21st century

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.

Technologically, so far the major difference from the 20th century are the changes brought about by the digital revolution of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Pronouncing years of the 21st century

Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century should be pronounced in English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand (and) X" for any specific year post–1999, it is often suggested that the continuation of this type of pronunciation for the entire 21st century would be inappropriate or unnatural, given the alternative "twenty X" option.

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, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

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] while 2011^[1] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020^[1] or 2100.

According to a recent press release, David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change of pronunciation to "twenty X" will occur in 2011, as "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven".^[1] Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013. And finally, The Times of London has suggested 2020 as a final timeframe for the change, saying "If people can have “twenty-twenty” vision, then surely they should also live in the year “twenty twenty”.^[1]

In addition, the Vancouver olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten olympics", and the London olympics, taking place in 2012, are also being officially referred to by London 2012 as "the twenty-twelve olympics". Chicago 2016, which operates the official Chicago bid for the 2016 games, refers to the "twenty-sixteen games".

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

2002 East Timor gains independence from Indonesia.
2003 International Criminal Court opens
2003 - 2005 A series of nonviolent revolutions known as the color 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) [4]
2006 Montenegro gains independence and becomes the 192nd member of the UN.
2007 EU Enlargement: Romania and Bulgaria join the EU.

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.

Medicine

2003 Dolly the 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

2006 80% of world land surface has coverage by cellular networks for mobile phone use
2007 Apple announces their revolutionary iPhone, January 9
Mobile phone usage approaches 100% in Europe. [5]

Other

2003 Discovery of an old dwarf human species, Homo floresiensis by modern humans (published in October, 2004).
Discovery of many new chemical elements.

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
Central African War (2006-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)
Darfur conflict, approximately 400,000 deaths
U.S. Invasion in Iraq, most estimates claim 40,000 – 50,000 Iraqi and 3,100 coalition deaths. In 2004, The Lancet estimated that about "98,000 more deaths than expected (8000–194,000) happened after the invasion." [6]
Civil War in Côte d'Ivoire, 3,000 deaths
September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,997 deaths, world-famous 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 [7].

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.
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.
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 wins 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.
2004- Greece wins 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.
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- Chicago White Sox win the World Series (4-0) over the Houston Astros. It was their first World Series win in 88 years.
2006- 2006 Winter Olympics held in Torino, Italy.
2006- Italy wins the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
2006- Miami Heat win the NBA Finals against Dallas Mavericks 4 games to two.
2006- Floyd Landis wins the Tour De France, but not without controversy.
2006- In cricket Australia regains 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.
2007- The Rugby World Cup is held in France from September to October.
2007- Australia win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007.

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* [8] 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.

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 1990s and late 20th century.

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. The majority of climate scientists think that the earth is currently undergoing significant anthropogenic (human-induced) global warming. [11] The resulting economic and ecological costs are hard to predict, and by the end of the 21st century could be quite severe.

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 intelligences 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 United Nations lists global issues on its agenda here and lists a set of Millennium Goals 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
José María Aznar, Former Prime Minister of Spain
Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
José Manuel Durão 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, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer (U.K.)
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, 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 religion 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

Influential people in science as of 2007

Influential people in mathematics as of 2007

Influential people in the arts as of 2007

Chris Columbus (filmmaker), direcor & producer of Harry Potter and director of Home Alone & Home Alone 2
Mark Radcliffe (filmmaker), producer of Harry Potter
Rowan Atkinson, British actor (commonly known for Mr. Bean)
Paul McCartney, Music Writer, Singer, Artist, Classical Music Writer. Member of the Beatles.
Jay Chou, Taiwanese singer
JJ Abrams, creator of television shows Alias and Lost
David Bowie
Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, influental rap music artist
Katie Couric, anchor of the CBS Evening News and former anchor of NBC's Today
Elton John
Pedro Almodóvar
Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and the 2005 remake of King Kong
Madonna, music artist and actress
Bon Jovi
Chris Martin
50 Cent
Ellen DeGeneres, entertainer
Bono, lead singer of Irish rock band U2
Aerosmith
Bob Geldof
J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series
Shakira, music artist and humanitarian
Britney Spears, second best selling music artist
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Aishwarya Rai, actress
Bill T. Jones
Jacqueline Wilson, award winning children's author.
George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars film series and the Lucasfilm company
Steven Spielberg, director of Jaws, E.T. and Jurassic Park
Rick Rubin, music producer
Trent Reznor
John le Carré
Christopher Nolan
Angelina Jolie, actress and humanitarian
Lars von Trier
Hayao Miyazaki
Marilyn Manson, Artist
Shilpa Shetty, Bollywood actress
Jerry Bruckheimer, filmmaker, producer of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy
John Williams, composer of the scores from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, E.T., Jaws, Home Alone, and the first three Harry Potter films

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 [14] : First total solar eclipse of the 21st century for the United States, and the first visible in the continental US since February 26, 1979 [15].
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 MN<sub>4</sub>) 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 Comet Halley.
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 Lost Season 3 ended on May 23, 2007.
The new series of Doctor Who which began in 2005 has events that take place in the 21st century.
seaQuest DSV takes place between the years 2018 and 2032.
In the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a joint American-Soviet space expedition is sent to Jupiter in 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
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.
Transformers: The Movie: 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, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, 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 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Past Tense" take place in 2024.
The anime universe of Ghost in the Shell, its sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, and anime television series based on the same premise (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GiG), 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, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 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 Star Trek: First Contact, with 300,000,000 dead and most major cities destroyed.
The 1998 remake of Lost in Space was set in 2058.
Most of Star Trek: First Contact 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.
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within 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 Star Trek: Insurrection, 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.
Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century (film) 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 Cubix: Robots for Everyone 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 events of Metal Gear Solid take place in 2005, while the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty 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 TimeSplitters: Future Perfect take place in 2052.
System Shock is set in 2072.
Future Cop: LAPD 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 Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne occur in 20XX.
In Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, the 2nd Korean War starts early in this century
The Mega Man Classic series takes place in the 21st century.
The arcade game Robotron: 2084 takes place in the year 2084.
One Must Fall: 2097 takes place in 2097.
The Mr. Driller series (and Dig Dug: Digging Strike, 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.
Trauma Center: Under the Knife and Trauma Centre: Second Opinion take place in 2018, when AIDS and cancer supposedly have cures
The events of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow takes place in this time; specifically 2035. The sequel, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow 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.

Novels

Arthur C Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two and 2061: Odyssey Three.
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.

External links

Reuters - The State of the World The story of the 21st century
Long Bets Foundation to promote long-term thinking
Long Now Long-term cultural institution
Scientific American Magazine (September 2005 Issue) The Climax of Humanity

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Citations

[1] Experts clash over millennium bugbear — UK Times
[2] [2]
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