PUTTING A FACE ON HISTORY

The tradition started with a hero, Charles Lindbergh, who conquered the Atlantic by air to become the most inspiring newsmaker of 1927. In seven decades, TIME's Men and Women of the Year have included the despicable (Adolf Hitler in 1938), the majestic (Queen Elizabeth II in 1952), the visionary (Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963) and the revolutionary (Lech Walesa in 1981). There has been the man in uniform (G.I. Joe in 1950), the younger generation (1966) and an entire gender (American women, 1975). The computer beat out flesh and blood in 1982. And the earth itself became the biggest newsmaker in 1988. But more often than not, it is a single individual who best expresses the sweep of history.

CELEBRATING THE FIRST 70 YEARS OF TIME'S MAN OF THE YEAR

Most remain household names, while others are best remembered by historians. But all, for better or worse, affected the way we live today

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH 1927 The pioneer, flying alone across the Atlantic

WALTER P. CHRYSLER 1928 Gunning for GM and planning the tallest skyscraper

OWEN D. YOUNG 1929 Negotiating the debts and arrears of World War I

MOHANDAS K. GANDHI 1930 Unleashing the longings of a subcontinent

PIERRE LAVAL 1931 Taking charge of a France in the middle of a political crisis

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 1932 Promising a New Deal amid the Depression

HUGH S. JOHNSON 1933 F.D.R.'s man to make the New Deal stick

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 1934 Basking in popular--and electoral--approval

HAILE SELASSIE 1935 Ethiopia's Emperor, alone as Italy threatens his nation

WALLIS WARFIELD SIMPSON 1936 The American-born divorce who made a King give up his throne

GEN. AND MME. CHIANG KAI-SHEK 1937 Reigning in a China beset by Japan and civil strife

ADOLF HITLER 1938 Drawing his shadowy curtain across Europe

JOSEPH STALIN 1939 Dealing with the Nazis for the lion's share of Poland

WINSTON CHURCHILL 1940 The voice of Britain in its darkest and finest hour

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT 1941 Leading America into the war against the Axis

JOSEPH STALIN 1942 Beginning the end of Hitler's imperial overreach

GEORGE C. MARSHALL 1943 Masterminding America's battle-readiness

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER 1944 Launching the reconquest of Western Europe

HARRY S TRUMAN 1945 F.D.R.'s understudy, initiator of the nuclear age

JAMES F. BYRNES 1946 Promulgating American policy in the postwar period

GEORGE C. MARSHALL 1947 Planning the restoration of war-ravaged Europe

HARRY S TRUMAN 1948 The stand-in President proves he can survive

WINSTON CHURCHILL 1949 Man of the Half-Century

G.I. JOE 1950 Led by Douglas MacArthur, they battled the communists in Korea

MOHAMMED MOSSADEGH 1951 Thumbing Iran's nose at the great powers

QUEEN ELIZABETH II 1952 England's new rose, the promise of a Golden Age

KONRAD ADENAUER 1953 Placing his revived Germany solidly in the West

JOHN FOSTER DULLES 1954 Imposing U.S. foreign policy around the world

HARLOW H. CURTICE 1955 Turning General Motors into a global power

HUNGARIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER 1956 Rebels with a lost cause--ousting the Soviets

NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV 1957 Repudiating Stalin and launching Sputnik

CHARLES DE GAULLE 1958 The war hero returns to lead a France in crisis

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER 1959 Two terms of global prosperity and global leadership

U.S. SCIENTISTS 1960 A showcase year in medicine, physics and chemistry

JOHN F. KENNEDY 1961 America's fresh face in a dangerous world

POPE JOHN XXIII 1962 Leading Catholicism into the 20th century

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 1963 Dreaming dreams of true racial equality

LYNDON B. JOHNSON 1964 Building civil rights and declaring war on poverty

WILLIAM C. WESTMORELAND 1965 Leading America's forces into Vietnam

TWENTY-FIVE AND UNDER 1966 A generation of great promise--and despair

LYNDON B. JOHNSON 1967 Amid plenty and Vietnam, the focus of angst

U.S. ASTRONAUTS 1968 Slowly laboring toward a landing on the moon

THE MIDDLE AMERICANS 1969 A Silent Majority is suddenly vocal about values

WILLY BRANDT 1970 Pursuing a West German detente with Moscow

RICHARD M. NIXON 1971 Making a difference in the economy--and with China

RICHARD NIXON & HENRY KISSINGER 1972 Leaving Vietnam, winning by a landslide--and facing Watergate

JUDGE JOHN J. SIRICA 1973 Revealing the secrets of Nixon's Watergate tapes

KING FAISAL 1974 Proving the power of oil--and its Arab masters

AMERICAN WOMEN 1975 Breakthroughs in politics, science, sports and religion

JIMMY CARTER 1976 Cleansing America's palate of years of scandal

ANWAR SADAT 1977 Forgoing war to win Israel with Egyptian charm

DENG XIAOPING 1978 Remaking China by outmaneuvering Mao's heirs

AYATULLAH KHOMEINI 1979 Ousting Iran's Shah--and taking hostages along the way

RONALD REAGAN 1980 Top-billed at last and a new morning in America dawns

LECH WALESA 1981 Leading Poland's labor challenge to Moscow

THE COMPUTER 1982 No longer just an office fixture, the computer comes home

REAGAN AND ANDROPOV 1983 Unnerving the world with nuclear calculations

PETER UEBERROTH 1984 Making America proud by making the L.A. Olympics a winner

DENG XIAOPING 1985 Turning China's immense poverty into plenty

CORAZON AQUINO 1986 Inspiring People Power, a widow ousts a Filipino despot

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV 1987 Teaching the Soviets perestroika and glasnost

ENDANGERED EARTH 1988 Realizing that a planet is a terrible thing to waste

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV 1989 Man of the Decade

GEORGE BUSH 1990 Two faces: superb world leader, indifferent domestic chief

TED TURNER 1991 Truly transforming the world into a global village

BILL CLINTON 1992 Ending the 12-year G.O.P. lease on the White House

THE PEACEMAKERS 1993 Taking a chance for peace in South Africa and the Middle East

POPE JOHN PAUL II 1994 Laying down a hard moral line in today's world

NEWT GINGRICH 1995 Storming Congress with a revived G.O.P.

DR. DAVID HO 1996 Devising strategies in the war against AIDS