The “Zeros, “Zips,” “Aughts” or “Oh-Ohs” – or whatever you want to call the first decade of the 21st century – may be nearly over, but the tumultuous collection of storms, wars and political gaffes will surely live on in history. Time magazine even dubbed it “The Decade from Hell.”

But no, really, what are we supposed to call this haphazard, technology-crazed rollercoaster of a decade?

Jesse Sheidlower, editor at-large of the Oxford English Dictionary, told the Washington Post that he simply doesn’t have an answer to the question plaguing his office since the 1990s.

“For years and years, people have been seeking a solution,” Sheidlower said. “Well, it never happened. We don’t have a name for the decade. Sorry.”

A brief synopsis of the past decade, which undoubtedly but inadvertently may be missing some highlights:

2000
– Y2K doesn’t happen, computer geeks breathe sigh of relief, some people wonder what they’re going to do with 25 cases of water in their basements.
– Republican George W. Bush wins first term, beating Democrat and future filmmaker Al Gore after recount in the closest presidential election ever. The term “hanging chads” infiltrates the media.

2001
– iPod released. The way we listen to music and accelerate our hearing loss will never be the same.
– Al-Qaeda terrorists attack the United States on Sept. 11 in a series of suicide missions on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon and in a field in rural Pennsylvania that shook our country to the core.
– Operation Enduring Freedom is launched along with the British military in response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
– Letters containing anthrax are mailed to several media offices and two U.S. Senators, killing five people. Scientist Bruce Edwards Ivins was pinned as the suspect, but he later committed suicide.
– The first “Harry Potter” movie is released, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first of a series of movies based on seven books. The franchise is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time.

2002
– U.S. and Afghan troops launch Operation Anaconda against remaining al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.
– Miners in Pennsylvania are rescued after 77 hours in a flooded mine shaft.
– President Bush signs legislation to create the Department of Homeland Security.
– Boston archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law resigns amid the Catholic church’s cover up of sexual abuse by priests.

2003
– The military term “shock and awe” is used in describing the invasion of Iraq.
– In an infamous speech from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush declares Iraq “mission accomplished.”
– Saddam Hussein is discovered in a “rat hole” on a sheep farm in Iraq.
– “Lord of the Rings” wins 11 Academy Awards, the most Oscars ever.

2004
– TV host, author and home living mogul Martha Stewart is sentenced to five months in a federal prison for conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding and making false statements to federal investigators.
– Harvard students launch social networking site Facebook, which rapidly grows from a high school and college student-only site, to corporations, and finally to everyone in 2006. Your teenage probably hasn’t spoken to you in person since.
– Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Today, Washington D.C., New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont have also approved gay marriages, although some will not begin issuing licenses until 2010.
– Former President Ronald Reagan dies at age 93.
– George W. Bush claims a second term, defeating Democratic Senator John Kerry.
– An Indian Ocean earthquake kills more than 200,000 people in Indonesia.

2005
– Pope John Paul II, the second-longest pontificate, dies. Bavarian native Pope Benedict XVI becomes the next pope.
– Baseball becomes engulfed in steroid use hoopla, with former megastars like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa denying or downplaying allegations.
– President Bush signs legislation to keep Terry Schiavo, who was in a vegetative state for several years, alive. Numerous petitions, hearings and denials followed. Finally, a local court’s decision to disconnect her was implemented.
– Hurricane Katrina devastates the Gulf Coast, from Florida to Texas, flooding New Orleans’ levees and displacing some residents for years. The hurricane was called the worst natural disaster ever to strike the U.S. The Federal Emergency Management Agency comes under fire for its slow aid response.
– The Kashmir Earthquake hits Pakistan, killing approximately 79,000 people.
– Three former PayPal employees launch the video-sharing site YouTube, now one of the most popular places to embarrass yourself and others on the Internet.

2006
– The International Astronomical Union kicks Pluto out of the solar system, making Styrofoam planet projects everywhere incorrect.
– Nintendo releases its Wii video game console to compete with the new Playstation 3, much to the chagrin of parents who know they will be opening up their pocketbooks for yet another toy.
– Former President Gerald Ford dies.
– Saddam Hussein is executed by hanging.

2007
– Nancy Pelosi is named the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
– Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho murders 32 people in a shooting spree before turning the gun on himself. It is the deadliest peacetime shooting accident in U.S. history.

2008
– Cyclone Nargis causes at least 146,000 casualties in Myanmar.
– Swimmer Michael Phelps wins eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, though his squeaky-clean image would later be clouded by bong smoke the following year.
– Sen. Barack Obama, a Democrat, names Sen. Joe Biden his running mate for the presidency. In a shocking move, Sen. John McCain names little-known Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska, as the Republican candidate for vice president.
– Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher becomes the basis of term coined by the McCain-Palin campaign, “Joe the Plumber” – a metaphor for middle-class citizens.
– President Bush wraps up last term by signing $700 billion plan to bailout the country’s financial system.
– Barack Obama is elected the first black president of the U.S., riding high on a country tired of Bush and seeking “change,” which became the president’s campaign theme.
– Former First Lady Sen. Hillary Clinton, who narrowly lost the Democratic candidacy to Obama, becomes the only former First Lady to have ever held office in the presidential candidate when she is named Secretary of State.

2009
– Novel H1N1 influenza, also known as the “swine flu,” sweeps across the nation, prompting a nationwide phobia of germs, which became saturated in hand sanitizer.
– Pop legend Michael Jackson, of “Thriller” and chimpanzee-Neverland-plastic surgery fame, dies at age 50 of cardiac arrest, shortly before his promised career resurrection tour in London. His death is ruled a homicide because of the lethal cocktail of drugs in his system.
– President Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, producing a collective “What?!” around the globe.
– The U.S. Senate approves a controversial health care reform bill.

Katie Johnson is managing editor of the Niles Daily Star, Edwardsburg Argus and Cassopolis Vigilant. She can be reached at (269) 687-7713 or at katie.john son@leaderpub.com.