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For all those non British people who haven't heard the result of this study please answer truthfully, which of the following ten are the most important moments of the last 100 years.

June 2, 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II coronation
April 2, 1982 - Falklands War
December 8, 1980 - John Lennon assassinated
December 11, 1936 - Abdication of Kind Edward
August 31, 1997 - Princess Diana's death
September 3, 1939 - Start of second world war
February 6, 1918 - Women win the right to vote
April 10, 1998 - Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
November 11, 1918 - End of first world war
July 30, 1966 - England won World Cup

Put them in order of your opinion would also be quite interesting.

If you haven't seen this news report i think you will be slightly surprised by the actual results.

OK-Well I have absolutely NO IDEA! But Ill guess for the heck of it.

1-Start of WWII
2-End of WWI
3-Queen Elizabeth's coronation
4-Princess Diana's death
5-Women win the right to vote
6-Abdication of Kind Edward
7-Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
8- Falklands War
9-England won World Cup
10-John Lennon assassinated

If I let the end of WW1 be a symbol for the whole war then that is definatly the most important.

6. June 2, 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II coronation
9. April 2, 1982 - Falklands War
8. December 8, 1980 - John Lennon assassinated
5. December 11, 1936 - Abdication of Kind Edward
7. August 31, 1997 - Princess Diana's death
4. September 3, 1939 - Start of second world war
1. February 6, 1918 - Women win the right to vote
2. April 10, 1998 - Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
3. November 11, 1918 - End of first world war
10. July 30, 1966 - England won World Cup

If you want my opinion, then here it is:

1 - End of first world war
2 - Start of second world war
3 - Women win the right to vote
4 - Falklands War
5 - John Lennon assassinated
6 - Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
7 - Queen Elizabeth II coronation
8 - Princess Diana's death
9 - Abdication of Kind Edward
10 - England won World Cup

This is my opinion, though about quite carefully...however, the British public may well have a different idea...They, I would guess (and I have not read the report) would definately rank Diana's death very high, and the world cup in 66'...

December 11, 1936 - Abdication of Kind Edward
April 10, 1998 - Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
July 30, 1966 - England won World Cup
February 6, 1918 - Women win the right to vote
August 31, 1997 - Princess Diana's death
April 2, 1982 - Falklands War
December 8, 1980 - John Lennon assassinated
November 11, 1918 - End of first world war
June 2, 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II coronation
September 3, 1939 - Start of second world war

Hmmmmmmmmmm

Eh...I do not want to start an argument or an unwanted discussion...but I am confused. @Kid, did that 'Hmmmmmmm' indicate that you were joking? Do you really think that England winning the football was more important than the second world war beginning?

War is bad I hate wars

The most important moment in the last 100 years is the same as the most important moment in the last 1000, or 10,000, IMO. The moment of now, always receding, always here.

Originally posted by KidD01
War is bad I hate wars

The funny thing is that in RL my initials are WAR. (Seriously )

Just out of curiosity, are these supposed to be mostly British events? Was this a census taken in England, or was this a world thing, because I can think of a few more important things.

Judging by the dates and events-It looks like its only in the UK.

Seems a bit biased to me... Almost on the side of arrogance on the UK's side, not to sound offensive.

Very English. Apart from the world wars, these are fairly irrelevant to other parts of the world. Women got the right to vote in Australia in the 1890's, so it wouldn't count in the last century.

@Aegis: I think Mr Sleep meant "what British people think about the most important moment in Britain", or something like that.

I bet the No.1 is "the Death of Princess Diana".

Most importent to least importent:
September 3, 1939 - Start of second world war
November 11, 1918 - End of first world war
February 6, 1918 - Women win the right to vote
April 2, 1982 - Falklands War
April 10, 1998 - Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland

equally unimportent to me: (meaning I can put any one over the other)
June 2, 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II coronation
December 8, 1980 - John Lennon assassinated
December 11, 1936 - Abdication of Kind Edward
August 31, 1997 - Princess Diana's death
July 30, 1966 - England won World Cup


Very importent : 1992 - Denmark wins European Cup in football

I let my existential side hold sway in my last post, here, about this moment in time being the most important. However, since the focus seems to be on something else altogether...

The single most important moment in recent times would be, for me, the moment Eli Whitney perceived a method of creating an invention that would greatly speed up the gathering of the cotton crop and its processing. It had two very different effects.

First, more people will being killed at that time from poor hygiene than any other cause in the world. The germ theory hadn't been created (though it had been promulgated as early as Ancient Greece, then forgotten). Septocemia wasn't understood. Surgeons usually operated with dirty tools, and the most likely patient to get off without dying from blood poisoning was the first one to be operated on during any given day.

This will sound like a joke, but most people didn't wear underwear. It was simply too expensive, and the phrase "body linen," like "bed linen" at the time, referred to the extremely rich who could afford linen underwear. Everybody else simply wore main garments, usually made of wool. Wool itches. There were no adequate methods in urban European areas of cleansing waste remnants from the body after elimination. People would scratch their rears frequently, and use the same hands to touch their faces and their food. Small-scale epidemics were constant, and the diseases that were rampant were often of the kind communicated by improper human isolation from biological waste.

The appearance of extremely cheap cotton suddenly made not merely itchless underwear affordable to the masses in middleclass Europe, but it also meant several suits of underwear. People could change them out and wash them. By this introduction of cheap cotton thanks to the gin, body hygiene in a very populated portion of the world improved dramatically within a decade.

At the same time, the American South was nearly in a state of economic collapse due to its reliance on the Arcadian ideal of a planter society harvesting something everybody wanted. The tobacco market had dropped off, and the soil was being leeched of its nutrients. The cotton gin suddenly revitalized the South. King Cotton, as it was called, made the South an essential part of the world eocnomic equation at the time. Money flowed in, the philosophy behind the culture got a boost, and slavery became once more a thriving institution. The cotton gin sent the manufacturing North and the farming South barreling directly towards a confrontation that would lead to a war still having immense consequences in the US, today.

Okay here is the lists:

The top UK dates

1. August 31, 1997 - Princess Diana's death
2. September 3, 1939 - Start of second world war
3. February 6, 1918 - Women win the right to vote
4. April 10, 1998 - Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
5. November 11, 1918 - End of first world war
6. July 30, 1966 - England won World Cup
7. June 2, 1953 - Queen Elizabeth II coronation
8. April 2, 1982 - Falklands War
9. December 8, 1980 - John Lennon assassinated
10. December 11, 1936 - Abdication of Kind Edward

As Frogus and Minerva guessed Princess Diana's death was voted the most important date of the last 100 years...i am just disturbed really. Also the lack of historical knowledge is quite surprising, for instance the End of the First World War actually caused the second world war.

@Aegis, here is the world dates.

Top world dates

1. September 11, 2001 - Terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre
2. August 6, 1945 - First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
3. December 22, 1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall and communism
4. July 20, 1969 - Man first landed on the moon
5. February 13, 1990 - Nelson Mandela freed
6. November 11, 1918 - End of World War I
7. November 22, 1963 - John F Kennedy assassinated
8. December 21, 1988 - Lockerbie aircraft bombing
9. January 27, 1973 - Vietnam War cease-fire signed
10. June 4, 1989 - Tiananmen Square massacre

At least the world events got a decent set of votes, although i think the WTC debacle is too high, but then as fable says the most recent is always the highest in these types of questions. The public has not got a great deal of memory

Atomic bomb dropping and Man landing on the moon I think should be 1 and 2 as far as an impact in the last 100 years.

Weasels view

Top world dates

10. September 11, 2001 - Terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre
4. August 6, 1945 - First atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
3. December 22, 1989 - Fall of the Berlin Wall and communism
7. July 20, 1969 - Man first landed on the moon
2. February 13, 1990 - Nelson Mandela freed
1. November 11, 1918 - End of World War I
9. November 22, 1963 - John F Kennedy assassinated
8. December 21, 1988 - Lockerbie aircraft bombing
5. January 27, 1973 - Vietnam War cease-fire signed
6. June 4, 1989 - Tiananmen Square massacre

9 and 10 could go either way for me.