The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domini era or the Common Era in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The century began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100. The years starting from 2001 to 2011 are now historical; the years ranging from 2012 to 2100 are subject to futurology and predictions. As of now, &1000000000000001100000011 years and &10000000000000126000000126 days of the 21st century have passed. In contemporary history, the 21st century began with the United States as the sole superpower in the absence of the Soviet Union. As... the Cold War was over and terrorism on the rise, exemplified by the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, the United States and its allies turned their attention to the Middle East and North Africa. Digital technology, in its early stages of mainstream use in the 1980s and 1990s, became widely accepted by most of the world, though concerns about stress and antisociality from the overuse of mobile phones, the Internet and related technologies remains controversial.
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