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World War II Rated Most Important Event of 20th Century

World War II Rated Most Important Event of 20th Century

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

Americans rate World War Two as the most important event of the century, based on the results of a new Gallup Poll. Rounding out the top five are women gaining the right to vote in 1920, the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 , the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The poll asked Americans to rate each of 18 events, a list that was developed based on previous questioning which probed Americans' opinions about the events of the century in an open-ended fashion.

 



Now I'm going to read you a list of events which have occurred this century. For each one, please tell me if you consider that event to be one of the MOST important events of the century, important but not the MOST important, somewhat important, or not important. First, ... How about ... [RANDOM ORDER]

BASED ON -- 489 -- NATIONAL ADULTS IN FORM A; ± 5 PCT PTS

  (1)
(MI)
(2)
(I)
(3)
(SI)
(4)
(NI)
(5)
(DK)
1. World War II 71 21 5 2 1
2. Women gaining the right to vote in 1920 66 20 11 3 0
3. Dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 66 20 9 4 1
4. The Nazi Holocaust during World War II 65 20 9 5 1
5. Passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 58 26 13 2 1
6. World War I 53 28 11 5 3
7. Landing a man on the moon in 1969 50 30 15 5 *
8. The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 50 29 15 5 1
9. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 48 30 19 3 0
10. The U.S. Depression in the 1930s 48 29 18 3 2
11. The breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s 46 31 19 3 1
12. The Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s 37 31 20 11 1
13. Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight in 1927 27 33 28 11 1
14. The launching of the Russian Sputnik satellites in the 1950s 25 34 28 12 1
15. The Korean War in the early 1950s 21 36 32 10 1
16. The Persian Gulf War in 1991 18 38 32 11 1
17. The Impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998 15 25 24 35 1
18. The Watergate scandal involving Richard Nixon in the 1970s 14 32 34 19 1

(MI) = Most important
(I) = Important
(SI) = Somewhat important
(NI) = Not important
(DK) = Don't know


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/3463/world-war-rated-most-important-event-20th-century.aspx
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