'2020' ('
MMXX') will be a
leap year starting on Wednesday of the
Gregorian calendar.
2020 the BAND
For information on 2020 the BAND from Kansas City visit http://www.adamblueproductions.com/2020
Pronunciation
:''See also:
Year pronunciation''
Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century, including 2020, 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.
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, ''. Experts also 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 people, ranging from
linguistic and
academic experts to Internet
bloggers, 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 timeframe for change is 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 will occur in
2011, to "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. 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, the
Vancouver olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by ''Vancouver 2010'' as "the ''twenty-ten'' Olympics", and the
London olympics, taking place in 2012, are also being officially referred to by ''London 2012'' as "the ''twenty-twelve'' Olympics".
Chicago 2016, which operates the official Chicago bid for the
2016 games, refers to the "''twenty-sixteen'' games".
Astronomical predictions for the Year 2020
★
February 20, 2020 (
the 5th Day of the Week) at Time: 20:20:20, the date will read '2020-02-20 20:20:20'.
Scheduled events
★ March —
Yahoo! Inc.'s 25th birthday; opening of the
Yahoo! Time Capsule.
★ June —
European Football Championship
★
October 31 —
Halloween, on a full moon
★
November 3 — Presidential election and 117th Congressional election in the
United States
Confirmed but unscheduled events
The following events will happen in 2020, but haven't been scheduled yet.
★
XXXII summer Olympic Games to be held
★ Last
nuclear power plant in
Germany to be shut down
★
Schapelle Corby to be released from prison for drug trafficking in Indonesia
★ The World Wrestling Entertainment will present its 33rd edition of Wrestle Mania.
★
Super Bowl LIII to be held.
Anniversaries
★
August 26 — 100th anniversary of the U.S.
Suffragist victory, confirming the right of female citizens to vote under the
19th Amendment of the
United States Constitution
Predicted or expected events
The following events are predicted or expected to happen in 2020.
'General predictions'
★ British
newspaper The Guardian published a series of magazines in September 2004 predicting life in 2020
★
''Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project'' was published in December 2004 with a long-term view of the future. The NIC is the center for midterm and long-term strategic thinking within the US Government.
★ In Australia,
Queensland is expected to overtake Victoria as the second most populous state of the nation.
★ Mayans Predict Age of Transition.
'Space'
★ According to current plans and workings for
Project Constellation,
NASA should be returning Humans to the
Moon by 2020.
★ The
Russian Federal Space Agency says that they plan to be mining
helium-3 from the
moon by this year.
★ Earliest year that power aboard the space probes
Voyager 1 and
Voyager 2 is expected to terminate (though either probe may function past this date).
★
NASA's
New Horizons spacecraft is expected to fly beyond
Pluto and
Charon to the
Kuiper Belt Objects.
'Military'
★
Future Force Warrior to be phased into United States armed forces.
★ According to military analyst
Thomas W. Chittum, 2020 is a likely date for the beginning of '' in the
United States, most probably, he predicts, in
Compton due to a white gang called
superfly and where, he believes,
Chicano activists will declare an independent republic of
Aztlan.
'Politics'
★
Trinidad and Tobago is expected to reach the status of a
developed country under the Vision 2020 development plan initiated by Prime Minister Patrick Manning.-A.I.
★ Predicted proclamation of
Malaysia as a developed country, under the
Wawasan 2020 plan initiated by former Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad.
★
India's
2020 Vision of becoming a developed, powerful, world
superpower and an influential national-state is expected to be fulfilled.
★ The
People's Republic of China has stated it intends to take back
Taiwan under Chinese rule at latest by 2020. The country is also predicted to become the world's largest
economy by this time.
'Construction'
★ Completion of restoration works to the
Forbidden City in the
People's Republic of China.
★ Completion of the
National Trunk Highway System in the
People's Republic of China.
★ Completion of the construction of the
Second Avenue Line of the
New York City Subway.
★ Completion of the urban revitalization of downtown
Lisbon, Portugal.
'Technology'
★
Artificial intelligence researcher and
transhumanist Raymond Kurzweil, predicts that computers will have the raw computational capacities equivalent to the human brain.
★ Self-driving cars on smart-highways
★ 3-D video conferencing
2020 in fiction
Comics
★ Comics set in 2020:
★
★ ''
2020 Visions'' (1997–1998)
★
★ ''
Iron Man 2020''
★
★ ''
Superman 2020''
Computer and video games
★ Games set in 2020:
★
★ '' (2003)
★
★ ''
Perfect Dark Zero'' (2005)
★
★ ''
Super Baseball 2020'' (1991)
★
★ ''
TimeSplitters'' (2000) (the Planet X mission)
★
★ '' (2006)
★
★ '' (1991)
★
★ ''
Keitai Denjū Telefang'' (2000)
.
Half-Life 2 (2004)
.
Half-Life 2 Episode One (2006) - possibly because it concludes Half-Life 2
Film
★ Films set in 2020:
★
★ ''
Roujin Z'' (1991)
★
★ ''
Mission to Mars'' (2000)
★
★ ''
Reign of Fire'' (2002)
Television
★ Television programs set in 2020:
★
★ ''
Nights of God'' (1987)
★
★ ''
Sealab 2020'' (1972)
★
★ ''
Terrahawks'' (1983–1984)
★
★ ''
Supervolcano'' (2005)
See also
★
Joint Vision 2020
★
India 2020
References
1. Experts clash over millennium bugbear — UK Times
2. [1]
3. [2]