history:h_c21
The 21st Century
Overview:
Western society:
the generation Z:
increasing acceptance of homosexuality
metrosexuality ( a term coined in 1994 by English writer Mark Simpson) becomes the vogue - guys aiming to look good without inferring something about their sexual orientation - thus straight guys become under pressure to improve their clothing style, grooming and start attending salons, have body hair waxing as well as body piercings
anti-US terrorism and Asian viral epidemic fears dominate psyche, particularly of travellers after Sept 11, 2001 which results in the rise of a culture of living for the present including the rise of a new raunch culture and sexual promiscuity which had been restrained in the 1990's by the fear of HIV/AIDS.
the rise of narcissism
literature:
art:
music:
“classical music” -
musicals - Mamma Mia;
rock & roll / pop:
dance - techno, rave
film:
the year 2020
unprecedented Australian bushfires which started in mid 2019 continue to devastate much of Australia, especially the eastern coastline and then compounded by flooding in January
high numbers of very bright low orbit satellites contaminate the night sky
Prince Harry officially leaves the Royal Family and moves to US
Covid-19 pandemic commences January starting in China and stops the annual tourism for Chinese New Year before spreading around the world creating panic buying, decimating economies and stock markets, overwhelming health care systems, infecting millions and creating new social distancing restrictions which changed the way we all live, work and be educated
George Floyd killed by US police while being arrested resulting in global outrage, protests and support for the new campaign Black Lives Matter with resultant riots in the US and conflict between white supremacists who wish to maintain the status quo and those who want the culture re-balanced on equal rights and respect for everyone regardless of race
major monsoonal flooding in China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Assam state in India in July
massive change in the photography world following a decade of dramatically falling camera sales and profits:
Olympus sells off its Imaging Division
Canon finally decides to go all in with their new mirrorless system and essentially abandoning further development of their Canon EF mount dSLR system
Nikon expected to follow suit an announce the end of development of their Nikon F system
essentially the end of the dSLR era
airlines retire their Boeing 747 jumbo jets
bright naked eye Comet C/2020 F3 (NEOWISE)
World economy:
2001:
global recession as stock markets become bearish
low inflation & interest rates along with pessimism & cynicism in stock markets contribute to real estate boom
terrorism dominates world psyche
the Enron (a US oil company) collapse and subsequent criticism for inadequate reporting and resultant new public company reporting requirements sparks a boom in private equity takeovers of public companies over the next decade.
2002:
2003:
Jan: gold prices hit 6 yr high $US350/oz) & oil prices hit $35/barrel with threat of of war in Iraq & Venezuelan oil industry strikes
Jan: North Korea creates concern with its blatant stance for developing nuclear weapons.
El Nino weather pattern terminates;
March-April: US, UK & Australian forces invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein & his Ba'ath party
Dec: gold prices hit $US420/oz;
2004:
real estate prices peak and start to plateau
US interest rates start to rise from their historic lows signaling the end of low interest rate phase.
oil prices rise to almost $US50 stemming world economic recovery and stock market rises.
2005:
2006:
oil and metal prices seemed to have peaked.
North Korea tests nuclear bomb for 1st time - against UN policy.
El Nino weather pattern prolongs the drought in southern Australia.
2007:
after its long period of growth, on 27th Feb, China's stockmarket falls 9% in one day triggering global market falls of about 3-5%.
Stock markets end their bull runs in August 2007 after global credit crunch fears following US sub-prime mortgage crisis
gold prices peak as hedge against inflationary fears
2008:
oil price continues to soar as $US continues to fall, oil hitting $US130/barrel up from $US27/barrel in 2001
July: global stockmarkets (particularly property trusts and banking sector) continue to fall after 12 months of bear market due to US sub-prime mortgage induced credit squeeze, rising oil prices, inflation and interest rates and recession fears, with major Australian banks announcing $1b plus write offs due to exposure to US sub-prime markets which follow banking crisis in US including Merrill Lynch's further write-downs.
Aug: 3 million US families lose their homes with another 1 million predicted to do so as falling real estate prices and the foolish bank loans encourage home-owners to walk away from their negative equity in their home loans - how could a first world country allow such banking greed to run amok and destroy the world's financial systems and economies?
Oct: global financial systems under extreme pressure requiring government bail-outs (eg. US $700b, UK £500b) to prevent a global recession or even a depression. Global stock markets hit 2-3 year lows with massive one day falls - 9% in Japan, 17% Russia, 5% Australia, 8% Europe forcing global central banks to announce further massive bail outs and cut interest rates. Australian dollar dives from $US0.98 in July to $US0.65 as Australian interest rates fall and commodity prices plummet from their peaks in $US on fears of a global recession:
Nickel down 72% from May 2007
Zinc down 66% from Nov 2006
Lead down 58% from Oct 2007
Silver down 46% from March 2008
Oil down ~40% from June 2008 (now down to $US88/barrel)
Copper & Tin down 36% from May 2008
Aluminium down 32% from July 2008
Gold down 14% from March 2008
Dec: oil falls to low of ~$US35/barrel
2009:
2010:
2011:
2012:
2013:
2020:
Britain:
Europe:
-
2000:
Russian submarine, the Kursk, sinks without survivors.
Russian troops capture Grozny in Chechnya. Acting Pres. Putin imposes direct rule from Moscow.
2002:
floods ravage Europe
rising right wing support in German polls, culminate in change of govt.
Mt Etna erupts, earthquakes crush Sicilian kindergarten
Oct: Chechen rebels take 800 hostages in Moscow theatre. Russian forces use knockout gas but kill 100 hostages and most of the rebels with the gas.
2003:
2004:
March: Spain rocked by terrorist bombs on crowded suburban trains which killed almost 200
May: Moscow-backed Chechnyan President Akmad Kadyrov assassinated.
Aug:
raging rivers and floods in Cornwall, UK
Two Russian passenger jets blown up, killing 89.
Female suicide bomber kills 10 people & herself outside subway in Moscow.
Sept: Chechen militants take over 300 children hostage in school, most die when bomb accidentally goes off, hundreds injured in subsequent gunfire with Russian troops.
2006:
2008:
Aug: Russia and Georgia at war after concerns of Georgian aggression towards the pro-Russian separatist rebels in the two pro-Russian Georgian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which are wanting independence from US-backed Georgia (Georgia has an important oil pipeline) since the early 1990s after the dissolution of the USSR, in a similar way that Kosovo recently attained independence with US support. The US can't have it both ways and only encourage independence if the independent state will benefit the US.
2014:
2022:
America:
2001:
2002:
2003:
space shuttle disintegrates on re-entry;
March-April: US, UK & Australian forces invade Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein & his Ba'ath party
Michael Jackson indicted for child sexual abuse;
2004: Aug: Hurricanes hits Florida coastline causing massive damages.
2005: Aug/Sept: Hurricane Katrina inundates New Orleans and soon followed by hurricane Rita hitting Texas.
2006: Democrats win back Senate and House of Representatives following backlash against Bush's Iraq policies.
2007: US sub-prime mortgage crisis sparks global credit squeeze and rocks global stock and property markets as $US continues its decline against major global currencies.
2008:
US prisoner numbers hit 2.3m, more than any other country with an incarceration rate of 7620/million compared with 1520/million in Britain, 1080/million in Canada & 910/million in France. Nearly 11% of black men aged 30-34yrs are in prison. According to Human Rights Watch, Blacks were 12x more likely to be jailed for drug related crimes than whites, though drug use was about the same in the two races.
June: Barack Obama beats Hillary Clinton to become the 1st black US presidential nominee.
July: earthquake rocks California sparking fears of a bigger quake.
2009:
Jan: Barack Obama becomes the 1st black US president.
Feb: Obama announces biggest budget deficit as % GDP since 1930's as he attempts to stimulate the economy.
Mar: Dow Jones hits 12 yr low.
2010:
2011:
2012:
2013:
2017:
2021:
Asia:
China:
2002:
for 1st time in 100yrs, China becomes the number one country for foreign investments, displacing US.
China is driving global resource prices due to its increased demand
2007:
after its long period of growth, on 27th Feb, China's stockmarket falls 9% in one day triggering global market falls of about 3-5%.
China try to buy into the big resource giants in an attempt to gain control over prices they pay for resource commodities.
2008:
Tibet crisis threatens to impact on Beijing Olympic Games
massive earthquake, China's biggest in 20-30yrs
Aug: Beijing Olympic Games
2021:
India:
Pakistan:
Japan:
Indonesia:
2002: Bali nightclub bombing
2004: car bomb outside Australian embassy kills 11;
2004 Dec: Aceh region destroyed by the tsunami.
2005 Oct: another Bali restaurant bombing kills over 30, mainly Indonesians
Other Asian:
2002: North Korea openly embarks on nuclear research and ceases nuclear agreements creating crisis with US
Dec 2004:
tsunamis from Richter 8.9 underwater earthquake near Sumatra kill > 150,000, esp. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives & Phuket.
2005: North Korea signs agreement not to continue with its nuclear plans in return for substantial economic support and technical assistance in substitute energy technologies.
2008:
2021:
Australia:
New Zealand:
2004: floods hit Wellington region.
2006: Antarctic icebergs approach NZ for 1st time since 1930's
2010: NZ coal mine disaster
2011: Feb: earthquake devastates Christchurch
2013: earthquake hits Wellington
2016: earthquake hits north of Christchurch
Africa:
2001:
Congo's Laurent Kabila is murdered by his bodyguard & replaced by his son Joseph as President who has lifted Mobutu's bans on political parties as he strives to create a democracy amongst the civil turmoil that has resulted in 2.5 million excess deaths between 1998-2001 in the pop. of 20 million of eastern Congo, of which some 350,000 are directly from violence.
2002:
2007:
2008:
Climate change
Science & Technology:
2000:
2001:
2002:
2003:
mobile phone and internet uptake in Western cultures almost saturated;
3-5 megapixel digital cameras start to be more popular than film cameras;
mobile phones start to converge with digital cameras, portable MP3 players and personal organisers;
DVD-recorders, ADSL & cable broadband internet become popular;
3G mobile telephony services allow live video talk and video messaging;
Mars closest to earth for some 67,000yrs; solar activity cycle hits 11 yr peak;
human genome mapped;
age of the Universe determined as 13.7 billion years;
Bose-Einstein condensation of pairs of fermions observed
2004:
Saturn closest to earth for 30yrs; NASA successfully lands probe on Mars;
discover chimp-sized human “ancestor”, Orrorin tugenensis, that walked upright 6m yrs ago (3m yrs before “Lucy”)
8 megapixel prosumer digital cameras released
dual-layer DVD recorders and combined DVD recorders & VHS players released;
Plasma & LCD TV screens fall in price and become increasingly popular.
probe orbits Saturn
2005:
medium format film photography relegated to niche market having been overtaken almost completely by high end digital technology.
MSN internet chat and Apple iPod music players become very popular with teenagers.
1918 flu virus recreated and shown to be an avian flu virus
1st vaccine shown to prevent a cancer - Australian-made cervical cancer vaccine against several strains of genital wart viruses which cause ~70% of cervical cancer.
LCD screens begin to overtake plasma screens in the 32-37“ sizes
50 nanoKelvin “high temperature” superfluid Fermi gas created - a new form of matter
2006:
LCD screens begin to overtake plasma screens in the 37-40” sizes
Intel dual core computer chips used in PC's and laptops.
Pluto no longer regarded as being a planet.
cervical cancer vaccine introduced in Aust. in Aug 2006 but expensive.
Blu-ray and HD DVD players/recorders released.
Personal video recorders (HDD and DVD based) become popular.
internet website youtube.com which enables users to upload videos is bought by Google for ~$2billion
online websites such as Myspace and Facebook further evolve social networking on the web.
multi-touch-sensitive touch screen invented.
most digital SLR manufacturers settle on 8-10 mpixel sensors with sensor dust protection and some include CCD-shift image stabilisation.
2007:
Intel Core2 Duo chips;
-
live preview LCDs become standard in digital SLRs, most with built-in image stabilisation (except Canon/Nikon)
Nikon's 1st full frame digital SLR (the Nikon D3) and its new lenses finally offer opposition to Canon's dominance of the high end digital SLR scene.
Apple's iPhone ends Nokia's domination of the cellular phone market, while Samsung and Google try to compete with their Android-based phones
2008:
MS World Telescope - online astrophotographic imagery software and telescope control interface.
Apple's iPhone 3G makes it to Australia
July - Nikon's D700 dSLR camera makes full frame dSLRs more affordable but still too expensive for most.
July - scientists announce breakthrough in treatment of Alzheimer's with new drug apparently halting or substantially slowing disease process by 80%.
Oct - Nikon D3x, Sony A900 and Canon 5DMII dSLR full frame cameras with 21-25mp sensors.
Twitter.com becomes the new social networking tool along with Facebook and personal blogs by allowing users to post single line personal updates via the mobile phone SMS texting.
2009:
Olympus E-30 and E-620 dSLRs.
Micro Four Thirds camera system creates a new genre of cameras enticing Samsung and Sony to follow suit.
new flu strain spontaneously becomes resistant to Tamiflu drug.
Canon and Nikon start revamping their legacy lens system to cope with demands of new sensors.
MS Windows 7 replaces Vista.
2010:
Canon 1D Mark IV dSLR; PVRs dominate as Australia readies to turn off analog TV.
Apple's iPad and iPhone 4S herald a multitude of new multi-touch slate computer devices.
Panasonic GH-2 and GF-2 further improve capabilities of the Micro Four Thirds camera system.
Olympus E-5 dSLR; most dSLR sensors 14-18mpixel with HD 1080i video;
Intel i5 and i7 computer chips;
Physicists show that superfluid light is possible;
2011:
2012:
-
-
the elusive Higgs Boson particle discovered, confirming a theory by Higgs 50 years earlier
iPad Mini, iPhone 5 with 4G for Australian networks, Apple's Retina displays
Android Nexus 4 smartphone finally gives Android phones a better experience than the iPhone
Windows 8 released along with Microsoft's Surface using Windows 8 RT operating system
ultrabook laptops and touch screen slate style computers with Intel Ivy Bridge chipsets including USB 3.0
2013:
Microsoft's
Surface Pro touch slate using full Windows 8
OS
after falling to the rise of iPhone and Android phones since 2007, Nokia finally announces a profit, thanks to their new Windows Phone based cellular phone line, the Lumia
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2015:
2016:
2017:
Sony passes Nikon in full frame camera sales to USA, now 2nd to Canon
Cactus introduces cross-brand radio remote TTL flash - now you can use Canon flashes on Olympus or Sony cameras in full radio TTL mode!
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2018:
2022:
history/h_c21.txt · Last modified: 2022/03/01 21:32 by gary1