Here's the LIFE magazine list of the 100 people who made the Millennium, ranked in order of importance.
Let the debates begin!
1 THOMAS EDISON 1847-1931
Because of him, the millennium will end in a wash of brilliant light rather than in torchlit darkness as it
began. In 1879, Thomas Edison gave humans the power to create light without fire, by inventing a
long-lasting, affordable incandescent lamp. Among life's many conveniences we can take for granted,
thanks in part to him: copiers, radio, movies, TV, phones (he improved Bell's). On the night after his
funeral, Americans dimmed their lights for the man who lit up the world.
2 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 1451-1506
He failed four times to find a route westward from Europe to the Orient, but the Italian explorer
stumbled upon two giant continents rich in raw materials and agricultural products that changed the
economy of Europe. Christopher Columbus is often criticized--principally for cruelty toward and
enslavement of Caribbean natives--but his delivery on a promise to "discover islands and mainland in
the Ocean Sea," however inadvertent, has never been surpassed.
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