2021

Millennium:	3rd millennium
Centuries:	20th century 21st century 22nd century
Decades:	2000s 2010s 2020s 2030s 2040s
Years:	2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

2021 by topic:

Arts

Animation (Anime)–Architecture – Comics – Film – Home video – Literature (Poetry) – Music (Classical, Country, Hip hop, Jazz, Latin, Metal, Rock, UK, US) – Radio – Photo – Television (UK, US) – Video games

Politics and government

Elections – International leaders – Sovereign states Sovereign state leaders – Territorial governors

Science and technology

Archaeology – Biotechnology – Computing – Palaeontology – Quantum computing and communication – Space/Astronomy – Spaceflight

Environment and environmental sciences

Birding/Ornithology

Climate change

Transportation

Aviation – Rail transport

Sports

American football – Association football – Athletics (sport) – Badminton – Baseball – Basketball – Chess – Combat sports – Cricket – Cycling – Golf – Ice hockey – Rugby union – Swimming – Tennis – Volleyball

By place

Afghanistan – Albania – Algeria – Andorra – Angola – Antarctica – Argentina – Armenia – Australia – Austria – Azerbaijan – Bangladesh – The Bahamas – Bahrain – Barbados – Belarus – Belgium – Benin – Bhutan – Bolivia – Bosnia and Herzegovina – Botswana – Brazil – Bulgaria – Burkina Faso – Burundi – Cambodia – Cameroon – Canada – Cape Verde – Central African Republic – Chad – Chile – China – Colombia – Costa Rica – Comoros – Croatia – Cuba – Cyprus – Czechia – Denmark – Ecuador – Egypt – El Salvador – Eritrea – Estonia – Ethiopia – European Union – Eswatini – Fiji – Finland – France – Gabon – Georgia – Germany – Ghana – Greece – Guatemala – Guinea – Guinea-Bissau – Guyana – Haiti – Honduras – Hong Kong – Hungary – Iceland – India – Indonesia – Iran – Iraq – Ireland – Israel – Italy – Ivory Coast – Japan – Jordan – Kazakhstan – Kenya – Kiribati – Kosovo – Kuwait – Kyrgyzstan – Laos – Latvia – Lebanon – Lesotho – Liberia – Libya – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Macau – Madagascar – Marshall Islands – Malawi – Malaysia – Mali – Malta – Mauritania – Mexico – Micronesia – Moldova – Mongolia – Montenegro – Morocco – Mozambique – Myanmar – Nauru – Namibia – Nepal – Netherlands – New Zealand – Nicaragua – Niger – Nigeria – North Korea – North Macedonia – Norway – Oman – Pakistan – Palau – Palestine – Panama – Papua New Guinea – Paraguay – Peru – Philippines – Poland – Portugal – Qatar – Romania – Russia – Rwanda – Samoa – Saudi Arabia – Senegal – Serbia – Seychelles – Singapore – Slovakia – Slovenia – Somalia – South Africa – Solomon Islands – South Korea – South Sudan – Spain – Sri Lanka – Sudan – Sweden – Switzerland – Syria – Taiwan – Tajikistan – Tanzania – Thailand – Togo – Tonga – Tunisia – Turkey – Turkmenistan – Tuvalu – Uganda – Ukraine – United Arab Emirates – United Kingdom – United States – Uruguay – Uzbekistan – Vanuatu – Venezuela – Vietnam – Yemen – Zambia – Zimbabwe

Other topics

Religious leaders

Birth and death categories

Births – Deaths

Establishments and disestablishments categories

Establishments – Disestablishments

Works and introductions categories

Works – Introductions Works entering the public domain

v t e

2021 in various calendars

Gregorian calendar	2021 MMXXI
Ab urbe condita	2774
Armenian calendar	1470 ԹՎ ՌՆՀ
Assyrian calendar	6771
Bahá'í calendar	177–178
Balinese saka calendar	1942–1943
Bengali calendar	1428
Berber calendar	2971
British Regnal year	69  Eliz. 2  – 70  Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2565
Burmese calendar	1383
Byzantine calendar	7529–7530
Chinese calendar	庚子年 (Metal  Rat) 4717 or 4657     — to — 辛丑年 (Metal  Ox) 4718 or 4658
Coptic calendar	1737–1738
Discordian calendar	3187
Ethiopian calendar	2013–2014
Hebrew calendar	5781–5782
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2077–2078
- Shaka Samvat	1942–1943
- Kali Yuga	5121–5122
Holocene calendar	12021
Igbo calendar	1021–1022
Iranian calendar	1399–1400
Islamic calendar	1442–1443
Japanese calendar	Reiwa 3 (令和３年)
Javanese calendar	1954–1955
Juche calendar	110
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4354
Minguo calendar	ROC 110 民國110年
Nanakshahi calendar	553
Thai solar calendar	2564
Tibetan calendar	阳金鼠年 (male Iron-Rat) 2147 or 1766 or 994     — to — 阴金牛年 (female Iron-Ox) 2148 or 1767 or 995
Unix time	1609459200 – 1640995199

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2021 .

2021 (MMXXI) is the current year, and is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2021st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 21st year of the 3rd millennium, the 21st year of the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s decade.

2021 is scheduled to host most major events that were originally scheduled for 2020, including the Eurovision Song Contest, UEFA Euro 2020, 2020 Summer Olympics, 2021 Copa América and Expo 2020, events that were postponed or cancelled due to the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. ^[1]

The United Nations declared 2021 as the International Year of Peace and Trust, ^[2] the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, ^[3] the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, ^[4] and the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour. ^[5]

Events

January

• January 1 – The African Continental Free Trade Area comes into effect. ^[6]
• January 4
  • A British judge blocks the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States, while Mexico offers him political asylum. ^[7]
  • The border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia reopens. ^[8]
• January 6
  • 2021 storming of the United States Capitol: Pro-Donald Trump protesters siege the US Capitol building, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election and forcing Congress to evacuate; five die, including a police officer and a woman who is shot and killed inside the Capitol. ^{[9] [10]} The event is classified as a domestic terrorist attack and draws international condemnation. ^[11]
  • 2019–20 Hong Kong protests: The Hong Kong Police Force arrests over 50 democracy activists under the national security law. ^[12]
• January 10 – Kim Jong-un is elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, inheriting the title from his late father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011. ^[13]
• January 11 – COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 passes 90 million worldwide. ^[14]
• January 15
  • The Rutte Government in the Netherlands resigns over a welfare scandal. ^[15]
  • COVID-19 pandemic: The global death toll from COVID-19 passes 2 million. ^[16]
• January 20 – Joe Biden is inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States. ^[17]

Predicted and scheduled events

• January 23 – The Democratic Party of Socialists is scheduled to convene its 8th Special Congress in Montenegro, the first one after its fall from power, after ruling the country for 30 years.
• January 24 – Portugal will hold presidential elections.
• February 7 – Super Bowl LV is scheduled to be held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, United States. ^[18]
• February 28 – The 78th Golden Globe Awards are scheduled to be held in the United States. ^[19]
• March 14 – The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards are scheduled to be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. ^[20]
• March 17 – The Dutch General Elections for the House of Representatives of the Netherlands are scheduled to take place.
• March 23 – The Israeli General Elections are scheduled to take place, the fourth Knesset election in 2 years.
• April 4 – Bulgaria will hold parliamentary elections.
• April 19 – Raúl Castro will resign as First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, ending 62 years of rule by the Castro brothers in Cuba. ^[21]
• April 25 – The 93rd Academy Awards are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles.
• May 18 – 22 – The Eurovision Song Contest 2021 is scheduled to be held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, after the cancellation of the 2020 contest due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^{[22] [23]}
• May 26 – The second-shortest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century will occur, lasting just 14 minutes and 30 seconds. ^[24]
• June – The 2020 CONCACAF Nations League Finals is scheduled to be held in the United States. They were rescheduled from June 4–7, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[25]
• June 10 – Annular solar eclipse. ^[26]
• June 11 – July 11 – The UEFA Euro 2020 is scheduled to be held across Europe, and the 2021 Copa América to be held in Argentina and Colombia. Both competitions were rescheduled from June 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^{[27] [28]}
• June 18 – Israel is scheduled to hold a presidential election.
• July 23 – August 8 – The 2020 Summer Olympics are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan. They were rescheduled from July 24, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[29]
• September 5 – The Hong Kong Special Administration Region in China is scheduled to hold an election for the Legislative Council.
• September 13 – Norway plans to hold a parliamentary election, with all seats in the Storting up for election.
• September 26 – Germany is scheduled to hold the federal election for the Bundestag on this date.
• October 1 – The 2020 World Expo is scheduled to begin. Its opening was rescheduled from October 20, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[30]
• October 22 – Japan is scheduled to hold a general election for the House of Representatives.
• October 23 – November 27 – The 2021 Rugby League World Cup is scheduled to take place in England. ^[31]
• October 31 – NASA, the ESA, the Canadian Space Agency, and the Space Telescope Science Institute plan to launch the James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. ^[32]
• November – Planned launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mission to the Moon, the first integrated flight of the agency's Orion MPCV and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. ^{[33] [ importance? ]}
• November 1 – November 12 – The 2021 UN Climate Change Conference is scheduled to take place in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. It was rescheduled from November 9, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[34]
• December 4 – Total solar eclipse. ^[35]

Date unknown

• The Indian Space Research Organisation plans to launch the Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission in late 2021 or early 2022. ^[36]
• China will begin construction of a large modular space station.
• The Large Hadron Collider will recommence operations after a period of renovations. ^[37]
• The Grand Egyptian Museum, described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, is expected to be completed. ^[38]
• The first light of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is anticipated to occur in 2021 with full science operations beginning a year later. ^{[39] [40] [41]}
• Plan S, an initiative for open access science publishing launched in 2018, ^{[42] [43]} requires that from 2021 papers from over 10 European countries that resulted from research funded by public grants must be published under an open license in compliant journals or platforms, available to all. ^{[44] [45]}

Deaths

January

Main article: Deaths in January 2021

• January 1
  • Carlos do Carmo, Portuguese singer (b. 1939) ^[46]
  • Elmira Minita Gordon, 1st Governor-General of Belize (b. 1930) ^[47]
• January 2 – Modibo Keita, 8th Prime Minister of Mali (b. 1942) ^[48]
• January 3 – Gerry Marsden, English musician (b. 1942) ^[49]
• January 4
  • Tanya Roberts, American actress (b. 1955) ^[50]
  • Martinus J. G. Veltman, Dutch Nobel theoretical physicist (b. 1931) ^[51]
  • Albert Roux, French chef and restaurateur (b. 1935) ^[52]
• January 5 – Colin Bell, English footballer (b. 1946) ^[53]
• January 7
  • Michael Apted, English filmmaker (b. 1941) ^[54]
  • Henri Schwery, Swiss cardinal (b. 1932) ^[55]
  • Tommy Lasorda, American baseball player and manager (b. 1927) ^{[56] [ importance? ]}
• January 9 – Isaak Khalatnikov, Soviet and Russian physicist (b. 1919) ^[57]
• January 11
  • Sheldon Adelson, American businessman and casino magnate (b. 1933) ^[58]
  • Kathleen Heddle, Canadian rower (b. 1965) ^[59]
• January 13
  • Siegfried Fischbacher, German-born American magician (b. 1939) ^[60]
  • Eusébio Oscar Scheid, Brazilian cardinal (b. 1932) ^[61]
• January 16 – Phil Spector, American record producer and convicted murderer (b. 1939) ^[62]
• January 18 – Jean-Pierre Bacri, Algerian-born French actor (b. 1951) ^[63]
• January 20 – Mira Furlan, Croatian actress and singer (b. 1955) ^[64]
• January 21 – Nathalie Delon, French actress (b. 1941) ^[65]
• January 22
  • Hank Aaron, American baseball player (b. 1934) ^{[66] [ importance? ]}
  • Luton Shelton, Jamaican footballer (b. 1985) ^{[67] [ importance? ]}

References

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6. "After months of COVID delays, African free trade bloc launches". Al Jazeera. January 1, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
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8. Salem, Mostafa; Alam, Hande Atay (January 5, 2021). "Saudi Arabia and Qatar agree to reopen airspace and maritime borders". CNN.
9. "Woman dies after shooting in U.S. Capitol; D.C. National Guard activated after mob breaches building". The Washington Post. January 6, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
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13. Hyonhee Shin (January 11, 2021). "Mixed signals for North Korean leader's sister as Kim seeks to cement power". Reuters.
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47. Humes, Aaron (January 2, 2021). "Dame Elmira Minita Gordon, trailblazing educator and first Governor-General, dead at 90". BreakingBelizeNews.com.
48. Rédaction Africanews (January 2, 2021). "Ex-Malian PM Modibo Keïta dies at 78". Africanews .
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51. McClain, Dylan Loeb (January 18, 2021). "Martinus Veltman, Who Made Key Contribution in Physics, Dies at 89". The New York Times.
52. "Albert Roux: Chef and culinary 'legend' dies aged 85". BBC News. January 6, 2021.
53. Pollard, Rob (January 5, 2021). "Colin Bell: 1946-2021". Manchester City F.C.
54. Barnes, Mike (January 8, 2021). "Michael Apted Dead: 'Coal Miner's Daughter' Director, 'Seven Up' Documentarian Was 79". The Hollywood Reporter .
55. "Eglise – Décès du cardinal valaisan Henri Schwery". Tribune de Genève (in French). January 7, 2021.
56. Burke, Don (January 8, 2021). "Tommy Lasorda, Dodgers icon, dead at 93". New York Post.
57. "Last physicist involved in creation of Soviet nuclear bomb dies at 101". Panorama. January 9, 2021.
58. Sullivan, Andy; Dunham, Will (January 13, 2021). "Las Vegas casino magnate, U.S. Republican donor Sheldon Adelson dies". Reuters.
59. Barnes, Dan (January 14, 2021). "Canadian rower and Olympic champion Kathleen Heddle dies". Toronto Sun. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
60. "Magier Siegfried Fischbacher ist tot". Spiegel (in German).
61. "Muere de covid el cardenal brasileño y obispo emérito de Río Oscar Scheid". SWI (in Spanish). January 13, 2021.
62. "Phil Spector, music producer and convicted murderer, dies aged 81". ABC News (Australia) . January 17, 2021.
63. Jean-Pierre Bacri est mort (in French)
64. Stedman, Alex; Stedman, Alex (January 22, 2021). "Mira Furlan, 'Babylon 5' and 'Lost' Actress, Dies at 65". Variety. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
65. Décès de Nathalie Delon, actrice et ancienne épouse d'Alain Delon (in French)
66. "Baseball icon Hank Aaron dead at age 86". al. January 22, 2021.
67. Former Reggae Boyz Player Luton Shelton Has Died