2nd millennium

From left, clockwise: In 1492, Christopher Columbus opens the route to the New World for Spain, the beginning of the Modern Age; The American Revolution of 1776, founds one of the most powerful countries in the world, the United States; The French Revolution shows the world the large scale destruction of social classes; The Atomic Bomb from World War II, the deadliest war in history, changes the world with the notion of human extinction by nuclear holocaust; An alternate source of light, the Light Bulb, is invented and used massively toward the end of the millennium; 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 on subjects of expansionism and modernization; Alexander Graham Bell's telephone changes the way the world communicates, local and distant; In 1348, the Black Death kills over 100 million people worldwide, and over half of Europe, in two years. (Background: An excerpt from the Gutenberg Bible, the first printed-by-press book, in the 1450s)

The 2nd millennium was a period of time that commenced on January 1, 1001 and ended on December 31, 2000, encompasses the High Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Early Modern Age, the age of Colonialism, industrialization, the rise of nation states, and culminates in the 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 bombs) are 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 and the return of the Olympics as contest without combat.

Scientists prevail in explaining intellectual freedom, and new technology is 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 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 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 AD 1000 to 600 million in AD 1700), and later increased tenfold over its last three centuries, exceeding to 6 billion in AD 2000.

Calendar

The 2nd millennium was a period of time that commenced on January 1, 1001, and ended on December 31, 2000. This is the second period of one thousand years Anno Domini.

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).

This millennium is perhaps more popularly (albeit incorrectly) thought of as beginning and ending a year earlier, thus starting at the beginning of 1000 and finishing at the end of 1999. Many public celebrations for the end of the millennium were held on December 31, 1999–January 1, 2000^[1]—with few on the actual date a year later. The inaccuracy stems from the assumption that there is a year zero, however this is not the case for this calendar.

Civilizations

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

Events

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

Significant people

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

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 1568362536. 

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

Centuries and decades

References