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The 21st century is the present century of the Anno Domini ( Common ) era, in accordance with the Gregorian Calendar . It began on January 1 , 2001 and will end December 31 , 2100 . A common misconception is that it started in 2000 and will end in 2099, but due to the fact that there was no year zero, 2000 is part of the 20th century, not the 21st.

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 . 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 ''.

Many people, ranging from , taking place in 2010, is being officially referred to by ''Vancouver 2010'' as "the twenty-ten olympics", while 2011 and 2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020 .


IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS, EVENTS, ACHIEVEMENTS


Politics



Science and technology



Space Exploration



Medicine



Personal Technology



Other



Conflicts and civil unrest



Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks


See also {Link without Title} .
  • July 11 , 2006 six bombs explodes in train stations in Bombay killed 190.



Natural disasters



Sports



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--- {Link without Title} 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.


  • ''' 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.






  • 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.


  • Resource Depletion may be a significant issue, with economic and environmental implications. Resources that could be depleted soon include Oil and Natural Gas .


  • 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 predict that by the middle of this century there will be a Technological Singularity if Artificial Intelligence s are created that are smarter than humans. If these 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 s) 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)



Influential people in spirituality as of 2007



Influential people in technology as of 2007



Influential people in science as of 2007



Influential people in mathematics as of 2007



Influential people in the arts as of 2007



ASTRONOMICAL EVENTS


  • Tuesday, for 122 years.

  • .

  • a galactic conjunction which happens every 18/20 years.

  • Jupiter - Neptune .

  • 2010/2011: Triple conjunction Jupiter- Uranus .

  • Wednesday, to occur a second time (and last time) this century.

  • .

  • Monday, of the 21st century for the United States , and the first visible in the continental US since February 26 , 1979 {Link without Title} .

  • 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, 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • .

  • Friday, 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





Computer and video games

  • 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 .

  • '''' takes place in 2097 .

  • The '''', a game in its related timeline) takes place in 20XX.

  • The events of Half-Life 2 and its Expansion Pack s 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.

  • take place in 2018, when AIDS and cancer supposedly have cures.

  • The events of 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.



Novels



DECADES AND YEARS



SEE ALSO



REFERENCES



EXTERNAL LINKS