-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0224-101.htm Top 100 Events Chosen for Newseum Stories of the Century U.S. Newswire 24 Feb 03:00 Top 100 News Events Chosen for Newseum Stories of the Century To: National Desk, Media Writer Contact: Beth Tuttle of the Newseum, 703-284-3722 ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The United States' dropping of atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 that accelerated an end to World War II was voted the most significant news event of the last 100 years by a national panel of veteran journalists participating in the Newseum "Stories of the Century." The U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which led to the surrender of Japan, finished first among reporters, editors, broadcasters, photographers, editorial cartoonists, and historians participating in the balloting. Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon in 1969 was a close second. The Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, which drew the United States into the same war, finished a strong third. "This fascinating list shows that news is not a science. It comes from decisions made by people and reflects a daily collision of journalistic values and backgrounds," said Charles L. Overby, chairman and chief executive officer of The Freedom Forum. "This close vote shows that debate is still alive in America's newsrooms." The White House sex scandal, which dominated headlines and newscasts for the last year, barely registered a ripple, finishing 53rd in the balloting. Respondents gave much higher priority to historic achievements such as the discovery of penicillin in 1928, Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, and the discovery of DNA structure. The Beatles, test-tube baby Louise and the cloned sheep Dolly made the list. But O.J. Simpson, Princess Diana and Mark McGwire failed to make the cut. Only two of the top 50 stories occurred in the 1990's -the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of apartheid in South Africa in 1993. Events related to conflict dominated much of the balloting -- from World War I to the Russian Revolution to the Nazi death camps in World War II. But the finer moments of the 20th century did not go unrecognized -- the Wright brothers' first powered airplane in 1903 and women winning the vote in 1920 finished fourth and fifth respectively. The 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education court decision that ended the illusion of "separate but equal" segregated education was ranked ninth. The journalists and scholars disagreed on the top of the list as well as the bottom. Ben Bradlee of The Washington Post and columnist Carl Rowan picked Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor as the century's No. 1 news event. Historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and Univision's Maria Elena Salinas opted for man's first walk on the moon. CNN's Judy Woodruff agreed with the most popular choice -- the atomic bombing of Japan as most significant news story. "News judgment is not an exact science. This vote shows that even with decades of hindsight the enormity of a news event remains difficult to judge," said Joe Urschel, executive director of the Newseum. In all, 67 professionals voted in a two-round selection process that narrowed the list from 500 events to the top 100. Voters included leaders from the Associated Press, the Radio and Television News Directors Association, the Associated Press Managing Editors, as well as Schlesinger, a noted historian. The list of 100 events will be used as a ballot for public voting in the "Newseum Stories of the Century -- The Nation Votes" project. Ballots will be available at the Newseum, the world's only interactive museum of news, in Arlington, Va. Votes can be cast electronically at the Newseum's website, www.newseum.org/century. To receive a ballot, write Century Vote, Newseum, 1101 Wilson Blvd., Arlington Va., 22209. The nation's vote for Newseum Stories of the Century will be released at year's end and compared and contrasted with the journalists' selections. The project is the latest in an ongoing series by the Newseum and its parent foundation, The Freedom Forum, to help the news media and public understand each other better. ------ Newseum Stories Of The Century Not For Publication Before Wednesday, Feb. 24 Rank Date Event 1 1945 U.S. drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki: Japan surrenders to end World War II 2 1969 American astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to walk on the moon 3 1941 Japan bombs Pearl Harbor: U.S. enters World War II 4 1903 Wilbur and Orville Wright fly the first powered airplane 5 1920 Women win the vote 6 1963 President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas 7 1945 Horrors of Nazi Holocaust, concentration camps exposed 8 1914 World War I begins in Europe 9 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education ends "separate but equal" school segregation 10 1929 U.S. stock market crashes: The Great Depression sets in 11 1928 Alexander Fleming discovers the first antibiotic, penicillin 12 1953 Structure of DNA discovered 13 1991 U.S.S.R. dissolves, Mikhail Gorbachev resigns: Boris Yeltsin takes over 14 1974 President Richard M. Nixon resigns after Watergate scandal 15 1939 Germany invades Poland: World War II begins in Europe 16 1917 Russian revolution ends: Communists take over 17 1913 Henry Ford organizes the first major U.S. assembly line to produce Model T cars 18 1957 Soviets launch Sputnik, first space satellite: space race begins 19 1905 Albert Einstein presents special theory of relativity: general relativity theory to follow 20 1960 FDA approves birth control pill 21 1953 Dr. Jonas Salk's polio vaccine proven effective in University of Pittsburgh tests 22 1933 Adolf Hitler named chancellor of Germany: Nazi Party begins to seize power 23 1968 Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. 24 1944 D-Day invasion marks the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe 25 1981 Deadly AIDS disease identified 26 1964 Congress passes landmark Civil Rights Act outlawing segregation 27 1989 Berlin Wall falls as East Germany lifts travel restrictions 28 1939 Television debuts in America at New York World's Fair 29 1949 Mao Tse-tung establishes People's Republic of China: Nationalists flee to Formosa (Taiwan) 30 1927 Charles Lindbergh crosses the Atlantic in first solo flight 31 1977 First mass-market personal computers launched 32 1989 World Wide Web revolutionizes the Internet 33 1948 Scientists at Bell Labs invent the transistor 34 1933 FDR launches "New Deal": sweeping federal economic, public works legislation to combat depression 35 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis threatens to start World War III 36 1912 "Unsinkable" Titanic, largest man-made structure, sinks 37 1945 Germany surrenders: V-E Day celebrated 38 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision legalizes abortion 39 1918 World War I ends with Germany's defeat 40 1909 First regular radio broadcasts begin in America 41 1918 Worldwide flu epidemic kills 20 million 42 1946 ENIAC becomes world's first computer 43 1941 Regular TV broadcasting begins in the United States 44 1947 Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier 45 1948 Israel achieves statehood 46 1909 Plastic invented: revolutionizes products, packaging 47 1955 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott begins after Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat to a white person 48 1945 Atomic bomb tested in New Mexico 49 1993 Apartheid ends in South Africa: law to treat races equally 50 1963 Civil rights march converges on Washington, D.C.: Martin Luther King Jr. gives "I Have a Dream" speech 51 1959 American scientists patent the computer chip 52 1901 Marconi transmits radio signal across the Atlantic 53 1998 White House sex scandal leads to impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton 54 1947 Secretary of State George Marshall proposes European recovery program (The Marshall Plan) 55 1968 Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles 56 1920 U.S. Senate rejects Versailles Treaty: dooms League of Nations 57 1962 Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" stimulates environmental protection movement 58 1964 British rock group The Beatles takes the U.S. by storm after debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" 59 1965 Congress passes Voting Rights Act, outlawing measures used to suppress minority votes 60 1961 Yuri Gagarin becomes first man in space 61 1941 First jet airplane takes flight 62 1965 U.S. combat troops arrive in South Vietnam: U.S. planes bomb North Vietnam 63 1975 North Vietnamese forces take over Saigon 64 1942 Manhattan Project begins secret work on atomic bomb: Fermi triggers first atomic chain reaction 65 1945 Congress passes "GI Bill of Rights" to help veterans 66 1961 Alan Shepard becomes first American in space 67 1973 Watergate scandal engulfs Nixon administration 68 1906 Earthquake hits San Francisco: "Paris of the West" burns 69 1945 United Nations is officially established 70 1961 Communists build wall to divide East and West Berlin 71 1920 Mohandas Gandhi begins leading nonviolent reform movement in India 72 1911 Standard Oil loses Supreme Court antitrust suit: monopolies suffer blow 73 1973 U.S. withdraws last ground troops from Vietnam 74 1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization established 75 1928 Joseph Stalin begins forced modernization of the Soviet Union: resulting famines claim 25 million 76 1932 Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt beats incumbent President Herbert Hoover 77 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev becomes Soviet Premier: begins era of "Glasnost" 78 1900 Max Planck proposes quantum theory of energy 79 1997 Scientists clone sheep in Great Britain 80 1956 Congress passes interstate highway bill 81 1914 Panama Canal opens, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans 82 1963 Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" inaugurates modern women's rights movement 83 1986 The space shuttle Challenger explodes, killing crew including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe 84 1950 U.S. sends troops to defend South Korea 85 1968 Violence erupts at Democratic National Convention in Chicago 86 1900 Sigmund Freud publishes "The Interpretation of Dreams" 87 1958 China begins "Great Leap Forward" modernization program: estimated 20 million die in ensuing famine 88 1917 U.S. enters World War I 89 1927 Babe Ruth hits 60 home runs -- a single-season record that would last for 34 years 90 1962 John Glenn becomes first American to orbit the earth 91 1964 North Vietnamese boats reportedly attack U.S. ships: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution 92 1997 Pathfinder lands on Mars, sending back astonishing photos 93 1938 Hitler launches "Kristallnacht," ordering Nazis to commit acts of violence against German Jews 94 1940 Winston Churchill designated prime minister of Great Britain 95 1978 Louise Brown, first "test-tube baby," born healthy 96 1948 Soviets blockade West Berlin: Western allies respond with massive airlift 97 1975 Bill Gates and Paul Allen start Microsoft Corp. to develop software for Altair computer 98 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion kills more than 7,000 99 1925 Teacher John Scopes' trial pits creation against evolution in Tennessee 100 1964 The U.S. Surgeon General warns about smoking-related health hazards ------ For information about Newseum Stories of the Century, contact Beth Tuttle, 703-284-3722. -0- /U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/ 02/24 03:00 Copyright 1999, U.S. Newswire ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority. -Thomas Huxley + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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