• September 2004 Beslan hostage crisis
• 7 July 2005 London bombings
• 2005 civil unrest in France
• 2006 East Timor crisis
• 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings
• Civil war in Iraq (2006-present)
• 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
• War in Chad (2005-present)
• War in Somalia (2006–present)
• War on Terrorism (2001-present)

Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks

• Second Congo War, approximately 1.8 million deaths (3.8 million since 1998)
• Iraq War, approximately 1.2 million deaths^[5], ORB survey of casualties of the Iraq War.
• Darfur conflict, approximately 400,000 deaths
• Civil War in Côte d'Ivoire, 3,000 deaths
• September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,997 deaths, Twin Towers of the World Trade Center destroyed.
• December 13, 2001 attacks, Terrorist attack on Indian Parliament (2001), terrorists storm the Indian Parliament Builiding in New Delhi and kill six police officers.
• October 12, 2002 Bali terrorist bombings kill 202 people.
• March 11, 2004 suicide terrorist attacks shake several train stations on Spain's capital Madrid, killing 190 people and injuring 1,247.
• July 7, 2005 suicide terrorist attacks shake London transport system killing 52 people and injuring 700.
• 29 October 2005 Delhi Bombings, terrorists attack various markets in New Delhi, killing 61 people and injuring 188 more, right before the start of the festival season in India.

Furthermore, there are several wars and dictatorships continuing from the 20th century. In most cases, the death toll is unclear. See also [1].

• July 11, 2006 six bombs explodes in train stations in Mumbai killed 190.

Natural disasters

• Up to 50,000 people were killed in France, Italy, and other European countries in the summer of 2003 due to a prolonged heat wave coinciding with a shortage of medical and nursing staff.
• Earthquake in Bam, Iran on December 27, 2003 killed more than 26,000 people.
• 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On December 26 an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean created a large tsunami, which impacted land across the region and caused approximately 310,000 deaths in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and other countries in the region.
• 2004 hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne batter Florida and the Caribbean in August and September, causing over 3,200 deaths, 3,000 of which resulted from Jeanne's torrential flooding rains in Haiti. The hurricanes caused a combined $50 billion in damage in the United States.
• In 2005, Hurricane Katrina impacts the U.S. Gulf Coast as a strong Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds before landfall near 125 mph, flooding New Orleans, and causing significant damage in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. The current number of fatalities stands at 1,836. Katrina surpassed Hurricane Andrew in cost of damage, approaching $75 billion and becoming the costliest natural disaster in U.S history.
• Earthquake in Kashmir on October 8, 2005, which has so far claimed at least 87,350 lives in India and Pakistan.
• Hurricane Stan hit Mexico along the Gulf of Campeche in October 2005 and moved into Guatemala. Hurricane Stan combined with powerful storms already occurring in the region and contributed to the deaths of 1,620 people. It is unclear how many deaths are due directly to Stan and how many from the already existing storms, or perhaps a combination of the two.

Sports

• 2001- Tiger Woods, American golfer, completes the Tiger Slam, winning four golf majors in a row
• 2001- NASCAR (American stock car) driver Dale Earnhardt dies after hitting the wall on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Earnhardt's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., claimed a tearful victory in the next race held at Daytona, less than four months later.
• 2001- Arizona Diamondbacks win the world series after beating the Yankees 4 games to 3 in a best of seven series.
• 2001- NASCAR Jeff Gordon wins his 4th NASCAR Championship.
• 2002- Phil Taylor becomes the first player to win the World Darts Championship 10 times [PDC], following a 7-0 whitewash of Peter Manley.
• 2002- In the 2002 FIFA World Cup held in South Korea and Japan, Brazil won the Football World Cup becoming the first team to win the trophy 5 times.
• 2002- 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
• 2002- NASCAR Tony Stewart wins his first of 2 NASCAR championships.
• 2003- New Jersey Devils win their third Stanley Cup in team history, defeating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 4 games to 3.
• 2003- San Antonio Spurs win NBA championship over New Jersey Nets, 4 games to 2.
• 2003- Roy Jones Jr. becomes the first former World Middleweight Boxing Champion in 106 years to win a portion of the World Heavyweight title, following his twelve-round unanimous decision over then-WBA champion John Ruiz, March 1st.
• 2003- Australia win the 2003 Cricket World Cup
• 2003- Silver Ferns, New Zealand's national woman's netball team, wins the Netball World Championships, beating Australia in Jamaica
• 2003- England wins the 2003 Rugby World Cup, becoming the first team from the northern hemisphere to win the cup.
• 2003- NASCAR Matt Kenseth wins his first NASCAR Winston Cup Championship
• 2004- Arsenal FC win the English Premier League without losing a single game, having the longest unbeaten league run of 49 games from May 2003 to October 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/3713537.stm
• 2004- Greece win the European Football Championship for the first time.
• 2004- 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece.
• 2004- Boston Red Sox win the World Series over the Saint Louis Cardinals. It was their first World Series win in 86 years.
• 2004- Michael Schumacher wins his 5th consecutive Formula One World Drivers Championship.
• 2004- NASCAR Kurt Busch wins the first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series championship with the Chase points system.
• 2005- Liverpool FC win the European Cup for the fifth time in their history, enabling them to keep the trophy permanently. In a dramatic final, they came from 3-0 down at half time to win 3-2 on penalties against AC Milan.
• 2005- American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his 7th consecutive Tour de France and retires.
• 2005- In cricket, England wins The Ashes defeating Australia 2-1. This win is the first for England in 18 years.
• 2005- San Antonio Spurs win NBA championship over Detroit Pistons, 4 games to 3.
• 2005- Chicago White Sox win the World Series (4-0) over the Houston Astros. It was their first World Series win in 88 years.
• 2005- NASCAR Tony Stewart wins his 2nd NASCAR championship.
• 2006- Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 21-10, to win the teams fifth Super Bowl in six tries.
• 2006- 2006 Winter Olympics held in Torino, Italy.
• 2006- Italy win the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
• 2006- Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Edmonton Oilers in game 7, winning the series 4-3.
• 2006- Miami Heat win the NBA Finals against Dallas Mavericks 4 games to 2; after losing the first two games, and winning the last four straight.
• 2006- Floyd Landis wins the Tour de France, but not without controversy.
• 2006- In cricket Australia regain The Ashes, whitewashing England 5-0. Shane Warne, the world's most prolific wicket-taker, retires after taking 708 test wickets.
• 2006- St. Louis Cardinals win their 10th World Series 4 games to 1 over the Detroit Tigers.
• 2006- NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson wins his first Nascar championship.
• 2007- Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears, 29-17, to claim the team's first Super Bowl in 36 years.
• 2007- Australia win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.
• 2007- Anaheim Ducks win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Ottawa Senators in 5 games, winning the series 4-1.
• 2007- San Antonio Spurs win NBA championship over Cleveland Cavaliers in 4 games, sweeping the championship series.
• 2007- The Rugby World Cup is held in France from September to October.
• 2007- Thierry Henry leaves Arsenal FC to join FC Barcelona and is greeted by a record 30,000 fans (10,000 more than Ronaldinho) at the Camp Nou http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/sport/viewarticle.aspx?id=513868
• 2007- Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks the all time career home run record with 756 career HR, the previous was 755 career HR held by Hank Aaron

Issues and concerns

• Note* Some of the following details are debatable, and must be considered accordingly.

Some of the things that have dominated discussion and debate so far in this century include:

• Globalization. Advances in telecommunications and transportation, the expansion of capitalism and democracy, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. This has caused (and is continuing to cause) huge economic and cultural shifts which have been the subject of considerable controversy. It is surmised* http://www.ethicism.com that gradual ethical steps in three main areas (animals and the environment, employees, and consumers), are what will turn the tide in a favourable direction. The three stakeholders responsible for these changes are: governance, industry, and consumers.
• Peak Oil. In December, 2005 the global oil production peak was passed,^[6] meaning that humanity had used over half the worlds oil. The consequences of constantly diminishing production will be economically disastrous and may lead to global famine, disease, revolution, and armed conflict. Energy shortfalls will dramatically alter the way people live in the 21st Century. Depletion of other vital resources, such as water, threaten intense instability and death.
  • Overpopulation. The United Nations estimates that world population will reach 9.1 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecological sustainability and creates many economic and political disruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limited immigration. Considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic and ecological efficiency; and how markets should accommodate demographic shifts. Evidence suggests that developed countries (such as Japan) suffer population implosion, and the population debate is strongly tied with poverty.
  • Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including famine, disease, and insufficient education. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (for instance, poverty can make education an unaffordable luxury, which tends to result in continuing poverty) that various aid groups hope to rectify in this century. Microcredit lending has also started to gain a profile as a useful anti-poverty tool.
  • Moral issues, such as media content, gay rights, and abortion continue from the 1990s.
  • Disease. AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria each kill over a million people annually. HIV remains without a cure or vaccine, and is growing rapidly in India and much of the African continent. Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern for organisms such as tuberculosis. Other diseases, such as SARS, ebola, and flu variations, are also causes for concern. The World Health Organization has warned of a possible coming flu pandemic resulting from bird flu mutations.
  • War and terrorism. Active conflicts continue around the world, including civil wars in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the largest war since World War II), Chechnya, Côte d'Ivoire, Somalia, Senegal, Colombia, and Sudan (mainly in Darfur). The 9/11 terrorist attacks triggered invasions of Afghanistan and partially and controversially Iraq. The War on Terrorism has seen controversies over civil liberties, accusations of torture, continued terrorist attacks and ongoing instability, violence, and military occupation. Violence continues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Considerable concern remains about nuclear proliferation, especially in Iran and North Korea, and the availability of weapons of mass destruction to rogue groups.
  • Global warming. Most climate scientists concord that the earth is currently undergoing significant anthropogenic (human-induced) global warming. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686 The resulting economic and ecological costs are hard to predict, and by the end of the 21st century could be quite severe. However, predictions have become more dramatic in recent years. Some scientists argue that human-induced global warming risks destroying life on earth unless considerable sociopolitical changes are introduced, particularly in patterns of mass consumption. On the other hand, climate change has already begun to wreak havoc on entire communities on the fringes of the developing world.
  • Other environmental changes. Trends such as increased pollution, deforestation and biodiversity loss occurring in the 20th century are likely to continue into the 21st century.
  • Global power. Issues surrounding the cultural, economic, and military dominance of the United States and its role in the world community have become even more pointed given its recent military activities, problematic relations with the United Nations, disagreement over several international treaties, and its economic policies with regard to globalization. Integration of the European Union and the African Union have proceeded.
  • Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internet and peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about copyright infringement. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection of copyright, trademark and patent rights versus fair use and the public domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public in recent years, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with the threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the current entertainment industry). Domain name "cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
  • Technology developments show no sign of ending. Communications and control technology continues to augment the intelligence of individual humans, collections of humans, and machines. Cultures are forced into the position of sharply defining humanity and determining boundaries on desire, thought, communication, behavior, and manufacturing. Some, notably Ray Kurzweil have predicted that by the middle of the century there will be a Technological Singularity if artificial intelligence that outsmart humans is created. If these AIs then create even smarter AI's technological change will accelerate in ways that are impossible for us to foresee.(However, gradual and simultaneous use of AI technology to increase our own intelligence might prevent this from ever occurring.)
  • Energy is becoming scarce and more expensive, due to the escalating demand for petroleum ("oil") and oil-based products such as gasoline and kerosene, unmatched by production. Discovery of new oil fields has not been sufficient to sustain current levels of production, and some fear that the earth may be running out of economically viable oil. While complete depletion will not happen in the near future, some fear that a peak in production will cause an end to the trend of economic expansion in modern society, perhaps resulting in a collapse of modern civilization itself. Economists argue that alternative sources of energy will prevent this disaster.
  The United Nations lists global issues on its agenda and lists a set of Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) to attempt to address some of these issues.
  
  However, it is important to note that the current year is only , which means we are only at the start of the century. Therefore, it is impossible to make detailed predictions about the future of this century.

  Significant people

  Influential people in politics as of 2007

  (in alphabetical order)
  • Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
  • King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
  • Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece
  • Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
  • Bertie Ahern, Prime Minister of Ireland
  • Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • José María Aznar, Former Prime Minister of Spain
  • Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
  • José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
  • Silvio Berlusconi, former Italian Prime Minister and leader of the opposition House of Freedoms coalition
  • Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda leader
  • Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
  • George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
  • Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico
  • Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
  • Jacques Chirac, former president of France
  • Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela
  • Dick Cheney, U.S. Vice President (2001-present)
  • Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada
  • Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy
  • Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand
  • Bill Clinton, former President of the United States of America
  • Hillary Rodham Clinton, United States Senator and former First Lady
  • Luigi R. Einaudi, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish Prime Minister
  • Vicente Fox, fomer President of Mexico
  • Lawrence Gonzi, Maltese Prime Minister
  • Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States of America
  • Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
  • John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
  • Saddam Hussein, deposed President of Iraq, executed on December 30, 2006
  • Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China
  • Abdul Kalam, President of India
  • Moshe Katsav, President of Israel
  • Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
  • Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran
  • Kim Jong-il, General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
  • Junichiro Koizumi, former Prime Minister of Japan
  • Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland
  • Nestor Kirchner, President of Argentina
  • Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines
  • Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada
  • Thabo Mbeki, South African president and current leader of the African Union
  • Angela Merkel, German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
  • Pervez Musharraf Pakistani President
  • Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Nancy Pelosi, first woman to become Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy
  • Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation
  • Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
  • Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
  • Muammar al-Qaddafi, Leader of Libya
  • Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State
  • Karl Rove, President Bush's senior advisor, chief political strategist, and deputy chief of staff in charge of policy.
  • Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France
  • Gerhard Schröder, former German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
  • Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
  • Luis Inácio da Silva, President of Brazil
  • Dr. Manmohan Singh, Indian Prime Minister
  • Javier Solana, Foreign policy chief of the European Union
  • Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former President of Latvia
  • Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General of ASEAN
  • Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
  • José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain

  Influential people in spirituality as of 2007

  • Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet
  • Billy Graham
  • Ayatollah Khamenei
  • Ayatollah Ali Sistani
  • Stanley Hauerwas, proclaimed in 2001 "America's Best Theologian"
  • Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Li Hongzhi, Founder of Falun Gong
  • Pope Benedict XVI
  • Pope John Paul II (now deceased)
  • Jaime Cardinal Sin (now deceased)
  • Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
  • Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch
  • Rick Warren, Founder and Lead Pastor of Saddleback Church, author of The Purpose Driven Life; major figure in the American Christian church
  • James Dobson, Christian right leader
  • Tim LaHaye, author of the world-known Left Behind series and numerous others

  Influential people in technology as of 2007

  • Steve Jobs, co founder of Apple Inc.
  • Steve Wozniak, co founder of Apple Inc.
  • Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation
  • Bill Gates, co founder and chairman of Microsoft Corporation
  • Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of the Google search engine
  • Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites and creator of SpaceShipOne
  • Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation
  • Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel
  • Dave Winer, pioneer of RSS, podcasting, and blogging

  Influential people in science as of 2007

  • Stephen Hawking
  • Richard Dawkins
  • Brian Greene
  • Steven Pinker
  • Michio Kaku

  Influential people in mathematics as of 2007

  • Laurent Lafforgue
  • Grigori Perelman

  Influential people in the arts as of 2007

  • Radiohead, music group
  • Jay Chou, Taiwanese singer
  • Björk, Icelandic singer
  • Gwen Stefani, music artist and fashion icon
  • David Bowie, music artist
  • Kylie Minogue, music artist
  • Ayumi Hamasaki music artist
  • Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, influental rap music artist
  • Kanye West, hip-hop artist
  • Elton John, music artist
  • Pedro Almodóvar
  • Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the 2005 remake of King Kong
  • Madonna, music artist and actress
  • Bon Jovi, music artist and philanthropist
  • Michael Moore, documentary filmmaker
  • Eminem, hip hop artist and CEO of Shady Records
  • 50 Cent, hip hop artist
  • Alfonso Cuarón, Mexican New Wave filmmaker
  • Bono, lead singer of Irish rock band U2
  • Aerosmith, music group
  • Red Hot Chili Peppers, music group
  • Bob Geldof, music artist and philanthropist
  • J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book & film series
  • Shakira, music artist and humanitarian
  • Britney Spears, best selling female musician of the 21st century
  • Hou Hsiao-Hsien
  • Bill T. Jones
  • Jacqueline Wilson, award winning children's author.
  • George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars saga and the Lucasfilm company
  • Steven Spielberg, director of Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park
  • Trent Reznor, music artist
  • t.A.T.u., most successful artist from Russia
  • Angelina Jolie, actress and humanitarian
  • Lars von Trier
  • Johnny Depp, American film actor
  • Cate Blanchett, Australian actress
  • Hayao Miyazaki, Japanese film director
  • Marilyn Manson, Artist
  • Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress
  • John Williams, film composer
  • Stephen Colbert, American actor

  Astronomical events

  • Tuesday, June 8, 2004: First transit of Venus for 122 years.
  • November 8, 2006: Transit of Mercury.
  • December 23, 2007: grand conjunction a galactic conjunction which happens every 26000 years.
  • 2009: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune.
  • 2010/2011: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus.
  • Wednesday, June 6, 2012: Transit of Venus to occur a second time (and last time) this century.
  • May 9, 2016: Transit of Mercury.
  • Monday, August 21, 2017 http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/5MCSEmap/2001-2100/2017-08-21.gif : First total solar eclipse of the 21st century for the United States, and the first visible in the continental US since February 26, 1979 http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/5MCSEmap/1901-2000/1979-02-26.gif.
  • November 11, 2019: Transit of Mercury.
  • 2024 (plus or minus 5 years): Next predicted return of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.
  • 2025/2026: Triple conjunction Saturn-Neptune.
  • Friday, April 13, 2029: The asteroid 99942 Apophis (previously better known by its provisional designation 2004 MN₄) will pass within 30,000 km (18,600 mi) of the Earth.
  • November 13, 2032: Transit of Mercury.
  • 2037/2038: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus.
  • November 7, 2039: Transit of Mercury.
  • 2041/2042: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus.
  • October 1, 2044: Occultation of Regulus by Venus. The last was on July 7, 1959. After 2044 the next occultation of Regulus by Venus will occur on October 21, 3187, although some sources claim it will occur again on October 6, 2271.
  • 2047/2048: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune.
  • May 7, 2049: Transit of Mercury.
  • November 9, 2052: Transit of Mercury.
  • July 2061: Next return of Halley's Comet.
  • 2063: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus.
  • November 11, 2065: Transit of Mercury.
  • November 22, 2065: At 12:45 UTC, Venus will occult Jupiter. This event will be the first occultation of a planet by another since January 3, 1818. This event will be very difficult to observe, because the elongation of Venus and Jupiter from the Sun on that date will be only 7 degrees.
  • 2066: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus.
  • July 15, 2067: At 11:56 UTC, Mercury will occult Neptune. This rare event will be very difficult to observe, because of the constant low elongation of Mercury from the Sun, and the magnitude of Neptune always under the limit of visibility with the naked eye.
  • 2071/2072: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune.
  • November 14, 2078: Transit of Mercury.
  • 2079: Triple conjunction Saturn-Uranus.
  • August 11, 2079: At 01:30 UTC, Mercury will occult Mars.
  • Friday, November 10, 2084: Transit of Earth as seen from Mars, the first and the only one in this century.
  • November 7, 2085: Transit of Mercury.
  • 2085/2086: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune.
  • October 27, 2088: At 13:43 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter.
  • 2088/2089: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune.
  • 2093: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus.
  • April 7, 2094: At 10:48 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter.
  • May 8, 2095: Transit of Mercury.
  • November 10, 2098: Transit of Mercury.

  Popular culture in the remaining years of the 21st century

  Television and film

  • The new series of Doctor Who which began in 2005 has events that take place (more or less) in the 21st century.
  • seaQuest DSV takes place between the years 2018 and 2032.
  • In the sequel to , a joint American-Soviet space expedition is sent to Jupiter in .
  • The popular adult swim series Sealab 2021 takes place in the year 2021.
  • The events of Stargate SG-1 continue into the early 21st century.
  • Stargate Atlantis is set in the early 21st century.
  • : is set in the year 2005. The subsequent third season of the Transformers series takes place after the events of the movie.
  • The Japanese anime show The Super Dimension Fortress Macross spans the years 1999 to 2012 (its final episode takes place in January of 2012, and a direct to video epilogue featurette takes place in September 2012). Its prequel and sequels take place in 2008 (Macross Zero), 2040 (Macross Plus) and 2045-2046 (Macross 7). A dramatized historical fiction movie about the First Space War, , premieres in 2031.
  • The American cartoon show Robotech, composed from the footage of three unrelated anime series (including Macross, above) spans the years 1999 to 2015, 2030-2031 and 2044-2045.
  • Part of Back to the Future Part II is set in 2015.
  • The Japanese anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is also set in 2015.
  • The modern classic film Blade Runner takes place in November, 2019.
  • The cult series Dark Angel is set in 2019.
  • The film The Running Man starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is set in 2019.
  • Both parts of the episode "Past Tense" take place in 2024.
  • The anime universe of Ghost in the Shell, its sequel , and anime television series based on the same premise ( and ), are centered somewhere around 2029.
  • The Terminator is set up during the early years of the 21st century in terms of the wars between humans & Skynet. Some of the intervening years are dealt with by the two sequels, and , with the whole franchise building to a conclusion of the War in 2029.
  • The 2002 version of The Time Machine has scenes that take place in the 2030s.
  • The Doctor Who story The Enemy of the World is set in Australia in 2030.
  • The anime OAV series Bubblegum Crisis (2032-33), its sequel Bubblegum Crash (2034), and its TV-series re-imagining Bubblegum Crisis 2040 (2040).
  • Demolition Man is set in 2032.
  • I, Robot was set in 2035.
  • Deep space vessel Event Horizon was sent to test an artificial wormhole (black hole) in deep space in the year 2040. The lost ship is found 7 years later by a rescue team on board the ship Lewis and Clark on low orbit around the planet Neptune.
  • The Outward Urge has a major nuclear war in 2044 and the first manned landing on Mars in 2094.
  • Minority Report was set in 2054.
  • World War III ends in 2056 according to , with 300,000,000 dead and most major cities destroyed.
  • The 1998 remake of Lost in Space was set in 2058.
  • Most of takes place in 2063. In Star Trek canon, the human Zefram Cochrane develops faster-than-light travel and makes first contact with an alien race during this year.
  • is set in 2065.
  • The Doctor Who story The Moonbase is set in 2070.
  • The Japanese anime show Cowboy Bebop is set in 2071.
  • The Nickelodeon cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot is set in 2072.
  • Equilibrium is set in 2072.
  • The Doctor Who story Day of the Daleks is set in 2073, albeit in an alternative timeline.
  • The film Total Recall, and the Doctor Who story Warriors of the Deep is set in 2084.
  • In , it is discovered that the Ba'ku moved to the Briar Patch at some point in this century.
  • The Jetsons is supposed to take place in the late 21st century.
  • and its sequels takes place in the years 2049-2051.
  • The final episode of X-Files sets 2012 as the date for alien colonization.
  • The CGI animated series takes place in 2040.
  • The Doctor Who story The Seeds of Death is set in 2090.
  • The Doctor Who story Nightmare of Eden is set in 2096.

  Computer and video games

  • The most forthcoming game in the Grand Theft Auto Series of Video Games, Grand Theft AUto IV will be set in the year of 2008.
  • The events of Metal Gear Solid take place in 2005, while the events of takes places in the years 2007 (Tanker Chapter) and 2009 (Big Shell Chapter).
  • Duke Nukem 3D is set in the early 21st century and contains evidence (such as calendars) that suggest it is more specifically set in October or December 2007
  • Uplink is set on the internet of the year 2010.
  • Perfect Dark Zero is set in 2020 and Perfect Dark is set in 2023.
  • The races in San Francisco Rush 2049 take place in 2049.
  • The events of Deus Ex take place in 2052.
  • The levels "Breaking and Entering" and "You Genius, U-Genix" in take place in 2052.
  • System Shock is set in 2072.
  • takes place in the year 2098.
  • The discovery of the Zohar in Xenosaga takes place in 20XX.
  • The Great War of the Fallout universe starts on October 23, 2077; nuclear bombs are launched, nobody knows who the aggressor was.
  • The events of occur in 20XX.
  • In , the 2nd Korean War starts early in this century.
  • , will take place sometime around between 2008 and 2010.
  • The Mega Man Classic series takes place in the 21st century.
  • The arcade game takes place in the year 2084.
  • One Must Fall: 2097 takes place in 2097.
  • The Mr. Driller series (and , a game in its related timeline) takes place in 20XX.
  • The events of Half-Life 2 and its expansion packs takes place around 2013.
  • The video game and cartoon 20X6 of Homestar Runner supposedly takes place in the seventh year of an unspecified decade in the 21st century.
  • The nuclear holocaust of the AquaNox universe takes place in mid-21st century, followed by the massive exodus of survivors underwater.
  • and take place in 2018, when AIDS and cancer supposedly have cures.
  • The events of takes place in this time; specifically 2035. The sequel, takes place one year later, in 2036. These are the only two Castlevania titles to have taken place beyond the early to mid 20th century thus far.
  • The events of Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift and Tokyo Xtreme Racer Drift 2 take place during 20XX, when Japanese highways have supposedly been opened as racing circuits.
  • The events of Namco X Capcom takes place during 20XX.
  • In the , the 2nd Tiberium War between the Global Defense Initiative and the Brotherhood of Nod begins in 2030. The 3rd Tiberium War takes place 17 years later in 2047, which also sees the arrival of the Scrin to Earth.

  Novels

  • Arthur C Clarke's , and .
  • Tad Williams' Otherland series is set at some undefined point in the 21st century
  • Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is also set in the 21st century, after some disaster befell the centralized telephone network. This led people to build a decentralized network, which they used to transfer money, thus destroying normal methods of taxation and bringing down most large governments.
  • Red Mars of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy begins in 2027.
  • Some books by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are set in 21st century
  • "Turnabout" by Margaret Peterson Haddix, is set in 2005-06, 2057, and mainly 2085.

  Decades and years

   •  • [ e]

  and

  21st century
  ←← ↔ →→
   •  • [ e]

  and

  Millennium	Century
  Before Christ / Before Common Era (BC/BCE)
  :
  :
  :
  :
  Anno Domini / Common Era (AD/CE)
  :
  :
  :
  :

  See also

  • African Century
  • Asian Century
  • Chinese Century
  • European Century
  • Indian Century
  • Pacific Century

  References

  1. ^ Experts clash over millennium bugbear — The Times
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ US confirms nuclear claim. New York Times (2006-10-15). Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
  5. ^ [4]
  6. ^

Kenneth S. Deffeyes (2007-01-19). Current Events - Join us as we watch the crisis unfolding (English). .