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2000-2009 Contents

2000 - The world celebrates the turn of the millenium | The dot-com bubble bursts | Concorde crashes in France, killing 113 | Personal home computers break the 1Ghz barrier | Sydney hosts the Olympic Games

2001 - George Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States | A devastating terrorist attack leaves nearly 3,000 dead in America | Wikipedia is launched

2002 - Apple introduces the iMac G4 | Quaoar is discovered | The deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia

2003 - Space Shuttle Columbia disaster | The invasion of Iraq | The Human Genome Project is completed | Record heatwaves kill tens of thousands in Europe | MySpace is launched

2005 - Suicide bombers in London kill 56 people, injure 700 others | Hurricane Katrina floods New Orleans | Huygens probe reveals images of Titan's surface | YouTube is launched | Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany

2006 - North Korea conducts its first nuclear test | West African black rhinos are declared extinct | Pluto is demoted to "dwarf planet" status

2000-2009 | 2010-2019 | 2020-2029 | 2030-2039 | 2040-2049 | 2050-2059 | 2060-2069 | 2070-2079 | 2080-2089 | 2090-2099 >

2000

The world celebrates the turn of the millenium

Between 1000 AD and 2000 AD, the world changed beyond recognition.

The 2nd millennium encompassed the High Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Early Modern Age, the age of Colonialism, industrialisation and the rise of nation states - culminating in the 20th century with the impact of science, widespread education and universal health care in many nations.

The centuries of expanding large-scale warfare with high-tech weaponry (of the World Wars and nuclear bombs) were offset by growing peace movements from the United Nations, the Peace Corps, religious campaigns warning against violence, plus doctors and health workers crossing borders to treat injuries and disease, along with the return of the Olympics as a form of contest without combat.

Scientists prevailed in explaining intellectual freedom - while huge advances in technology were developed by governments, industry and academia across the world, with education shared by countless international conferences and journals. The development of movable type, radio, television and the Internet spread information globally, within minutes - in audio, video, and print-image format - to educate, entertain, and alert billions of people by the end of the 20th century.

From the 16th century, humans migrated from Europe, Africa and Asia to the New World, beginning the ever-accelerating process of globalisation. The interwoven international trade led to the formation of multi-national corporations, with offices in multiple countries. International business ventures reduced the impact of nationalism in popular thought.

The world's population doubled over the first seven centuries of the millennium (from 310m in 1000 AD, to 600m in 1700 AD), and later increased tenfold over its last three centuries, exceeding 6 billion in 2000 AD.

Due to radical advances in genetics, some of the people alive today will live to experience the next millenium, too.

The dot-com bubble bursts

The "dot-com bubble" was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1998–2000, during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise sharply from growth in the more recent Internet sector and related technology fields.

A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics in favor of confidence in technological advancements.

It climaxed on 10th March 2000, with the NASDAQ peaking at 5132. This was followed by a spectacular crash, with huge numbers of startups going bust. Between 2000 and 2002, more than $5 trillion was wiped off the market value of technology companies.

Concorde crashes in France, killing 113 people

Air France Flight 4590 was a Concorde flight from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris, France, travelling to JFK International Airport in New York City.

On 25 July 2000 it crashed in Gonesse, France, killing all one hundred passengers and nine crew on board the flight, as well as four people on the ground.

As a result of this crash - together with the economic effects of 9/11 and other factors - the iconic aircraft was retired in 2003.

Personal home computers break the 1 gigahertz barrier

During 2000, clock speeds were going through their biggest ever rate of increase.

Sydney hosts the Olympic Games

This was the second time the Olympics were held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first being in Melbourne in 1956.

sydney olympic games australia 2000
Credit: Brian Pracy

2001

George Bush is sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States

Following a controversial election result, Bush was sworn in as president on 20th January 2001. Though he originally outlined an ambitious domestic agenda, his priorities were significantly altered following the terrorist attacks of the same year. Wars were waged in Afghanistan and later Iraq while significant debates regarding immigration, healthcare, Social Security, economic policy, and treatment of terrorist detainees took place within the US.

Over an eight year period, Bush's once-high approval ratings steadily declined throughout his Presidency, while his disapproval numbers increased significantly over the same time frame. During 2007, the United States entered into its longest post-World War II recession and the administration responded by enacting multiple stimulus packages.

george bush 2001 election year

A devastating terrorist attack leaves nearly 3,000 dead in America

The September 11th attacks (often referred to as 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the USA on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.

Both towers - two of the tallest in the world at the time - collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and heavily damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights.

2,973 victims and the 19 hijackers died as a result of the attacks. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 90 countries. In addition, the death of at least one person from lung disease was ruled by a medical examiner to be a result of exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.

Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack, and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars' worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan.

The United States responded to the attacks by launching a "War on Terrorism" - invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists, and enacting the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and greatly expanded law enforcement powers.

2001 september 11th timeline

Wikipedia is launched

Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project. Launched in this year, it went on to become the largest and most popular general reference work on the Internet. By 2010, more than 14 million articles (3.1 million in English) had been written by volunteers around the world.

2002

Apple introduces the iMac G4

The iMac G4 was produced by Apple from the beginning of 2002 to mid 2004. It replaced the aging iMac G3.

This computer featured a radical new design, with a 15-inch LCD screen mounted on an adjustable arm above a hemisphere containing a full-size, tray-loading optical drive. CPU speeds ranged from 700 Mhz to 1.25 Ghz.

apple imac g4 2002 technology computer pc

Quaoar is discovered

Quaoar is a binary trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet, orbiting the Sun at a distance similar to Pluto. It was discovered on 4th June, 2002 by astronomers at the California Institute of Technology.

quaoar 2002 discovery

The deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia

The 2002 Bali bombings occurred on 12 October 2002 in the tourist district of Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The attack was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia, killing 202 people, 152 of whom were foreign nationals (including 88 Australians), and 38 Indonesian citizens. A further 240 people were injured.

The attack involved the detonation of three bombs: a backpack-mounted device carried by a suicide bomber; a large car bomb, both of which were detonated in or near popular nightclubs in Kuta; and a third much smaller device detonated outside the United States consulate in Denpasar, causing only minor damage.

Various members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a violent Islamist group, were convicted in relation to the bombings, including three individuals who were sentenced to death.

bali bomb 2002

2003

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

At the conclusion of the STS-107 mission, the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry over Texas, killing all 7 astronauts onboard.

The loss of Columbia was a result of damage sustained during launch, when a piece of foam insulation the size of a small briefcase broke off the Space Shuttle external tank (the main propellant tank) under the aerodynamic forces of launch. The debris struck the leading edge of the left wing, damaging the Shuttle's thermal protection system, which was unable to protect it from heat generated by the atmospheric re-entry.

space shuttle columbia 2003 disaster nasa

The invasion of Iraq

The invasion of Iraq was led by the United States, alongside the United Kingdom and smaller contingents from other countries. The initial invasion phase lasted from 20th March to 1st May and involved troops from the US (248,000), UK (45,000), Australia (2,000) and Poland (194). 36 other countries were involved in its aftermath.

According to then President of the United States, George W. Bush and then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, the reasons for the invasion were "to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), to end Saddam Hussein's support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people." According to Blair, the trigger was Iraq's failure to take a "final opportunity" to disarm itself of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that US and British officials called an immediate and intolerable threat to world peace.

Although some remnants of pre-1991 production were found after the end of the war, US government spokespeople confirmed that these were not the weapons for which the US went to war. In 2005, the Central Intelligence Agency released a report saying that no weapons of mass destruction had been found in Iraq.

In December 2007, the Iraqi government reported that there were 5 million orphans in Iraq - nearly half of the country's children. According to the UN, Iraq's health had deteriorated to a level not seen since the 1950s. Malnutrition rates had risen from 19% before the US-led invasion to a national average of 28% four years later. Some 60-70% of Iraqi children were suffering from psychological problems. 68% of Iraqis had no access to safe drinking water. A cholera outbreak in northern Iraq was thought to be the result of poor water quality. As many as half of Iraqi doctors left the country between 2003 and 2007.

By 2010, the lowest credible estimate of civilian casualties in both Iraq and Afghanistan was around 850,000 - about 283 times as many than were killed in the attacks of 9/11. Put another way: over 121 times as many people had been killed in these wars and occupations than in all terrorist attacks in the world from 1993-2004, according to data compiled by the US State Department.

Throughout the entire Iraq War and occupation there were countless human rights abuses.

The financial cost of the war had been more than $845 billion to the US, with the total cost to the US economy estimated at $3 trillion.

The Human Genome Project is completed

The Human Genome Project was an international scientific research project with a primary goal to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to map the 25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint.

It began in 1990. Halfway through the project, critics pointed out that given the speed at which the genome could then be scanned, it would take thousands of years to finish.

However, a working draft of the genome was released in 2000 and a complete one in 2003. This was made possible thanks to exponential progress - like many areas of science, information on the base pairs was actually doubling every year and required only a few more doublings to reach 100%.

The project brings enormous long term benefits to the world of science and medicine. Knowledge of the effects of variation of DNA among individuals can revolutionise the ways to diagnose, treat and prevent a number of diseases that affect human beings, in addition to providing clues to the understanding of biology as a whole.

Record heatwaves kill tens of thousands in Europe

The 2003 European heat wave was one of the hottest summers ever recorded in Europe. It led to a health crisis in several countries and combined with drought to create a crop shortfall. Seven days with temperatures of more than 40°C (104 °F) were recorded in France. More than 37,000 died as a result, mostly the elderly.

Heatwaves of this kind will become an annual occurence by 2080.

2003 heatwave future timeline 2080
Above: 2003 heatwave temperature variations in comparison to normal temperatures in Europe.

MySpace is launched

MySpace was launched in this year and quickly became one of the most popular social networking sites on the web. In 2006, the 100 millionth account was created. However, it was overtaken by its main competitor - Facebook - during April 2008, based on monthly unique visitors.

2004

George Bush is re-elected

The US presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. Foreign policy was the dominant theme throughout the election campaign, particularly Bush's conduct of the War on Terrorism and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

As in the 2000 presidential election, voting controversies and concerns of irregularities emerged during and after the vote. The winner was not determined until the following day, when Kerry decided not to dispute Bush's win in the state of Ohio. The state held enough electoral votes to determine the winner of the presidency. Both Kerry and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean have stated their opinion that voting in Ohio did not proceed fairly and that, had it done so, the Democratic ticket might have won that state and therefore the election. However, there was far less controversy about this election than in 2000.

Only three states changed allegiance. New Mexico and Iowa voted Democratic in 2000, but voted Republican in 2004. New Hampshire voted Republican in 2000 but voted Democratic in 2004. In the Electoral College, Bush received 286 votes, and Kerry 251.

2004 bush election reelected usa presidential kerry

2007

Global economic downturn

During this period, the world experiences the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, calls it a "once-in-a-century type of event".

This global financial meltdown is caused by a number of factors.

Primarily, it is a result of the Wild West casino mentality which has characterised investment banking over the last two decades, combined with a lack of regulation. Merchant bankers - keen to make a fast buck - had realised there were vast numbers of poor Americans who had been refused loans because they wouldn't be able to pay them back. Motivated by short term gains, they employed predatory mortgage lenders to offer these people the chance to own their first home. Inevitably, this led to millions of poor Americans with homes they couldn't afford. Bankers then bundled these mortgages together with other more secure loans, before selling them on to other banks, who sold them onto other financial institutions, and so on. The bankers then received enormous bonuses for the commission and fees they generated.

This "sub prime" market was a time bomb waiting to go off. As interest rates rose, millions of Americans began defaulting on repayments. The loans which had originated from them were suddenly shown to be worthless - but it was already too late, as trillions of dollars' worth had spread throughout the system. With banks afraid to lend to each other - and not knowing the extent of each others' exposure - the outcome was collapse on an unprecedented scale, with a liquidity crisis almost unparalleled in history. Some of the largest banks in the world, including Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns, went into administration. Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were nationalised. Even the likes of AIG and Citigroup had to be rescued.

The other major factor which led to all this, was simply the greed of ordinary consumers and their desire for instant gratification. In addition to buying homes they couldn't afford, credit cards and loans were used to purchase endless luxury items and other products they didn't particularly need. Personal debt levels soared as a result, leading to a massive rise in bankruptcies and foreclosures, triggering a worldwide recession.

2008

Internet continues to boom

A decade after the dotcom boom, the Internet continues to grow at a phenomenal pace. By 2008, the search engine Google had processed over 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) unique URLs, whilst the number of individual web pages was growing by several billion per day and the number of individual users had reached nearly 1.5 billion.

The Internet can now be accessed virtually anywhere, by numerous means. Mobile phones, smartphones, datacards, laptops, handheld games consoles and cellular routers allow users to connect to the Internet from anywhere there is a cellular network supporting that device's technology. Broadband is becoming ubiquitous.

Recent trends include the rise of social networking websites (such as Facebook), social bookmarking (such as Digg) and a huge increase in blogging, micro-blogging, wiki sites, music downloads, video sharing and podcasts.

Online gaming is becoming immensely popular. It is no longer a niche market for adolescents, but very much part of mainstream entertainment - with some games generating more revenue than blockbuster movies. Users can take part in highly realistic battle simulations (such as Call of Duty), or racing games, or MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) such as World of Warcraft; or they can explore and interact with entire virtual worlds (such as Second Life) and engage in the trading of virtual goods and services.

Many traditional high street retailers - especially those dealing in purely digital products such as games, DVDs or music CDs - are finding themselves increasingly outmoded by online retailers who offer greater speed, convenience and cost savings.

Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 / Credit: Matt Britt

Scientists extract images directly from the brain

In a major scientific breakthrough, a Japanese company has developed a way of analysing electrical signals sent from the visual cortex and converting them to digital images on a screen.

In one of the experiments, test subjects were shown the six letters in the word "neuron". The computer successfully reconstructed the word on screen by measuring their brain activity.*

Artificial DNA

Using purely artificial components, Japanese scientists at the University of Toyama have created unusually stable, double-stranded structures resembling natural DNA. This breakthrough could lead to improvements in gene therapy, nano-sized computers and other high-tech advances.*

artificial dna japanese scientists university of toyama
GNU Free Documentation License / Credit: Richard Wheeler

Breakthrough in wireless energy transfer

Intel Corporation demonstrates wireless electricity sent to a lightbulb at 75% efficiency.* This technology still faces a number of problems,* but will eventually see large-scale adoption. One of the main benefits will be reduced clutter in homes and offices, since the need for power cords will be eliminated.

Major advances in CGI

New modelling technology, pioneered by California-based company Image Metrics, now enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated. This means a long-standing barrier known as the 'uncanny valley' - the perception that animation looks less realistic as it approaches human likeness - may soon be crossed. An example of this new technology can be seen in the video below, which shows an entirely computer-generated woman called "Emily". Researches believe the line between what appears real and what is merely rendered may be blurred completely by 2020.*

Video adverts on London's tube

Video screen adverts - including web content displayed in real time - are appearing on the London Underground.* They are limited to the busiest stations initially, but will soon spread to the entire network. Various other cities are beginning to adopt this technology too.

cbs outdoor london underground tube advertising

2009

Major breakthrough in cancer research

In a major scientific landmark, the complete genetic codes for both skin and lung cancer have been identified.* Every mutation that turns healthy cells cancerous is now catalogued - paving the way for drug targets that could lead to possible cures in the near future. Blood tests to spot tumours will also be possible at far earlier stages.*

The genetic code for other types of cancer will soon be catalogued too: the USA is looking at cancers of the brain, ovary and pancreas; the UK is looking at breast cancer; Japan is studying the liver; China the stomach; and India the mouth.*

cancer future cure

Scientists engineer plastics without fossil fuels

Scientists in Korea have developed a one-step production process for creating everyday plastics through the use of bioengineering, rather than fossil-fuel based chemicals.*

This has enormous implications for the future of manufacturing. Until now, almost all plastics have been heavily reliant on oil, an increasingly limited resource.

Furthermore, these new plastics are environmentally friendly, biodegradable and low in toxicity.

future plastic bioplastics oil free plastics

Mouse genome is fully sequenced

After a 10-year effort, scientists have finished mapping the entire mouse genome.* Given the prevalence of mice in laboratory experiments - and the similarities with our own genetic code - this will greatly aid our understanding and treatment of diseases.

Credit: Emielcia

Water is discovered on the Moon

The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was the first American mission to the Moon in over a decade. It was designed to relay data from the impact and debris plume resulting from the vehicle's upper stage, Centaur, hitting a large crater near the Moon's south pole.

The probe impacted successfully, with a velocity of about 10,000 km/h (6,200 mph). The plume of debris thrown up by the craft revealed significant amounts of water ice - perhaps enough to supply drinking water to future colonists as well as hydrogen for rocket fuel.*

water on the moon lcross probe 2009
Credits: ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.

Mercury is 98% mapped

NASA's MESSENGER probe completed a third and final flyby of the planet in 2009. This helped to map 98% of its surface - including the previously unseen far side. It also revealed higher than expected amounts of heavy metals such as iron and titanium, forcing scientists to rethink how the small planet evolved. Data also revealed changing seasons on the planet, in the form of varying chemical compositions in Mercury's thin atmosphere.*

mercury map messenger nasa probe 2009

A shift towards portable (and ultra-portable) PCs

The market is moving toward portable PCs even faster than expected. By 2009, the laptop share of PCs bought worldwide has overtaken desktops for the first time.* In addition, a new generation of "ultra portables" is emerging. These are significantly cheaper and more compact than traditional laptops, but offer many of the same features including wireless Internet access.

Computers as a whole are seeing phenomenal sales growth, with almost 300 million units shipped this year alone. The emergence of India as a major IT centre is having a big influence here.

Memory cards with capacities exceeding 2TB will soon be available for digital devices - enough to store more than 4,000 RAW images, 100 HD movies, or 60 hours of HD recording.

netbook form factor
Above: The netbook form-factor provides ultra-portability

Mind control headsets for video gaming

Emotiv, a San Francisco-based company, have released a headset which allows gamers to control video games from their brain waves alone.* This is done in a completely non-intrusive manner: no crude implants or direct physical contact are required. Sensors on the headset can detect the neuroelectrical patterns in the wearer's head, and these are converted into actions on screen.

The implications of this technology are staggering. Future mainstream versions could radically alter how we interact with computers, the Internet, and each other.

Credit: Emotiv

The tallest man-made structure in history is completed

With 160 floors, rising to a height of 818m (2,684ft), the Burj Dubai is by far the tallest structure ever built by man, shattering all previous records and setting a new benchmark for skyscrapers.

The decision to build the tower was based on the UAE government's aim to diversify from a trade-based economy to one that is service- and tourism-orientated. According to officials, it is necessary for projects like this to be built in the city to garner more international recognition, and hence more investment.

Construction of the tower and other projects is seen as controversial by some - with most of the site workers being low-paid immigrants, in some cases earning less than US$5 per day. A host of other residential complexes, hotels, office towers and luxury resorts are being built all over Dubai, making it one of the fastest growing cities in the world. In addition to the Burj Dubai, there are various other "mega projects" including the Palm Islands, a series of enormous artificial islands on which major commercial and residential infrastructure is being built.

Kepler mission

The Kepler space probe is launched by NASA. It will be the first instrument capable of finding Earth-sized and smaller extrasolar planets using Ball Aerospace's Kepler Space Observatory satellite. It will observe the brightness of about 100,000 stars over four years to detect periodical transits of a star by its planets.*

3D scanning enters the consumer market

This form of technology has been available for a while now - mainly for use in design visualization, CAD/prototyping, architecture, engineering, film production, healthcare, etc.

Other applications have included reconstructing fossils in paleontology, replicating ancient and priceless artifacts in archaeology, reconstructing bones and body parts in forensic pathology, and reconstructing heavily damaged evidence acquired from crime scene investigations.

Until now though, a significant barrier to 3D scanning has been the expense, bulkiness, and inconvenience of traditional equipment. This has made it difficult - if not impossible - for small businesses and hobbyists to have access to such technology.

From 2009 onwards, a number of companies are beginning to produce smaller, cheaper, more portable devices.

One such company is David Vision Systems, which has brought out a pocket-sized 3D laser scanner.* This can be used in combination with a simple webcam and background setup, to capture an endless variety of 3D objects (including the user's own face), for use in home videos, animations, computer games and other virtual environments.

3d scanner david vision systems future 2009

Credit: David Vision Systems

Africa's population tops one billion

The continent’s population has doubled in the last 27 years. It will double again by the 2050s. The main reason for this explosive growth has been the lack of access to contraception and family planning centres.

africa population density map 2009 one billion

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