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--- timelines:2017-2020_the_future_is_now [2014/04/23 14:54] – Ying Blanc
+++ timelines:2017-2020_the_future_is_now [2014/05/19 15:22] – Ying Blanc
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 === 2020 ===
+**January 1, 2020:** General-Director Abwaku Englama of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI) inaugurates the West African Monetary Zone’s (WAMZ) employment of the Eco currency, entering circulation in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, Gambia, and Sierra Leone. From the WAMI headquarters in Accra, Englama brushed past comments on the delays that had hampered the common currency in the years’ run up, instead praising the 8.2% GDP growth recorded across the WAMZ’ six member states in 2019. The majority-Anglophone pact, said Englama “…is now on the path to economically consolidating with the overarching ECOWAS framework,” – noting of the subgroup’s far-future plans for further integration with the Economic Community of West African States. Retiring the Escudo, Cedi, Dalasi, Dollar, Leone, and Naira is set to take the breadth of this year’s administrative timeframe.
+**January 13, 2020:** Wisconsin US Senator Sean Duffy endorses Justin Amash stating "Justin is a good friend and I think he's just the leader the country needs now."
+In a Democratic Primary debate between President Howard Dean and South Carolina Governor Bob Conley, Conley slams Dean for being too far left for the American people and states that he represents a "new era of American politics that is above partisanship and ideological divides."
+**January 17, 2020:** Nevada US Senator Wayne Allyn Root endorses Justin Amash.
+**January 19, 2020:** On his blog FiveThirtyEight, political analyst Nate Silver calls the race for the Republican nomination in 2020 "a battle between the establishment senator Rubio, the independent-minded governor Jones, and the young dark-horse libertarian Amash" referring to Governor John N. Kennedy as the "hard-right fourth wheel" in the race.
+Following his acclaimed debate performance against incumbent President Howard Dean earlier in the week, Governor Bob Conley (D-SC) appears on Face the Nation. When asked if he would consider running as an independent candidate if he failed to secure the Democratic Nomination, Conley answers, "No, not unless I felt I had enough support among Americans to merit that."
+**January 28, 2020:** The New York Times reports on leaked internal e-mails from Howard Dean's Re-election campaign, showing that some of his advisors are talking about potentially replacing current Vice-President Mark Warner with challenger Governor Bob Conley on the ticket.
+**February 11, 2020:** Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III declares his candidacy for the Democratic Nomination to run next fall in the senate race to replace outgoing Senator Ed Markey.
+**February 17, 2020:** The London Metropolitan Police performs a raid on an apartment on the outskirts of London which is suspected to be the UK hub for Yawm ad-Dī. The raid is successful in capturing the leader and 2nd in command of the UK Yawm ad-Dī, with 3 Yawm ad-Dī deaths and no police causalities, a further 3 members are also arrested.
+**February 26, 2020:** Buoyed by surging gas production, infrastructure projects and rising consumption, Beijing moves towards full convertibility of the Yuan. China established overseas Yuan trading centres in Hong Kong in 2010 and London and Frankfurt in 2014. By the end the 2010s, China had opened additional centres for overseas Yuan trading in Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, Dubai, Tehran, Moscow, Sao Paolo, Mexico City, New York and Toronto making the Chinese Yuan the third most commonly used currency in trade and the third largest reserve currency after the US Dollar and the Euro.
+The Yuan is expected to appreciate more rapidly against the dollar and the euro in coming years boosting Chinese consumption of domestic and imported products.
+**March 6, 2020:** The British MoD announces that it will build two 90,000 ton nuclear powered supercarriers named HMS Illustrious(R11) and HMS Ark Royal (R12).
+**April 6, 2020:** Former three-term governor of New York Mario Cuomo and father of the current Governor Andrew Cuomo passes away from natural causes. He was 87.
+**April 7, 2020:** After months of earthquakes and signs of impending eruption, Spain's Cumbre Vieja volcano finally erupts with a force so large (calculated around VEI 7), it now stirs the dormant Cumbre Nueva volcano to life, completely destroying the cone of Cumbre Nueva and triggering fears that there could be a full collapse of the entire island, triggering a huge mega tsunami that could devastate the Atlantic seaboard.
+**April 8, 2020:** Star Trek returns to television with //Star Trek: Artisan// featuring Captain Jordan O'Hara (Bryan Cranston) and Andorian First Officer Tolars Leki (Selena Gomez) aboard the USS Artisan.
+**April 11, 2020** Despite scientists' fears, the collapse of both Cumbre Vieja and Cumbre Nueva doesn't take place, though there are now massive fissures across the island of La Palma, raining down lava across the whole of the island. The town of Los Llanos de Aridane is completely destroyed, and in an eruption similar to the eruption of Laki in 1783, up to 120,000,000 long tons of sulfur are emitted from the two La Palma volcanoes, before it finally stops in 17 April.
+The results in La Palma are completely devastating. Lava flows are everywhere, with fires now raging across the entire island. Some 74,000 people have been killed on the island alone, with the rest of the pre-volcano population of 86,000 having to be evacuated to neighbouring islands (including Tenerife).
+**May 11, 2020:** China completes the world's longest tunnel under the Bohai Sea between Dalian and Yantai, more than twice the length of the Chunnel between England and France.
+The tunnel reduces the travelling distance for cars and trains by hundreds of miles between the two cities
+China also constructs a HSR line through tunnel running around the rim of Bohai Sea and connecting to the existing HSR line between Beijing and Tianjin. China hopes the tunnel will help further integrate the Bohai Rim, one of its three most important economic areas.
+**May 16, 2020:** In Eurovision, Tunisia joins for the first time in the contests history and Netherlands win for the first time since 1975.
+**May 30, 2020:** Although he is not up for re-election in 2020, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid announces he will not again seek the post for the Senate Leader of the Democrats in2020.
+**June 2, 2020:** Following Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's announcement that he will cease to be the Democrats' senate leader after 2020, MSNBC political commentator Chris Matthews urges the Democrats to pick New York US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand as their next leader as opposed to the two top contenders Dick Durbin and Chuck Schumer. Matthews makes his case by saying that the Democrats are the party of civil liberties and they would not show this by picking a senate leader who voted against the repeal of the Patriot Act like both Durbin and Schumer did while Gillibrand voted for repeal.
+He continues by saying that the Republican Senate Majority leader John Thune voted for the repeal of the Patriot Act and if the Democrats have a leader who voted against repeal while the Republicans don't, voters would get a "false story about each party." Matthews also states that Thune and Gillibrand would work well in the senate as the leaders of their respective parties as they helped each other during Sen. Thune's "Mean Kitty filibuster" in 2017.
+**June 12, 2020:** Prince Harry proposes to Jennifer Lawrence on the balcony of Buckingham Palace where she said yes in front of hundreds of tourists who capture the moment unexpectedly and sends a rush of viral media onto the internet, with some being the most watched viral videos of all time because of the public nature of the proposal.
+**June 14, 2020:** On his blog FiveThirtyEight, political analyst Nate Silver rates the competitive upcoming 2020 senate races. He gives each race the following ratings:
+Georgia (Gingrey) - Likely Republican
+Scott Holcomb (D) vs. Phil Gingrey (R-inc.)
+Kentucky (Grimes) - Likely Republican
+Alison Lundergan Grimes (D-inc.) vs. Sara Beth Gregory (R)
+Montana (Daines) - Likely Republican
+Anders Blewett (D) vs. Steve Daines (R-inc.)
+West Virginia (Capito) - Likely Republican
+Carte Goodwin (D) vs. Shelley Moore Capito (R-inc.)
+North Carolina (Hagan - ret.) - Leans Republican
+Roy Cooper (D) vs. Richard Burr (R)
+Virginia (Hurt) - Leans Republican
+John W. Foust (D) vs. Robert Hurt (R-inc.)
+New Hampshire (Shaheen) - Tossup
+Jeanne Shaheen (D-inc.) vs. John E. Sununu (R)
+Minnesota (Franken - ret.) - Tossup
+Zach Dorholt (D) vs. Tara Mack (R)
+Colorado (M. Udall) - Leans Democratic
+Mark Udall (D-inc.) vs. Cory Gardner(R)
+New Mexico (T. Udall) - Likely Democratic
+Tom Udall (D-inc.) vs. Kelly K. Fajardo (R)
+Oregon (Merkley) - Likely Democratic
+Jeff Merkley (D-inc.) vs. Jason Atkinson (R)
+Silver rates all other races as "Safe" for the party that holds the seats.
+Meanwhime, freshman North Carolina Senator Heath Shuler announces that he is leaving the Democratic Party due to his frustration with the Dean administration and becoming an independent. Shuler will caucus with the Republicans.
+**June 15, 2020:** Following the unexpected death of Indiana Senator Dan Coats, Former Vice President Dan Quayle is selected to be the interim Senator until a replacement is elected in a special election set for the 3rd of November, 2020. Quayle has stated that he will not seek his former seat for a full term.
+**June 18, 2020:** John Mellencamp announces his candidacy for Senator of Indiana as a Democrat.
+**June 19, 2020:** Two months after the passing of his father, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announces he will run for a fourth term in 2022. Of he wins he would be accomplishing something his father failed to due when he lost his bid for a fourth term in 1994 to George Pataki.
+**June 20, 2020:** Rupert Boneham announces his candidacy for Senator of Indiana as a Libertarian.
+**June 21, 2020:** Former Anderson, Indiana mayor Kevin Smith announces his candidacy for Senator of Indiana as a Republican. On the same day, Former Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard announces his candidacy for Senator of Indiana as a Republican.
+**June 22, 2020:** Democratic Representative Andre Carson announces his candidacy for the contested Senate seat.
+**June 24, 2020:** Republican Sue Ellspermann announces her candidacy for Senator of Indiana.
+**July 14, 2020:** Freshman North Carolina Senator Heath Shuler announces that he is leaving the Democratic Party due to his frustration with the Dean administration and becoming an independent. Shuler will caucus with the Republicans.
+**July 22, 2020:** On her 28th Birthday, Selena Gomez is married to Hunter Hayes in a private, Catholic ceremony in Los Angeles.
+**August 4, 2020:** John Mellencamp wins the Democratic primary for the special Senate election for Dan Coats' Indiana senate seat. Greg Ballard wins the Republican primary.
+**August 6, 2020:** Nate Silver rates the Mellencamp/Ballard Senate race as a tossup.
+**August 9, 2020:**__2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics__ The Japanese capital hosts its second successful Olympics games signalling the nations rebound from the 2011 Tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster. Unlike Beijing, Sochi, Rio de Janeiro and Pyongchang, Tokyo does not build massive new stadium or transportation infrastructure improvements for the games since it's existing facilities are more than adequate.
+The expanded Russian Federation, China and the USA top the medals table with Japan placing sixth after Germany and Australia. This games marks the best Russian performance since the collapse of the Soviet Union which experts attribute to the inclusion of Belorussian and Ukrainian athletes on the Russian team as well as years of investment in sports facilities and training programs by Putin and Medvedev. The Chinese performance marks decades of investment in sports by that country as well. 3rd place marks the worst USA Summer Olympic performance in decades although still respectable by any standards.
+__Other__ Meanwhile, The number of fast-charging EV stations exceeds 210,000 internationally. From Tesla Motors' continental Supercharger networks to the Japanese TEPCO consortium’s CHAdeMO grids, electric charging is estimated to have coverage over 90% of the developed world. Plugless charging is also in the race to power the world’s roads as parking spaces from Tokyo to New York accelerate the implementation of wireless charging pads, with power exchanged through streamlined transceivers. In another huge leap, the South Korean government leads the way in inductive charging, transforming all high-occupancy vehicle lanes in the country to enable mobile charging – which functions through sub-pavement electromagnetic fields. Seoul boldly vows to electrify all HOV lanes as early as next year to the tune of billions of won.
+**August 22, 2020:** Due to a lack of campaign funding, Mayor and former country singer Carrie Underwood ends her independent bid for president in the 2020 election. Underwood announces that she will be endorsing Republican candidate Governor Christine Jones for the presidency and encourages her supporters to back Jones as well.
+**September 1, 2020:** The Giant Magellan Telescope, located on the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, is completed. The telescope is 10 times more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, and is hailed by scientists and astronomers as a landmark achievement. It is hoped that the telescope will help to build and even better picture of the universe.
+**September 6, 2020:** __Hurricane Dolly__ Hurricane Dolly, a rapidly strengthening Category 5 hurricane, passes by the island of Haiti. Despite the eye being far from the coast, the huge hurricane's massive rain bands devastate the island, killing thousands of people.
+**September 7, 2020:** __Hurricane Dolly__ Category 5 Hurricane Dolly devastates the island of Jamaica with winds of 195 miles per hour, becoming the second strongest landfalling tropical cyclone ever recorded. The eye of the storm passes right over the capital city of Kingston, killing over 13,000 people and completely levelling the city.
+**September 9, 2020:** __Hurricane Dolly__ In anticipation of Hurricane Dolly making landfall on the United States, both the Democratic and Republican Campaigns for President are suspended until further notice.
+__Other__ On //Meet The Press//  now Independent Senator Heath Shuler announces he is endorsing Republican candidate Christine Jones for the presidency.
+**September 11, 2020:**  __Hurricane Dolly__ On the 19th anniversary of 9/11, Hurricane Dolly makes landfall in New York City as a category 4 with wind speeds of 135 miles per hour. Despite a massive evacuation effort, over 4,000 people are killed in the storm, surpassing the death toll from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Dolly's total death toll across Jamaica, Haiti, and the United States is over 30,000, making it the deadliest hurricane in the history of the Atlantic Basin.
+Meanwhile AMC launches their hit new show Breakfast King starring RJ Mitte as Walter White Jr. showing his dark descent into the underground world of breakfast food chains. Critics call the show "shocking" and how they were" not prepared for something like this".
+**September 20, 2020:** Rumbles of discontentment erupt across the United States in the form of protests as new financial data is reported from across the media spectrum. The $7.8 trillion allocated for the American Infrastructure Rebuild Act of 2017 is found to have been incredibly misdirected. From the trillion dollar cleanup of Manhattan in the aftermath of Hurricane Dolly to the sudden and costly military incursions in Guatemala and Syria - the last four years of the Dean administration have taken their toll. In addition, much of the funds have been limited in their scope, with the majority spent in the states of California and New York. Compounded by the exorbitant impulse to revive Space Station Freedom, and the NYSX's failure to recover from the Crash of 2015 in totality (not to mention continued market fluctuations from climate change disasters), it is realised that the country is ill-ridden with debt. Public approval of Washington is at its lowest point since the exiting Bush administration in 2008.
+**September 22, 2020:** Debt ceiling politics shake the U.S. capital once more with the Department of Treasury having revealed that the country had yet again reached the limit of its national debt, this time surpassing $19.4 trillion. As the ripples of the announcement hit international markets, foreign central banks, in possession of 32% of the U.S. debt, begin stirring. The primary shareholders of China, the UK, Japan, Russia, and Brazil begin emitting their fears in the form of wavering stock prices worldwide, as their respective governments increasingly see their American assets as liabilities, and the possibility of a sovereign default emerges.
+**September 28, 2020:** To worsen the banking and publicity troubles inflicting D.C. is the airing of a CNN report highlighting the cost overruns wracked up by the United States Olympics Committee in the run up to the 2024 Games in Charlotte. Hit by repeated construction delays in the form of progressively commonplace Atlantic hurricanes, in addition to the mess already wreaking havoc on the federal budget, USOC Executive Director Steve Czarnecki stated that the Games were already $3 billion over the initial $20 billion expenditure. Worries over completion deadlines begin taking shape, as construction on a number of venues are yet to even begin. Demonstrations in numbers not seen since the Occupy movement take place in cities from Seattle to Philadelphia, calling for action. Unnamed IOC officials speaking from Lausanne are reported to be in a 'raised state of concern.'
+**September 30, 2020:** Doctors announce a treatment that drastically mitigates the effects of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The treatment, involving cutting edge stem-cell treatments combined with physical therapy, is effective 95% of the time at preventing quadriplegia and loss of speech in ALS victims and 75% of the time, victims retain their ability to walk. The treatments are even effective on those already stricken with severe disabilities, though they're most effective early in the progress of the disease.
+**October 5, 2020:** The upswing in mass demonstrations across the United States reaches a fever pitch. From environmental activists, to class egalitarians, the range of issues being contested means the movement strikes a chord with many. With rallies cropping up in every major city, it comes to no surprise when riots erupt in New York and New Orleans. In the former, enduring dissatisfaction with the hurricane cycle of evacuation-cleanup unfamiliar to the city degenerate into violence, especially in the dilapidated projects of Manhattan. In the latter, still struggling to heal from the devastation of 2014's category 5, looting and clashes with riot police occur in the lower wards - many still flooded from un-repaired levies. Entering the third week since the debacle began, the protest campaign is evolving rapidly.
+**October 7, 2020:** The referendum to restore Serbia's monarchy (under Crown Prince Alexander) passes by 57%, making Serbia the second state in Europe to have the monarchy restored.
+**October 14, 2020:** __2020 World Series__ After another spectacular season, the Boston Red Sox triumph over the Norfolk Tides 41-30 at Game 7 in Harbor Park, giving the Red Sox their 6th World Series title since their epic win in 2004.
+**October 23, 2020:** Steven Spielberg's historical drama on Obama, //Yes We Can//, starring Will Smith, premiers to wide-acclaim.
+**October 25, 2020:** Death of ex-King Michael of Romania on his 99th birthday from a massive cerebral haemorrhage. Having reigned over Romania twice (from 1927 to 1930, and again from 1940 until 1947), the king was forced to abdicate by the post-World War II Communist government of Romania and lived most of the rest of his life in exile in Switzerland. He was the last surviving head-of-state in office during World War II.
+**November 3, 2020:** Joseph P. Kennedy III (D-MA) is elected to the United States Senate, defeating his Republican Challenger, Kristen Hughes. Kennedy is the first member of his family to be elected to the Senate since his great-uncle Ted Kennedy was last elected back in 2006. Alluding to his great-uncle in his victory speech, Kennedy promises that he, "Won't let the dream die."
+**November 6 – November 25, 2020:** A series of sniper shootings between Manchester and Liverpool are contributed to the SNLA, though they deny knowledge and do not claim responsibility. Mass panic is spread despite the fact, showcasing the paranoia created by recent terrorism in the UK and the US.
+**November 26, 2020:** Tesla Motors begins production of the Model B hatchback. Approximately the size of a Ford Focus, it has a range of 300 miles, a charging time of four hours or 25 minutes to 80% charge on the automaker's Supercharger network, with a base cost of $26,000.
+**November 27, 2020:** The perpetrators of the spree killings between Manchester and Liverpool, named as brothers Vince and Ray Browloche, are caught and are revealed to be copycats of the infamous Beltway Snipers. No connection to terrorism is found and terrorism is crossed out as a motive. Becoming just a deadly rampage killing across the UK. The death toll of the Browloche killings ends at 14 dead and 9 injured.
+**November 30, 2020:** Bruton Smith, owner and founder of Speedway Motorsports, dies at age 93.
+**December 7, 2020:** Apple announces System 11 aka OSX Catalina which is the combination of iOS and OSX as a unification of iOS and OSX for the desktop. Its praised for its gesture based operation
+**December 8, 2020:** As if to add insult to injury in this "Year of Mega disasters", the massive Koryaksky volcano erupts after months of rumbling, with a force so large it completely destroys the whole mountain, as well as sending a massive pyroclastic flow that completely destroys the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, completely entombing it in a process similar to that of Pompeii. The eruption releases levels of sulfur dioxide equivalent to the 1815 eruption of Mt. Tambora, though not as much as the twin eruptions of Cumbre Vieja and Cumbre Nueva just months earlier.
+The eruption kills an estimated 55,000 people (in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatksky alone) and destroys much of the wildlife on the heretofore pristine Kamchatka peninsula. The poisonous cloud dissipates over the Pacific Ocean before reaching North America although record thick fogs are reported at sea.
+**December 10, 2020:** T-Mobile once called the uncarrier and once the black sheep has finally surpassed AT&T as the second largest carrier. The down fall of AT&T started shortly after the much protested Sprint/T-Mobile merger of early 2015 was approved by the DOJ and FCC. After which T-Mobile launched its rate plan called project blue. The plan was 50.00 a month and with unlimited data and minutes bundle with a free tablet and smartphone of your choice
+Verizon later launched a plan like this as well however AT&T did not and as a result lost big chunks of subscribers by going against the direction of the industry
+**December 19, 2020:** In time to fulfil 2014's promise of a six year deadline, HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Limited, or HKND Group, of China marks the completion of its massive waterway project in Central America. Running 300 km in length, or triple that of its Panamanian counterpart, the Nicaraguan Canal's capacity is unmatched in its ability to ferry super tankers predictably directed to sate the oil thirst of the Asia-Pacific. HKND head Wang Jing along with dignitaries from across Latin America open the infrastructural mega project with much fanfare, culminating under a decade's work of $60 billion in investment and millions in local manpower. Along with deepwater facilities, airports, and an oil pipeline, so kicks off the renewable 50-year operational lease for the Sino-corporation and double-digit economic growth for Nicaragua, said to have topped 13.5% this year.
+**December 25, 2020:** TBS has its first broadcast of a Christmas story in 4K. ABC announces that it will broadcast its entire primetime lineup in 4K.