The 20th Century’s Greatest Hits Volume 2

By Utne Reader Staff and The Utne Reader
Published on October 30, 2007

The Utne editorial team took a shot at ident-ifying the 20th century’s top cultural achievements in our Jan./Feb. 2001 issue, and we invited readers to send in their own Ten Best lists. And so you did. From Carl Jung to Maya Angelou, we were delighted, surprised and enlightened by the breadth and brilliance of your responses. We tallied the results and now present the 25 Greatest Hits of the 20th Century, according to the readers of Utne Reader. They are presented here in chronological order, but we’ll report that the The Beatles lead the list by a wide margin. Frank Lloyd Wright, 2001 Space Odyssey, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and The Simpsons round out the Top Five.We’re also sharing a sample of the many fascinating lists we received. We hope they guide you to something new (or old) that might become one of your own personal greatest hits.

Our Reader’s Top 25 of the 20th Century
The works of Frank Loyd Wright
(1886 – 1959 architecture and design)
The “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King Jr.
(1963 address at Washington, D.C. civil rights rally)
Rite of Springby Igor Stravinsky
(1913 classical composition)
The works of J.R.R. Tolkien
(1922 – 1967)
Porgy and Bess by George and Ira Gershwin
(1935 folk opera)
The music of the Beatles
(1962 – 1970 rock recordings)
The music of Duke Ellington
(1919 – 1966 jazz compositions)
Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan
(1966 rock album)
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
(1939 novel)
The music of The Grateful Dead
(1967-1995 rock jams)
The Wizard of Oz directed by Victor Fleming
(1939 film)
2001: A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick
(1968 film)
The Master and Margaritaby Mikhail Bulgakov
(1940 Russian novel)
The 1969 Moon Landing
It’s a Wonderful Life directed by Frank Capra
(1946 film)
Sesame Street produced by the Children’s Television Workshop
(1969-present, television program)
1984by George Orwell
(1949 novel)
Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd
(1973 rock album)
I Love Lucycreated by Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball
(1951-1957 sitcom)
The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial by Maya Lin
(1982 monument)
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
(1959 jazz album)
The Simpsons created by Matt Groening
(1989-present, television show)
The works of Dr. Suess
(1937-1991 children’s stories)
Angels in Americaby Tony Kushner
(1992 play)
UTNE
UTNE
In-depth coverage of eye-opening issues that affect your life.