# The most significant historic events of Americans' lifetimes (Pew)

In 2016 the Pew Research Center asked Americans to name the ten events of their lifetimes with the greatest impact on the country. These were the most named. Would you put them in the same order?

- 347 votes · 14 items
- Oct 11, 2025 · sftimetraveler
- https://even.best/en/l/2197/the-most-significant-historic-events-of-americans-lifetimes-pew

## Top 14

1. **The 9/11 attacks** (37 · ▲39 ▼2) — Named by three in four Americans, far ahead of everything else.
2. **The tech revolution** (28 · ▲31 ▼3) — Computers, the internet and smartphones.
3. **The election of Barack Obama** (27 · ▲29 ▼2) — The first Black president of the United States, in 2008.
4. **The Moon landing** (23 · ▲25 ▼2) — Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong's first step, 1969.
5. **The Vietnam War** (22 · ▲24 ▼2) — The war that divided the country in the 1960s and 70s.
6. **The assassination of JFK** (21 · ▲26 ▼5) — Dallas, 1963: the defining moment for Baby Boomers.
7. **The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan** (17 · ▲20 ▼3) — The long wars that followed 9/11.
8. **The Great Recession** (15 · ▲19 ▼4) — The financial crisis that began in 2008.
9. **The legalization of same-sex marriage** (14 · ▲17 ▼3) — The 2015 Supreme Court ruling.
10. **World War II** (12 · ▲14 ▼2) — The top event for the oldest Americans in the survey.
11. **The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.** (12 · ▲14 ▼2) — Memphis, 1968; high on the Boomers' list.
12. **The Gulf War** (10 · ▲14 ▼4) — Operation Desert Storm, 1991.
13. **The Challenger disaster** (9 · ▲16 ▼7) — The 1986 shuttle explosion that marked Generation X.
14. **The killing of Osama bin Laden** (8 · ▲13 ▼5) — The 2011 raid in Abbottabad, named by many Millennials.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.