What phrase best captures the 20th Century? What words distil the essence of 100 eventful and dramatic years?

Some of the thousands of emails we have received already are published on this page. We will continue to publish your suggestions here all week.

Remember, you have until December 31 to send us your suggestions.

Just another century of Great Killers: The Wars, Stalin, Hitler, The Bomb...
Thor Amdahl, Sweden

The time when the smartest species on Earth lit the blue touch paper of its own downfall.
Graham Bewd, Singapore

It's been one hell of a ride!
Malcolm, Spain

We have disappointed God, and now he will return as the Lord Jesus Christ to save us with a new Heaven and a new Earth.
Robert van Brakel, Australia

Subterfuge, manipulation, and the treating of "common folk" as objects by "leadership", all with deliberate foreknowledge.
Ken Collins, USA

The Wasted Century.
Pål H. Bakka, Norway

A century that started badly and then got progressively worse. Without "new myths to live by" (Jung) we will destroy our environment and then ourselves.
Mark Taylor, Singapore

We started with great hope, but it seems there must be some missing link between what we wanted and what we have.
Bhola, Nepal

"The century that undeniably exposed the limits of human capability - at its best as well as at its worst ; and man's unrelenting crusade in testing each limit. "
Pushpendra Sharma, USA

A century which the global society reached the peak of perfection and humans begin to play god and mother nature. But the politics and money of the rich have changed to the point where they dictate the rules of the how the global society will function.
Samuel, New Zealand

We tried to achieve peace, liberty and emancipation for ourselves. Only for the vast majority to be still entangled in the miseries of poverty, disease and anguish (war, terrorism, hegemony).
Gopul Shah, Singapore

One big melting pot of the worst and best that mankind can offer. The end of the world as we know it. And we still don't know anything.
Dean Moriarty, Ireland

A century born in war, grown up in industrial realisation and retiring in ultra-communication awareness.
Silas Mambwe, Zambia

Century of darkness and light, strength and weakness, highest and lowest, love and hatred, black and white, winners and losers, life and death...of yin and yang.
Sachithanantha, Malaysia

Where humankind discovers that the very thing that promises peace is the very thing that destroys.
Mercer, South Africa

The Triumph Of Deception!
Augusto Diaz, Australia

After all the turmoil, all the violence and all the degradation mankind is beginning to learn its lessons. Now, at the end of the century, at long last, both peace and nature finally have a chance.
Clifford Nunes, India

In Search of Peace
Abdul Rafey, United States

We began the century with wealth measured in land and steel, passed briefly through an energy economy, and now find national wealth and power dependent on science, technology and freedom of communications. But the progress was not uniform, and in those remote places where information still comes from others in the community at first hand rather than from the Internet, broadcast, or even mass print media, local/tribal passions and hatreds showed themselves as strong. Perhaps stronger than ever.
James Rouen, USA

THE CENTURY OF "AGONY AND ECSTACY." Agony of mankind suffering, ecstasy of all the Wonders mankind has achieves.
E. Reguera, USA

"He who dares, Rodney!"
Iain Catling, UK

Some hope remains....
Ashutosh Atri, India

Unanticipated changes abound while humans play God.
Laurie, USA

A century in which the last decade was surrendered to the media and it took the bit between its teeth and ran madly in all directions. Examples: Iraq, Israel, Yugoslavia, USSR, Indonesia, Malaysia, USA (Clinton and OJ) etc etc.
Anthony Chernushenko, Canada

Dickens had it right although he referred to an earlier period. "It was the best of times and it was the worst of times".
Malcolm Baird, Canada

Genesis- read in the moon, Revelation - acted out on earth.[war blood shed earthquakes etc.]
Gilbert SM, Indonesia

A new paradigm of achievement, a new paradigm of debasement.
Ross, South Africa

The birth of electronic communications and technology: this was the century when homo-sapiens paradoxically learned how to conquer space, create life in a test tube and form artificial intelligence, while at the same time their efforts in doing so were destroying the very earth we need for survival.
Steve Nicholls, UK

This Century might be better but it is worse. There is war, corruption and space ships that don't launch. It has advanced in technology but the human mind has changed. It relies on technology and what else there is. But there is still the Millennium Bug so how can we be better than before?
Daniel Guest, Brazil

How many of us can compare this century with previous ones from real experience? Seems to me that at its core human life continues to demonstrate its incredible diversity. People evolve much much slower than technology, whether you believe in Darwin, God or both.
Brian Guest, Brazil

This was a century of progress marked internationally by the drive to be bigger, better, and faster. In war and peace, fierce competitiveness became distinctly a twentieth-century value.
Sarah Fisher, USA

In this century, the power of our tools began to equal the powers of our imagination, and our dreams and our nightmares became a reality.
Kevin Ross, USA

This century was neither white nor black. It was grey, but the most prominent grey ever.
Pratik Thaker, India

There has never been a better time to be alive.
David Murphy, UK

The 20th century is has seen the most dramatic advances in science and technology ever experienced by mankind in its entire history.
Phil Hall, UK

A century of individual achievements, from the Olympics to space flight. "It is not what your country can do for you, it is what you can do for your country."
Andrej Kovalev, Russia

Power trips!!!!!
Hendro Angkasa Ng, USA but from Indonesia

Pax Americana
Jeff Guilliatt, USA

A century of changing horizons. For as one horizon changed (viewing the earth as a whole for the first time) others emerged (humanity's struggle against its own destruction). Maybe the phrase summing up next century will be 'maturity'?
Peter Foster, UK

Blood, Death, assasination, moon.
Robert Osborne, Wales

A strange and unique combination of unparalleled joy and fascination on one hand, and extreme horror and unimagined terror on the other.
Rohith Shetty, USA

The century of excess: WWI and WWII, Bolshevism, Gulag, Final Solution, Mutual Assured Destruction, Consumerism, Population growth, AIDS, Stock Market Binge, Sexual Revolution... the list goes on.
Paul Sansoucy, USA

"Hard on the outside, soft and chewy in the centre".
Steve, UK

"And now for something completely different..."
Graham Bell, Brazil

"To boldly go where no man has gone before".
Raktim Bhattacharya, USA

My word for the century is exponential; the exponential growth in technology, in mankind's destructive power, and in mass communication. All these will make the next century the make or break.
Jeremy Hewer, UK

Explosive!
Matthew Shaw, UK

Hope in the midst of awfulness and fear. Plenty of awfulness and fear.
Howard Rogers, Sydney, Australia

The truth was out there.
Fox Mulder, USA

The century that brought the dawn of mankind's adolescence, an era of awkward new strength and knowledge un-tempered yet by discipline or wisdom.
Stuart Rogers, USA

Irreparable damage to MOTHER EARTH.
Haroon Qureishi, Canada

A Teutonic romantic nightmare inflicted on us all.
David Alexander Mitchell, Canada

A millennium of condoning terrors of the most corrupt at the top.
ZAK KOYA, Malaysia

A blink of an eye in the history of this world, when humankind continued to search for meaning in an age of technological and spiritual confusion.
ED, France

Winston Churchill - the name says it all.
Mike, England

We don't know where we're going but at least we're getting there fast.
Joe, USA

The 20th century can be described as the era of innovation, war, peace to a certain degree, women liberation & global environmental conscious.
Viji, Malaysia

Time is the strongest of all warriors.
Jonathan Bensley, Australia

Nothing about humanity was learnt, save brief glimpses of freedom, equality, and justice. Too much of technology and greed was learnt, killing human nature and compassion.
George Pinto, USA

This has been a century of transition, to a greater age of peace built on unity.
Barmak Kusha, USA

"I am human. Hear me roar" ...or... "Damn, we're good"
Tim Gullette, USA

On balance, this century has brought immeasurable progress in our long journey toward the realisation of the true brotherhood of mankind
Gordon Ramsey, USA

"We meant well."
Stu K. Fox, USA

"The good, the bad and the ugly"
John E. Kraft, USA

One hundred years where our technology has greatly exceeded our humanity
Peter Lancy, Australia

Science has taught us more than we could ever have imagined, but we have learnt nothing from history.
Don Leyton, UK

The end of empires, but not of cruelty; triumphant technology, but can we make a civil world?
Rob Montgomery, USA

"The good, the bad and the ugly"...all observed from the comfort of our homes.
Cheryl Maloney, Oregon, USA

More communication than ever before, yet less understanding than ever.
Stephen Yolland, Australia

The rise of the 'common' person; struggling to find the IT highway from Apocalypse to Nirvana.
Brian Manning, Australia

The 20th Century has had an insatiable appetite for war, wealth, and technology.
Anthony C Parker, UK

"I do not understand this new technology".
Larry Mott, USA

The quest for Utopia through socialism has lead to more people being enslaved and murdered then most people are willing to admit.
Richard T. Ketchum, USA

War, technology, war, technology, war
Seb, UK

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Peter Wilson, UK

This was the century of great experimentation in human existence and evolution, with turbulent and violent change.
Lester Morris, USA

It has been a century when we have known everything and learned nothing. A century of wasted opportunities.
Pinphet Brown, Thailand

1901-1999, the shortest century so far- just 99 years from start to finish.
Leon, England

Congratulations Mankind, despite the problems and setbacks, you made it through to 2,000 in one huge piece! 'But you ain't seen nothing yet, baby!!!'
Trevor, UK

The century whose worst evils revealed the best acts of kindness .
Felix Ansah, Ghana

I hope that in the next 100 years time will heal the wounds we have opened this century.
Jonathan Bensley, Melbourne, Australia

"All this and more you will do" we were told 2000 years ago. In this century we have got closer to knowing we are Gods...and when we lose our connection with nature we create chaos, yet when we act from the knowing we are all one, we are wonderful.
Peter Wallace, UK

Man on the Moon.
PHILIP, Serbia

A century of contrasts!
Abe Zafar, USA

The century of the greatest of hopes and grieves.
Affan Sag, Turkey

The 20th Century. History, the register of man's folly, saw humankind achieve technological wonders and moral turpitude's on an equally grand scale in the 20th century. The angel-like and noble, work in progress, that is humankind, has not yet exterminated itself and has achieved great good in its struggle to attain spiritual betterment, despite of, or perhaps because of, its inherent biological weaknesses. Even though we continue to corrupt our planet and are still prepared to kill on another in the name of freedom there is hope for the propagation of our species. There is hope, I for one, am optimistic.
John Anthony Robles II, Moscow, Russia

Give me strength!
Richard Jeffery, Australia

A century of transition from an Industrial Revolution to an Information Revolution!
Arshad, USA

The last one hundred have witnessed what wrath and vengeance can do to mankind, transform him into a demon. I'd say that the last one hundred years were the dark ages of human existence and hope for the better in the new millennium.
Sam Lucic, England

"One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" Neal Armstrong, Apollo Moon Landing.
Tim Meador, U.S.

The 20th Century was the 'Century of Change'. Change took place more dramatically, more rapidly, in every facet of our world and in our individual lives. This has been the most turbulent century in history. More has happened in more places with respect to technological achievement than in any other. Yet, we are a strange people that have some elements that 'hi-jack' aircrafts and allow people to suffer needlessly, bomb innocent children and adults, say we are all about peace and then prepare for war. This has been a truly changing world at an unbelievable speed.
Dave Adams, USA

This was a century of unbelievable violence as well as a century of peaceful and nearly indescribable creativity. A time of reflection and a time of action. A space where humanity decided that the great Web of All Life really did matter and we are only now trying to determine how we are to honour All Our Relations in the great family of all life.
Reverend James C. Lovette-Black, USA

A century of anachronism and paradoxes.
M. Namazie,

One more century closer to truth!
Jon M, Indonesia

As far as massacres continue to exist, man remains the only animal.
F Dabdoub, Canada

Here I sit, half broken-hearted.
A century came, then soon departed.
But if we had the chance to do it again.
We should not change a single thing.

Mike Roots, United States of America

We look outward with increasing efficiency and look inward with decreasing depth. As a species, we managed to greatly increase our understanding and ability control the physical universe, only to put ourselves at risk of chaos for lack of self-control.
Errol Genet, USA

What a century! From the horse to man made probes rushing towards the stars. Man standing on a New World. Who would have believed that in 1900. What great men - Einstein, Fleming, Ghandi, Mandela. Yet what evil; the two world wars, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, the holocaust, the atomic bomb. This Century will be remembered for the best and the worst of Man.
Tim Abernethy, England

The amazing advances in our knowledge have enabled the fastest population growth in our history. This however cannot continue. I would like to think that it will be controlled by self-retraints, but I fear that the actual method will either be mutual destruction on a scale never seen before, or universal starvation and disease.
David Mumford, United Kingdom

Global awareness has never been greater, in terms of science, history, politics, communication and every area of education. I think that while it's true that the all the same weaknesses and strengths remain in individual humans, surely the advances attained in this century, particularly in the last half, have given individuals and nations far better tools than at any other time in our existence to make the best of what we are and where we live. I believe that it is more difficult now than ever before to ignore lessons learned in history.
Andy , England/Japan

After two wars to "end all wars", we still seem to be reeling from escalating cycles of violence. I am hoping now for "an outbreak of random acts of kindness".
John Mulvaney, Canada

"We admit it God! You rule. You are the MAN. We can never beat you".
Shardool, USA

A century of huge paradigm shifts in scientific and technical knowledge, computational power and access to information, against a backdrop of two world wars, an ideological cold war, and continuing ethnic conflict.
Kinger Mallik, USA

Now that we've learned how to totally destroy things, perhaps we could spend the next millennium learning how to create things.
Ron V.P., Australia

The past is worth less than it ever has been before - this will free us and enslave us in equal measure - but remember willpower is still more powerful than anything else.
Moose, England

"Did somebody say McDonalds?"
Sean Curnyn, U.S.A.

Opportunities availed themselves for the individual and the smart individual didn't dawdle. So, what else is new?
Donald McKay, USA

And still it does move.
Bajo Stoka, Montenegro

It's been an amazing century with achievement to the highest heights and the lows, low like the darkness of hell. The more humans have changed the more they have stayed the same. In the US and across the world there is the need for more religious and racial equality. Empathy and the philosophy of doing unto others as you would have done unto thyself is still missing.
A. Singh, Guyana / US.

Love is eternal. Here is hoping that Hate does not carry on to the next century.
Sanjoy Ghosh, India

ELECTRIC!
Michael, UK

What, is this the first time someone is not going to blame the United States for something?
Ed Stafford, USA

OK, we've been lucky to survive this century; but if we continue as we are doing, we will need more than just luck to survive the next.
Ben Weber, Brazil

We have reached the highest heights and sunk to the lowest lows.
A. Cusack, USA

The century of light and flight,
Abortion rights, Prozac, pro-life;
Of men's attempt to silence God,
Contempt for life, for wife - so odd!

The century of life and loss,
Of loss of life - and strife and dross;
Of daily leaving partners lone,
Adultery the way condoned.

The rise and fall of racism,
Communism, nationalism;
Atheists being all the rage
Through twisted science, art and stage.

The time for all the world to see
That unity of man will be;
That crime must cease that peace might reign,
S'that love for God can love again.
Simon Cameron, UK

In the past 100 years we learned that more personal freedoms mean a more affluent, abundant and healthy life. The central planners brought environmental disaster, a drunken populace and ugly architecture along with their lies. Hooray for libertarianism and thank God for Thomas Jefferson and James Madison!
Marty Riske, USA

Despair and evil appeared to have triumphed, but even when suffering is at its worse, simple acts of kindness and selfless love give hope for the future.
S Brown, England

A century of achievements. Now, let's strive for some quality in our lives.
Khadar, Malaysia

A century when we developed the tools to allow us all to communicate with one another. Lets hope we can learn to use them for peace in the next century.
Peter Myers, England

A century of mixed blessings: death by design, and prolonged life by technology.
Majid Tehranian, USA

IMAGINE!!
CLIVE, Eilat/ Israel

A century in which humanity underwent more change than in the preceding three million years.
Cameron M Smith, USA & Canada

Mankind's race for greed, power and lust have been fuelled in this century by knowledge and technology. What mankind has failed to learn is the wisdom to use it.
Tim Wilkinson, Singapore

The Eagle has landed.
Warner Airey, Australia

If you have got nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.
Tom, Australia

A century of technology and tears that expanded our minds and shrunk our hearts.
Clark Peddicord, Germany

The century where impossible dreams were made real, and terrifying nightmares unleashed; the time when all the world discovered the true power of collective endeavour, and the need for vigilance and action against tyranny and aggression.
John Melendy, USA

A century which has provided plenty of material for the optimist, only to be offset by an equal amount for the pessimist.
Deepak Mohoni, India

Its been a century of advancement technologically, political change and economic advancement especially for the African continent and liberation and assumption of responsibility in Africa.
Mwiinga Cheelo, Zambia

Female emancipation
U. McCormack, England

Madness!!
ROL, UK

Hey! We survived!!!
Shikhita Singhs, India

A constant drive for efficiency and financial wealth whatever the cost to human life, the right to earn a living and social inclusion.
Jane Hemsley, UK

"He who is in high heavens, he verily knows
Or perhaps he does not"
- The Rig-Veda, c.1500 BC.
Vikramjit Banerjee, India

Still might make everything right.
DR. H.R. Shakeri, Canada

Still chasing that dream called happiness- We made cars, rockets, robots and everything else on earth which never existed before to make our lives comfortable but still aren't happy!! Hopefully we shall learn it soon.
Mansoor Basha, Chicago, USA

A century of quest for freedom and equality
Carolyn McMonegal, USA

A century of subtleties, in retrospect blatant; of innovations callously rendered obsolete; of lives bought and sold on a supermarket shelf.
Kirby, Australia

This is the Century MANKIND stopped thinking as a Village or Country but realised we are one GLOBAL VILLAGE. Coming to the understanding slowly that what one does in their backyard has far reaching consequence for other innocent people. A time of the dawn of general tolerance and understanding. Alas with this dawning new age we found horror and destruction from those who refused to give up old thoughts and attitudes. A NEW BABY IS BORN, LONG MAY IT LIVE.
Robert S., Melbourne, Australia

It was the century of establishing dialogue between religions.
Aikhan Mamedoff, Azerbaijan

It is a century, which, prepared the public to face the next century in terms of new political challenges, technology developments & new social dimension.
Siva Mayur, Singapore

Powered flight.
Matthew Codd, England

"Just Do It"
Arul, USA

Money rules. Ideals are dead. There is no justice, no democracy. The great deception.
Alex, Canada

It was the best of times and the worst of times, Dickens said and of this century it rings true. Never has human conflict been bloodier but never has there been so much chance of peace. With nations co-operating when in the last century they would have fought to resolve their differences. With science allowing us to beat diseases that have plagued mankind for centuries. Wait and see what happens in the next century.
John Taylor, UK

It can be summed up in the phrase, "The value of human life devalued, the value of technology inflated."
Ray Levy, England

For all the technological advances human kind has not learnt anything. Until we can survive without aggression and war it's doubtful we ever will.
David Robinson, UK

A century where human rights are recognised, if not respected, and communications technology allows everyone to know about the deficit.
Jim Watt, Gibraltar

Will we finally be able to resort less to violence and more to diplomacy in the next millennium?
Kamali Balan, Singapore

"It's good to talk."
James Stringer, England, UK

Mankind has demonstrated that it is capable of brilliant steps forward and yet can and will display the traits that have shaped history. Overall the sum value has been a positive one for we can but hope that all our positive achievements will make a better planet in the next Millennium.
James, UK

"Greed" - those that had it all, wanted more, and those that had nothing got even less!
Stan Evans, Manchester, England

Power, Corruption, Lies.
Ben Brown JR., Oregon, USA

It was a century of constant change and unfinished business. The world is now much smaller and more divided at the same time. In order to have peace in the future there must be justice at both individual and international level.
Saqib Amin, Texas, USA

A regressive progression.
Omar St. Pierre, Canada

In summary, politics, religion and money conquered the century.
Ghanashyam Master, U.K.

"The Dark Age of Science" - a century reflecting a blind faith in the promise of science and technology, and an application of the same that far too often prove destructive to the Earth and ourselves.
Per Kielland-Lund, USA

The arrogance of reliance on technology
John Meath, Australia

A small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind.
M. de Keijzer, the Netherlands

This century has been no more tragic than previous ones. Since the beginning of time there has been war and persecution but what there hasn't been is such a rapid advance in communication. It's fast and it's going to get faster.
Rupert Delamain, Sultanate of Oman

A century that expanded our Mind but shrunk our World.
Sudhir Reddy, India

An increasing number of victories of democracy over autocracy and of science over superstition,
Albert Koetsier, New Zealand

Century filled with irony: An invention to cure a person accompanied by an invention to destroy thousands.
Chidambaram Palaniappan, India

Too much, too soon, too quick.
Don Phillips, America

It was the century in which we moved so quickly with our technology, that our ideology is still catching up. Here's to the 21st Century when the human race will begin to really achieve its potential.
Paul Johnson, Adelaide, Australia

This is the century in which the few enjoy comfort, and the many endure hunger and suffering. The century when there is enough money to wipe hunger from the earth, but people would rather build nuclear missiles and Get 100 channels on cable for some extortionate price.
Nadeem Backus, Wales, UK

More were murdered in this century than all the other human centuries combined. In a word: murderous!
John Dugas, USA

We have seen the greatest that the human mind can offer and the darkest reaches of the soul.
John Murphy, Kildare, Ireland

EDDIE the EAGLE!
Tim, USA

The same as the last one.
Rich Browning, UK

An age of beautiful dreams. A time of terrible nightmares. A century of change. An era of enlightenment. The 20th Century: The Century Mankind Achieved Consciousness
Daniel Paul deGracia II, The United States of America

This century has proven the heart of mankind has not progressed, and that corruption, greed and Godlessness are still the order of the day.
D. Wilson, New Zealand

While it is true that many bad things have happened, the fundamental change is that thanks to global awareness and communication we are now in a position to know and care about them. The same atrocities and hatred has always existed, but we are now in a position to be able to see it and thus make a difference.
Andrew Cross, Ph.D, USA

The century that buried God.
Glyn Sloman, UK

Over-rated, over-hyped and over-analysed
Neil, UK

Auschwitz.
John O'Leary, New Zealand

A century of technological advancement but moral destruction among others. The biggest question is, is mankind is happy with what it has achieved? Hope the new century may bring peace and goodwill to all of us.
Sushil Kumar Singh, USA

A period of killing, new industrial revolution, anarchy, rise and fall of communism, peace, and world-wide suffering which continues to this day.
Alex Banks, Wales

This has been the century when the unnatural barriers of colonialism and communism were replaced with nationalism.
Sunil De Sayrah, UK

'The Four Horseman': This century has seen these characters roll around the world on a regular basis. May the new Millennium bring a new chance, we have not got many left.
Chris Govey, UK

This century has produced around 119 electoral democracies since 1900, when there were none.

At the same time this century has produced more death and suffering through wars than at any other time in recorded history.

This is almost entirely due to the total spinelessness of our elected representatives, due to their prime allegiance to a party-type system. Get rid of party politics and you may be approaching real democracy.
Len Barrett-Boulson, Australia

A lot's happened in the 20th Century, but just wait for the next! We ain't seen nothin' yet!
Bill Seidel, USA

A period when space-science promised so much (living on Moon, Mars, time travel, etc) but failed to deliver.
Sanjeev Singh Sahni, India

The human race has never looked so impressive. In the last two hundred years, we have achieved more than in the previous 800.
Lee Coates, UK

In our profligate use of resources we are the generations who won the lottery but squandered it all in an a moment of time.
Colin Deane, United Kingdom

Sum up the century? How about "Not over for another year"? The BBC should stop perpetuating the misconception that the 21st century starts on January 1st 2000. It doesn't.
Andrew, UK

A century of blackness and light.
Malcolm McCandless, Scotland

It was the best of times and the worst of times.

The best of times for those at the metropolitan centres of the global village and the worst of times for those on the periphery of the global village.
Cliff Hughes, Jamaica

We are at the dawn of an age where information is the new opium of the masses; where the truly poor will be those denied access to new technology.

War has taught us the tragedy that is total conflict, but all that we have learned is to expect more pain.

Give life to the dream of true equality to all mankind - once this is achieved everything is possible.

Peace can be ours.
Jonathan Waples

Century or millennium we've come a long way over the last short period of time.

Surf, laugh, enjoy your life. We just have to decide on which way we go from here.
Tim Clark, QLD, Australia

The century in which the tragic gap between our technological prowess and social development became the greatest it has ever been.
Chris, UK

With apologies to Dickens: "It was the best of times it was the bloodiest of times".

We went from two world wars that gave mankind new ways to kill each other, to a glorious day when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Such a century. It does prove that out of despair comes hope.
Susan Schechter, USA

In the widest possible sense of the word "consume", this century can be described by: consume and get consumed.

Secondly, in this century, the richest and mightiest of the nations on the earth have pooled their resources to pull the genie called technology out of the bottle. In the next century we ALL will have to put this genie back in the bottle.
Bharat Bhushan, Germany/India

The 20th Century was the human race going through adolescence. I don't think we've seen the last of the teenage angst, but I do think we see an increase in the awareness that we had better change our ways if we don't want a crack from dad.

The bad boys have bigger toys and the teachers are scared to hit them . . . or are we all just suffering from 'Pre-Millennial Tension'?

Here's to the 21st century - which will make the 20th look like the Dark Ages. Let's all finally begin to grow up.
Andrew Hunt, UK

The century can be summed up in: "You've come a long way baby".
Deepak, Canada

Too much of anything is too bad. And we had just about too much of everything - too many wars, too much bloodshed, too much hunger, too much greed, too much loosening of morals, too much disrespect for mother nature, too much disrespect for mankind, too much technological advancement and misuse.

Hopefully we'll get our act together and be a more united world and maintain a good balance between the good and bad , reflect upon our deeds in the century and be a much better world next century.
Yogita, Canada

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Ben Mills, UK

The epoch of greed
Mary Macdonald, Canada

Things can only get better. or at least they better had!
Scott Henderson, UK

My thoughts I think are best covered by a quote from Desiderata.

"You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

"Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

"With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. "..a good credo for the future too. Happy new millennium.
Ralph, Canada

Bloody
Tina Veizovic, UK

When our descendants welcome the arrival of the year 3000, the 20th century will undoubtedly be remembered as the one in which humanity left the nursery and we took our first tentative steps to become a space-faring civilisation.
Donald Scott, UK

The unification of world, with Coca-Cola. The unification of world around western values about which Gandhi said: "It is a good idea The death of spirit soul". What else to say....it is self evident.
Prakhar, India

The paradox of this century? - Man has pushed the envelope in all areas of science and technology in the vain hope of besting nature.

But Mother Earth has shown her muscle in 1999 - Turkey, Venezeula, thousands killed in hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, typhoons.

The more we try to control our earth the more it proves who's boss.
Dee Lundy-Charles, St. Lucia

Our first faltering step into the universe.
J Shearer, Scotland

A century where humanity looked up and went higher than sane people before dared try to imagine.

A century of looking down to where we have been born, to surrender the arrogance of control over our destiny.

A century of greater understanding, with more to learn than ever.

With the start of this century, a trial of wills, with the end of this century, many wills have been tested.
Will Campbell, Australia

Thatcherism.
John Brownlee, UK

Even what seems to be the worst could be for the better.
Marcelo Versiani, Brazil

The life of human beings is just a spiral , doing only circles but just one millennium/century higher than the previous one
Tela B, Sweden

The Twentieth Century is when we were all born, the Twenty-first shall be when we all die.

The West got more pecunious, the South got more numerous while the East got more contumacious.

A few people asked what life is all about, fewer did anything about it and we should be grateful to a handful of those.

Science and technology have improved our prospects, but herald unresolved dilemmas for the future.
Roger Thomas, Wales (Cymru)

Consider this century to be an ice age... now, the ice is beginning to melt, the sun beats down upon our faces, we have never felt so warm and comfortable, we can see everything clearly now. Yet, as the snow melts and the true beauty of the human race is revealed for all to see, the ice upon which we skate becomes thinner too...
Sharj, United Kingdom

We finally began to recognise that things could be better but didn't do much about it.
Tim Hooper, UK

Another century of bloodshed but this time with the help of natural disasters. Who knows maybe peace in the Middle East will inspire world peace next century.
Shai Aharony, UK

An unbelievable century of great people achieving all manner of great things; all too often spoilt by 'man's belief he stands above all of natures other creations, the desire for short term profit and a lack of appreciation of the future we're cultivating or what we're really leaving behind.
Ian C, England

Mine, mine, mine... gimme, gimme, gimme.....
Dave Gibb, Scotland

It began with war, poverty and millions of people around the world dispossessed and disenfranchised. It ended much the same way. But hope remains.
Jon Meakin, UK

This has been the most generous, open and just century ever, democracy has spread round the globe and for the first time in human history injustice and suffering are the exception not the rule for the people of the earth. May the next century see the same progress as the 20th did.
Roger Butterworth, UK

A century of unprecedented technological advancement has changed our environment almost beyond recognition; it has also brought home to us more strongly than ever that the more we change, the more we stay the same.
Nick Higham, Spain

History always repeats itself, but its lessons are always ignored.
Nick Southwood, UK

A century of great, marvellous technological change, but one where we lost sight of the value of our fellow man.
John Bulger, England

A roller coaster ride to greater freedom and prosperity for all despite the best efforts of despotic, greedy, corrupt and incompetent leadership.
Jeff Bellwood, UK

A century during which man has demonstrated all of his very best, and very worst, abilities. A time of greed and selfishness; of inspiration and inventiveness; of apathy and pride; of courage and determination. Through all the misery and destruction of the 20th century, the great achievements of our age can be forgotten; but one human attribute shines through as the dawn of a new millennium arrives. Hope. And with hope we can use what we have learned from the last 100 years, and determine to create a brighter future for the earth and all its inhabitants for the centuries to come.
Claire A, UK

Only if we have learned from mankind's successes and failures of this past century, can we move forward into the next with hope.
Glenda, USA

The disintegration of family values coupled with the integration of immoral corporate strategies lead us into more individualism and fear.
Sal Santoro, USA

'E=MC squared'
Jim, USA

The wars between greed, cruelty and ignorance on the one side and generosity, compassion and understanding on the other, have escalated beyond imagination this last century - fortunately, imagination has been ceaseless in its development as well.
Naveen Thakur, UK

One hundred years spent suffering through ruthless attempts to implement the crackpot ideologies of the 19th Century.
Michael Bishop, USA

The incredible leaps and bounds in technology that have seen our societies world-wide transformed. In one hundred years we've gone from horse and cart to the stars.
Kevin Casserley, UK

Our arrogance was dazzling.
Our insecurities got the better of us.
Our finest were slaughtered.
Our actions were reflected upon.
Our ingenuity was let free.
Our desires are now attainable.
We are nearly ready to move forward, together.
Marty McAdder, UK

How would I sum up the 20th century? The decline of Western civilization.
Axel Brinkhoff, USA

The 20th Century, a violent, turbulent, time of explosive change where mankind attempted to pull itself out of a tradition of chaos into a new and better age.
John W. Ayler, IV, USA

It will probably go down in the history of mankind that the most oppressed beings, among all creations, are Blacks. "The Winner Takes It All" - That's what you are, the 20th!
Tajudeen Isiaka, Nigeria

Blasting, billowing, bursting forth with the power of ten billion butterfly sneezes. Man, with his flaming pyre, has conquered the wayward breezes. Climbing to Tranquillity, far above the cloud, conceiving the heaven clear of misty shroud.
The Moody Blues - 1969
Simon Ball, Houston, USA

A century like a spoiled genius.
Zargham Ali, Canada

The 20th Century was the century of science and technology but increased speed and intervention did not necessarily manage to address fundamental needs of the human condition .
Anne McCrossan, UK

Depressing.
Pepe Tozzo, UK

The Century Of Conflicting Ideals.
Chris Elliott, England

As we emerge from what promises to be our final "dark age", there is hope, borne of science and genuine understanding, that humanity is about to embark upon an adventure the like of which our forefathers could not even have imagined. What an exciting time to be alive!
Mark M. Newdick, USA/UK

The age of self-interest and the decline of belief in anything beyond that we cannot see.
Pat van der Veer, Canada

A century of huge technological progress that left spiritual value behind. I hope the next one will be of sharing and compassion.
Pierre Gougeon, Canada

Struggle: With each other, with the past, with social upheaval, with mindboggling advancement, but most of all with ourselves, and our place in the world.
Jeroen, Netherlands

The 20th century will be regarded as the most interesting and innovative century of all history. Our great Grandchildren will remember the century as the greatest since fire was discovered and language and writing were invented.
William Marr jr., USA.

"What a long strange trip it's been"
Nick Pappas, USA

We tried, we failed, and we still haven't realised that we can't make it on our own.
Andy, UK

The century of information and communication for all.
Simon, UK

Reach for the moon.
Charlie Flagiello, USA

M - many
I - irreplaceable
L - lost
L - lives
E - expecting
N - new
I - improved
U - utopian
M - merriment
Joel Branwell, Wales

The 20th century, the good times were great, the bad, well, lest not forget.
Andrew Crothers, Wales

A word could sum it up really. That is "Incomplete". There is so much, with the resources we have to hand, that could have been done.
Simon Duckworth, England

It seems everything was turned upside down - at least in our minds. But remained the same in essence. Communism rose and fell, two world wars with devastating consequences took place, two nuclear bombardments, giant countries were formed and dissolved. Man left Earth, man reached for the depths of the oceans, man tackled the energy of the atom and of the stars, man is one step away from creating life... but at the same time all the positive and negative sides of man stayed the same, keeping humanity the same in essence; that's why the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dostoevskij, Dickens et al, did not and will not lose their freshness.
Andrej, Russia

Bloodshed.
Subhash Chander,

I think one word will sum up what this century has been like: "hectic"
Chris Bradley, Canada

100 years of lightning development and a race to contain an increasingly fragile world-order.
Andrew Skipwith, UK

The best of times and the worst of times.
Gerry, Scotland

Global Village.
Jonathan Plunkett, UK

"One step forward, two steps back," would seem appropriate. For every positive invention, there is an equally negative one, for every species saved, more are lost. Perhaps there is an equilibrium, but it would appear we have a choice of going down the road to destruction or turning around and saving our home.
Jim Cornall, Canada but from England

THE CENTURY OF INTENSITY. Human nature has not changed and will not change. However, technology allows faster, farther reaching, and more intense human activity.
R. H. Fulton, Ph.D., USA

A period of education of seminal thought and endeavour.
Manjunath Kustagi, USA

A century of highest technological miracles and lowest moral values, the bleak outcome of which awaits to effect us in the 21st century.
Dr. Qamar Abbasi, Ireland

Nations rise and nations fall. The struggle continues until nothing is left except the truth - that is what will prevail, and with it will bring peace and justice for all mankind to witness.
Mobeen Gajee, UK

It sucks!
Chris C, UK

I have a dream.
Chris Marvell, UK

Two things have grown in the minds of men. Arrogance with technology. Self-inflated superiority with arrogance.
Sean, USA

"No fun!" - Iggy Pop
Jacko, Australia

The century of technology and inventions for better or for worse.
James P Lockemer, Kenya

The century in which we conquered the Earth and made first steps into Space.
Murat Erkocevic, USA

It was a century much like any other. The rich got richer and the poor died young.
Dean Stewart, England

The utter depravity of man has been shown in 100+ ways!
Marcos Lohner, Mexico

From the Earth to the Moon and everything in between.
Jim L, USA

The century of unbridled growth...of wealth and poverty, power and weakness, hope and despair, knowledge of those who would pretend to be God and those who have learned they can never be God.
Ken Self, USA

The 20th century has been one of war. But there is hope ahead. Humanity can find hope in Christ Jesus, if we can get past our pride.
Pete, Sydney, Australia

A century where the will of a few has determined the future of the rest.
Krishna, India

We've never had it so good.
Andy Williamson, Hong Kong

A whole lot more of the same twisted ape, preening about with flashier intellectual and material toys, mindlessly creating ever more colourful versions of hell.
Leonard Turton, Canada

A century that has taught us many things. We can only survive through learning more and more ..!
Khurram Khan , Pakistan

The Grandeur of Delusion is how I see this century.
Ali, UK

The only one of 99 years - but where 99 centuries happened.
Simon Bee, Brazil

Too many people with too many opinions and too much opportunity to voice them.
Darren Devitt, London, UK

Hell on earth, now let's strive for heaven on earth before it's to late and our kids have nothing left.
Rick, Australia

Nation against Nation, Kingdom against Kingdom. The fate of billions rests in the hands of greedy men. Love conquers all.
M Ross, Australia

A century when the value of a human life became less than that of oil or money. A century that has seen massive technological stides taken, but not made available to the poor. A century that has pushed the Earth and its resorces to near breaking point. A century that for all the good that has gone on, we should still be ashamed of ourselves. Let's not make the same mistakes in the next.
David Minnie, South Africa

The Ironic Age
P.B. Unger, USA

It's all "relative".
Gautam N. Achanta, USA

"Let me see your papers please...now, wait in that line.."
Michael Morrison, USA

It's a small world after all.
Thomas, Canada

So much knowledge; so little wisdom!
Tom Sears, USA

Despite the advances in knowledge and information, the arrogantly ignorant few still set the agenda for the majority!
Kamal Bhattacharyya, Canada

"Out of this world"
David Gough, Canada

Show me the money...
Paul Ferguson, UK

"Earth,this is Mankind, we have a problem".
Stephen K Gurney, UK

Brighter lights, deeper shadows
Soledad Bailando, Philippines

A century in which the actions of a minority of individuals have counted for more than the actions of the majority of politicians.
Neil C Macdonald, Scotland

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