Plot Synopsis

101 PEOPLE WHO MADE THE 20TH CENTURY is an eight-episode series that counts down the industrialists, adventurers, politicians, entertainers and great thinkers who changed the world during the 1900s It was a century where the empires of the past crumbled to make way for new superpowers and a new age, and civilizations were built on science, exploration, and a desire to express new creative possibilities. It was a century where the world was drawn into one war after another, but where radio, film, television, cars, planes and finally computers drew people closer together than at any other point in history. It was a century of unprecedented change that was born out of the actions of individuals -- what they created, what they discovered, what they destroyed. Who were the 101 people who drove the changes in every aspect of life that made the 20th century and set-up the 21st? A decade and a half since the close of the century, this series takes a considered look at the people most responsible for the events that changed their world. This series counts down -- from 101 to #1 -- the names of those who, in the judgement of experts, including those who contribute to the series, most influentially shaped the century and the world.