) will be a common year starting on
in accordance with the Gregorian calendar
. It will also be the
first year of the 2010s
Proclaimed by the United Nations, 2010 is the International Year of
Pronouncing 2010 and subsequent years
Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how
specific years of the 21st century should be pronounced in English.
Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand
X" for years of the current
decade, in theory this could mean any year up to 2999.
One article suggests that since, for example, former years such as
1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh-five" and
"nineteen oh-five", the year 2005 should naturally be pronounced as
"twenty oh-five", and that majority usage of "two thousand (and)
" 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
In addition, the Vancouver Olympics
taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by
as "the twenty-ten Olympics". The London
Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006
has restricted the
commercial use of the terms "two thousand and twelve" and "twenty
twelve", to protect the London 2012
According to a recent press release, David
, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the
, has predicted that the change of
pronunciation to "twenty X
" will occur in 2011, as
"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 that of "twenty ten", but the flow of
"twenty eleven" beats "two thousand and eleven". Alternatively, Ian
Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary
the change will occur in 2013 (as 2012 is often referred to as "two
thousand and twelve").
Predicted and scheduled events
Major religious holidays
- February 1 – Imbolc, a Cross-quarter
day (Celebrated on February 2 in some
- February 16 – Shrove Tuesday / Mardi
Gras, end of Mardi Gras / Carnival
- February 17 – Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent)
- March 20 – Spring Equinox, also known as Ostara
- April 4 – Easter
- May 1 – Beltane, a Cross-quarter day
- August 1 – Lammas, a Cross-quarter
- September 8–September 10 – Rosh Hashanah, the "Jewish New Year"
- September 17/18 – Yom Kippur,
the holiest holiday in Judaism
- September 23 – Fall Equinox, also known as Mabon
- November 1 – Samhain, a Cross-quarter day and Neopagan new year
- November 16 – Eid al-Adha, a religious festival in Islam
- December 25 – Christmas
Computer and video games
- Pearl Jam's song "Do the Evolution" references the world in
this year: "I crawled the earth, but now I'm higher. 2010, watch it
go to fire."
- Bad Religion have a song titled
"Ten in 2010" about this year on their album, The Gray Race.
- The Mint Chicks have a song
titled "2010", which is their first song recorded as a 3 piece
after the departure of bassist Mike in 2007. It is the b-side to
the Walking Off A Cliff Again 7" vinyl, and will appear on their
2009 album Screens.
- Macross: The surface of the
Earth is decimated in 2010 by the Zentradi
in a final attack that also ends in the defeat of their fleet due
to the operation Minmay Attack done as a counterattack by
Transformers (1986–1987 season)
- Alvin and
The Chipmunks episode "Big Dreams" (1987), Simon's time
machine reveals two possible future scenarios for The Chipmunks and
Chipettes as adults in 2010; one shows them as being rich, the
other as being poor.
- Knight Rider 2010
(1994 TV movie)
- The Simpsons: In the
episode "Lisa's Wedding" (1995), the
titular wedding is set for 2010.
- Maico 2010 (1998)
- The Simpsons: In the
episode "Little Girl in the
Big Ten" (2002), as Superintendent
Chalmers is awarding Principal
Skinner with the Seymour Skinner parking annex, the plaque
states Skinner's year of birth and estimated year of death: 1953 -
- seaQuest DSV: In this
show, the Florida Marlins win the
World Series in 2010. Lucas Wolenczak wears a Marlins jersey with
this notation during the show.
- Stargate SG-1 ("2010," 2001)
- Eureka ("Once in a Lifetime,"
2006): Stark is given the opportunity to investigate "the
Artifact." After it is tested, time is warped to 2010 and the town
is a very different place.
- Code Geass: The Holy
Britannian Empire begins the invasion of Japan. (2010 of the
- Rugrats: There is an episode
entitled "Reptar 2010" (first aired in 1993), where the main
characters (babies) imagine themselves as their favorite fictional
dinosaur, Reptar (a Godzilla-like creature), destroying a city.
Most likely set in the year 2010.
- Doctor Who: The episode
Planet of the Dead (2009) is
partly set in 2010.
- Times Online
- London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act
Crown 2006; Accessed February 22, 2007
- Experts clash over millennium
- Annular Solar Eclipse of 2010 January 15,
- Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 2001 to
2100 ( 2001 CE to 2100 CE ), NASA
- NASA's Shuttle and Rocket Missions
- Peru to launch a nanosatellite in 2010
- Peru to launch its first nanosatellite into space
- El primer nanosatélite peruano llegará al espacio
- El Perú lanzará su primer satélite al espacio a
mediados del 2010 (in spanish)
- Sources: National Geographic, October 2007;
Scientific American, October 2007