2011
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2011 (MMXI) is the current year, a common year that started on a Saturday. In the Gregorian calendar, it is the 2011th year of the Common Era or the Anno Domini designation; the 11th year of the 3rd millennium and of the 21st century; and the 2nd of the 2010s decade.
The United Nations has designated 2011 the International Year of Forests and International Year of Chemistry.[1]
Events
- January 1
- Start of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union.
- Estonia joins the Eurozone.
- Lithuania receives chairmanship of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
- January 9 – Southern Sudan holds a referendum on independence.
- January 11 – Flooding and mudslides in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro kill more than 800.[2]
- January 14 – 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests: The Tunisian government falls after a month of increasingly violent protests.
- January 24 – At least 36 people are killed and more than 100 others wounded in a bombing at Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, Russia.[3]
- February 11 – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigns after widespread protests calling for his resignation, leaving control of Egypt in the hands of the military until a general election can be held.[4]
- March 7 – The uncertainty of continued Libyan oil output causes crude oil prices to rise 20% over a two week period following the 2010–2011 Middle East and North Africa protests.[5]
- March 11 – A 8.9[6] magnitude earthquake hit the city of Sendai, in the Miyagi Prefecturate of Japan. The quake produced devastating tsunamis in Japan and tsunami warnings in 50 countries and territories. Over 600 people have died and over 780 remain missing. [7][8]
Predicted and scheduled events
May
June
- June 15 – Total lunar eclipse, mainly visible in Africa, India, and the Middle East.
July
- July 1 – Start of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
- July 9 – The Republic of South Sudan is scheduled to secede from Sudan.
- July 12 – Neptune completes its first full orbit since its discovery in 1846.[9][10]
- The Dawn spacecraft is scheduled to arrive at the minor planet 4 Vesta during July. The exact date remains uncertain.
August
- August 15 – The comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková will pass within 0.0601 astronomical units (about 5,589,300 miles (8,995,100 km)) of Earth.[11]
- August 15–21 – XIII World Youth Day will be held in Madrid, Spain.
September
- September 8 - NASA Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory Launch to study the lunar interior.
December
- December 10 – Total lunar eclipse, visible mainly in Asia, Australia and Alaska.
Unknown dates
- California will open the world's largest solar power plant.[12]
- The Nord Stream natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will be completed.
- Blue Waters, a petascale supercomputer being designed and built as a joint effort between the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and IBM is expected to be completed in this year.
- Predicted solar maximum (also predicted by other research groups for 2012).[13]
- A new definition of the kilogram, based on universal constants, is likely to be announced at the 24th General Conference on Weights and Measures.[14]
Deaths
January
- January 2
- Anne Francis, American actress (born 1930)
- Pete Postlethwaite, British actor (born 1946)
- Richard Winters, American Paratrooper (born 1918)
- January 4
- Prince Ali-Reza of Iran (born 1966)
- Gerry Rafferty, Scottish musician (born 1947)
- January 15
- Nat Lofthouse, English footballer (born 1925)
- Susannah York, British actress (born 1939)
- January 18 – Sargent Shriver, American politician and diplomat (born 1915)
- January 21 – Dennis Oppenheim, American artist (born 1938)
- January 24 – Bernd Eichinger, German film producer and director (born 1949)
- January 29 – Milton Babbitt, American composer (born 1916)
- January 30 – John Barry, British film score composer (born 1933)
February
- February 3 – Maria Schneider, French actress (born 1952)
- February 5 – Brian Jacques, English author (born 1939)
- February 6
- Josefa Iloilo, 3rd President of Fiji (born 1920)
- Gary Moore, Irish musician (born 1952)
- February 8 – Cesare Rubini, Italian basketball player and coach (born 1923)
- February 14 – George Shearing, Anglo-American jazz pianist (born 1919)
- February 27 – Necmettin Erbakan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey (born 1926)
- February 28 – Jane Russell, American actress (born 1921)
March
- March 2
- Shahbaz Bhatti, Christian Pakistani Minister for Minorities
- March 4
- Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1924)
- Simon van der Meer, Dutch physicist (born 1925)
- March 5 – Alberto Granado, Cuban writer and scientist (born 1922)
- March 6 – Ján Popluhár, Slovak footballer (born 1935)
Major religious holidays
- January 7 (6 in Armenia) – Orthodox Christmas.
- February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter day.
- March 8 – Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras, end of Mardi Gras / Carnival season.
- March 9 – Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent).
- March 20 – Holi.
- March 21 – (Northern hemisphere) Vernal equinox, also known as Ostara & Persian New Year.
- April 18 – Passover begins at sundown.
- April 24 – Easter (Western and Orthodox).
- May 1 – Beltane, a Cross-quarter day.
- June 7 – Shavuot begins.
- August 1
- Ramadhan Begins — Islam.
- Lammas, a Cross-quarter day.
- August 31 – Eid al-Fitr.
- September 23 – (Northern hemisphere) Autumnal equinox, also known as Mabon.
- September 28 – Rosh Hashana begins at sundown.
- October 7 – Yom Kippur begins at sundown.
- October 26 – Diwali, a religious holiday in Hinduism.
- November 6 – Eid al-Adha.
- November 26 – Islamic New Year.
- December 20 – Chanukah.
- December 25 – Christmas.
In fiction
Other
- In 2011, Tallinn and Turku are designated as European capitals of culture by the European Union.
References
- ^ "United Nations Observances". United Nations. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
- ^ "Equipe aeropolicial improvisa e arrisca para resgatar vítimas das chuvas no RJ". UOL (in Portuguese). Folha. 20 January 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Amie Ferris-Rotman (24 January 2011). "Suicide bomber kills 31 at Russia's biggest airport". Reuters. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
- ^ "Hosni Mubarak resigns as president". AlJazeera. 11 February 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
- ^ Dicolo, Jerry A.; Baskin, Brian (February 22, 2011). "The Stealth Return of $100 Oil". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ^ "Tsunami warning center raises magnitude of Japan quake to 9.1". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. March 11, 2011. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
- ^ Voigt, Kevin (March 11, 2011). "U.S., Canada threatened by tsunami". CNN.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|accesssdate=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Tsunami warnings and advisories remain across Pacific region". CNN. March 11, 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2011.
- ^ Munsell, K. (November 13, 2007). "Neptune: Facts & Figures". NASA. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Anonymous (February 9, 2007). "Horizons Output for Neptune 2010–2011". Retrieved February 25, 2008. — Many Numbers generated using the Solar System Dynamics Group, Horizons On-Line Ephemeris System.
- ^ "45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova". Kazuo Kinoshita. 9 November 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
- ^ [dead link]"CNN article relating to Californians plan to have largest Solar Plant". June 9, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2007. [dead link]
- ^ "NASA article relating to Solar Maximum". March 12, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2007.
- ^ Lublinski, Jan (28 March 2010). "Das Ende des Urkilos: Warum das Maß aller Massen ausgedient hat". Deutschlandfunk. Template:De icon.