Top 100 Greatest Americans Unveiled Today and Featured in World Premiere Discovery Channel Television Event

Top 100 Greatest Americans Unveiled Today and Featured in World Premiere Discovery Channel Television Event

- New Primetime Seven Hour Series Begins Sunday, June 5 at 8 PM (ET/PT) with 'Today' Show's Matt Lauer as Host -

- America Online to Offer Top 100 List and Biographical Content at aol.com/greatestamerican and AOL(R) Keyword: Greatest American -

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Who will be the Greatest American? Political giant Abraham Lincoln or Bill Clinton? Sports legend Babe Ruth or Tiger Woods? Media mogul Oprah Winfrey or Walt Disney? These remarkable people, and many more, have been named by America as some of the top 100 Greatest Americans.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050418/DCM023 )

After tallying more than half a million online nominations, Discovery Channel and interactive partner America Online today unveiled the list of the top 100 nominees. Ranging from inventors to athletes, politicians to musicians, the list takes the pulse of the nation and reveals the qualities we most admire. (The full list follows. The list, nominee biographies, and additional information can be found on aol.com/greatestamerican and Keyword: Greatest American)

Beginning Sunday, June 5 at 8 PM (ET/PT), and airing every Sunday in June, GREATEST AMERICAN will premiere on Discovery Channel with Today show's Matt Lauer presenting the top 100 nominees. At the end of the premiere episode, Lauer will announce the top 25 Greatest American nominees based on nominations held earlier this year. Viewers can then cast votes at the AOL site listed above, via toll-free numbers or via text messaging.

In the second episode, Matt Lauer and influentials (actors, comedians, politicians, athletes, etc) will offer insights on the top 25 to aid America in another round of voting that determines the top five. The third episode pits celebrity advocates against one another, debating the virtues of their "Greatest American." The seven-hour series culminates in real-time election- style voting, as America selects one person to be named the "Greatest American." The grand finale will be televised live from New York City on Sunday, June 26, at 9 PM (ET).

Discovery Channel is partnering with America Online on this extraordinary, interactive project to highlight Americans of importance and the incredible contributions they made to our society. Biographies of those on the Top 100 list are available for viewing at aol.com/greatestamerican and Keyword: Greatest American and are arranged alphabetically. This site will also offer "person on the street" interviews with ordinary Americans who share their thoughts on who the "Greatest American" is and why.

GREATEST AMERICAN is produced for Discovery Channel by NBC Entertainment. Executive Producers for NBC are Sharon Scott and Jason Raff. For Discovery Channel, Mark Finkelpearl is the executive producer.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.

Tide Coldwater is a proud partner of GREATEST AMERICAN.

Discovery Channel is the United States' largest cable television network, serving 89.8 million households across the nation with the finest in informative entertainment. Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of Discovery Communications, Inc., operates and manages Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Travel Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times Channel, The Science Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Military Channel, Discovery en Espanol and FitTV. The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA. For more information, please log onto http://www.discovery.com/.

The Top 100 Nominees

Abraham Lincoln Albert Einstein Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Hamilton Amelia Earhart Andrew Carnegie Arnold Schwarzenegger Audie Murphy Babe Ruth Barack Obama Barbara Bush Benjamin Franklin Bill Clinton Bill Cosby (William Henry Cosby, Jr.) Bill Gates Billy Graham Bob Hope Brett Favre Carl Sagan Cesar Chavez Charles Lindbergh Christopher Reeve Chuck Yeager Clint Eastwood Colin Powell Condoleezza Rice Donald Trump Dwight D. Eisenhower Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor Roosevelt) Ellen DeGeneres Elvis Presley Frank Sinatra Franklin D. Roosevelt Frederick Douglass George H. W. Bush George W. Bush George Lucas George Patton George Washington George Washington Carver Harriet Ross Tubman Harry Truman Helen Keller Henry Ford Hillary Rodham Clinton Howard Hughes Hugh Hefner Jackie Robinson (Jack Roosevelt Robinson) Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jesse Owens Jimmy Carter Jimmy Stewart John Edwards John Glenn John F. Kennedy John Wayne Johnny Carson (John William Carson) Jonas Edward Salk Joseph Smith Jr. Katharine Hepburn Lance Armstrong Laura Bush Lucille Ball Lyndon B. Johnson Madonna (Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone) Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) Marilyn Monroe Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) Martha Stewart Martin Luther King Jr. Maya Angelou Mel Gibson Michael Jackson Michael Jordan Michael Moore Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) Neil Alden Armstrong Nikola Tesla Oprah Winfrey Pat Tillman Dr. Phil McGraw Ray Charles Richard Nixon Robert Kennedy Ronald Reagan Rosa Parks Rudolph W. Giuliani Rush Limbaugh Sam Walton Steve Jobs Steven Spielberg Susan B. Anthony Theodore Roosevelt Thomas Edison Thomas Jefferson Tiger Woods Tom Cruise Tom Hanks Walt Disney Wrights Brothers (Orville & Wilbur Wright)

* The nomination period was open to Americans across the country for nearly a month in early 2005

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050418/DCM023 AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/ AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN4 PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com Source: Discovery Channel

CONTACT: Elizabeth Hillman of Discovery Channel, +1-240-662-2664, elizabeth_hillman@discovery.com; Lauren Kapp of NBC News, +1-212-664-2919, lauren.kapp@nbcuni.com; or Jennifer Rankin Byrne of AOL, +1-703-265-1371, jenniferrankin9@aol.com

Web site: http://www.discovery.com/

------- Profile: Ent