Katana VentraIP

2021

2021 (MMXXI) was 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 and the 21st century, and the 2nd year of the 2020s decade.

Similar to the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued in 2021. Most major events scheduled for 2020 that were postponed due to the pandemic were hosted in 2021, including the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference, Expo 2020, and sporting events such as UEFA Euro 2020, the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, as well as the 2021 Copa América.[1]


2021 additionally witnessed the rise of non-fungible tokens as a part of the global economy[2] and numerous advancements in space exploration, particularly by the United Arab Emirates, NASA and SpaceX, including the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. Civil unrest grew in 2021, with coups occurring in Sudan, Myanmar, Mali and Guinea, and insurrections occurring in Armenia and the United States.

January 1

African Continental Free Trade Area

– The border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia reopens.[5]

Crowd outside the US Capitol on January 6

January 4

– Supporters of US President Donald Trump attack the US Capitol, disrupting certification of the 2020 presidential election, and forcing Congress to evacuate. Five people die during the ensuing riot.[6] The event is classified as a domestic terrorist attack, and draws international condemnation.[7]

January 6

– Kim Jong-un is elected as the General Secretary of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, inheriting the title from his father Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011.[8]

January 10

– In Lyon, France, the first transplant of both arms and shoulders is performed on an Icelandic patient at the Édouard Herriot Hospital.[9]

January 13

– The 2021 Ugandan general election is held. Incumbent president Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled since 1986, wins reelection.[10][11][12]

January 14

January 15

Lao People's Revolutionary Party

– Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are inaugurated as the 46th and 49th President and Vice President of the United States. Harris becomes the first Black, South Asian and female Vice President.

January 20

– The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement comprehensively to prohibit nuclear weapons, comes into effect.[15]

January 22

– 2021 Portuguese presidential election: Incumbent president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is reelected.[16]

January 24

– COVID-19 pandemic: The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeds 100 million worldwide.[17]

January 26

January 27

near-total ban on abortion

– COVID-19 pandemic: The European Union invokes Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol following a row over COVID-19 vaccine supplies before reversing the decision.[20]

January 29

– Nguyễn Phú Trọng is re-elected for a third five-year term as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.[21]

January 31

– Benjamin List and David MacMillan[256]

Chemistry

– David Card, Joshua Angrist and Guido Imbens[257]

Economics

– Abdulrazak Gurnah[258]

Literature

– Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov[259]

Peace

– Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi[260]

Physics

– David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian[261]

Physiology or Medicine