Some Reflections on the Project so far
I started the Person of the Year project a year ago and have so far highlighted over 300 individuals, going back over a hundred years past the beginning of the original Time Magazine list. To kick things off, I compiled some interesting stats:
These are the countries with the most persons of the year:
USA 50
Great Britain 46
Germany 24
Russia 22
France 22
Italy 14
China 10
India 7
Austria 7
Iran 6
The most common occupations:
US President 22
Inventor 15
Novelist 14
Physicist 8
UK Prime Minister 7
Independence Activist 7
Poet 6
Philosopher 6
German Chancellor 6
Pope 6
Finally, these are the countries with the most living persons of the year for each period:
1923-present USA
1915-1922 Germany
1904-1914 USA
1900-1903 France
1891-1899 Great Britain
1890 France
1888-1889 USA
1881-1887 France
1873-1880 Russia
1827-1872 Great Britain
1822-1826 Germany
1778-1821 Great Britain
Interesting right? As we get further back, I look forward to seeing how the countries generating the most notable individuals continues to shift. One focus of mine has been incorporating a individuals from a diverse range of countries, but it’s been a bit surprising how certain countries dominate certain periods (I’ve consciously adjusted down the number of British individual highlighted in the 19th century and Americans in the 20th).
I would be curious to hear feedback if you think this account puts too much or too little emphasis on Western individuals. I do routinely select individuals with less name recognition from outside of Europe, but these tend to get less engagement (not that that factors into selections). The person who received the most engagement is Frederick Douglass, person of the year for 1850. Inventors, musicians, artists, writers and philosophers also tend to accrue more likes than political figures.
It’s also been interesting to see how important figures cluster. The 1960s, 1940s, 1920s, 1860s, and 1800s were particularly difficult to narrow down to ten individuals, and certain individuals from less eventful decades would not be highlighted had they been active at a different time. Starting with the 18th century, we’ll see a gradual decline in the notability/name recognition of the individuals highlighted, but there will still be many islands of important figures/rapid change. I’m sure I’ll have more reflections as we get further back, but wanted to send out a quick update and get overall feedback. Can’t wait to keep going!