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