From left, clockwise: in 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus arrives in America; the American Revolution; the French Revolution; the Atomic Bomb from World War II; an alternate source of light, the light bulb; for the first time, a human being sets foot on the moon in 1969 during the Apollo 11 moon mission; aeroplanes become the most-used way of transport though the skies; Napoleon Bonaparte, in the early 19th century, affects France and Europe with expansionism and modernization; Alexander Graham Bell's telephone; in 1348, the Black Death kills in just two years over 100 million people worldwide, and over half of Europe. (Background: An excerpt from the Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed in the West using movable type, in the 1450s)
Millennia: 1st millennium 2nd millennium 3rd millennium Centuries: 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century
The second millennium was a period of time that began on January 1, 1001, of the Julian calendar and ended on December 31, 2000[note 1] of the Gregorian calendar. It is distinct from the millennium known as the 1000s which began on January 1, 1000, and ended on December 31, 1999.
It encompassed the High and Late Middle Ages, the Mongol Empire, the Renaissance, the Baroque era, the early Modern Age, the age of Enlightenment, the age of colonialism, industrialization, the rise of nation states, and the 19th and 20th century with the impact of science, widespread education, and universal health care and vaccinations in many nations. The centuries of expanding large-scale warfare with high-tech weaponry (of the World wars and nuclear weapons) were offset by growing peace movements, the United Nations, plus doctors and health workers crossing borders to treat injuries and disease, and the return of the Olympics as contest without combat.
Scientists prevailed in explaining intellectual freedom; humans took their first steps on the Moon during the 20th century; and new technology was developed by governments, industry, and academia across the world, with education shared by many international conferences and journals. The development of movable type, radio, television, and the internet spread information worldwide, within minutes, in audio, video, and print-image format to inform, educate and entertain billions of people by the end of the 20th century.
The Renaissance saw the beginning of the second migration of humans from Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Americas, beginning the ever-accelerating process of globalization. The interwoven international trade led to the formation of multi-national corporations, with home offices in multiple countries. International business ventures reduced the impact of nationalism in popular thought.
The world population doubled over the first seven centuries of the millennium (from 310 million in 1000 to 600 million in 1700) and later increased tenfold over its last three centuries, exceeding six billion in 2000. Consequently, unchecked human activity had considerable social and environmental consequences, giving rise to extreme poverty, climate change and biotic crisis.[1]
Contents 1 Calendar 2 Civilizations 3 Events 4 Significant people 5 Inventions, discoveries, introductions 6 Centuries and decades 7 Notes 8 References Calendar [ edit] The Julian calendar was used in Europe at the beginning of the millennium, and all countries that once used the Julian calendar had adopted the Gregorian calendar by the end of it. So the end date is always calculated according to the Gregorian calendar, but the beginning date is usually according to the Julian calendar (or occasionally the proleptic Gregorian calendar).
Stephen Jay Gould argued that it is not possible to decide if the millennium ended on December 31, 1999, or December 31, 2000.[2] The Associated Press reported that the third millennium began on January 1, 2001, but also reported that celebrations in the US were generally more subdued at the beginning of 2001, compared to the beginning of 2000.[3]
The second millennium is generally viewed as beginning on January 1, 1000, and ending on December 31, 1999. Many public celebrations for the end of the second millennium were held on December 31, 1999 – January 1, 2000[4] —with a few people marking the end of the millennium a year later.
Civilizations [ edit] The civilizations in this section are organized according to the UN geoscheme.
Events [ edit] The events in this section are organized according to the UN geoscheme.
Events of the 2nd millennium AD Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania 1043 Eze Nri Ìfikuánim becomes first king of Nri Kingdom1054 Almoravid dynasty established[5] 1060 Kingdom of Kanem converts to Islam[5]
1000 Cahokia (present-day Illinois, USA) becomes regional chiefdom of Mississippian culture
1005 Treaty of Shanyuan signed1008 The Tale of Genji completed[6] 1044 Gunpowder recipe published[6]
1054 The East–West Schism divides the Christian church1088 The foundation of the first University[6] 1095 First Crusade[6]
1143 Almohad dynasty take control from the Almoravids[5] 1171 Salah-ad-Din deposes Fatimid ruler of Egypt and establishes the Ayyubid dynasty[5] 1173 Ayyubids capture Qasr Ibrim in Nubia[5]
1100 Toltecs establish capital at Tula[7] 1124 Arnaldur appointed first bishop of Greenland[7] 1175 Destruction of Toltec civilization[7]
1117 The magnetic compass is used at sea[6] 1120 Meng Yuanlao describes four-star dining in Kaifeng[6] 1150 Construction of Angkor Wat[6] 1192 Defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan in second Battle of Tarain
1143 Establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal[8] 1169 Averroes translates Aristotle[6]
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania 1200 Kingdom of Mwenemutapa established in Zimbabwe[5] 1203 Sumaguru Kante of Sosso conquers kingdom of Ghana [5] 1250 Mamluk soldiers take Egypt from the Ayyubids [5]
1200 Chichén Itzá abandoned[7] 1200 Kingdom of Cuzco founded [7] 1200 Expansion of Chimú state of Chimor [7]
1206 Genghis Khan Builds an Empire[6]
1215 Magna Carta[6] 1260 Dedication of the Cathedral at Chartres[6]
1279 Establishment of the oldest bourders in Europe today, the Portuguese boundering[9]
1200 Tahitians colonize Hawaii [7]
1324 Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca[6] 1365 Crusade led by king of Cyprus sacks Alexandria[5] 1375 Kingdom of Songhai breaks away from Mali [5]
1315 Founding of Tenochtitlan[6] 1350 [7] 1350 War between Inca and Chimú[7]
1350 Coffee was first brewed[6] 1368 Zhu Yuanzhang ousts the Mongols from power[10]
1348 Black Plague[6] 1350 Emergence of fashion[6] 1382 Wycliffe's Bible
1300 Polynesian immigration to New Zealand[11] 1300 Hawaiians develop class structure[12] 1300 Huge stone statues erected on Easter Island[12]
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania 1400 capital of Sayfawa Dynasty moved to Borno1400 Funj settled Alodia1496 Spain conquers Melilla, Morocco[5]
1428 Aztecs conquer Atzcapotzalco, ally with Texcoco and Tlacopan, become the dominant state in Mexico[7] 1470 Incas conquer Chimú empire [7] 1492 Voyages of Christopher Columbus[6]
1407 Work begins on Forbidden City, Beijing[10] 1431 Ayutthaya conquers Angkor [10]
1413 The invention of modern linear perspective[6] 1453 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople[6] 1455 Gutenberg Bible printed[6] 1494 Luca Pacioli publishes the first work on accounting[6]
1498 Vasco da Gama discovers sea route to India[13] 1500 Discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral[14]
1400 Tongans build ceremonial centre at Muʻa[12]
1509 African slaves arrive in the Americas[6] 1517 Ottomans capture Egypt[15] 1535 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V conquers Tunis[15] 1546 Songhai Empire takes Niani
1535 Europeans discover tobacco[6] [dubious – discuss 1537 Europeans discover potatoes[6] 1545 The discovery of silver in the Andes mountains[6]
1555 Rise of the Mughal Empire in South Asia;1517 The Ninety-Five Theses published[6] 1541 Publication of Quartic function on the Ars Magna (Gerolamo Cardano)1543 Publication of On the Structure of the Human Body [6] 1596 Invention of the toilet[6]
1550 Maoris of New Zealand build fortified enclosures[16]
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania 1600 Kingdom of Rwanda founded1600 Dahomey Kingdom founded1644 Start of the Char Bouba[15]
1607 Virginia colony founded[17] 1624 Manhattan island purchased from Native Americans[17] 1697 Last Mayan resistance defeated [17]
1610 Tea spreads to the world[6] 1637 Japanese prohibition against European contact[18]
1603 First performance of Hamlet [6] 1610 Galileo publishes his observations of Jupiter[6] 1666 Discovery of gravitation[6]
1600 Tu'i Konokupolu dynasty take power in Tonga[16] 1642 Abel Tasman sights New Zealand[19]
1700 Maravi Empire tears apart1754 Usman dan Fodio is born1799 Discovery of the Rosetta Stone[6]
1742 Native American revolt against Spanish in Peru[6] 1776 United States Declaration of Independence published[6]
1751 Chinese occupy Tibet[18] 1760 Rise of the British Rule in India
1722 Bach composed the Well-Tempered Clavier[6] 1769 Invention of the steam engine[6] 1796 The first vaccination[6]
1795 Formation of the Kingdom of Hawaii
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania 1869 The Suez Canal opens[6] 1879 Battle of Isandlwana1896 Battle of Adwa
1821 Bolívar liberates Venezuela[6] 1876 Menlo Park opens[6] 1876 First telephone transmission[6]
1868 End of Japanese seclusion[6]
1830 First steam railway[6] 1859 Origin of Species [6] 1882 Germ theory proven[6]
1840 Treaty of Waitangi signed[20] 1845 New Zealand land wars[21] 1845 Formation of the Kingdom of Tonga by Taufaʻahau
1956 Suez Crisis[22] 1967 Six-Day War[22] 1994 End of apartheid[22]
1903 First controlled, powered airplane flight[6] 1908 Ford builds the Model T[6] 1928 First television broadcast[6] 1942 Creation of the world's first nuclear reactor[6]
1969 First Moon Landing
1917 The Russian Revolution[6] 1934 Mao's long march[6] 1945 Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki[6] 1947 Partition of India1971 Formation of Bangladesh1992 Destruction of the Babri Mosque by Hindus
1901 First transatlantic radio transmission[6] 1906 Alberto Santos-Dumont realizes the first officially recorded powered flight in Europe1914 Beginning of World War I1918 End of World War I1922 Establishment of Italian Fascism1928 Discovery of penicillin[6] 1933 Adolf Hitler appointed Chancellor of Germany[6] 1939 Beginning of World War II1945 End of World War II
1915 Australians and New Zealanders serve in the Gallipoli Campaign1985 Nuclear Free Zone established in New Zealand[23] 2000 Autonomous Bougainville Government established
Significant people [ edit] The people in this section are organized according to the UN geoscheme.
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania [12] Muhammad Ture
Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania Africa Americas Asia Europe Oceania
See also
Lists of people by nationality Category:People by century Category:People by nationality and period Gottlieb, Agnes Hooper; Henry Gottlieb; Barbar Bowers; Brent Bowers (1998). 1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium . Kodansha International. ISBN 1-56836-253-6. Inventions, discoveries, introductions [ edit] Inventions, discoveries and introductions Communication and Technology Science and Mathematics Manufacturing Transportation and Warfare [24] Thermometer Electrical battery Telegraph Photography Telephone Animation Television Computer Transistor Satellite [24] Electrostatic generator Accounting Probability Calculus [24] [25] [25] [24] [25] [25] [24] [25] [25] [24] [25] [25] [25] Electricity Canned food [25] Assembly line Sliced bread Frozen food Nuclear reactor Food processor Finite geometry Barometer Bicycle Steam engine Steam turbine Internal combustion engine Steam locomotive Human flight Moon landing Space shuttle Space station GPS navigation Longbow Rockets Aircraft carrier Nuclear weapon Submarine Tanks Firearms
Centuries and decades [ edit] 11th century [note 2] 1030s 1060s 1080s 12th century 1100s 1130s 1160s 1180s 13th century 1200s 1230s 1260s 1280s 14th century 1300s 1330s 1360s 1380s 15th century 1400s 1430s 1460s 1480s 16th century 1500s 1530s 1560s 1580s 17th century 1600s 1630s 1660s 1680s 18th century 1700s 1730s 1760s 1780s 19th century 1800s 1830s 1860s 1880s 20th century 1900s 1930s 1960s 1980s
Notes [ edit] ^ The year 2000 is technically the last year of the 2nd millennium, however it is generally considered the first year of the 3rd millennium. See more at century and millennium. ^ 9 of the 10 years of the decade are in this millennium References [ edit] ^ "The Sixth Extinction – The Most Recent Extinctions". Archived from the original on 2015-12-18. ^ Stephen Jay Gould, Questioning the Millennium: A Rationalist's Guide to a Precisely Arbitrary Countdown (New York: Harmony Books, 1999), ch 2. ^ Associated Press, "Y2K It Wasn't, but It Was a Party", Los Angeles Times , January 1, 2001. ^ "Millennium FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions". When does the Millennium start? . Greenwich2000.ltd.uk. 2008-08-12. Archived from the original on 12 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-29 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Africa AD 600–1500". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-17 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd Toast, Scott (2002-02-19). "Top 100 Events of the Millennium". adapted from LIFE Magazine . Scott Toast. Retrieved 2008-11-14 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Americas AD 1000–1492". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-16 . ^ nationsonline.org, klaus kästle -. "Portugal – Portuguese Republic – Country Profile – República Portuguesa – Travel and Tourism Portugal". www.nationsonline.org . Retrieved 2015-09-15 . ^ "www.visitportugal.com". www.visitportugal.com . Retrieved 2015-09-15 . ^ a b c "Asia AD 1200–1500". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-23 . ^ Whitmore, Robbie. "Timeline of events in New Zealand history". New Zealand in History. Retrieved 2008-11-16 . ^ a b c d "Oceania AD 1000–1520". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-16 . ^ Society, National Geographic. "Da Gama Discovers a Sea Route to India". Retrieved 2015-09-15 . ^ "Cabral Discovers Brazil | History Today". www.historytoday.com . Retrieved 2015-09-15 . ^ a b c "Africa AD 1500–1850". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-23 . ^ a b "Oceania AD 1520–1770". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-16 . ^ a b c "Americas 1492–1800". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-16 . ^ a b "Asia AD 1500–1800". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-23 . ^ "European discovery of New Zealand". Encyclopedia of New Zealand ^ Michael King (2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand . Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-301867-1. ^ Belich, James (1986). The New Zealand Wars and the Victorian Interpretation of Racial Conflict . Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-86940-002-X. ^ a b c "Africa AD 1950–2000". World Timelines . The British Museum. 2005. Retrieved 2008-11-23 . ^ "New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act". Retrieved 25 November 2008 . ^ a b c d e f Keeley, Larry (2007-02-16). "The Greatest Innovations of All Time". BusinessWeek . The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. Archived from the original on 7 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-12 . ^ a b c d e f g h i j "The Big 100: the Science Channels 100 Greatest Discoveries". Discovery Communications, LLC. 2008. Archived from the original on 31 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-12 . Millennia
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th and beyond 201st and prior 200th to 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st
Hidden categories:
All accuracy disputes Articles with disputed statements from May 2010
