To mark the end of the first decade of the century, the Magazine has been asking readers to tell the story of the past 10 years, based on five themes. Here are our top 100 things that define the Noughties.
To mark the end of the first decade of the century, the Magazine has been asking readers to tell the story of the past 10 years, based on five themes. Here are our top 100 things that define the Noughties.
With the help of thousands of readers, maybe it is. Last week, we asked readers to send in their suggestions for the words, people, events, objects and cultural highlights which they thought defined the Noughties.
With the help of thousands of readers, maybe it is. Last week, we asked readers to send in their suggestions for the words, people, events, objects and cultural highlights which they thought defined the Noughties.
Our panel of five independent experts considered all the suggestions and each has drawn up a list of 20.
Our panel of five independent experts considered all the suggestions and each has drawn up a list of 20.
The results below give a snapshot of who and what has shaped the last 10 years. Technology, celebrity culture and environmentalism are dominant themes.
The results below give a snapshot of who and what has shaped the last 10 years. Technology, celebrity culture and environmentalism are dominant themes.
There's also a downloadable poster - a portrait of the decade - depicting all 100 things, by illustrator Chris Bianchi. You can download the PDF at the top of this page.
There's also a downloadable poster - a portrait of the decade - depicting all 100 things, by illustrator Chris Bianchi. You can download the PDF at the top of this page.
The final 20 9/11 24/7 bling blog credit crunch chav facebooking Fairtrade footprint i- lol meh Obamamania pandemic slumdog sustainability truthiness tweet WAG War on terror Lexicographer Susie Dent "This is not really about individual words and phrases, but much more about their resonances. War on Terror and 9/11 are packed full of associations that are still ringing loudly today. Bling and WAG neatly convey our love/hate relationship with the celebrities who have dominated both the real world and the virtual one. And the importance of the latter in the Noughties was huge, as the choices of i, blog, and tweet testify. Even chav owed its new (sour) breath of life to a website, from which it was propelled into the limelight like no other word this century."
The final 20 9/11 24/7 Bling Blog Credit crunch Chav Facebooking Fairtrade Footprint i- lol Meh Obamamania Pandemic Slumdog Sustainability Truthiness Tweet WAG War on terror Lexicographer Susie Dent "This is not really about individual words and phrases, but much more about their resonances. War on Terror and 9/11 are packed full of associations that are still ringing loudly today. Bling and WAG neatly convey our love/hate relationship with the celebrities who have dominated both the real world and the virtual one. And the importance of the latter in the Noughties was huge, as the choices of i, blog, and tweet testify. Even chav owed its new (sour) breath of life to a website, from which it was propelled into the limelight like no other word this century."
The final 20 David Beckham Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry Osama Bin Laden Tony Blair George W Bush Shami Chakrabarti Simon Cowell Roger Federer Norman Foster Stephen Fry Bill Gates Jade Goody Brian Haw Rupert Murdoch Barack Obama Jamie Oliver Larry Page and Sergey Brin David Tennant Jane Tomlinson Jimmy Wales Team from Who's Who "Most of the people we thought would come up did indeed appear. Technology has been a huge revelation of this decade and that's why Page and Brin, Wales and Gates are there. And whether you like her or not, Goody had a huge impact on the media and on ordinary people. Fry has raised his profile considerably through his influential tweeting. It was interesting that readers wanted members of the British Armed Forces to be honoured - we think that L/Cpl Beharry has come to embody that valour demonstrated by UK soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The final 20 David Beckham L/Corp Johnson Beharry Osama Bin Laden Tony Blair George W Bush Shami Chakrabarti Simon Cowell Roger Federer Norman Foster Stephen Fry Bill Gates Jade Goody Brian Haw Rupert Murdoch Barack Obama Jamie Oliver Larry Page and Sergey Brin David Tennant Jane Tomlinson Jimmy Wales Team from Who's Who "Most of the people we thought would come up did indeed appear. Technology has been a huge revelation of this decade and that's why Page and Brin, Wales and Gates are there. And whether you like her or not, Goody had a huge impact on the media and on ordinary people. Fry has raised his profile considerably through his influential tweeting. It was interesting that readers wanted members of the British Armed Forces to be honoured - we think that L/Cpl Beharry has come to embody that valour demonstrated by UK soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan."
The final 20 Danish cartoons controversy Death of Dr David Kelly Death of Michael Jackson Disappearance of Madeleine McCann England win the Ashes 2005 Final Harry Potter book Fuel strikes 2000 Human Genome Project Indian Ocean tsunami Iraq War John Darwin, missing canoeist Launch of Big Brother Launch of Wikipedia London bombings 2005 MPs' expenses scandal Northern Ireland power-sharing Run on Northern Rock September 11th 2001 Smoking ban Usain Bolt at Beijing Olympics Author Tim Footman "I was surprised by a few omissions, the Large Hadron Collider, for example. But these 20 stories offer a pretty good snapshot of what occupied our minds in Britain in the past 10 years, and remind us of some events we may have forgotten. Some of these stories are potent because of what they represent: the Northern Rock crisis was a local response to global financial troubles; the Danish cartoons provoked questions about culture, religion, integration and free speech; the death of Dr Kelly opened up all sorts of conspiracy theories, as well as acting as a focus for discontent with the Iraq war. And some events - like the missing canoeist - have no real subtext. It's the stories themselves that matter."
The final 20 Danish cartoons controversy Death of Dr David Kelly Death of Michael Jackson Disappearance of Madeleine McCann England win the Ashes 2005 Final Harry Potter book Fuel strikes 2000 Human Genome Project Indian Ocean tsunami Iraq War John Darwin, missing canoeist Launch of Big Brother Launch of Wikipedia London bombings 2005 MPs' expenses scandal Northern Ireland power-sharing Run on Northern Rock September 11th 2001 Smoking ban Usain Bolt at Beijing Olympics Author Tim Footman "I was surprised by a few omissions, the Large Hadron Collider, for example. But these 20 stories offer a pretty good snapshot of what occupied our minds in Britain in the past 10 years, and remind us of some events we may have forgotten. Some of these stories are potent because of what they represent: the Northern Rock crisis was a local response to global financial troubles; the Danish cartoons provoked questions about culture, religion, integration and free speech; the death of Dr Kelly opened up all sorts of conspiracy theories, as well as acting as a focus for discontent with the Iraq war. And some events - like the missing canoeist - have no real subtext. It's the stories themselves that matter."
The final 20 bag for life BlackBerry bling jewellery Bluetooth earpiece credit card flat-screen TVs Gherkin (London's Swiss Re building) hair straighteners high-visibility vest hoody iPod organic vegetable box Oystercard Playstation3 sat-nav Sky+ box Toyota Prius Ugg boots wheelie bin wind turbine Author Peter York "There were lots of 'boys' toys' suggested, but I've tried to make a choice broader than technology. It's good to see flat-screen televisions in there, they really took over the living rooms. Hair straighteners revolutionised women's hair and popularised the Atomic Kitten look, while the Toyota Prius symbolises the way people started making environmental gestures. Everyone was talking about hoodies for a while, because of David Cameron's [hug a hoody] comments and the fear of young criminals. I chose Sky+ because it changed my life and the way I view television."
The final 20 Bag for life BlackBerry Bling jewellery Bluetooth earpiece Credit card Flat-screen TVs Gherkin (London's Swiss Re building) Hair straighteners High-visibility vest Hoody iPod Organic vegetable box Oystercard Playstation3 Sat-nav Sky+ box Toyota Prius Ugg boots Wheelie bin Wind turbine Author Peter York "There were lots of 'boys' toys' suggested, but I've tried to make a choice broader than technology. It's good to see flat-screen televisions in there, they really took over the living rooms. Hair straighteners revolutionised women's hair and popularised the Atomic Kitten look, while the Toyota Prius symbolises the way people started making environmental gestures. Everyone was talking about hoodies for a while, because of David Cameron's [hug a hoody] comments and the fear of young criminals. I chose Sky+ because it changed my life and the way I view television."
The final 20 Black Watch (play) Box sets Curb your Enthusiasm Live opera beamed into cinemas via satellite Liverpool as European Capital Of Culture Lord of the Rings trilogy From Dome to O2 Arena Rise of music festivals Return of Doctor Who Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra Spotify St Pancras station reopening Strictly Come Dancing Sultan's Elephant Television on-demand The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins The Office The Thick of It The Wire YouTube Jasper Rees, editor of The Arts Desk "My choices reflect a yearning for control and escape in an increasingly uncertain world. A decade defined by polarised attitudes to religion was most passionately explored in Black Watch, a play about Scottish soldiers in Iraq, and Richard Dawkins's polemic disproving God's existence. On screen, drama fed a hankering for fantasy in Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings, and the can-do wish-fulfilment of the talent show. Big thinking in the Noughties produced great buildings, huge festivals, staggering public art and big ideas, none more moving than a Latin American youth orchestra which opened eyes and ears. But the biggest idea was the new freedom to create your own cultural environment, through downloading, streaming and posting."
The final 20 Black Watch (play) Box sets Curb your Enthusiasm Live opera beamed into cinemas Liverpool as European Capital Of Culture Lord of the Rings trilogy From Dome to O2 Arena Rise of music festivals Return of Doctor Who Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra at the Proms Spotify St Pancras station reopening Strictly Come Dancing Sultan's Elephant Television on-demand The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins The Office The Thick of It The Wire YouTube Jasper Rees, editor of The Arts Desk "My choices reflect a yearning for control and escape in an increasingly uncertain world. A decade defined by polarised attitudes to religion was most passionately explored in Black Watch, a play about Scottish soldiers in Iraq, and Richard Dawkins's polemic disproving God's existence. On screen, drama fed a hankering for fantasy in Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings, and the can-do wish-fulfilment of the talent show. Big thinking in the Noughties produced great buildings, huge festivals, staggering public art and big ideas, none more moving than a Latin American youth orchestra which opened eyes and ears. But the biggest idea was the new freedom to create your own cultural environment, through downloading, streaming and posting."
