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February 8: The Algerian Civil War ends. February 27 – March 1: Riots and mass killings in the Indian state of Gujarat leave 1,044 dead. March 14: SpaceX is founded by Elon Musk. April 11 - 13: 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt fails to overthrow president Hugo Chavez. May 20: East Timor gains independence.
The 21st century is the current century in the Anno Domini or Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on 1 January 2000 and will end on 31 December 2099. It began on 1 January 2000 and will end on 31 December 2099.
- How long has our calendar been around?
- B.C. or B.C.E.?
- Circa?
- Why 2012 is in the 21st Century
We are writing this on 12/26/12 or Wednesday, December 26, 2012. Traditionally understood as two-thousand and twelve years (give or take a few) after Jesus Christ is believed to have been born. But if Jesus used a calendar, it would not have been the one we use.
Our calendar is called the Gregorian calendar and was instituted by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. There are many other calendars. Quite a few societies have used calendars linked to the years their kings ruled. And there are numerous calendars, beyond the Gregorian calendar, that are still in use today. For example, 2012 equates to 1434/35 in the Islamic calendar and 5772-73 in the Jewish calendar (both are lunar, based on the cycles of the moon).
Many people use the abbreviations B.C. and A.D. with a year (for example, A.D. 2012). B.C. refers to "Before Christ," and the initials, A.D., stand for Anno Domini, which is Latin for "In the year of our Lord." This system was devised by a monk in the year 525.
A more recent system uses B.C.E. which stands for "Before the Common Era" and C.E. for "Common Era." This newer system is now widely used as a way of expressing the same periods as B.C. and A.D., but without the Christian reference. According to this system, we count time backwards Before the Common Era (B.C.E.) and forwards in the Common Era (C.E.).
Often dates will be preceded with a "c." or a "ca." These are abbreviations of the Latin word "circa" which means around, or approximately. We use this before a date to indicate that we do not know exactly when something happened, so c. 400 B.C.E. means approximately 400 years Before the Common Era.
We live in the 21st Century, that is, the 2000s. Similarly when we say "20th Century," we are referring to the 1900s. All this because, according to the calendar we use, the 1st Century included the years 1-100 (there was no year zero), and the 2nd Century, the years 101-200. Similarly, when we say 2nd Century B.C.E. we are referring to the years 200-101 B.C.E.
Within our calendar, we also have a tendency to find portentous meaning in the millennial years, that is, in the years 1000 and more recently, 2000.
Yep, that's what's coming next: the 22nd century. Its years will all* start with 21, proceeding up to the distant 2199. And as we all know, we're currently in the 21st century, but the years start with 20. And in the 20th century, they all started with 19, and in the 19th, with 18, and so on.
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The 21st century has been a volatile period, beginning with the 9/11 attacks, the war on terrorism, the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. ... 9/11 Timeline. On September 11, 2001—a ...
Therefore, the 21st century began on 1 January 2001 and will continue through 31 December 2100. Similarly, the 1st millennium comprised the years AD 1-1000. The 2nd millennium comprised the years AD 1001-2000. The 3rd millennium began with AD 2001 and will continue through AD 3000. Over recorded history, many initial epochs have been used for ...
They all have one thing in common though – they made history, and they all have left their mark on 21st century America . September 11th Attacks *Sept 11th 2001 On a sunny day in September 11th, 2001 an extraordinary event took place on American soil, 19 Al Qaeda members hijacked four American commercial passenger jet airliners.
