I know you've heard me go on and on about this guy- but I'm not the only one!
From USA TODAY!
They are the 25 most influential people of the past 25 years — those who changed our world, transformed technology, mapped the human body and affected the way we relate to one another.
Bill Gates (AP)
1 Bill Gates, software entrepreneur
His Microsoft software shaped the way millions use the technology that has transformed communications and commerce — making him the world’s richest man and, now, a leading philanthropist.
Ronald Reagan (AFP)
2Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. president
Elected in 1980 and re-elected in 1984, he put the United States on a more conservative course, restored buoyancy and confidence in the presidency and forged a partnership with a reformist Soviet leader that helped end the Cold War.
Oprah Winfrey (AP)
3Oprah Winfrey, talk show host
As a talk-show host, first at WLS-TV’s AM Chicago in 1984, she pioneered a form of intimate public discourse that brought taboo subjects into the open and sparked a confessional, self-help culture.
Dr. Craig Venter, left (USA TODAY); Dr. Francis Collins, right (GNS)
4&5Francis Collins & J. Craig Venter, mappers of the human genome
The Human Genome Project headed by Collins and a parallel private effort by Celera Genomics under Venter jointly announced the mapping of the human genome in 2000, opening the door to breakthroughs in identifying, treating and preventing the world’s most feared diseases.
Osama bin Laden (AP)
6Osama bin Laden, terrorist
For most Americans, the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, by the al-Qaeda network he leads marked the beginning of a global battle against radical Islamists 12 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the Cold War.
Stephen Hawking (USA TODAY)
7Stephen Hawking, physicist
In the tradition of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, he explored the nature of the universe. He popularized science, wrote the best-selling A Brief History of Time in 1988 and remains a puckish personality despite being severely disabled by Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Lance Armstrong (AP)
8Lance Armstrong, cyclist and cancer activist
He won a record-breaking seven consecutive Tour de France races, cycling’s most prestigious event, after battling testicular cancer. Sales of his iconic "Livestrong" wristbands have raised millions of dollars to help fight cancer.
Pope John Paul II (AFP)
9Pope John Paul II, pontiff
Polish-born Karol Jozef Wojtyla helped propel a peaceful revolution in Poland in 1989 that ended Soviet domination and reverberated through Eastern Europe. In a 26-year papacy, he defined the Roman Catholic Church’s role in modern times.
Bono (AFP)
10Bono, rock musician and activist for Africa
Born Paul Hewson, the lead singer of the Irish rock band U2 has shrewdly pressed world leaders to forgive third-world debt and address the AIDS pandemic in Africa.
