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.
Like 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]
Notable deaths in 2021 included Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the consort of Queen Elizabeth II; world leaders Idriss Déby and Jovenel Moïse (who were both killed in office), John Magufuli, Kenneth Kaunda, Benigno Aquino III, Roh Tae-woo, F. W. de Klerk and Chun Doo-hwan; musicians Phil Spector, Bunny Wailer and Charlie Watts; film figures Cloris Leachman, Christopher Plummer, Dilip Kumar and Jean-Paul Belmondo; television actress Betty White; athletes Milkha Singh and Gerd Müller; astronaut Michael Collins; and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.