Most Influential Person. . .

I think it is quite safe to say that Jesus was very influential whether he, and the things attributed to him, really existed, or not. But, while acknowledging that influences can last long times and overlap millenium markers; I don't think Jesus is a valid answer to the original question. The question was for most influential person of the last millenium, not the last two. Ergo, Jesus doesn't qualify. Similarly, if some people a thousand years from now are discussing the same question, Newton wouldn't qualify for them.Therefore, I would have to go with the scientists and inventors being mentioned as good choices. Newton may be at the top for me.Just my $.02.Verzem

Helen Keller and Thomas Jefferson would both be good choices. I do think that Jefferson would have to share his stage with the whole of the Founding Fathers though. And the democratic principles they laid down have reached far beyond Amnerica to date.It gets very hard to choose just one.Verzem

My take on the question was that the person would have to have been a resident of the last millenium.I did mention that influences can overlap millenium markers.I don't recall anyone mentioning Bill Gates yet. Or how about Steven Speilberg or George Lucas? Perhaps Walt Disney? They were pretty influential.Verzem

holmes,I guess it all comes down to opinions about whether producers like Lucas and Speilberg were influential.I do like the list of directors you supplied. I really like the old Hitchcock movies. Good picks.Verzem

Peter,you sure mentioned some great sci-fi movies. The Andromeda Strain was awesome!When you mentioned Leone, my thoughts immediately went to my all-time favorite movie: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. The soundtrack to that movie is fantastic. And it has Eastwood saying one of my all-time favorite bits of movie philosophy: "There are two kinds of people in this world; those with loaded guns, and those who dig."One thing that is certain is that people in the movie and television industries do have a broad influence upon us.How about Roone Arledge and television sports?Verzem

I don't think soccer will ever be popular here in the USA. It is just way too boring for us. There is a problem in watching a game that can be played for an hour and a half and end up 1-0, and only then because of a penalty kick. Curling is more exciting!I don't know why (maybe it is because for soccer, you don't have to buy lots of equipment) but they seem to make our kids do soccer. But, as can be esxpected, most of them lose interest when they hit their teens.And I will say this, for those suffering from insomnia, watching soccer does provide good sedative effects.Roone Arledge was an innovative sports television executive. He didn't invent it personally, but he brought us the use of instant replay amongst other things.Verzem

Deep Throat? Are you talking of the Deep Throat of Watergate fame?Isn't mystery celebrity an oxymoron? I guess you could call superheroes such a name, but they aren't real. Can you think of a real life modern day mystery celebrity?Verzem