The most significant historic events of Americans' lifetimes (Pew)
The top 3 according to 347 votes from people: The 9/11 attacks · The tech revolution · The election of Barack Obama. (Updated Oct 11, 2025.)
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?
Top 14
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1
The 9/11 attacks
Named by three in four Americans, far ahead of everything else.
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2
The tech revolution
Computers, the internet and smartphones.
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3
The election of Barack Obama
The first Black president of the United States, in 2008.
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4
The Moon landing
Apollo 11 and Neil Armstrong's first step, 1969.
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5
The Vietnam War
The war that divided the country in the 1960s and 70s.
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6
The assassination of JFK
Dallas, 1963: the defining moment for Baby Boomers.
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7
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
The long wars that followed 9/11.
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8
The Great Recession
The financial crisis that began in 2008.
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9
The legalization of same-sex marriage
The 2015 Supreme Court ruling.
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10
World War II
The top event for the oldest Americans in the survey.
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11
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Memphis, 1968; high on the Boomers' list.
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12
The Gulf War
Operation Desert Storm, 1991.
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13
The Challenger disaster
The 1986 shuttle explosion that marked Generation X.
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14
The killing of Osama bin Laden
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.
Is something missing?
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