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2020 (MMXX) will be a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.

[edit] Pronunciation

See also: Year pronunciation 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, 2001: A Space Odyssey. 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 time frame as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many^[2][3], while 2011^[1] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest time frame for change is usually placed at 2020^[1] or 2100.

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 time frame 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".

[edit] Predicted and scheduled events

• March 2 - Yahoo! Inc.'s 25th birthday; opening of the Yahoo! Time Capsule.
• June - European Football Championship
• November 3 - United States Presidential election. Assuming the relevant Constitutional provisions are not changed before then it will be the first time that Americans born in the 21st century will be eligible to vote in a Presidential election.

[edit] Unknown dates

• India becoming a super power
• NASA starts moon colonization for future human exploration to Mars^[4]
• 2020 Summer Olympics
• Last nuclear power plant in Germany will be shut down
• British newspaper The Guardian published a series of magazines in September 2004 predicting life in 2020. These predictions include widespread use of artificially intelligent cars, "smart" clothing incorporating computer chips, and green energy sources.
• 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.
• Global oil production is expected to peak.^[5]
• World population is expected to reach 7.6 billion people.^[6]
• 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. ^[7]
• China will probably also land astronauts on the Moon by 2020, according to Scientific American, March 2008.
• 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.
• NASA Venus Surface Explorer mission to Venus (part of the New Frontiers program)
• Future Force Warrior to be phased into United States armed forces.
• The Philippines becomes a developed country.
• Trinidad and Tobago becomes a developed country under the Vision 2020 development plan initiated by Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
• Malaysia becomes a developed country, under the Wawasan 2020 plan initiated by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
• Chile becomes a developed country.
• Phase 4 of New York City's Second Avenue Subway T-Line (Houston St. to Hanover Sqr.) is scheduled for completion (2017 earliest-2020 at the latest)
• If current trends continue, according to the United Nations, the Aral Sea could disappear completely by this year. ^[8]
• Volvo hopes to use radar, sonar and other advanced technologies to create a crash-proof car by 2020. ^[9]
• The IBM Institute for Business Value concluded from their study "Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos" that all automobiles will have some level of hybridization by 2020. ^[10] Toyota's vice president in charge of powertrain development also believes that all Toyota cars produced will be hybrid vehicles by the year 2020. ^[11]

[edit] 2020 in fiction

[edit] Comics

• Comics set in 2020:
  • 2020 Visions (1997–1998)
  • Iron Man 2020
  • Superman 2020

[edit] Computer and video games

• Games set in 2020:
  • Tom Clancy's EndWar (2008)
  • Command and Conquer: Generals (2003)
  • Perfect Dark Zero (2005)
  • Super Baseball 2020 (1991)
  • TimeSplitters (2000) (the Planet X mission)
  • Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception (2006)
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (1991) (The Level "Neon Night Riders" Takes place in 2020)
  • Keitai Denjū Telefang (2000)
  • Crysis (2007)
  • Raid 2020 (1989)

[edit] Film

• Films set in 2020:
  • Roujin Z (1991)
  • Mission to Mars (2000)
  • Reign of Fire (2002)
  • Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)

[edit] Television

• Television programs set in 2020:
  • Knights of God (1987)
  • Sealab 2020 (1972)
  • Terrahawks (1983–1984)
  • Dark Angel (2000-2002), second half of Season One and first half of Season Two
  • Supervolcano ^[12] (2005)

[edit] Music

• Songs about 2020, or including 2020
  • Ace Enders and a Million Different People has a song on their debut CD, The Secret Wars called "Bring Back Love (Year 2020)" It's about helping the financially unstable and bringing back a general love among humans.
  • In Head Automatica's song, "Graduation Day", the music video foretold that in the year 2020, the goth girl who is graduating will become the President of the United States.

[edit] See also

• Joint Vision 2020
• India 2020
• Australia 2020 Summit

[edit] References