Technology & Infrastructure in the 21st century

145 sourced entries, 2000 CE to 2025 CE, oldest first. Also see Technology & Infrastructure across every century or everything else in the 21st century.

• 2000February 17 – Microsoft releases Windows 2000.source
• 2000July 1 – The Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden is officially opened for traffic.source
• 2000July 10 – In southern Nigeria, a leaking petroleum pipeline explodes, killing about 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline.source
• 2000September 1 – The Nokia 3310 mobile phone is released.source
• 2000November 11 – Kaprun disaster, Austria: A funicular fire in an Alpine tunnel kills 155 skiers and snowboarders.source
• 2001January 9 – Apple Inc. launches iTunes, a software program that acts as a media player and media library.source
• 2001March 24 – Apple Inc. released the Mac OS X operating system for Mac computers.source
• 2001June 21 – The world's longest train is run by BHP Iron Ore between Newman and Port Hedland in Western Australia (a distance of 275 km mi); the train consists of 682 loaded iron ore wagons and 8 GE AC6000CW locomotives, giving a gross weight of almost 100,000 tonnes and moves 82,262 tonnes of ore; the train is 7.353 km mi long.source
• 2001October 1 – 3G wireless technology first becomes available when it is adopted by Japanese telecommunications company NTT Docomo.source
• 2001October 13 – American scientists create the first successful clone of a human embryo.source
• 2001October 23 – Apple Inc. introduces the iPod, a portable media player and multi-purpose mobile device. The company will sell an estimated 450 million iPod products by May 2022.source
• 2001October 25 – Microsoft releases the Windows XP operating system to retail.source
• 2001December 15 – The Leaning Tower of Pisa is reopened to the public after 12 years of reconstruction.source
• 2002February 25 – Good Morning Afghanistan begins broadcasting over radio in Dari and Pashto, establishing a national news source for Afghanistan.source
• 2002March 11 – The Tribute in Light is installed at the World Trade Center site in New York City.source
• 2002June 4 – The Zeyzoun Dam in Zayzun, Syria, fails.source
• 2003March 11 – The first test of the GBU-43/B MOAB bomb takes place.source
• 2003May 28 – Prometea, the world's first cloned horse, is born.source
• 2003June 12 – The opening of a thousand-year-old coffin is broadcast live on Chinese television.source
• 2003July 10 – The Three Gorges Dam in China begins operating when the first of its 34 generators is activated.source
• 2003July 30 – The final Volkswagen Beetle is produced.source
• 2003August 19 – In the Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, 22 people are killed, among them United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello.source
• 2003September 23 – AMD releases the Athlon 64, the first 64-bit processor to be released for consumer use.source
• 2004January 8 – The RMS Queen Mary 2, at the time the largest ocean liner ever built, is christened by its namesake's granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II.source
• 2004April 1 – Google launches Gmail.source
• 2004April 28 – The Gherkin opens in London.source
• 2004May 23 – The Seattle Central Library opens in Seattle, Washington.source
• 2004July 30 – The Frauenkirche church finishes reconstruction after its destruction in 1945.source
• 2004August 12 – The Rio–Antirrio Bridge opens in Greece.source
• 2004August 19 – Google makes its initial public offering.source
• 2004November 9 – Mozilla releases the Firefox browser.source
• 2004December 14 – The world's tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct over the Tarn in the Massif Central mountains, France, is inaugurated.source
• 2005April 23 – The first ever YouTube video is uploaded, titled Me at the zoo.source
• 2005May 21 – Kingda Ka is opened for the first time to the public at Six Flags Great Adventure, becoming the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster at the time.source
• 2006March 21 – Microblogging and social networking service website Twitter(now known as X) was launched.source
• 2006April 11 – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirms that Iran has successfully produced a few grams of low-grade enriched uranium.source
• 2006June 14 - The 2006 Kismet Train Collision occurs in California. At 5:51 AM, two BNSF Railway freight trains collided head-on at the Kismet Siding in Kismet, California near Madera, California. The southbound mixed manifest train disregarded a red signal at East Kismet instead of stopping and crashed into the northbound grain train.source
• 2006July 1 – The Qinghai–Tibet railway begins operation, making Tibet the final province-level entity of China to establish a conventional railway.source
• 2006September 1 — Analog terrestrial television is switched off in Luxembourg, being the first country to do so.source
• 2006October 9 – North Korea claims to have conducted its first-ever nuclear test.source
• 2006November 3 – Microsoft releases Office 2007 for manufacturing.source
• 2006November 8 – Microsoft releases Windows Vista for manufacturing.source
• 2006December 11 – Analog terrestrial television is switched off permanently in the Netherlands.source
• 2007January 9 – Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the original iPhone at a Macworld keynote in San Francisco, California; starting the new era of smartphones with this invention. The phone would be released in June.source
• 2007January 30 – Windows Vista is released to consumers by Microsoft.source
• 2007February 19 – Microblogging social network Tumblr is launched to the public.source
• 2007May 3 – British three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappears in Praia da Luz, Lagos, Portugal, described by The Daily Telegraph as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history".source
• 2007June 15 – Bob Barker hosts his final episode of The Price Is Right after 35 years of hosting.source
• 2007June 29 – The iPhone, the first modern smartphone, is released in the United States. It is later released in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, and Austria, in November 2007.source
• 2008June 14 – Expo 2008 opens in Zaragoza, Spain, lasting to September 14, with the topic "Water and sustainable development".source
• 2008July 10 – Apple Inc. launches the App Store with 500 apps available at launch.source
• 2008August 1 – China opens its first high speed rail line.source
• 2008September 23 – HTC Dream, the first smartphone powered by Android, was launched.source
• 2008October 13 – Microsoft announces the name Windows 7 to the public.source
• 2008November 30 - İzmir Wildlife Park has opened.source
• 2009January 3 – The first ("Genesis") block of the blockchain of the cryptocurrency and decentralized payment system Bitcoin is established by the creator of the system, known as Satoshi Nakamoto.source
• 2009January 28 – WikiLeaks releases 86 intercepted telephone recordings of politicians and businessmen involved in the 2008 Peru oil scandal.source
• 2009April 21 – UNESCO launches The World Digital Library.source
• 2009May 17 – Video game Minecraft, the best-selling video game of all time, is first released to the public.source
• 2009May 27 - At&t Stadium opens to the public home of the NFL Dallas Cowboyssource
• 2009June 12 – Analog television ends in the United States as part of the digital television transition.source
• 2009September 9 – The Dubai Metro, the first urban train network in the Arabian Peninsula, officials opens.source
• 2009October 22 – Microsoft releases Windows 7 to all computers and laptops, including an edition for ATMs.source
• 2009December 15 – First flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.source
• 2010April 3 – The first iPad is released.source
• 2010June 9 – The Chicago Blackhawks win their first Stanley Cup since 1961.source
• 2010July 8 – The first 24-hour flight by a solar-powered plane is completed by the Solar Impulse.source
• 2010July 16 – First (test) Instagram posts made by co-developers Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom in San Francisco; the service launches publicly on October 6.source
• 2010October 6 – Instagram was launched.source
• 2010November 28 – WikiLeaks releases a collection of more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, including 100,000 marked "secret" or "confidential".source
• 2010December 16 – After 25 years on CNN, Larry King Live airs its final episode. Contemporary reporting noted that King had recorded more than 6,000 programs for the network and that he was reported to be listed in the Guinness World Records for hosting the longest-running show with the same host in the same network time slot.source
• 2011April 7 – The Israel Defense Forces use their Iron Dome missile system to successfully intercept a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza, marking the first short-range missile intercept ever.source
• 2011May 18 – Porto beats Braga 1–0 in the 2011 UEFA Europa League final at the Aviva Stadium.source
• 2011June 6 – Twitch.tv, a video game-focused live streaming service, is launched as a spinoff from Justin.tv.source
• 2011September 12 – Approximately 100 people die after a petrol pipeline explodes in Nairobi.source
• 2011September 16 – Snapchat was launched.source
• 2011November 9 – The first nationwide Emergency Alert System test is conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the United States.source
• 2011November 18 – Mojang Studios of Sweden officially release the video game Minecraft, which becomes the best-selling video game of all time.source
• 2012January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.source
• 2012August 1 – Microsoft finishes development of Windows 8, with general availability announced for October 26.source
• 2014February 28 – The number of people in the U.S. using mobile devices to access the internet overtook those using desktop computers for the first time, a feat which would be followed globally two years later in 2016.source
• 2014March 1 – 2014 Kunming attack: Eight knife-wielding terrorists stabbed and slashed passengers at the Kunming railway station in Kunming, Yunnan, China, killing 31 people and injuring 143 others.source
• 2014July 26 – Washington DC metro opens Phase 1 of the silver line to Tysons Corner, Reston, and Loudoun county.source
• 2014November 3 – The tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, One World Trade Center in New York City, opens.source
• 2015March 25 – The BBC refuses to renew the contract of Top Gears main presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, resulting in the end of his run on the 2002-format show.source
• 2015May 29 – In Tonga, the Mata ʻo e Laʻa Solar Facility is officially opened by King Tupou VI.source
• 2015July 29 – Microsoft releases the desktop operating system Windows 10.source
• 2015November 5 – In Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, a tailings dam of iron ore collapses, causing 19 deaths and releasing a toxic mudflow to pollute the Doce River.source
• 2016June 1 – The Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel, is opened following two decades of construction work.source
• 2016November 1 – The number of people globally using mobile devices to access the internet overtakes those using desktop computers for the first time, having been preceded by the U.S. two years prior.source
• 2018January 13 — At 8:08 AM HST, an inbound missile alert was accidentally issued via the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alert System over television, radio, and cellular networks in the U.S. state of Hawaii. 38 minutes later, the alert was confirmed as false by state officials, and blamed a miscommunicated drill at the HI-EMA.source
• 2018April 18 – Cinemas open in Saudi Arabia for the first time since 1983 with the American film Black Panther chosen as the first to be screened.source
• 2018May 24 – Foreign journalists report that tunnels in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site have been destroyed by the North Korean government in a move to reduce regional tensions.source
• 2018May 28–June 7 – The 2018 Stanley Cup Final are played between the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights and won by the former.source
• 2018July 23 – The Saddle Dam D in Paksong, Laos collapses leaving up to 1,100 people missing.source
• 2018September 16 – Hydrail train enters service on the Buxtehude-Bremervörde-Bremerhaven-Cuxhaven line in Lower Saxony, Germany.source
• 2018October 23 – The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge, the world's longest sea crossing bridge, is opened by Chinese Paramount leader Xi Jinping.source
• 2018November 30 – The Kanden Tunnel Trolleybus, one of the last remaining Japanese trolleybus systems, closes.source
• 2018December 7 – The U.N.'s International Telecommunication Union reports that, by the end of 2018, more than half – a full 51.2 percent – of the world's population are now using the Internet.source
• 2019January 25 – A mine tailings dam breaks in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil. At least 248 people are killed, with 22 missing.source
• 2019March 24 – The first phase of Jakarta's MRT system opened with its first line.source
• 2019July 1 – Japan resumes commercial whaling after a 30-year moratorium, following its withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission.source
• 2019October 1 – The Nanfang'ao Bridge, the only steel single-arch bridge in Taiwan, collapses, killing six people and injuring more than twenty others.source
• 2019October 27 – U.S. President Donald Trump announces that the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has been killed in a U.S. special forces operation. It is reported that al-Baghdadi detonated a suicide vest after being chased into a tunnel.source
• 2019November 25 – IPv4 address exhaustion: The RIPE NCC, which is the official regional Internet registry (RIR) for Europe, officially announces that it has run out of IPv4 addresses.source
• 2019December 17 – Shandong, China's first fully domestically built aircraft carrier, enters naval service.source
• 2020March 2 – The Yahoo! Time capsule, dating from 2006, is opened.source
• 2020March 20 – The Bhadla Solar Park is commissioned and becomes the world's largest solar park.source
• 2020April 20 – The Industrial Bank of Korea agrees to pay US$86 million and will enter a two-year deferred prosecution agreement to settle lawsuits with the U.S. Department of Justice and the state of New York over a 2011 scheme to help transfer US$1 billion to Iran.source
• 2020May 5 – The biggest television network in the Philippines, ABS-CBN, ceased operations for the first time in almost five decades because of the loss of its franchise.source
• 2020May 8 – The Aurangabad railway accident occurred in India. 17 migrants were sleeping on the trains when a freight train collided and killed 16 people and injured 1.source
• 2020June 16 – North Korea demolishes the Inter-Korean Liaison Office in Kaesong, established in 2018 to improve relations.source
• 2020August 1 – The Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE becomes operational following delays since 2017. It is the first commercial nuclear power station in the Arab world.source
• 2020September 4 – The La Línea highway tunnel, the longest road tunnel in South America at a length of 8.65 kilometres (5.37 mi), is opened in Colombia after 14 years of construction and several delays.source
• 2020November 10 – Apple releases the first Mac computers (a new MacBook Air, Mac mini and MacBook Pro) powered by Apple silicon chips.source
• 2021March 23 – Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, runs aground and obstructs the Suez Canal, disrupting global trade. The ship is freed on March 29.source
• 2021May 3 – Mexico City Metro overpass collapse: 26 people were killed and 98 people were injured when a Mexico City Metro train bridge collapsed when a train passed it.source
• 2021October 5 – Microsoft releases the desktop operating system Windows 11.source
• 2022April 27 – The European Union accuses Russia of blackmail after gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria are halted by energy giant Gazprom.source
• 2022April 30 – The Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway, located in Cebu, Philippines, is officially opened as the longest bridge in the country.source
• 2022September 26 – The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage occurs by an unknown perpetrator off the coast of Bornholm, Denmark with explosions on two pipelines leaving them inoperable.source
• 2022October 28 – Elon Musk completes his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.source
• 2022October 30 – The collapse of a suspension bridge in Gujarat, India, leaves at least 135 dead.source
• 2022December 5 – The National Ignition Facility achieves fusion ignition, a major milestone in the development of nuclear fusion power.source
• 2023February 28 – A train crash in Thessaly, Greece, kills 57 people and injures dozens. The crash leads to nationwide protests and strikes against the condition of Greek railways and their mismanagement.source
• 2023March 14 – OpenAI launches GPT-4, a large language model for ChatGPT, which can respond to images and can process up to 25,000 words.source
• 2023June 6 – Russo-Ukrainian war: The Nova Kakhovka dam in the Russian-controlled region of Kherson is destroyed, threatening the region with devastating floodwaters.source
• 2023June 14 – Scientists report the creation of the first synthetic human embryo from stem cells, without the need for sperm or egg cells.source
• 2023July 14 – SAG-AFTRA announces it will begin a strike against the major film and TV studios in protest of low compensation, ownership of work, and generative AI.source
• 2023September 20 – Archaeologists in Zambia find the world's oldest wooden structure, dating back 476,000 years, consisting of two interlocking wooden logs connected by a notch securing one perpendicular to the other.source
• 2023September 21 – Rupert Murdoch announces his retirement and passes his businesses on to his son Lachlan. Murdoch led News Corp and Fox, and formerly Sky Group.source
• 2023October 17 – Whoosh, the first high speed rail in Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and the Southern Hemisphere, opens.source
• 2023November 1 – The first AI Safety Summit takes place in the United Kingdom, with 28 countries signing a "world first agreement" on how to manage the riskiest forms of artificial intelligence.source
• 2024February 22 – American company Intuitive Machines' Nova-C lander becomes the first commercial vehicle to land on the Moon.source
• 2024March 13 – The Artificial Intelligence Act, the world's first comprehensive legal and regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, is passed by the European Union.source
• 2024September 30 – The UK becomes the first G7 country to phase out coal power for electric generation, after 142 years of using the energy source.source
• 2024November 9 – A suicide bombing at the Quetta railway station in Balochistan, Pakistan kills at least 26 people. The bombing was orchestrated by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), and is the first time that the organization had attacked the center of Quetta.source
• 2024December 29 – A truck carrying passengers falls off a bridge over the Ganale Doria River in Bona Zuria, Sidama Region, Ethiopia, killing 71 people and injuring 4 others.source
• 2025January 1 – Ukraine halts the transportation of many Russian gas supplies through the country following the expiration of a five-year transit deal, while also becoming a state party in the International Criminal Court.source
• 2025February 9 – The Baltic states complete synchronization of their power grids with continental Europe's grid, disconnecting from Russia's grid.source
• 2025February 10 – A bus falls off a bridge over the Las Vacas River in Guatemala City, Guatemala, killing at least 55 people, and seriously injuring 9 others.source
• 2025March 11 – Balochistan Liberation Army militants blow up railway tracks and hijack the Jaffar Express train bound from Quetta to Peshawar, taking 450 people hostages including both security personnel and civilians.source
• 2025April 17 – The atmosphere of K2-18b, a candidate water world located 124 light-years away, is found to contain large quantities of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide – two compounds that, on Earth, are only known to be produced by life.source
• 2025August 7 – OpenAI's model GPT-5 is released.source
• 2025August 15–17 – The first World Humanoid Robot Games are held in Beijing, China.source