USA TODAY Announces Top 25 Headlines That Shaped History

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- USA TODAY turns 25 years young this September, and to continue the celebration, The Nation's Newspaper will look back at the Top 25 Headlines That Shaped History.

The final Top 25 list for USA TODAY's 25th anniversary features the biggest news stories of the past quarter-century. Our number one choice as the headline that shaped history is the fall of communism. These stories are the ones that generated the largest headlines, the greatest interest change, the most vivid memories and the most immediate impact. Find the full list in today's editions of USA TODAY and share your choices on Top25.USATODAY.com.

Every week for 25 weeks, USA TODAY has offered an exclusive color page of Top 25 anniversary memories -- 25 lists over 25 weeks designed to spark conversation and debates. The Top 25 conversation concludes today with the Top 25 Headlines That Shaped History. Here are the top 10:

1. Fall of communism (1989) The Berlin Wall, which divided a city into a communist east and west, was the most tangible symbol of a Cold War that divided the whole world. When it came down, it was proof that the war was over -- and that the communists who built the wall had lost. 2. 9/11 terrorist attacks (2001) Islamic extremists turned four commercial jetliners into weapons of mass murder, obliterating two of the USA's biggest office towers and punching a hole in its military headquarters. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and ushered in unprecedented national security measures. 3. Iraq war (2003-) It was a war in two acts. First came a conventional conflict in which the United States and its allies quickly rolled over the forces of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Then came a protracted struggle against an insurgency that frustrated Americans like no war since Vietnam. 4. Hurricane Katrina (2005) The costliest hurricane in U.S. history flooded New Orleans, scattered its residents and devastated the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast coastline. More than 1,700 people were killed. 5. O.J. Simpson (1994-95) After Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman were murdered, the former football star was named a suspect and the case became a national obsession. Simpson, riding in a white Ford Bronco, led police on a nationally televised "slow-speed chase." His criminal trial ended in a controversial acquittal. 6. 2000 presidential election Election Night Day 2000 was just the beginning of a five-week struggle to decide who had won. It came down to a 5-4 vote by the Supreme Court that ended a Florida recount and put Republican George W. Bush in the White House over Democrat Al Gore. 7. Clinton impeachment (1998-99) The revelation of Bill Clinton's affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky crippled his presidency. He first denied anything improper with "that woman, Miss Lewinsky," then admitted he'd had a "wrong" relationship" with her. The House impeached him on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice; the Senate acquitted him. 8. Invasion of Afghanistan (2001) After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush vowed: "The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon." Three weeks later, He made good on his promise. In the first stage of the "war on terrorism," U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban regime that had harbored the al-Qaeda plotters. But terrorist Osama bin Laden has eluded capture. 9. Oklahoma City bombing (1995) Homegrown terrorism struck the heartland. The truck bomb that destroyed the Murrah Federal Building was the work of Army veterans Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who sympathized with the violently anti-federal militia movement. The blast killed 168 people and injured nearly 700. 10. Chernobyl disaster (1986) Science fiction had warned of such an accident. At Chernobyl, fiction became fact when a Ukrainian nuclear power plant exploded, sending radioactive fallout over Europe. More than 330,000 people had to be evacuated and resettled.

USA TODAY, the nation's top-selling newspaper, will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on September 15th, 2007. It is published via satellite at 36 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. . The USA TODAY brand also includes: USATODAY.com, an award-winning news and information Web site that is updated 24 hours per day; USA TODAY Sports Weekly, a magazine for enthusiasts of professional football and baseball; USA TODAY Mobile, offering up-to-the minute news and information on a variety of mobile platforms and devices; and USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of the USA TODAY brand that brings the spirit and quality of the newspaper to television.