21st century
Encyclopedia : 2 : 21 : 21S : 21st century
- "20XX" redirects here. For , see .
Contents
- 1 Important developments, events, achievements
- 2 Issues and concerns
- 3 Significant people
- 3.1 Influential people in politics as of
- 3.2 Influential people in religion as of
- 3.3 Influential people in technology as of
- 3.4 Influential people in science as of
- 3.5 Influential people in mathematics as of
- 3.6 Influential people in the arts as of
- 4 Astronomical events
- 5 Scientific and technological predictions
- 6 Socio-political predictions
- 7 Science fiction set in the remaining years of the 21st century
- 8 Decades and years
- 9 See also
- 10 External links
Important developments, events, achievements
Politics
- 2003 International Criminal Court opens
- 2003 - 2005 A series of non-violent revolutions known as the color revolutions overthrew 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) [link]
- 2006 Montenegro becomes the 192nd member of the UN.
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 on October 15.
- 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe.
- 2003 Discovery of a new dwarf human species, Homo floresiensis (published in October, 2004).
- 2004 Mars Exploration Rovers land on Mars; Opportunity discovers proves 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.
Conflicts and civil unrest
- September 11, 2001 attacks
- 12 October 2002 Bali bombing
- 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
Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks
- Second Congo War, approximately 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 2,700 coalition deaths. In 2004, The Lancet estimated that about "98,000 more deaths than expected (8000–194,000) happened after the invasion." [link]
- Civil War in Côte d'Ivoire, 3,000 deaths
- September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,993 deaths
- December 13, 2001 attacks, Terrorist attack on Indian Parliament (2001), terrorists storm the Indian Parliament Builiding in New Delhi and kill six police offers.
- 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.
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.
- Hurricane Katrina impacts the U.S. Gulf Coast as a strong Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds near 125 mph, flooding New Orleans, most of 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- NASCAR (American stock car) driver Dale Earnhardt dies after hitting the wall on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Earnhard's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., claimed a tearful victory in the next race held at Daytona, less than four months later.
- 2001- In baseball, Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's single-season home run record with 73.
- 2002- In soccer, 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- Australia wins the 2003 Cricket World Cup
- 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- The Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years.
- 2004- 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece.
- 2004- A lockout cancels the entire 2004/2005 NHL hockey season, marking the first time a professional sporting league has been forced to completely cancel a year of play.
- 2005- England's Liverpool F.C. overcome a 3-0 halftime deficit to Italy's A.C. Milan to win soccer's 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League. Liverpool wins 4-3 on penalties. It was Liverpool's fifth Champions League victory.
- 2005- American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his 7th consecutive Tour de France and retires.
- 2005- The Chicago White Sox baseball team win their first World Series in 88 years, defeating the Houston Astros 4 games to 0.
- 2005- The Sydney Swans win Australian Football League premiership after a 72-year "drought".
- 2006- 2006 Winter Olympics held in Torino, Italy.
- 2006- 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, won by Italy.
Issues and concerns
Some of the things that have dominated discussion and debate 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.
- 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 forms 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.
- 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, 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 overwhelming majority of climate scientists think that the earth is currently undergoing significant anthropogenic (human-induced) global warming. [link] 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 will be a significant issue, with economic and environmental implications. Resources in immediate danger of depletion 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.
- 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. Others believe that alternative sources of energy will prevent this disaster.
- Civilization is subject to increasing pressures due to overpopulation and culture clash. Samuel Huntington has spoken of a crash that may lead to extended wars and global instability. At the same time, there is increasing concern of decadence in Western arts and sciences among the leading intellects of the time, from Jacques Barzun to John Horgan´s "End of Science" to the columnist Spengler of Asia Times (who took his pseudonym from Oswald Spengler).
Significant people
Influential people in politics as of
(in alphabetical order)
- Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Philippines
- Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
- Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
- José María Aznar, Former President 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
- Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
- Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
- Jacques Chirac, President of France
- Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela
- Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy
- Bill Clinton, former President of the United States of America
- Luigi R. Einaudi, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States
- Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish Prime Minister
- Vicente Fox, President of Mexico
- Lawrence Gonzi, Maltese Prime Minister
- Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
- John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
- Saddam Hussein, deposed President of Iraq, currently held by US forces
- Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China
- Abdul Kalam, President of India
- 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, Prime Minister of Japan
- Lech Kaczyński, President of Poland
- Nestor Kirchner, President of Argentina
- 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
- Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda leader
- Romano Prodi, Prime Minister of Italy
- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- 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.
- 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, President of Spain
Influential people in religion as of
- Pope John Paul II (now deceased)
- Pope Benedict XVI
- The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso
- Founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi
- Ayatollah Khamenei
- Stanley Hauerwas, proclaimed in 2001 "America's Best Theologian"
- Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
- Rick Warren Saddleback Church in California, United States
Influential people in technology as of
- Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer
- Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation
- Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of the Google search engine
- Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel
- Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites and creator of SpaceShipOne
- Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation
Influential people in science as of
Influential people in mathematics as of
Influential people in the arts as of
Astronomical events
- Pope John Paul II (now deceased)
- Pope Benedict XVI
- The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso
- Founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi
- Ayatollah Khamenei
- Stanley Hauerwas, proclaimed in 2001 "America's Best Theologian"
- Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement.
- Rick Warren Saddleback Church in California, United States
Influential people in technology as of
- Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer
- Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation
- Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of the Google search engine
- Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel
- Burt Rutan, founder of Scaled Composites and creator of SpaceShipOne
- Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation
Influential people in science as of
Influential people in mathematics as of
Influential people in the arts as of
Astronomical events
Influential people in mathematics as of
Influential people in the arts as of
Astronomical events
Astronomical events
- Tuesday, June 8, 2004: First transit of Venus for 122 years
- Full eclipse of moon during World Series, 2004
- November 8, 2006: Transit of Mercury
- 2009: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- 2010/2011: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- Wednesday, June 6, 2012: Transit of Venus to occur a second 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.
- 2025/2026: Triple conjunction Saturn-Neptune
- Friday, April 13, 2029: The asteroid 99942 Apophis (previously better known by its provisional designation 2004 MN4) will pass within 30,000 km (18,600 mi) of the Earth.
- November 13, 2032: Transit of Mercury
- 2037/2038: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- November 7, 2039: Transit of Mercury
- 2041/2042: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
- October 1, 2044: Occultation of Regulus by Venus. The last was on July 7, 1959. After 2044 the next occultation of Regulus by Venus will occur on October 21, 3187, although some sources claim it will occur again on October 6, 2271.
- 2047/2048: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- May 7, 2049: Transit of Mercury
- November 9, 2052: Transit of Mercury
- 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.
- 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
- 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
Scientific and technological predictions
- Human genetic engineering becomes possible.
- Continued development of artificial intelligence.
- Technological singularity
- Every human body part capable of being either cloned or replaced with an artificial replacement, or both.
- Global warming accelerates.
- Nanotechnology develops rapidly.
- Chinese archaeologists will complete the reconstruction of the 3rd century BC terra cotta army.
- Permanent research bases established on the Moon.
- Manned mission to Mars.
- Rapid development of space for tourism.
- Construction of the Space Elevator.
- A possible eruption from Mount Vesuvius in Italy.
Socio-political predictions
- A woman once told Winston Churchill: "In the year 2100, women will rule the world." Churchill asked: "Still?" By 2005, with the appointment of Margaret Wilson as Parliament's speaker, New Zealand had women at the head of all branches of government: Sovereign, Governor-General, Prime Minister, Speaker, and Chief Justice.
- Several leaders in politics, religion, etc., have set goals for the elimination of dictatorship, disease, hunger, illiteracy, lack of drinkable water, over-population, poverty, racism, tyranny and war in the 21st century.
- Many in the media have begun referring to the 21st century as the Asian Century because of the predicted growing power in Asia.
Science fiction set in the remaining years of the 21st century
Television and film
- In the sequel to [[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|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 (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 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 interveing years are dealt with by the, at the moment 2, sequels, [[Terminator 2: Judgment Day]] & [[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.
- 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
- 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 Classic Mega Man franchise supposedly begins in 200X (circa 2008?). Megaman 3 introduces the 20XX numbering scheme (circa 2010?)
- 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 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.
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 Boris and Arkady Strugatsky are set in 21st century
Decades and years
| Centuries: | 20th century - 21st century - 22nd century |
| Decades: | 2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s 2070s 2080s 2090s |
See also
External links
- [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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