:''This article is about the year 2010. For other uses, see
2010 (disambiguation).''
'2010' ('
MMX') will be a
common year starting on Friday of the
Gregorian calendar. It will be the first year of the
2010s decade.
Pronouncing 2010 and subsequent years
:''See also:
Year pronunciation''
Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century should be pronounced in
English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "''two thousand (and) 'X'''" for any specific year post–
1999, it is often suggested that the continuation of this type of pronunciation for the entire 21st century would be inappropriate or unnatural, given the alternative "''twenty 'X'''" option.
Academics suggest that since former years such as
1805 and
1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year
2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".
[1] Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) 'X'" is a result of influences from the
Y2K hype, as well as the way "
2001" was pronounced in the influential
1968 film, ''.
Many people, including
linguistic and
academic experts, predict that the "twenty 'X'" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a timeframe as to when this change will occur often differs. The year
2010 is suggested by many
[2][3], while
20111 and
2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframes for change are usually placed at
20201 or
2100.
According to a recent press release,
David Crystal, author of the ''Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language'', has predicted that the change of pronunciation to "twenty 'X'" will occur in
2011, as "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on
rhythm, rather than
logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven".
1 Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of ''Chambers Dictionary'', suggests the change will occur in
2013. And finally,
the UK Times has suggested
2020 as a final timeframe for the change, saying "If people can have “twenty-twenty” vision, then surely they should also live in the year “twenty twenty”.
1
In addition, some notable people/organizations are already switching to the "twenty" system. A TV ad for the 2007
Kids Choice Awards said "twenty oh-seven", rather than the generally accepted "two thousand seven".
Some suggest that after the "twenty 'X'" pronunciation for current and future 21st century years has taken hold, future references to early 21st century years will change accordingly from the previous "''two thousand (and) 'X'''" method; thus, they say, future generations will refer to the date of the 9/11 attacks in the United States as September 11, "twenty oh-one", just as 1911 was referred to as "nineteen hundred and eleven" at the time, but is now called "nineteen eleven".
Predicted and scheduled events
January
★
January 1 —
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to establish and introduce monetary union.(subject to question with Kuwait's switch to currency basket)
★
January 1 —
Bulgaria,
Estonia and
Lithuania are set to adopt the
euro.
★
January 10 — Deadline for the
America's Space Prize for private manned orbital spaceflight.
★
January 15 — Annular
solar eclipse (The longest lasting annular eclipse of the 21st century.)
February
★
February 7 —
Super Bowl XLIV will be played at
Dolphin Stadium
★
February 12–
February 28 —
2010 Winter Olympics scheduled to be in
Vancouver and
Whistler,
British Columbia,
Canada.
March
★
March 7–
March 12 —
2010 International Congress of Actuaries scheduled in
Cape Town,
South Africa.
★
March 12–
March 21 —
2010 Winter Paralympics scheduled in Whistler, Canada.
April
★ April —
Cisco Field, the new
Oakland Athletics ballpark, could open as early as this time.
★ April — New Minnesota
Twins Ballpark set to open.
★ April —
International Space Station construction is expected to be completed.
★
April 1 — The
Space Shuttle Discovery launches from
LC-39A at the
Kennedy Space Center, beginning the
Space Shuttle's final flight,
STS-132.
★
April 1 —
U.S. National Census.
★
April 3–
April 5 — NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four to be held at the
Lucas Oil Stadium in
Indianapolis, Indiana
May
★
May 1–
October 30 —
2010 World's Fair in
Shanghai.
★
May 10 —
Philippine presidential election will be held to replace the incumbent President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (ineligible for re-election).
★ The 7th
European Festival of Youth Choirs (EJCF) will be held in
Basel,
Switzerland.
June
★
June 3 — This is the latest date the next
UK general election can be held.
★
June 6 — Conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus, Jupiter 28' south. First conjunction of triple conjunction Jupiter/Uranus.
★
June 11 — Start of the
2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa
★
June 14–
June 20 — the
United States Golf Open 2010 is scheduled at
Pebble Beach Golf Links.
[4]
★
June 30 —
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will end her 6-year term as
President of the Philippines and complete her 9-year term due to her installment on
January 20,
2001 and will start their
15th Congress of the Philippines.
July
★ July — Japanese
House of Councillors Election.
★
July 9 — The final
Space Shuttle mission,
STS-133, will launch from
Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
★
July 11 — Total
solar eclipse (visible only in the South Pacific (esp. Easter Island) and southern South America).
★
July 11 — Final Match of the
2010 FIFA World Cup scheduled to play at
Soccer City stadium in
Johannesburg.
August
★
August 16 — FIBA World Basketball Championships will be held in Turkey.
★
August 19–
27 — The 26th
International Congress of Mathematicians will be held in
Hyderabad, India.
September
★
September 11 — Scheduled date for the opening of the "
Freedom Tower", the office tower replacing the World Trade Center after its destruction on
September 11,
2001 in New York, NY.
★
September 19 —
Sweden general election, 2010:
Sweden holds elections for the
Riksdag.
★
September 22 — Conjunction between Jupiter and Uranus, Jupiter 53' south. Second conjunction of triple conjunction Jupiter/Uranus.
★
September 25–
October 10 — Alltech
FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.
October
★
October 3 — Possible date for the
Brazilian presidential and parliamentary elections
★
October 3–
14 — The
2010 Commonwealth Games will be held in
Delhi,
India.
★ All-
Russia population
census is scheduled.
★ Opening of
New Pittsburgh Arena.
November
★
November 2 — Elections for the
United States Congress
★
November 12–
November 27 — 16th
Asian Games,
Guangzhou,
China
December
★
December 21 — Total
lunar eclipse
Unknown dates
★ The
Space Shuttle program will be retired by
NASA and replaced by
Project Constellation.
★
Microsoft's next
operating system, known as
Windows 7 is scheduled to be released.
★ The
XXI Central American and Caribbean Games start in
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.
★ The
Chicago Spire is estimated to be completed in this year. Once completed it will be the tallest building and freestanding structure in North America.
★
Australia plans to cease
analog television broadcasts.
★
Australia will have phased out the
incandescent light bulb
★ The first phase of the extension to the
East London Line of the
London Underground is scheduled for completion.
★
General Motors is confident that it can produce a commercially viable model of its
concept car, the
Hy-wire, by this year.
★ A new bridge of the
Robert Moses Causeway is set to be constructed next to the decomposing Fire Island Inlet span in Long Island, NY.
★ The
Circle Line in Singapore is scheduled to open.
★ A new casino/hotel called
Echelon Place in
Las Vegas, Nevada is scheduled to open.
★ The
CityRail Clearways Project is expected to be completed.
★ Brisbane's new NSBT (
North South Bypass Tunnel) is expected to be completed.
★
Israel by this year will have completed its
Security Barrier and will use it as the basis for the definitive border between
Israel and a
Palestinian state, according to Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, as reported
March 10 2006 by the
Wall Street Journal and many other newspapers and other news media. All Israeli settlements not protected by the barrier will have been evacuated.
★ The UK's analog TV Signal will be switched off in this year in favor of digital TV with
HTV West and
STV being the areas to switchover
[3].
★ The US government has the goal of getting 75% of Americans to eat two daily servings of fruit and three of vegetables by 2010, according to Dr. Larry Cohen of the Center for Disease Control, as reported by the Associated Press,
March 16,
2007.
★
NASA's
Hubble Space Telescope may be deorbited by 2010.
★
NTT DoCoMo will launch
Super 3G cellular network in
Japan with download speeds of 100
Mbits.
★ The
World Lacrosse Championship will take place in
Manchester,
England
★ The
International Space Station is expected to be completed.
★ Liverpool Football Club's New Stadium Stanley Park will be completed.
Major religious holidays
★
February 1 —
Imbolc, a
Cross-quarter day (Celebrated on
February 2 in some places)
★
March 20 —
Spring Equinox, also known as
Ostara
★
April 4 —
Easter
★
May 1 —
Beltane, a
Cross-quarter day
★
August 1 —
Lammas, a
Cross-quarter day
★
September 23 —
Fall Equinox, also known as
Mabon
★
November 1 —
Samhain, a
Cross-quarter day and
Neopagan new year
★
December 25 —
Christmas
2010 in fiction and popular culture
Computer and video games
★ '', also known as ''Ace Combat: Squadron Leader'' (2004): War breaks out between Yuktobania and Osea in September, ending on
New Year's Eve.
★ Set in 2010: ''
Uplink'' (2001)
★ Set in 2010: '' (2006)
★ Set in 2010: ''
Psychic Force'' (1996)
Film
★ Set in 2010: '' (1984)
Literature
★ Set in 2010: '' (
1982) by
Arthur C. Clarke.
★ Set in 2010: ''
In The Presence of Mine Enemies'' (
2003) by
Harry Turtledove.
Music
★
Pearl Jam's song "
Do the Evolution" references the world in this year: "2010, watch it go to fire."
★
Bad Religion have a song titled "Ten in 2010" about this year on their album, ''
The Gray Race''.
Television
★ ''
Eureka'' ("
Once in a Lifetime," 2006): Stark is given the opportunity to investigate "the Artifact." After it is tested, time is warped to 2010 and the town is a very different place.
★ ''
Macross'': The surface of the Earth is decimated in 2010 by the
Zentradi in a final attack by the Zentradi, that also ends in the defeat of the Zentradi fleet due the operation ''
Minmay Attack'' done as a counterattack by the humans.
★ Set in 2010:
★
★ ''
Knight Rider 2010'' (1994 movie)
★
★ ''
The Simpsons'' ("
Lisa's Wedding," 1995)
★
★ ''
Stargate SG-1'' ("
2010," 2001)
★
★ ''
The Transformers'' (1986–1987 season)
References
1. Experts clash over millennium bugbear — UK Times
2. [1]
3. [2]
4. http://www.usopen.com/future/ retrieved 14 June 2007