3rd millennium

Millennia:	2nd millennium 3rd millennium 4th millennium
Centuries:	21st century 22nd century 23rd century 24th century 25th century 26th century 27th century 28th century 29th century 30th century

In contemporary history, the third millennium is a period of time that began on January 1, 2001, and will end on December 31, 3000 of the Gregorian calendar. It is the third and current period of one thousand years in the Anno Domini or Common Era.

Civilizations

The civilizations in this section are organized according to the UN geoscheme.

Civilizations of the 3rd millennium AD

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia French Southern and Antarctic Lands Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil British Antarctic Territory Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Falkland Islands Greenland Grenada Guatemala Guyana Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay United States of America Venezuela	Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia People's Republic of China Cyprus Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Democratic People's Republic of Korea Republic of Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan State of Palestine Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand East Timor (Timor-Leste) Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen	Abkhazia Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Republic of Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Kosovo Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City	Australia Fiji Indonesia Kiribati Marshall Islands Federated States of Micronesia Nauru New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga East Timor (Timor-Leste) Tuvalu Vanuatu

Events

The events in this section are organized according to the UN geoscheme.

Events of the 3rd millennium AD

	Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
21st century	2010 Arab Spring	2001 September 11 attacks 2013 Boston Marathon bombing 2014 Shootings at the Canadian parliament	2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster 2014 Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 2015 Mina stampede	2005 July 7 London bombings 2014 Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation 2015 Paris Attacks in Paris, France 2016 Brussels bombings	2013 Tasmanian Bushfires

Predicted events

As this millennium is currently in progress, its first two decades of 21st century (the past 2000s and the current 2010s), are the subject of the historian's attention. The remaining part of the 21st century (2020s to 2090s) and longer-term trends (22nd to 30th century) are researched in futures studies. Here are some possible events that will happen in those particular years:

Time capsules

• April 27, 2109 – A time capsule placed under the floor boards of the Old Queens Building at Rutgers University, in New Jersey, United States buried on April 27, 2009 is scheduled to be opened.
• 2968 - The Helium Centennial Time Columns Monument in Amarillo, Texas, contains four separate time capsules, the last of which is intended to be opened 1000 years after the Time Columns Monument was locked in 1968.

Astronomical events

• August 12, 2045 - A total solar eclipse will take place in the United States, producing a path from California to Florida. Some parts of Florida are predicted to experience totality for six minutes, the longest in US history.
• November 11, 2069 – Transit of Mercury
• October 27, 2088 - Mercury occults Jupiter, first time since 1708, but very close to the Sun and impossible to view with naked eye.
• September 23, 2090 - Total Solar Eclipse in the UK. The next total eclipse visible in the UK follows a track similar to that of August 11, 1999, but shifted slightly further north and occurring very near sunset. Maximum duration in Cornwall will be 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Same day and month as the eclipse of September 23, 1699.
• April 7, 2094 - Mercury occults Jupiter; it will be very close to the Sun and impossible to view with naked eye.
• December 11, 2117 - Transit of Venus.
• September 14, 2123 - At 15:28 UTC, Venus will occult Jupiter.
• December 8, 2125 - Transit of Venus.
• July 29, 2126: At 16:08 UTC, Mercury will occult Mars.
• December 3, 2133 - At 14:14 UTC, Mercury will occult Venus.
• September 2, 2197 - Venus occults Spica.
  Last occultation of Spica by Venus was on November 10, 1783.
• December 24, 2197 - Earth's Moon will occult Neptune.
• 2209 and 2284 - perihelion of Comet Halley.
• May 27, 2221 - near-Earth asteroid (285263) 1998 QE2 will pass Earth at a distance of 0.038 AU (5,700,000 km; 3,500,000 mi).
• 2221 - Triple conjunction of Mars and Saturn.
• December 2, 2223 - At 12:32 UTC, Mars will occult Jupiter.
• 2238/39 - Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn (whose last triple conjunction was in 1981).
• August 12, 2243 - At 04:52 UTC, Venus will occult Saturn.
• June 11, 2247 - Transit of Venus.
• March 4, 2251 - At 10:52 UTC, Venus will occult Uranus.
• In 2252, the planetoid Orcus will have completed one orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 2004, based upon current orbital measurements which give it a period of 248 Earth years.
• August 1, 2253 - Mercury occults Regulus (last occultation of Regulus by Mercury was on August 13, 364 BC).
• June 9, 2255 - Transit of Venus.
• 2256 to 2258 - Eris will reach perihelion for the first time since discovery.
• October 6, 2271 - Close conjunction between Venus and Regulus, perhaps occultation of Regulus by Venus.
• 2279 - Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.
• 2281/82 - Grand Trine of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This last occurred in 1769 and 1770.
• Sunday, August 28, 2287 - Closest approach between Mars and Earth since Wednesday, August 27, 2003.
• In 2288, the planetoid Quaoar will have completed one orbit of the Sun since its discovery in 2002, which, based upon current orbital measurements, gives it a period of 286 Earth years.
• September 11, 2307 - At 22:50 UTC, Venus will occult Uranus.
• 2313 - Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• 2319 - Triple conjunction Mars-Saturn.
• June 4, 2327 - At 00:54 UTC, Venus will occult Mars.
• October 8, 2335 - At 14:51 UTC, Venus will occult Jupiter.
• April 7, 2351 - At 17:22 UTC, Mercury will occult Uranus.
• December 13, 2360 - Transit of Venus.
• 2365 - Perihelion of Comet Halley.
• December 10, 2368 - Transit of Venus.
• 2388 - Triple conjunction Mars-Saturn.
• May 11, 2391 - Partial transit of Mercury.
• November 17, 2400 - Venus will occult Antares (last occultation of Antares by Venus was on September 17, 525 BC).
• December 30, 2419 - At 01:38 UTC, Venus will occult Uranus.
• 2426 - Pluto's second orbit, since its discovery.
• 2456 - Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• August 29, 2478 - At 23:11 UTC, Mars will occult Jupiter.
• June 12, 2490 - Transit of Venus.
• May 6, 2492 - Belgian astronomer Jean Meeus asserts that the orbits of all eight planets and Pluto will be within the same 90° arc of the Solar System. The last time this is believed to have occurred was on February 1, 949.
• June 10, 2498 - Transit of Venus.
• May 5, 2600 - First total solar eclipse visible from London since 2151.
  The width of its path is predicted to be exceptionally wide at its maximum point.
• April 7, 2515 - At 10:37 UTC, Mars will occult Neptune.
• January 25, 2518 - At 22:41 UTC, Venus will occult Saturn.
• 2562 - The dwarf planet Eris will have completed one orbit of the Sun, since its discovery in 2005.
• 2599 - Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• December 16, 2603 - Transit of Venus.
• May 13, 2608 - Grazing Transit of Mercury.
• December 13, 2611 - Partial transit of Venus.
• 2626/27 - Triple conjunction Mars–Saturn.
• 2629 - Triple conjunction Mars-Saturn.
• February 16, 2649 - At 11:17 UTC, Venus will occult Neptune.
• September 3, 2650 - The distance between Mars and the Earth will arrive at a new remarkable minimum, at 55 651 582,118 km.
  It will be the closer encounter of perihelitic opposition slightly shorter (of next 37 000 km) than the previous one of the August 28, 2287.
  The following closer encounter will be on September 8, 2729.
• 2655/56 - Triple conjunction Jupiter-Saturn.
• 2663 - Triple conjunction Mars-Saturn.
• 2699/2700 - Triple conjunctions between Mars-Jupiter, Mars-Neptune and Jupiter-Neptune.
• October 24, 2714 - Transit of Jupiter from Uranus. First one in 800 years since May 3, 1914, which, as of one year before now, is 700 years from now. Now is also 100 years from the previous transit.
• September 8, 2729 - The distance between Mars and the Earth will arrive at a new remarkable minimum, at 55 651 033,122 km.
  It will be the closer encounter of perihelitic opposition slightly shorter (just of 549 km) than the previous one of the September 8, 2650.
• June 15, 2733 - Transit of Venus.
• June 13, 2741 - Transit of Venus.
• 2742 - Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• 2744 - Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• 2761 - Triple conjunction Mars–Saturn.
• December 3, 2781 - At 06:45 UTC, Venus will occult Neptune.
• 2791 - Triple conjunction Mars–Jupiter.
• 2794/95 - Triple conjunction Jupiter–Saturn.
• 29th century - The remnants of Comet Ikeya-Seki are expected to return to the inner solar system.
  It was last seen from Earth in 1965–1966, and broke into three pieces as it approached the Sun.
• March 25, 2816 - At 15:47 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter.
• March 6, 2817 - At 9:36 UTC, Venus will occult Saturn.
• April 11, 2818 - At 20:41 UTC, Mercury will occult Mars.
• February 6, 2825 - At 10:50 UTC, Mars will occult Uranus.
• 2829/30 - Triple conjunction Mars-Saturn.
• December 15, 2830 - At 09:40 UTC, Venus will occult Mars.
• 2842/43 - Triple conjunction Mars-Jupiter.
• December 16, 2846 - Transit of Venus.
• December 14, 2854 - Partial transit of Venus.
• July 20, 2855 - At 05:15 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter.
• 2866 - Triple conjunction Mars-Saturn.
• March 16, 2880 - Predicted possible impact date for asteroid (29075) 1950 DA, the near Earth object with the highest known probability of crashing into Earth.

Biological events

• 2099 - According to one study, 83% of the Amazon rainforest may have been destroyed.
• By 2100, 12% (about 1250) of the bird species existing at the beginning of the 21st century are expected to be extinct or threatened with extinction.
• By 2100, emperor penguins could be pushed to the brink of extinction due to global climate change, according to a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution study from January 2009. The study applied mathematical models to predict how the loss of sea ice from climate warming would affect an Antarctica colony of emperor penguins, and they forecast a decline of 87% in the colony's population by the end of the century.

Calendric predictions

• January 19, 2038 – 32-bit computer clocks overflow to represent the date as December 31, 1969.
• 2096 is the last leap year before 2100, which will not be a leap year.
• On March 1, 2100 (which will be February 16, 2100 in the Julian calendar), the difference between the Julian calendar and the Gregorian calendar reaches 14 days. Since 14 is divisible by 7, this will be the first time in history since its inception that the Gregorian calendar will have the same day of the week for each day of the month for the whole year as the Julian calendar. This will last until February 28, 2200 of the Gregorian Calendar.
• 2100 will not be a leap year since it qualifies as a year that is divisible by 100, but not by 400.
• FAT file systems theoretically support dates up to December 31, 2107 (though officially only up to December 31, 2099).
• On November 14, 2139, Bernie Madoff is scheduled to be released from prison, should he live to be 201 years old.
• The Year type in MySQL supports dates up to December 31, 2155.
• March 17, 2160 – Unless changes are made as to when Easter can be observed, this particular March 17 will fall within Holy Week for the first time since 2008 and fall on the same day (Monday) as it did in that year, likely requiring the movement of the Feast of Saint Patrick's Day to another date.
• Unless changes are made in the religious calendar, in 2285, the Western Easter will fall on March 22 for the first time since 1818, the earliest possible date on which Easter can occur.

Technological predictions

• Expected completion of a space elevator by 2050.
• Predictions have been made for commercial hypersonic air travel by 2050.
• Denmark's energy supply is planned to be supplied only by renewable energies in 2050.
• Work on cleaning up the site of the Oldbury Nuclear Power Station near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire, England, which was decommissioned on 29 February 2012, is scheduled to be complete between 2092 and 2101.
• According to the Discovery Channel documentary, Extreme Engineering, the Japanese proposed Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid could be complete by 2110.
• The One Hundred Year Study on Artificial Intelligence (AI100) initiated by Stanford University will be concluded in 2115.
• 2162 or later: The satellite Envisat, declared "dead" in 2012, is expected to deorbit and burn up in the atmosphere no earlier than 2162.
• By 2200, it is predicted that Earth will become a Type I civilization on the Kardashev scale, according to Nikolai Kardashev's extrapolation of 1% energy usage growth per year.

Social predictions

• As of December 2009, the United States Census Bureau projects a world population of 8.4 billion by 2030
• French demographist Emmanuel Todd predicts the level of literacy amongst the world population to reach near 100% by 2030
• Gerontologist Aubrey De Grey predicts there is a "50/50 chance" of curing aging by around the year 2036
• World population is predicted to reach 9.3 billion people by 2050, according to United Nations Population Division.
• French demographist Emmanuel Todd predicts worldwide zero population growth birth rates by 2050.
• The United Kingdom could have the largest population in Europe by 2050 and be the third biggest recipient of migrants in the world, UN projections suggest.
• 2050s - China, United States, India, Brazil and Mexico will be the largest economies in the world, according to a Goldman Sachs study.
• 2160 – Some scientists believe there are babies born in 2010 who may still be alive in 2160.
• According to the UN Population Bureau, life expectancy in 2200 will be around 100 for developed countries and the world population will be about 8.5 billion. However, the UN has warned that these projections could be invalidated by any change and progress in future life extension technology and discoveries, as well as changes in future birthrates.
• 22nd century - In his book The Next 100 Years, American political scientist George Friedman predicts that as the century begins, an ongoing confrontation between an increasingly powerful Mexico and the United States will be taking place. Mexico will be an economically and militarily powerful country capable of challenging the United States, while a Mexican majority in southern regions of the United States will have made them a de facto extension of Mexico, with increasing secessionist sentiment. Both countries will be competing for dominance over North America, which will remain the international centre of gravity throughout the next few centuries.
• 2250 - According to the theory of historian Max Ostrovsky, the latest probable emergence of the World State, following at least one more World War.

Significant people

The people in this section are organized according to the UN geoscheme.

Significant people of the 3rd millennium AD

	Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
21st century	Muammar Gaddafi Hosni Mubarak Desmond Tutu	George W. Bush Barack Obama Bill Gates Mark Zuckerberg Elon Musk	Osama bin Laden Hu Jintao Narendra Modi Salman of Saudi Arabia Kim Jong-un Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Elizabeth II Vladimir Putin Pope Francis Mario Draghi Angela Merkel	Julia Gillard

Inventions and discoveries

Inventions and discoveries

Communication and technology	Math and science	Manufacturing	Transportation and space exploration	Warfare
iOS Android	X-ray astronomy Poincaré conjecture Higgs boson First observation of gravitational waves	Graphene	Mars Orbiter Mission

Centuries and decades

21st century	2000s	2010s	2020s	2030s	2040s	2050s	2060s	2070s	2080s	2090s
22nd century	2100s	2110s	2120s	2130s	2140s	2150s	2160s	2170s	2180s	2190s
23rd century	2200s	2210s	2220s	2230s	2240s	2250s	2260s	2270s	2280s	2290s
24th century	2300s	2310s	2320s	2330s	2340s	2350s	2360s	2370s	2380s	2390s
25th century	2400s	2410s	2420s	2430s	2440s	2450s	2460s	2470s	2480s	2490s
26th century	2500s	2510s	2520s	2530s	2540s	2550s	2560s	2570s	2580s	2590s
27th century	2600s	2610s	2620s	2630s	2640s	2650s	2660s	2670s	2680s	2690s
28th century	2700s	2710s	2720s	2730s	2740s	2750s	2760s	2770s	2780s	2790s
29th century	2800s	2810s	2820s	2830s	2840s	2850s	2860s	2870s	2880s	2890s
30th century	2900s	2910s	2920s	2930s	2940s	2950s	2960s	2970s	2980s	2990s