The 21st (twenty-first) century is the current century of the Anno Domini era or Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on January 1, 2001, and will end on December 31, 2100.[1] It is the first century of the 3rd millennium. It is distinct from the century known as the 2000s which began on January 1, 2000 and will end on December 31, 2099.[2]
The world population was about 6.1 billion at the start of the 21st century and reached 7.7 billion by January 2019. It is estimated to reach about 8.6 billion by the year 2030,[3] and 9.8 billion by the year 2050.
According to World Economic Forum, 65% of children entering primary school will end up in jobs or careers that currently do not yet exist.[5]
According to the United Nations World Urbanization prospects, 60% of the world's human population are projected to live in megacities and megalopolises by 2030, and 70% by 2050. By 2040, more than 5 times the current global GDP are expected to be invested in urban infrastructure and its use.[6]
War and most kinds of crime and violence have declined considerably compared to the 20th century. Poverty is still widespread globally, but fewer people live in the most extreme forms of poverty. In 1990 nearly 36 percent of the world's population lived in extreme poverty compared to only 10% in 2015.
Life expectancy continues to increase and child mortality continues to decline. A baby born in 2016 can on average (globally) expect to live 72 years; 26 years longer than the global average of someone born in 1950. Ten million Britons (16% of the population of the United Kingdom) are expected to live to 100 or older.[7] However climate change remains an extremely serious concern; being described by UN Chief António Guterres as an "existential threat" to humanity.[8]
Advances in technology such as ultrasound, prenatal genetic testing and genetic engineering is changing the demographics and has the potential to change the genetic makeup of the human population. Because of sex selective abortion, fewer girls have been born in the 21st century (and since 1990) compared to in past centuries, mostly because of son preference in East and South Asia. In 2014 only 47 percent of Indian births were of girls.[9] This has led to an increase in bachelors in countries such as China and India. The first genetically modified children were born in November 2018 in China, beginning a new biological era for the human species and raising great controversy.
Anxiety[10] and depression[11] rates are rising in the United States and many other parts of the world. However, suicide rates have fallen in Europe and most of the rest of the world so far this century, declining 29% globally between 2000 and 2018, despite rising 18% in the United States in the same period. The decline in suicide has been most notable among Chinese and Indian women, the elderly and middle-aged Russian men.[12][13]
Telecommunications in the early 21st century are much more advanced and universal than they were in the late 20th century. Only a few percent of the world's population were Internet users and cellular phone owners in the late 1990s; as of 2018 55% of the world's population is online and as of 2019 an estimated 67% own a cell phone.[14] In the 2010s artificial intelligence, mostly in the form of deep learning and machine learning became more prevalent, and is prominently used in Gmail and Google's search engine, as well as in banking, the military and other niches. In 2017 14% of the world's population still lacked access to electricity.[15]
Shanghai has become a symbol of the recent economic boom of China.A map of uncontacted tribes, around the start of the 21st century
Pronunciation
There is a debate among experts and the general public on how to pronounce specific years of the 21st century in English. Regarding this, academics suggested 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".[17] A less common variation would have been "twenty nought-five". Generally, the early years of the 21st century were pronounced as "two-thousand (and) five", with a change taking place in 2010, where pronunciations often shift between the early-year standard of "two-thousand and ten" and the common approach used in the late 20th century of "twenty-ten".
The Vancouver Olympics, which took place in 2010, was being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics". The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at 2020.[17]
According to The Stanley Kubrick Archives, in the press release for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey, film director Stanley Kubrick included specific instructions for journalists to refer to the movie as "two thousand and one" instead of the commonplace pronunciation of "twenty-oh-one". Kubrick said he did this in the hope that if the film became popular, it would influence the pronunciation of that year.[18]
Despite a very large decline in conflict deaths compared to the 20th century, genocide still remains a problem in this century with the concern of the war in Darfur and the conflict in Sri Lanka which ended in 2009. Low estimates on the deaths in Darfur stand around 200,000 deaths with 2.5 million in displacement, there has been much outcry against the perpetrators, the Sudanese government, and the very weak international response. Also, controversies from past genocides remain commonplace in the minds of victims and average people alike.
Events
Russian President Vladimir Putin with George W. Bush and other Western leaders in Moscow, 9 May 2005Protesters try to stop members of the G8 from attending the summit during the 27th G8 summit in Genoa, Italy by burning vehicles on the main route to the summit.
2000s
1998–2002 – The Second Congo War continued into the early 21st century. A 1999 ceasefire quickly broke down and a UN peacekeeping mission, MONUC, was unable to control the fighting. Troops from Rwanda and Uganda continued to support rebel groups against the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rifts also grew between Rwanda and Uganda as they accused each other of supporting rival rebel groups as well. Laurent Kabila, president of the DRC, was assassinated in January 2001 and his son, Joseph Kabila, took power. Throughout 2002 steps were made towards peace and Rwanda and Uganda both removed their troops from the country. On December 17, 2002, a massive treaty officially ended the war. However, the DRC only holds power in less than half of the country, with most of the eastern and northern portions still controlled by rebel groups, where there is still significant infighting. In addition, Rwanda still supports anti-DRC rebels and anti-Rwandan rebels continue to operate from the DRC. The war killed an estimated 3.9 million people, displaced nearly 5.5 million, and led to a widespread and ongoing famine that continues to result in deaths. Severe human rights violations continue to be reported.
2001–2014 – The Northern Alliance and NATO-led ISAFinvadedAfghanistan on October 7, 2001, and overthrew the Al-Qaeda-supportive Taliban government. Troops remained to install a democratic government, fight a slowly escalating insurgency, and to hunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was killed by American troops nearly 10 years later, on May 2, 2011. On December 24, 2014 NATO forces officially ended combat operations in Afghanistan; but forces still remain to the present.
2003–present – In February 2003, a conflict in Darfur, Sudan, began and soon escalated into full-scale war. By 2008 it was believed that up to 400,000 people had been killed and over 2.5 million displaced. In 2005, the ICC decided that Darfur war criminals would be tried, and on July 14, 2008, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir was charged with 5 accounts of crimes against humanity and 2 accounts of war crimes, although the ICC has no power to enforce these charges.
2003–2010 – The U.S.-led coalitioninvadedIraq on March 20, 2003, and overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein (who was executed by the Iraqi government on December 30, 2006). Coalition troops remain in the country to install a democratic government and fight an escalating insurgency. In addition to an insurgency against the American presence, Iraq also suffered from a civil war for several years. The war was soon seen as the central front of the War on Terror by many governments, despite growing international dissatisfaction with the war. The total death toll has been estimated at near 150,000 but these estimations are highly disputed, with one highly disputed study guessing even over 1 million.[19] After the U.S.-led coalition initiated a troop surge in 2007, casualty numbers have decreased significantly. Combat ended, at least officially, in August 2010.
2004 – Ten explosions occurred at the Cercanías commuter train system of Madrid, Spain, on the morning of March 11. The explosions killed 191 people and injured around 2,000.
2004 – Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gets re-elected as President of the Philippines, marking the first time that a woman was re-elected to the highest position in the country.
2006–2008 – The dismantling of former Yugoslavia continued after Montenegro gained independence on June 3, 2006, and Kosovo declared independence on February 17, 2008. However, Kosovo's independence was disputed by Russia and many of its allies and was only partially recognized.
2006 – On July 12, Hezbollah crossed the border of Lebanon and captured two Israeli soldiers. Israel responded by sending troops across the border and bombing Hezbollah strongholds, while Hezbollah fired missiles on towns in northern Israel, approximately 6 each day. At the end of the war 1,200 Lebanese civilians, 500 Hezbollah fighteres, 44 Israeli civilians and 121 Israeli soldiers died. A ceasefire was signed on August 14, after which Israeli troops withdrew from Lebanon.
2007 – A civil war escalated in the Gaza Strip throughout June, which resulted in Hamas eventually driving most Fatah-loyal forces from the Strip. In reaction, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas dismissed Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and dissolved the Hamas-ruled parliament. Scattered conflict continues.
2008 – Barack Obama was elected as the first African-American President of the United States. He was sworn into office in January 2009. He is awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which cited "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," and accepted the award the following year with "deep gratitude and great humility".
2009 – Filipina politician and the first female President of the Philippines and in AsiaCorazon Aquino dies at the age of 76.
2011 – Anders Behring Breivik carries out terrorist attacks, the first being a bomb blast which targeted government buildings in central Oslo, the second being a massacre at a youth camp on the island of Utøya. It was the deadliest attack in Norway since the Second World War, with 77 people killed and 319 injuries.
2012 – In Benghazi, Libya, an attack was coordinated against two United States government facilities by members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Sharia on September 11.
2012 – A civil unrest broke out in Romania in January 2012, because of the introduction of a new health reform legislation, but also by the unpopularity of Băsescu-backed Boc government. The unrest continued until Victor Ponta's resignation in November 2015, in the wake of the Colectiv nightclub fire.
2013 – Pope Benedict XVI resigns on February 28, becoming the first pope to step down since 1415. Benedict takes the title pope emeritus. At the subsequent papal conclave, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope on March 13, becoming the first Latin American pope. Bergoglio takes the name of Pope Francis.
2013 – Iran allows international inspections on its nuclear policy in exchange of the removal of the sanctions and the right to produce a small amount of low-grade enriched uranium, thus marking an apparent new policy towards the United Nations under Hassan Rohani's presidency.
2014 – Israel, In July 2014 tensions rose again between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the State of Israel, Hamas fired hundreds of missiles into civilian cities in Israel, the IDF retaliated and conducted airstrikes on the Gaza Strip for more than a month, Casualties were high on both sides.
2014 – In Burkina Faso, President Blaise Compaoré resigns amidst widespread protests ending 27 years of leadership.
2014 – On December 17, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced the beginning of a process of normalizing relations between Cuba and the United States, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. Meanwhile, on July 20, 2015, with full diplomatic relations, the embassies of both countries were opened after five decades.
2015 – Two gunmen, brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, commit a mass murder at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, on January 7, killing 12 people. Following the attack, about two million people, including more than 40 world leaders, met in Paris for a rally of national unity, and 3.7 million people joined demonstrations across the country. The phrase Je suis Charlie became a common slogan of support at the rallies and in social media.
2015 – ISIL claimed responsibility of the shootings and suicide bombs in Paris on November 13, which became known as the November 2015 Paris attacks. Many were killed and injured from the incident.
2016 – In Orlando, Florida, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a terrorist attack inside Pulse, a gay nightclub.Turkish anti-coup rally in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 22 July 2016
2016 – Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic Party's nominee for president of the United States, making her the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.
2016 – A coup d'état was attempted in Turkey against state institutions, including, but not limited to the government and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on July 15. The attempt was carried out by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that organized themselves as the Peace at Home Council.
2016 – On September 2, the 1st President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov dies at age of 78, after 25 years of leadership.
2016 – Donald Trump is elected as the 45th President of the United States. The first without a military or political background, and the oldest person elected to a first term. He is sworn into office in January 2017.
2017 – U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order on January 27, 2017, restricting travel and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. This order was blocked by the U.S. federal courts; a second, related order issued by Trump was also blocked by the federal courts. The block of second order was partially removed, by the Supreme Court, in June. The Supreme Court stated they would reconsider the order in October.
2018 – Paula-Mae Weekes becomes the first female President of Trinidad and Tobago on the 19th of March.
2018 – In over 900 cities internationally, people participate in demonstrations against gun violence and mass shootings, calling for stronger gun control in the March for Our Lives, which was a student-led demonstration in response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida that took place in February. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, parents, and others march in the March for Our Lives protest in Parkland, FL in 2018.
Some territories have gained independence during the 21st century. This is a list of sovereign states that have gained independence in the 21st century and have been recognized by the UN.
2005 – The Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, January 14.
2006 – The New Horizons probe is launched to Pluto, on January 19.
2006 – Pluto is reclassified from a planet to a dwarf planet, leaving the solar system with eight planets.
2007 – China launches its first lunar mission with the Chang'e 1, on October 24.
2008 – Chinese space program launches its third manned space flight carrying its first three-person crew and conducts its first spacewalk that makes China the third nation after Russia and USA to do that, Shenzhou 7, on September 25.
2014 – India's Mars Orbiter Mission, the nation's first attempt to send a spacecraft to Mars, successfully entered orbit on September 24, making India the fourth nation in the world to reach that goal.
2014 – The European Space Agency robotic spacecraft Philae landed successfully on the comet 67P, the first cometary landing ever.
2015 – On July 14, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft became the first to fly by Pluto, on a mission to photograph and collect data on its planetary system. No other spacecraft has yet performed such a mission so far from Earth.
2015 – On September 28, NASA announces that liquid water has been found on Mars.[26]
2016 – On July 4, NASA's Juno space probe maneuvered into a polar orbit to study the planet Jupiter.[27]
2017 – Seven Earth-sized exoplanets are discovered around TRAPPIST-1, three of which are potentially habitable.
2017 – SpaceX launches SES-10 on a re-used first stage, becoming the first re-flight of an orbital-class booster.
2019 – New Horizons performs a flyby of Ultima Thule, the most distant object to be visited by a spcecraft.
2010 – The Large Hadron Collider's first high power collisions took place in March 2010.
2012 – European physicists have statistically demonstrated the existence of the Higgs boson.[28]
2013 – A more detailed study of the cosmic microwave background done by the Planck Surveyor is published, estimating the age of the Universe to 13.8 billion years old (100 million years older than previously thought).
2013 – First human liver grown from stem cells in Japan.
2014 – Ebola virus spreads in west Africa, prompting the largest ever epidemic, with more than 20,000 cases. The first cases outside Africa are reported.
2016 – The Zika virus, caused by mosquitoes, targets unborn babies, causing birth defects on newborns making pregnant women scared of traveling overseas.
Telecommunications
The Digital Revolution continued into the early 21st century with mobile usage and Internet access growing massively, becoming available to more people and with more applications and faster speeds.
As of 2009, SIL Ethnologue catalogued 6,909 living human languages.[29] The exact number of known living languages will vary from 5,000 to 10,000, depending generally on the precision of one's definition of "language", and in particular on how one classifies dialects.
Estimates vary depending on many factors but the general consensus is that there are between 6,000 and 7,000 languages currently spoken, and that between 50–90% of those will have become extinct by the year 2100.[30] The top 20 languages spoken by more than 50 million speakers each, are spoken by 50% of the world's population, whereas many of the other languages are spoken by small communities, most of them with fewer than 10,000 speakers.[30]
2001 Gujarat earthquake – An earthquake in Gujarat, India on January 26, 2001 killed approximately 20,000 people.
January 2001 El Salvador earthquake – A 7.9 earthquake in El Salvador shook the whole country on January 13, 2001, causing a major devastating landslide, hundreds dead, thousands injured and many homeless. A month later, on February 13, 2001 the country suffered a second earthquake – 6.7
2003 European heat wave – Approximately 30,000 people were killed across Europe in a summer long heat wave.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami – On December 26, 2004, a massive undersea earthquake resulted in a massive tsunami striking southeast Asia killing approximately 230,000.
2005 Hurricane Katrina – The hurricane killed 1,836 in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi (mostly in New Orleans) and South Florida. A significant portion of the city, most of which sits below sea level, was submerged. Damages reached US$81.5 billion, making Katrina the costliest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the U.S.
2008 Cyclone Nargis – lead to catastrophic storm surge, leading to a death toll in excess of 100,000 and making millions homeless.
2008 Sichuan earthquake – An earthquake between 7.9 and 8.0-magnitude struck Sichuan, China, on May 12, 2008, killing 68,712, with 17,921 missing.
2009 Black Saturday bushfires – The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across the Australian state of Victoria, Australia on and around Saturday, February 7, 2009. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions and resulted in Australia's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire; 173 people died and 414 were injured.
2009 L'Aquila earthquake – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L'Aquila (Italy) on April 6, 2009, one of the worst in Italian history. 308 were pronounced dead and more than 65,000 were made homeless.
2010 Haiti earthquake – At least 230,000 are killed in Haiti after a massive earthquake on January 12, 2010. As of late February 2010, the death toll is expected to rise. Three million people were made homeless.
2010 Chile earthquake – A massive earthquake, magnitude 8.8, strikes the central Chilean coast on February 27, 2010.
2010 Yushu earthquake – A large 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Yushu region of China in Qinghai near Tibet, on April 14, 2010, killing over 2,200 people.
2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull – A massive ash cloud is formed by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull, on April 14, 2010, grounding flights across northwest Europe. Scientists began recording volcanic activity there in 2009 which increased through March 2010 culminating in the second phase eruption in April.
2010 Pakistan floods – Began in July 2010 after record heavy monsoon rains. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan was worst affected. At least 1,600 people were killed, thousands were rendered homeless, and more than thirteen million people were affected.[31][32][33][34][35] Estimates from rescue service officials suggest the death toll may reach 3,000 victims.[36]
2011 Queensland floods – Began in December 2010 primarily in Queensland. The flood causes thousands of people to evacuate. At least 200,000 people were affected by the flood. The flood continued throughout January 2011 in Queensland, and the estimated reduction in Australia's GDP is about A$30 billion.
Cyclone Yasi – A category 5 (Australian Scale) cyclone hits North Queensland with winds as strong as 290 km/hr (197 miles/hr) and devastates the residents of North Queensland.
February 2011 Christchurch earthquake – 185 people died in New Zealand after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Christchurch on February 22, 2011, making it New Zealand's second-deadliest natural disaster after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake.
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami – On March 11, 2011, a catastrophic undersea earthquake of magnitude 9.0 occurred offshore of eastern Japan, the greatest in the country's history and created a massive tsunami which killed 15,894; it also triggered the Fukushima I nuclear accidents. The overall cost for the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accidents reached up to US$235 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster on record.
2011 Super Outbreak – Regarded as the deadliest tornado outbreak ever recorded and dubbed the 2011 Super Outbreak, a catastrophic tornado outbreak on April 25–28 affected the Southern United States and killed over 330 people, most of whom were in or from Alabama. Damages are expected to be near or over $10 billion.
2011 Joplin tornado – On May 22, 2011, a devastating EF5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri resulting in 159 casualties, making it the deadliest tornado to hit the United States since 1947.
Typhoon Haiyan 2013 – kills more than 6,000 people in central Philippines. Considered to be one of the strongest storms ever, it brought major damage and loss of life to the Philippines, especially the islands of Leyte and Samar. A worldwide humanitarian effort began in the aftermath of the typhoon.
April 2015 Nepal earthquake – An earthquake of 7.8 magnitude kills almost 9,000 people, injures another 22,000 and leaves nearly 3 million people homeless in Central Nepal. The earthquake was so strong it was felt in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
2016 Taiwan earthquake – An earthquake of 6.4 magnitude kills 117 people, injures 550, and 4 people were left missing. The earthquake resulted in 3 executives of the Weiguan developer being arrested under charges of professional negligence resulting in death.
Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling unit in the Gulf of Mexico on fire in 2010
On July 27, 2002, a Sukhoi Su-27 fighter crashes at an air show in Ukraine, killing 77 and injuring more than 100, making it the worst air show disaster in history.
The Black Saturday bushfires – the deadliest bushfires in Australian history took place across the Australianstate of Victoria on February 7, 2009 during extreme bushfire-weather conditions, resulting in 173 people killed, more than 500 injured, and around 7,500 homeless. The fires came after Melbourne recorded the highest-ever temperature (46.4 °C, 115 °F) of any capital city in Australia. The majority of the fires were ignited by either fallen or clashing power lines or deliberately lit.
On April 10, 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 other people, including dozens of government officials, are killed in a plane crash.
On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig, operating in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana, left eleven crewmen dead and resulted in a fire that sank the rig and caused a massive-scale oil spill[40] that may become one of the worst environmental disasters in United States history.[41] On June 18, 2010 oceanographer John Kessler said that the crude gushing from the well contains 40 percent methane, compared to about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits. Methane is a natural gas that could potentially suffocate marine life and create "dead zones" where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives. "This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history," Kessler said.[42] On June 20 an internal BP document was released by Congress revealing that BP estimated the flow could be as much as 100,000 barrels (4,200,000 US gallons; 16,000 cubic metres) per day under the circumstances that existed since the April 20 blowout.[43][44]
Economics and industry
Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world in 2018. There were over 2,200 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of over US$9.1trillion, up from US$7.67trillion in 2017.[45]
At the start of the 21st century sports are very popular. The IOC's Modern Olympic Games was the most viewed sporting event. Association football is the most popular sport worldwide with the FIFA World Cup the most viewed football event. Other sports such as rugby, cricket, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, and golf were popular globally. In cricket the emergence of the Twenty20 format as well as the creation of the Indian Premier League led to changes in the nature of the sport. American swimmer Michael Phelps won an Olympic record setting 8 Gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Roger Federer won 18 Grand Slam titles (5 Australian Opens, 1 French Open, 7 Wimbledons, and 5 US Opens) to surpass Pete Sampras' record of 14.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic completed a Career Grand Slam, winning the singles championships in the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open; Nadal also won the Olympic Singles gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics to complete a Golden Career Slam.
At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut completed the longest tennis match ever. Isner won 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68.
In 2014, Rafael Nadal became the first male player to win a single Grand Slam tournament (French Open) 9 times.
Tennis (Women)
Serena Williams won 22 Grand Slam titles (7 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens, 7 Wimbledons, and 5 US Opens) in the 21st century, in addition to her 1999 US Open title.
Maria Sharapova became the first female Russian player to reach No.1 on August 22, 2005.
China's Li Na won the 2011 French Open, becoming the first player, male or female, from that country to win a Grand Slam.
Michael Schumacher breaks many records in the first few years of the century, breaking the record for most races won (91), most World Championships (7), and most pole positions (68) by the time he retired in 2006. He then announced his comeback to Formula One after three years out of the sport, in 2010, before retiring again in 2012.
Sebastian Vettel breaks numerous records on his way to becoming Formula One's youngest ever world champion, in 2010 at age 23, and then the youngest ever double world champion, in 2011 at age 24.
Sébastien Loeb becomes the most successful rally driver ever, winning the World Rally Championship a record 9 consecutive times between 2004–2012. He also sets new records for the most wins, podium finishes and points scored.
Casey Stoner wins his second MotoGP world title (2007 and 2011) before announcing his retirement from the sport at just 27 years of age, citing disagreement with the direction of the sport and a desire to spend more time with his family. His retirement is effective at the end of the 2012 MotoGP season. Stoner has won every MotoGP-branded race at least once.
2006 – Disney buys Pixar for $7.4 billion thus gaining control of the entire studio's library of films, short films and related licenses.
2009 – Release of Monsters vs. Aliens, the world's first ever animated film to be directly produced in a stereoscopic 3-D format instead of being converted into 3-D after completion, using Intel's InTru3D technology.
2009 – Release of Avatar, the world's highest-grossing film.
2010 – Tangled becomes the most-expensive animated film of all time, with a budget of over $260 million.
2012 – Disney buys Lucasfilm for $4.06 billion thus gaining control of the Star Wars franchise and related licenses.
2016 – Comcast's NBCUniversal buys DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making it a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group as an acquisition for the animation studio, thus gaining control of the entire library of its franchises and related licenses. This also gains film division Universal control and distribution to both DreamWorks Animation and Illumination Entertainment's films, thus making it the second major studio with two feature animation divisions, after Disney's Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar.
Music
A. R. Rahman, an Indian composer became the first ever from the sub-continent to have won double Oscars for his Original score and soundtrack in 2009.
The most popular styles of music in the 21st century have been hip hop and electronic dance music, although rock music is still popular and other genres such as jazz and classical music still have active scenes and continue to evolve.
Issues and concerns
There are several points-of-view pertaining to the following items, all of which should be considered accordingly.
Issues that have been frequently discussed and debated so far in this century include:
Global warming. Climate scientists have reached a consensus that the earth is undergoing significant anthropogenic (human-induced) global warming.[46] The resulting economic and ecological costs are hard to predict. Some scientists argue that human-induced global warming risks considerable losses in biodiversity and ecosystem services unless considerable sociopolitical changes are introduced, particularly in patterns of mass consumption and transportation. Global Peak Oil forecast. Virtually all economic sectors rely heavily on petroleum.[47]
Globalization. Advances in telecommunications and transportation, the expansion of capitalism and democracy since the late 1980s, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. Most economists believe free trade leads to economic growth and benefits most people, including small businesses. [48] In recent years however there has been a backlash against globalization and a return to protectionist attitudes among some leaders, most notably US President Donald Trump.
Population. The world's population demographics will shift considerably in this century, with the population of Europe and East Asia to decline considerably and the population of Africa and to a lesser extent South Asia to grow considerably. The United Nations estimates that world population will reach 9.8 billion by the year 2050. [49] Most of this growth will take place in the world's poorer countries, which may slow down the global reduction of poverty and combined with the effects of global warming may lead to large migrations.
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. Immense progress has been made in reducing poverty, especially in China and India but increasingly in Africa as well. Microcredit lending has also started to gain a profile as a useful anti-poverty tool.
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 a perceived 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 and generics to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
Civil rights, including women's rights, LGBT rights, racial equality and the rights of disabled and neurodiverse people are still a work in progress. Women are not able to realize or are outright denied their rights in many countries, including India, China[52] and Saudi Arabia, and sexual violence against women is still an enormous problem everywhere in the world. Sex selective abortion has reduced the number of women born worldwide since 1990, mostly because of son preference in China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, South Korea and some other smaller countries. In many countries attitudes towards homosexuality have become more tolerant. Same sex marriage was legalized in several jurisdictions during the first two decades of the century, but outlawed by constitutional amendment in other places. Meanwhile, some countries such as Uganda and Russia moved to toughen their laws against any sort of homosexual behavior or expression. Political battles over pro- or anti-gay legislation provoked much activism in the streets and on the Internet. Hate groups remain a serious problem, and ethnic minorities have a lower status in many countries, including the United States. Neurological conditions such as autism are slowly becoming more understood and recognized.
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 from Earth's surface, 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 from Earth's surface, 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.
Friday, November 10, 2084: Transit of Earth as seen from Mars, the first and the only one in this century.
2100: Polaris appears furthest north. Polaris' maximum apparent declination (taking account of nutation and aberration) will be 0.4526° from the celestial north pole, on March 24, 2100.[53]
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) PNM lose to Peoples Partnership in Trinidad elections 2010]. ttgapers.com 24 May 2010.
^Skard, Torild (2014) "Kamla Persad-Bissessar" in Women of power – half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide, Bristol: Policy Press ISBN978-1-44731-578-0, pp. 271–3
^"Seafloor Exit"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on July 4, 2010. Retrieved May 14, 2013. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
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East Timor (Timor-Leste)[25] on May 20, 2002.
Montenegro on June 3, 2006.
Serbia on June 3, 2006.
South Sudan on July 9, 2011.
Kosovo on February 17, 2008. (partially recognized)
South Ossetia on August 26, 2008. (partially recognized)
Abkhazia on August 26, 2008. (partially recognized)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in June 2014. Had taken over much of Iraq, Syria and Libya. It is considered a terrorist organization.
Republic of Catalonia on October 27, 2017. The Catalan Parliament procaimed the Catalan Republic, but the Kingdom of Spain considers it as an Autonomous Community
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