26th century

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

The 26th century (Gregorian Calendar) comprises the years 2501-2600.

Astronomical events

• April 7, 2515: At 10:37 UTC Mars will occult Neptune
• January 25, 2518: At 22:41 UTC Venus will occult Saturn
• 2599: Triple conjunction Mars-Jupiter

Millennials

The 26th century will see several important millennials, or 1000th anniversaries. These will include:

• 2503, painting of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
• 2510, invention of the pocketwatch by Peter Henlein
• 2517, beginning of the Protestant Christian Reformation, led by Martin Luther
• 2522, completion of first circumnavigation of the world led by Magellan
• 2531, beginning of the Anglican Protestant Christian church by proclamation of Henry VIII as supreme head of the church
• 2543, publication of Copernicus' heliocentric theory
• 2545, first use of complex numbers in equations by Gerolamo Cardano
• 2547, birth of Miguel de Cervantes
• 2556, the Shaanxi Earthquake in China, the deadliest earthquake ever
• 2564, birth of William Shakespeare
• 2564, birth of Galileo Galilei
• 2565, invention of the graphite pencil
• 2582, adoption of Gregorian calendar in Europe

Science fiction set in the 26th century

• Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel Brave New World is set in the year 2540.
• The third and final portion of Darren Aronofsky's film The Fountain takes place in the 26th century with future astronaut Tom Verde, played by Hugh Jackman.
• The "Fiat Homo" section of A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller takes place in the 26th century.
• The video and computer game Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, Halo 2 and Halo 3 are set in 2552 (the Halo books are based from 2517-2552).
• The TV show Firefly and film Serenity are set in the year 2517, and follow Space Captain and Unification War veteran, Malcolm Reynolds, and his crew, across various planets.
• In the early 2500s, humans make first contact with Pierson's Puppeteers in Larry Niven's Known Space universe.
• The computer game StarCraft: Brood War takes place in the early 26th Century (and the original StarCraft may cross over into the early 26th century as well).
• The NES game Super Spy Hunter takes place in 2525.
• The Nintendo 64 game F-Zero X and the Nintendo GameCube game F-Zero GX take place in an unspecified year in the 26th century. However, in the Game Boy Advance game F-Zero GP Legend, it is stated that the game takes place in the 23rd Century in the year 2201.
• One possible alternative future for the role playing game Mutants and Masterminds is set in Freedom City in 2525.
• In the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Azati Prime", Captain Jonathan Archer is briefly transported to a possible future 26th century (in the Star Trek universe) in which Klingon and Xindi crewmen serve the United Federation of Planets. Archer visits a possible version of USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-J) in this episode.
• The TV show "Cleopatra 2525" is set in the year 2525. (The theme song for the show is a parody of the song "In the year 2525," mingled with the sound effects of futuristic weaponry.)
• Battle Angel Alita (Gunm) is set during this century.
• The Doctor Who episode Earthshock, featuring the hijacking of a space freighter by Cybermen, is set largely in the year 2526.
• The Doctor Who episodes Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks take place in the year 2540.
• Bernice Summerfield, a character created in Doctor Who novels and later spun off into her own range of novels and audio dramas, was born in 2540, and published an archaeological book, Down Among the Dead Men, in 2566.
• The 4700 files is set in the years 2503-2506.
• Most of the events of the novel Revelation Space take place in the year 2566 with flashbacks to 2524 and earlier centuries.
• In the Xenosaga universe, the year 2510 is the year that the worldwide organization in charge of the space emigration plan changes the dating system from "A.D." to "T.C."
• In Pierre Boulle's novel, La planète des singes, the hero Ulysse Merou mentions that he begun his trip through space in 2500.
• 2546 is the year in which South Park Character, Eric Cartman, will be unfrozen. He froze himself in the year 2006 because he was too impatient to wait three weeks for the Nintendo Wii to come out

Miscellaneous entries

• The year 2525 became prominent in 1969 when it was used in the Zager and Evans song In the Year 2525, which reached number 1 in the Billboard Charts for July 21. The song opens with the words "In the year 2525, If man is still alive, If woman can survive, They may find...".

• The year 2525 will also be the 600th anniversary of the foundation of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Decades and years