First "Time Person of the Year" (male)

The first individual to be named "Man of the Year" (later "Person of the Year") by Time magazine was US aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902–74) in 1927, in recognition of him becoming the first person to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo on 20–21 May 1927. The accolade was recognized in the 2 January 1928 special edition of Time, in which he appeared on the cover.

The Person of the Year is a special annual issue of the US news magazine Time, in which they celebrate a person, group of people or even object that "for better or for worse... has done the most to influence the events of the year". The award was originally split into "Man of the Year" and "Woman of the Year", before being changed to the single "Person of the Year" in 1999.

Lindbergh took off in his 165-kW 220-hp Ryan monoplane Spirit of St Louis at 12:52 p.m. GMT on 20 May 1927 from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, USA. He landed at 10:21 p.m. GMT on 21 May 1927 at Le Bourget Airfield in Paris, France. His 5,810-km (3,610-mi) flight lasted 33 hr 30 min 29.8 sec.

Lindbergh (b. 4 February 1902) was for a long time also the youngest "Time Person of the Year" receiving the accolade at the age of 25 years 332 days; this record was claimed by climate activist Greta Thunberg (Sweden, b. 3 January 2003), who was aged 16 years 354 days on 23 December 2019, the cover date of the issue in which she stars.

The first person to be named "Woman of the Year" was Wallis Simpson (USA), a socialite whose controversial proposed marriage to Great Britain's Edward VIII resulted in his abdication on 11 December 1936 (they later married in France on 3 June 1937). Wallis starred on the cover of the 4 January 1937 issue of Time.