21st century

(20th century - 21st century - 22nd century - other centuries)

Decades: 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s 2070s 2080s 2090s

In calendars based on the Christian Era or Common Era, such as the Gregorian calendar, the 21st century is the current century, as of this writing. By some interpretations, it lasts from 2001-2100, and the 3rd millennium lasts from (2001 - 3000). This is based on the argument that there was no Year Zero, so the first century began in year 1 [1] (http://www.astronomyboy.com/millennium/). However, common usage often regards the 21st century as lasting from 2000 to 2099. In 2000 the International Organization for Standardization implicitly backed this common usage by declaring that there was a Year Zero (see 20th century). Decades are almost always considered as starting with the "0" year and named accordingly ("2010s", etc.), so the first decade of a century could overlap back into the preceding one.

Similar to the 20th century's place in popular culture as part of names such as 20th Century Fox, the 21st century has been used in the names of a number of companies and organizations. The real estate firm Century 21 uses a name that refers to this century.

Overview

The 21st century has had an influence on culture since well before it began. Speculation about future, social, cultural, and technological trends frequently centered on the year 2000, starting with late-19th century essays and novels (often of a utopian nature) such as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. It's been said that the event horizon of Western culture was steadily shrinking in this period, since as late as the 1990s people were still often focusing on the year 2000 in their discussions of the future.

Religious beliefs in a "millennial apocalypse" were supplemented by genuine concerns about the Y2K computer "bug" and about possible terrorist attacks centered on the year-2000 celebrations, but the actual turn of the millennium (both the popularly-celebrated one in 2000 and the "purist" one in 2001) went by in a fairly anticlimactic manner.

However, the years since have continued in the tumultuous manner people of the 20th century were accustomed to expect, with wars, terrorism, and other conflict, as well as continued advances in science and technology including the continuing expansion of the use of computers and the Internet (despite the "tech bubble burst" where the overexuberance of early Internet companies was deflated).

More Y2K-style computer date failures are due before the end of the 21st century; the Unix datestamps, consisting of a count of the number of seconds since 1970, will overflow in 2038, while the family of operating systems descended from MS-DOS (including the various versions of Microsoft Windows) can't handle dates beyond 2099.

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

2003 International Criminal Court opens
2004 EU Enlargement: 10 countries join
2004 Final draft of the European Constitution is accepted
2005 UN Security Council decides war criminals in Darfur will be tried by the International Criminal Court (Resolution 1593) [2] (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions05.htm)

Science and technology

2002 Mars Odyssey arrives in orbit around Mars.
2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1
2003 Dolly the sheep dies prematurely February 14
2003 Chinese space program launches its first manned space flight, Shenzhou 5 October 15.
2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe.
2004 Mars rovers discover evidence of likely flowing water on Mars.
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.

Wars, battles, and terrorism

Largest mass killings

Second Congo War, approx. 1.8 million deaths (3.8 million since 1998)
Darfur conflict, Approximately 200,000 deaths.
U.S. Invasion in Iraq, most estimates claim 30,000 - 50,000 Iraqi and 1,900 coalition deaths. The Lancet recently estimated 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion.
Civil War in Ivory Coast, 3,000 deaths.
September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,749 - 2,752 deaths.

Furthermore, there are several wars and dictatorships continuing from the 20th century. Mostly the number of deaths they caused during the 21st century is unknown.

See also [3] (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wars21c.htm).

Natural disasters

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, in which the resulting tsunami killed approximately 310,000 in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries in the region.
Earthquake in Bam, Iran on December 27, 2003 killed more than 26,000 people.

Issues and concerns

Some of the things that have dominated discussion and debate in this century include: Template:NPOV-section

Overpopulation. The growth of the world population results in a greater strain on ecosystems and a greater consumption of limited resources. Profligate population growth is a root cause for the proliferation of disease and scarcity-related problems such as poverty, famine, and economic instability. The United Nations estimates (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/24/un.population/) that world population will reach 9.1 billion by mid-century. The results of population growth seen in the last century are likely to be even more pronounced in this one. The burden placed on the planet's natural systems by humans is becoming unsustainable. Historically, large outbreaks of violence often coincide with a large increase in population density.

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.

Disease. AIDS remains without a cure and is growing rapidly in India and much of the African continent. Other diseases, such as SARS, ebola, and flu variations, are also causes for concern. The World Health Organization has warned (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3524824.stm) of a possible coming flu pandemic resulting from bird flu mutations.

The War on Terrorism. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, many actions were taken in the name of security against terrorism, both defensive and offensive, especially by the United States. This has raised concerns about whether the actions are justified and whether they will cause intolerable harm to civil liberties.

Climate change. Some scientists believe that a climate disaster is approaching if humanity does not change its pattern of environmental discharges. Others dispute this. Trends such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity loss and resource depletion all are growing factors that will contribute to significant issues in this century. Water in particular is an area of serious concern. Another instance of significant resource depletion is evident in oil production, which some scholars predict will reach a peak in this century, then begin a permanent downward trend.

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 piracy. 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.

The United Nations lists global issues on its agenda here (http://www.un.org/issues/) and lists a set of Millennium Goals (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/) to attempt to address some of these issues.

Significant people

Influential people in politics as of 2005

(in alphabetical order)

Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, de facto government leader
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister
Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda leader
Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
Jacques Chirac, President of France
Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada
Luis Inácio da Silva, President of Brazil
Luigi R. Einaudi, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister
John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China
Saddam Hussein, deposed President of Iraq, currently held by US forces
Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran
Kim Jong-il, General Secretary of the Korean Worker's Party and chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
Aleksander Kwasniewski, President of Poland
Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada
Thabo Mbeki, South African president and current leader of the African Union
Pervez Musharraf Pakistani President
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation
Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State
Dr. Manmohan Singh Indian Prime Minister
Gerhard Schröder, German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
Javier Solana, Foreign policy chief of the European Union
Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General of ASEAN
Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of Spain

Influential people in religion as of 2005

Pope Benedict XVI
The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso
Founder of Falungong, Li Hongzhi
Ayatollah Khamenei
Stanley Hauerwas, proclaimed in 2001 "America's Best Theologian"

Influential people in technology as of 2005

Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation
Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation
Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer
Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of the Google search engine

Influential people in science as of 2005

Influential people in mathematics as of 2005

Influential people in popular entertainment as of 2005

Tom Cruise, actor
Eminem, rapper and actor
Paris Hilton, actress and former model
Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy
Brad Pitt, actor
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series
Jessica Simpson, singer and actress
Britney Spears, singer and actress
Tarkan, singer
Charlize Theron, actress
Justin Timberlake, singer
Catherine Zeta-Jones, actress
Boston Red Sox, 2004 World Series champions after an 86 year drought.
Simon Cowell, a judge on American Idol

Astronomical events and predictions

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 - Transit of Venus occurs after 122 years
full eclipse of moon during World Series, 2004
November 8, 2006- Transit of Mercury
2009: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
2010/11: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - Transit of Venus to occur 2nd time this century
May 9, 2016- Transit of Mercury
Monday, August 21, 2017 - First total solar eclipse of the 21st century for the United States, and the first visible in the continental US since February 26, 1979.
November 11 - Transit of Mercury
2024 (plus or minus 5 years): next predicted return of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.
2025/26: Triple conjunction Saturn-Neptune
Friday, April 13, 2029 - The asteroid 2004 MN4 will pass within 30,000 km (18,600 mi) of the Earth.
November 13, 2032 - Transit of Mercury
2037/38: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
November 7, 2039 - Transit of Mercury
2041/42: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
October 1, 2044 - Occultation of Regulus by Venus. The last was on July 7th, 1959. After 2044 the next occultation of Regulus by Venus will occur on October 21st, 3187, although some sources claim it will occur again on October 6th, 2271.
2047/48: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
May 7, 2049 - Transit of Mercury
November 9, 2052 - Transit of Mercury
2061: next return of Comet Halley.
2063: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
November 11, 2065 - Transit of Mercury
November 22, 2065 12:45 UTC - Venus will occult Jupiter. This event will be the first occultation of a planet by another since January 3, 1818. Unfortunately this event will be very difficult to observe, because the elongation of Venus and Jupiter from the sun on November 22, 2065 will be only 7 degrees.
2066: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
July 15, 2067 11:56 UTC - Mercury will occult Neptune. Unfortunately this rare event will be very difficult to observe.
2071/72: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune
November 14, 2078 - Transit of Mercury
2079: Triple conjunction Saturn-Uranus
August 11, 2079 01:30 UTC - Mercury will occult Mars
Friday, November 10, 2084 - Transit of Earth as seen from Mars
November 7, 2085 - Transit of Mercury
2085/86: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
October 27, 2088 13:43 UTC - Mercury will occult Jupiter
2088/89: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune
2093: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
April 7, 2094 10:48 UTC - Mercury will occult Jupiter
May 8, 2095 - Transit of Mercury
November 10, 2098 - Transit of Mercury

Science fiction set in the 21st century

Television and film

The events of Stargate SG-1 continue into the early 21st century.
Stargate Atlantis is set in the early 21st century.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode Carpenter Street takes place in 2004.
Part of Back to the Future Part II is set in 2015.
Most of Star Trek: First Contact takes place in 2063. According to Star Trek canon, the human Zefram Cochrane will develop faster-than-light travel and make first contact with an alien race during this year.
The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes 'Past Tense' pt.1 and 2 take place in the 2020's.
The Japanese anime show Cowboy Bebop is set in 2071.
The Nickelodeon cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot is set in 2072.
The Jetsons is supposed to take place in the late 21st century.

Computer games

The events of Deus Ex take place in 2052.
System Shock is set in 2072.
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 knew who the aggressor was.

Novels

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.
Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars of his Mars trilogy starts at 2027.

Decades and years

Template:DecadesAndYears

External links

Long Bets (http://www.longbets.org/) Foundation to improve long-term thinking
Long Now (http://www.longnow.org/) Long-term cultural institutionaf:21ste eeu

bg:21 век ca:Segle XXI cs:21. století cy:21fed canrif da:21. århundrede de:21. Jahrhundert et:21. sajand el:21ος αιώνας es:Siglo XXI eo:21-a jarcento fr:XXIe siècle fy:21e ieu ko:21세기 hi:इक्कीसवी सदी io:21ma yar-cento it:XXI secolo he:המאה ה-21 lb:21. Joerhonnert li:Einentwintegste ieuw lt:XXI amžius hu:21. század nl:21e eeuw ja:21世紀 nb:21. århundre nn:2000-talet pl:XXI wiek pt:Século XXI ro:Secolul XXI ru:XXI век simple:21st century sk:21. storočie sl:21. stoletje sr:21. век fi:2000-luku sv:2000-talet (sekel) uk:21 століття ur:2000صبم wa:21inme sieke zh:21世纪

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