Times Person Of The Year

TIME's Person of the Year hasn't always secured his or her place in the history books, but many honorees remain unforgettable: Gandhi, Khomeini, Kennedy, Elizabeth II, the Apollo 8 astronauts Anders, Borman and Lovell. Each has left an indelible mark on the world.

TIME's choices for Person of the Year are often controversial. Editors are asked to choose the person or thing that had the greatest impact on the news, for good or ill — guidelines that leave them no choice but to select a newsworthy, not necessarily praiseworthy, cover subject. Controversial choices have included Adolf Hitler (1938), Joseph Stalin (1939, 1942), and Ayatullah Khomeini (1979).

TIME's choices for Person of the Year are often politicians and statesmen. Eleven American presidents, from FDR to George W. Bush, have graced the Person of the Year cover, many of them more than once. As commander in chief of one of the world's greatest nations, it's hard not to be a newsmaker.

This dataset includes a record for every Time Magazine cover which has honored an individual or group as "Men of the Year", "Women of the Year", "Person of the Year" or "Persons of the Year".