100 HEADLINES; USE OF A-BOMB TOPS LIST OF CENTURY'S NEWS EVENTS.Byline: Arlene Levinson Associated Press The top news event of the 20th century was written in the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the terrifying ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. power of America's new atomic bomb brought World War II to an end in 1945. That turning point was ranked No. 1 by prominent journalists and scholars who selected the top 100 news events of the past 100 years for the Newseum, a museum about newsgathering. Their No. 2 choice was another scientific achievement, one as peaceful as it was wondrous: U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon in 1969. Third place went to Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor. Those news stories led a list released today. Each participant was asked to select the 25 most important news events, and their lists were combined to produce a final ranking of 100. That list, rearranged in chronological order, now becomes a ballot that the public can vote on. ``It was agonizing,'' CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. anchor and senior correspondent Judy Woodruff said of the selection process. She too concluded the century's lead news event was the atomic bombing. ``Because so many people died, it drove home the awful power of this new instrument,'' she said. Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.'s choice for No. 1 was Armstrong's moon walk. ``I put DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. and penicillin and the computer and the microchip in the first 10 because they've transformed civilization. Wars vanish,'' Schlesinger observed. ``The one thing for which this century will be remembered 500 years from now was: This was the century when we began the exploration of space.'' That event gave many a sense of infinite potential. ``People always say: If we could land on the moon, we can do anything,'' said Maria Elena Salinas Salinas, city, United States Salinas (səlē`nəs), city (1990 pop. 108,777), seat of Monterey co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. It is the shipping and processing center of a fertile valley famous for its grain and lettuce. , co-anchor at Miami-based Spanish-language cable network Univision, who also made it her first choice. Though third on the overall list, Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor was No. 1 for Ben Bradlee. ``I'm going to write the next one of these things in disappearing ink,'' said the journalist of 50-plus years. At age 77, Bradlee was alive for most events he chose from. Now vice president at-large at The Washington Post, his choices for the top 25 were as personal as they were professional. ``World War II was 25 percent of my life at one time,'' Bradlee said. The assassination Assassination See also Murder. assassins Fanatical Moslem sect that smoked hashish and murdered Crusaders (11th—12th centuries). [Islamic Hist.: Brewer Note-Book, 52] Brutus conspirator and assassin of Julius Caesar. [Br. of President Kennedy was No. 6 on the final list, No. 2 for Bradlee. ``He was a friend,'' he said. The Watergate scandal? The event his reporters uncovered and which led to the resignation of President Nixon, was No. 7 for Bradlee, No. 14 on the list of 100. The Newseum, based in Arlington, Va., is a project of The Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation that promotes understanding between news media and public. THE TOP 100 STORIES OF THE CENTURY; The Newseum in Arlington, Va., asked journalists and scholars to select the 20th Century's top 100 stories. The results: 1. United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki: Japan surrenders to end World War II, 1945. 2. American astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the moon, 1969. 3. Japan bombs Pearl Harbor: United States enters World War II, 1941. 4. Wilbur and Orville Wright fly the first powered airplane, 1903. 5. American women win the vote, 1920. 6. President John F. Kennedy "John Kennedy" and "JFK" redirect here. For other uses, see John Kennedy (disambiguation) and JFK (disambiguation). John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917–November 22, 1963), was the thirty-fifth President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in assassinated in Dallas, 1963. 7. Horrors of Nazi Holocaust, concentration camps exposed, 1945. 8. World War I begins in Europe, 1914. 9. Brown vs. Board of Education Brown vs. Board of Education landmark Supreme Court decision barring segregation of schools (1954). [Am. Hist.: Van Doren, 544] See : Justice ends ``separate but equal'' school segregation, 1954. 10. U.S. stock market crashes: The Great Depression sets in, 1929. 11. Alexander Fleming discovers the first antibiotic, penicillin, 1928. 12. Structure of DNA discovered, 1953. 13. U.S.S.R dissolves, Mikhail Gorbachev resigns: Boris Yeltsin takes over, 1991. 14. President Richard M. Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal, 1974. 15. Germany invades Poland: World War II begins in Europe, 1939. 16. Russian revolution ends: Communists take over, 1917. 17. Henry Ford organizes the first major U.S. assembly line to produce Model T cars, 1913. 18. Soviets launch Sputnik Sputnik: see satellite, artificial; space exploration. Sputnik Any of a series of Earth-orbiting spacecraft whose launching by the Soviet Union inaugurated the space age. , first space satellite: space race begins, 1957. 19. Albert Einstein presents special theory of relativity special theory of relativity n. See special relativity. Noun 1. special theory of relativity - a physical theory of relativity based on the assumption that the speed of light in a vacuum is a constant and the assumption that : general relativity theory Noun 1. general relativity theory - a generalization of special relativity to include gravity (based on the principle of equivalence) Einstein's general theory of relativity, general relativity, general theory of relativity to follow, 1905. 20. FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approves birth control pill birth control pill n. See oral contraceptive. birth control pill Oral contraceptive, see there , 1960. 21. Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine proven effective in University of Pittsburgh tests, 1953. 22. Adolf Hitler named Chancellor of Germany
The head of government of Germany is called Chancellor (German: Kanzler). : Nazi Party begins to seize power, 1933. 23. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., 1968. 24. D-Day invasion marks the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe The final battles of the European Theatre of World War II as well as the German surrender took place in late April and early May 1945. Surrender timeline Soviet and American troops met at the River Elbe , 1944. 25. Deadly AIDS disease identified, 1981. 26. Congress passes landmark Civil Rights Act outlawing segregation, 1964. 27. Berlin Wall falls as East Germany lifts travel restrictions, 1989. 28. Television debuts in America at New York World's Fair There have been two World's Fairs in New York City:
29. Mao Tse-tung establishes Peoples Republic of China: Nationalists flee to Formosa (Taiwan), 1949. 30. Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic in first solo flight The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. , 1927. 31. First mass market personal computers launched, 1977. 32. World Wide Web revolutionizes the Internet, 1989. 33. Scientists at Bell Labs invent the transistor, 1948. 34. FDR launches ``New Deal:'' sweeping federal economic, public works legislation to combat depression, 1933. 35. Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to threatens World War III World War III (abbreviated WWIII), or the Third World War, is a term used to describe a hypothetical conflict on the scale of World War I and World War II, or even larger, such as a nuclear holocaust. , 1962. 36. ``Unsinkable'' Titanic, largest man-made structure, sinks, 1912. 37. Germany surrenders: VE Day celebrated, 1945. 38. Roe vs. Wade decision legalizes abortion, 1973. 39. World War I ends with Germany's defeat, 1918. 40. First regular radio broadcasts begin in America, 1909. 41. Worldwide flu epidemic kills 20 million, 1918. 42. `ENIAC' becomes world's first computer, 1946. 43. Regular TV broadcasting begins in the United States, 1941. 44. Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier, 1947. 45. Israel achieves statehood, 1948. 46. Plastic invented: revolutionizes products, packaging, 1909. 47. Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott begins after Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white person, 1955. 48. Atomic bomb tested in New Mexico, 1945. 49. Apartheid ends in South Africa: law to treat races equally, 1993. 50. Civil rights march converges on Washington, D.C.: Martin Luther King gives ``I Have A Dream'' speech, 1963. 51. American scientists patent the computer chip, 1959. 52. Marconi transmits radio signal across the Atlantic, 1901. 53. White House sex scandal leads to impeachment impeachment, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is sometimes applied also to the trial by the legislature that may follow. of President William Jefferson Clinton, 1998. 54. Sec. of State George Marshall proposes European recovery program European Recovery Program: see Marshall Plan. (The Marshall Plan), 1947. 55. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in California, 1968. 56. U.S. Senate rejects Versailles Treaty: dooms League of Nations, 1920. 57. Rachel Carson's ``Silent Spring'' stimulates environmental protection movement, 1962. 58. British rock group The Beatles takes the United States by storm after debut on the Ed Sullivan show, 1964. 59. Congress passes Voting Rights Act Voting Rights Act Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1965 to ensure the voting rights of African Americans. Though the Constitution's 15th Amendment (passed 1870) had guaranteed the right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” , outlawing measures used to suppress minority votes, 1965. 60. Yuri Gagarin becomes first man in space, 1961. 61. First jet airplane takes flight, 1941. 62. U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam: U.S. planes bomb North Vietnam, 1965. 63. North Vietnamese forces take over Saigon, 1975. 64. Manhattan Project begins secret work on atomic bomb: Fermi triggers first atomic chain reaction, 1942. 65. Congress passes ``GI Bill of Rights'' to help veterans, 1945. 66. Alan Shepard becomes first American in space, 1961. 67. Watergate scandal engulfs Nixon administration, 1973. 68. Earthquake hits San Francisco: ``Paris of the West'' burns, 1906. 69. United Nations is officially established, 1945. 70. Communists build wall to divide East and West Berlin, 1961. 71. Mohandas Gandhi begins leading nonviolent reform movement in India, 1920. 72. Standard Oil loses Supreme Court antitrust suit: monopolies suffer blow, 1911. 73. United States withdraws last ground troops from Vietnam, 1973. 74. North Atlantic Treaty Organization North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), established under the North Atlantic Treaty (Apr. 4, 1949) by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. established, 1949. 75. Joseph Stalin begins forced modernization of the Soviet Union: resulting famines claim 25 million lives, 1928. 76. Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt beats incumbent President Herbert Hoover, 1932. 77. Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet Premier: begins era of ``Glasnost glasnost (gläs`nōst), Soviet cultural and social policy of the late 1980s. Following his ascension to the leadership of the USSR in 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev began to promote a policy of openness in public discussions about current and ,'' 1985. 78. Max Planck proposes quantum theory of energy, 1900. 79. Scientists clone sheep in Great Britain, 1997. 80. Congress passes interstate highway bill, 1956. 81. Panama Canal opens, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 1914. 82. Betty Friedan's ``The Feminine Mystique'' inaugurates modern women's rights movement, 1963. 83. The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes, killing crew - including school teacher Christa McAuliffe, 1986. 84. United States sends troops to defend South Korea, 1950. 85. Violence erupts at Democratic National Convention in Chicago, 1968. 86. Sigmund Freud publishes ``The Interpretation of Dreams,'' 1900. 87. China begins ``Great Leap Forward'' modernization program: estimated 20 million die in ensuing famine, 1958. 88. United States enters World War I, 1917. 89. Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs - a single-season record that would last for 34 years, 1927. 90. John Glenn becomes first American to orbit the Earth, 1962. 91. North Vietnamese boats reportedly attack U.S. ships: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (Aug. 5, 1964) Resolution by the U.S. Congress authorizing Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson to use “all necessary measures” to repel armed attacks against U.S. forces in Vietnam. It was drafted in response to the alleged shelling of two U.S. , 1964. 92. Pathfinder lands on Mars, sending back astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. photos, 1997. 93. Hitler launches ``Kristallnacht,'' ordering Nazis to commit acts of violence against German Jews, 1938. 94. Winston Churchill designated prime minister of Great Britain, 1940. 95. Louise Brown, first ``test-tube baby,'' born healthy, 1978. 96. Soviets blockade West Berlin: Western allies respond with massive airlift, 1948. 97. Bill Gates and Paul Allen start Microsoft Corp. to develop software for Altair computer, 1975. 98. Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion kills more than 7,000, 1986. 99. Teacher John Scopes' trial pits creation against evolution in Tennessee, 1925. 100. The U.S. Surgeon General warns about smoking-related health hazards, 1964. CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1) Aug. 6, 1945: The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. (2) July 20, 1968: Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren are the first men to walk on the moon. Box: The top 100 stories of the century (See text) |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion