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Eleventh of 12 posts with an illustrated decade-by-decade timeline for the years 1900 to 2021. For more on the timeline and a link to the book on Amazon, see here. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/tyfaw3dTcCY.

2000-2009

This post is a teaser, not the full text for 2000-2009.

Among the events of this decade:

• 2001 Attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9/11 (2,947 deaths) by al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden. Other terrorist acts by al-Qaeda incl. bombings in Madrid (2004), London (2005), and Mumbai (2008).

• 2001-2021 War in Afghanistan, part of the War on Terror: a US-led invasion to oust the Taliban and eradicate al-Qaeda.

• 2002 Dept. of Homeland Security created to protect US against domestic and foreign terrorism and to coordinate responses to it; incls. border security and cyber security.

• 2002-2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads from China and Hong Kong, with 11% case fatality rate.

• 2003 In Lawrence v. Texas, Supreme Court strikes down laws criminalizing homosexual intercourse.

• 2007-2009 Great Recession: After the Fed’s low interest rates lead to a housing bubble, the housing market collapses, leading to a mortgage crisis (due to sale of subprime mortgages), and then a global economic downturn with bankruptcy of several major financial institutions.

• 2009 beginning of Tea Party movement, a combination of libertarians, conservatives, and populists. Calls for reducing federal debt and the budget deficit via a decrease in government spending. Absorbed into mainstream Republican Party by 2016.

• 2009-2010 H1Na (swine flu) pandemic, declared a national emergency by Obama; handled via an updated flu vaccine.

• Communication: Decline in print media due to rise in blogs and online news: news is available from all (even the most extreme) perspectives, anytime and anywhere. 2002-2006 Rise of social networking sites: Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter. Gen Z (born ca. 1996 to early 2010s) is first to grow up with pervasive social media. Wireless internet access (vs. using land lines). 2007 iPhone is the first widely used touch-screen phone. Laptops become affordable. Cell-phone cameras and digital cameras become common.

• Science & health: Prescriptions for antidepressant drugs: 13 million in 1996, 27 million 2005, 164 million 2008.

• Books: Steig Larsson, Millennium series, 2005-2007 (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played with Fire, Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest): edgy crime novels. Stephanie Meyer, Twilight series, 2005-2008: sparkly vampires. Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games series, 2008-2010: children selected by lottery to participate in a fight to the death. 2007 J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series concludes (begun 1997), with films continuing until 2011; it becomes the highest-grossing book series in history, and the third highest-grossing film series.

• Cutting-edge sculpture & painting: Christo’s Gates in Central Park, NYC, 2005. Turner Prize winners include: in 2000, Martin Creed, Work No. 227: The lights going on and off (an empty room with a light switch); in 2004, Simon Starling, Shedboatshed (took a shed apart, built a boat to sail down river, put shed together again); in 2009, Richard Wright for no title, an onsite abstract wall painting by an artist who hopes none of his works will survive him.

• Architecture: Frank Gehry, 8 Spruce Street, NYC.

• Films: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003 (11 Academy Awards). Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, 2006. Avatar, 2009: the highest-grossing film worldwide for nearly a decade.

• TV: House M.D. Desperate Housewives. South Park. Rise of reality TV, including Survivor, Dancing with the Stars, and The Apprentice (with Donald Trump, 2004-2015).

• Bestselling album artists: Eminem, Beyoncé, Nickelback, Lady Gaga, Usher. Music technology: Autotune software, released in 1997, becomes widely used to alter pitch in vocal and instrumental recordings and performances.

• Musical theater: Riverdance, Hairspray, Wicked, Jersey Boys, In the Heights.

Feedback I’d appreciate from you on the PDF of 2000-2009

• Have I listed all the most significant events for this decade? Space is limited and there’s room for disagreement, but do tell me if you think anything important is missing. In case you want to add events important to you, I’ve allowed some blank space on every set of facing pages.
• I have not read all the books I mention nor listened to all the musical styles. Are any of the facts or descriptions wrong? Corrections welcome.
• I’d like to include major events in areas such as education, psychology, Supreme Court decisions, and sports. If you can boil down those or similar fields to a half-dozen significant events from 1900 to 2021, send them to me and I’ll try to work them in.
• Of course, point out typos, bad grammar, messy syntax, and so on.

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