The
2nd millennium 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 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—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 alsoInventions, discoveries, introductions
Centuries and decades
