More than 36,000 people voted. The results reveal as much about how Americans see themselves on the brink of a new millennium as how they view the past 100 years. Remarkably, America's current fascination with high tech didn't make it into the top 10. Most significantly, the survey shows that what is important differs vastly depending on who is asked. Civil rights dominates the choices of black voters but does not make it into the top 10 for white voters.
Younger voters tend to be more influenced by the popular media.
It's the prism through which they see the world. Both news and history, it turns out, are in the eye of the beholder. The survey results show deep differences in the way the sexes view the past. The top 10 stories How men ranked them How women ranked them 1. The list of stories consisted of those selected in an earlier survey of journalists and historians.