Since 1927, Time Magazine has been choosing a person or idea that has made the biggest impact or influence on the world, whether good or bad. The past recipients of the Person of the Year awards include Barack Obama, Pope Francis, the Ebola fighters and last year's winner, Angela Merkel.
This year the finalists for the Time Person of the Year include not only politicians and scientists but athletes and a pop star as well. An online poll in the Time magazine website shows that Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India is leading, but as per what Time magazine has said before, the recipient of the Time Magazine Person of the Year is decided by editors of Time, and not by popular vote.
That being said, here are the 11 finalists who have made a list for the Time Magazine Person of the Year Award.
Simone Biles - She swept through the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning a medal for every gymnastic event. With her finally tally of 1 bronze and four golds, she then became the most decorated gymnast in American history. She is widely-recognized as the best athlete in the world.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - After an attempted military coup failed in July, the Turkish president has tightened control over the country, jailing more than 30,000, and increasing censorship in the country.
Hillary Clinton - Despite not winning her presidential bid, the former Secretary of State won the popular vote and made history by being the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.
Donald Trump - The real-estate mogul rose to fame in his reality TV show "The Apprentice" and "The Celebrity Apprentice," but no one expected that he would campaign and eventually become the 45th President of the United States of America.
CRISPR Scientists - they have invented a technology that can edit DNA, which means that there is a big possibility that the mutation which causes incurable diseases may be terminated.
Mark Zuckerberg - This year, Facebook reached 1 billion users daily. At the same time, Zuckerberg's social media site is being pressured into doing something about the fake and misleading news that has been spreading through the site.Critics of those fake news stated that the spread of that news inevitably influenced the recent US elections.
The Flint Whistleblowers - residents, plus a civil engineer and pediatrician exposed the lead-poisoned water in Flint, Michigan.
Nigel Farage - Heading the UK Independence Party, he became successful in campaigning for the Brexit, Britain's move to exit from the European Union.
Vladimir Putin - He made the headlines not only when Russia intervened in Syria but also for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee servers.
Narendra Modi - the Indian Prime Minister has led his country to be dubbed as the "emerging-market world's most positive story."
Beyonce Knowles - the superstar singer's second visual album "Lemonade" just got nominated for a Grammy Album of the Year Award. Aside from that, Beyonce has used her singing to raise the issues of police violence, racial injustice, and feminism.
The Time Person of the Year will be announced on Wednesday at the "Today" show.
