21st century

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

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics

• 2003 International Criminal Court opens
• 2004 EU Enlargement: 10 countries join
• 2004 Final draft of the European Constitution is accepted
• 2005 UN Security Council decides war criminals in Darfur will be tried by the International Criminal Court (Resolution 1593) http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions05.htm
• 2003 - 2005 A series of non-violent revolutions known as the color revolutions overthrew authoritarian regimes in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

Science and technology

• 2002 Mars Odyssey arrives in orbit around Mars.
• 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1
• 2003 Dolly the sheep dies prematurely February 14
• 2003 Chinese space program launches its first manned space flight, Shenzhou 5 October 15.
• 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe.
• 2004 Mars rovers discover evidence of likely flowing water on Mars. Both are still in service as of 2005.
• 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.

Wars, battles, and terrorism

• September 11, 2001 attacks
• 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
• 12 October 2002 Bali bombing
• 2003 Invasion of Iraq
• 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
• September 2004 Beslan hostage crisis
• 7 July 2005 London bombings
• 21 July 2005 London bombings

Largest mass killings

• 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 2,100 coalition deaths. The Lancet recently estimated 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion. http://www.countthecasualties.org.uk/docs/robertsetal.pdf
• Civil War in Ivory Coast, 3,000 deaths
• September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,749 – 2,752 deaths

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

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See also http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wars21c.htm.

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Natural disasters

• Earthquake in Bam, Iran on December 27, 2003 killed more than 26,000 people.
• 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, in which the resulting tsunami killed approximately 310,000 in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and other countries in the region.
• 2005 U.S Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina - The Category 4 hurricane impacts the Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans in Louisiana, most of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. The current number of fatalities stands at 1,242. This hurricane surpassed Hurricane Andrew in cost of damage, becoming the costliest natural disaster in U.S history.

Sport

• 2005- the 100 meters record is broken by Jamaican Asafa Powell (9.77 seconds)
• 2005- Lance Armstrong wins his 7th consecutive Tour de France and retires.
• 2005- Liverpool F.C. overcomes a 3-0 halftime deficit to A.C. Milan to win the 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League. Liverpool win 4-3 on penalties. It was Liverpool's fifth Champions League victory.
• 2004- The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series in 86 years, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 0.
• 2004- Greece wins the European Football Championship for the first time.
• 2004- Lance Armstrong wins his 6th consecutive Tour de France, becoming the first cyclist to win it six times.
• 2003- Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman interferes with a foul ball during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Rather than the Cubs recording the out- and probably the win- the Florida Marlins won Game 6 and Game 7 en route to their second-ever World Series win.
• 2002- Brazil win the Football World Cup becoming the first team to win the trophy 5 times.
• 2001- Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's single-season home run record with 73.
• 2001- NASCAR 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.