3rd millennium
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| Millennium: | 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium - 4th millennium |
The third millennium (so called because it is the third period of 1000 years in the Common Era) is a period of time which began on 1 January 2001 and will end on 31 December 3000. As the millennium currently in progress, only its first decade, the 2000s, can be the subject of the historian's attention, the remaining part of the 21st century (such as the predicted stagnation of world population at some 10 billion in the 2050s) and longer-term trends being the province of futures studies.
[edit] Events
- Adherents of the New Age and various astrologers calculate that the Age of Aquarius will begin sometime in the first six centuries of the Third Millennium (calculations vary regarding the exact date).
- Some adherents of some of the major world religions (including Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) believe that the 3rd millennium will be the final millennium of the Earth as we know it, during which happens the (first or second) coming of their Messiah figure, his or her reign of peace, and/or the destruction of the earth by war.
- Millennialists predict the third millennium will be the millennium of peace, when mankind finally learns to live in harmony with each other and nature.
- John Paul II envisioned a "new springtime of Christianity", as he started the millennium with a program, Novo Millennio Ineunte, wherein sanctity is the foremost priority given to the church.
