Millennium Survey Of Young People

Wednesday 12 January 2000

Views of the Twentieth Century

The first heart transplant is regarded as the single greatest achievement of the twentieth century… Overall, 16-24 year olds feel that the single greatest achievement of the twentieth century was Dr Christian Barnard's pioneering heart transplant (26%), very closely followed by the defeat of Hitler in the Second World War (25%) with the first moon landing (21%) in third place.

These three achievements score higher than any others selected from a prompted list, including events from recent history such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the release of Nelson Mandela and Live Aid.

There is noticeable variation by gender; while women choose the first heart transplant as the single greatest achievement of this century, men were more likely to mention the defeat of Hitler. Interestingly, 16-18 year olds choose the moon landing above anything else.

… while the computer is the greatest invention.

The three greatest inventions of the twentieth century are the computer, the television and the Internet; all were mentioned by more than one in five young people. Overall, the computer came top - chosen by over one third of those interviewed - however women were more likely to mention the television.

Topline Results

• A nationally representative total of 533 16-24 year olds were interviewed by MORI between 11 and 22 November.
• The data is weighted to reflect the national profile for this age group.
• Base: All unless stated.
• Figures are expressed as percentages, unless stated otherwise.
• An asterisk (*) represents a value below 0.5%, but not zero.

Q1 In your view, what was the single greatest achievement of the 20th Century?

Q2 What was the single greatest invention of the 20th Century?