Flight is a great achievement and so is open heart surgery...think about it, these are tremendous accomplishments.

But landing on the moon has to be man-kinds greatest achievement. To even begin to think about how awesome of an accomplishment it is would blow most peoples minds.
Source(s):
i know awesome

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Mankind's greatest achievement is the bathroom. For example the shower, the sink, the toilet and the toilet paper. I cannot imagine living without those things.
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Computers. It must be the greatest thing - to be able to access so much information, view movies and pictures on one device, to write documents and even Mahalo.....

And computers haven't finished - they keep getting faster, more powerful and scarily more intelligent.....
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Beer, I would agree, is the long standing greatest achievement ever! It has been with us since the beginning of time and is still being perfected, made better, and is still being enjoyed by everyone!!!! It has been experienced by more people throughout the history of the earth than anything!!!! Beer has been known to exist since 7,000 BC!!!!!!

==>Click the source below for the full infograph (IT'S HUGE)<==
Source(s):
http://www.manolith.com/2009/04/15/history-lesson-the-story-of-beer/

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Medical achievements and lifestyle changes that have increased the length of our lifespan. Up from 20-30 years on average in previous eras to an average of 70 years now.
Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

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Theres a few answers that would be good. Moon landing, capitalism, and probably the best "Taming and creating fire." This put us on the top of the food chain, since all other animals are afraid of it.
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Computers and the world wide web ! connecting all people with all information instantly!

The invention of fire started it all and electricity has changed the world as we know it forever but the most recent, earth changing phenomena was the invention of the computer and the world wide web. well, technically, the microchip...satellites, all computer and internet related things ..

I don't know how I live without my PC !!!!

and next comes .... MUSIC .. !!!

imagine life without music it would be dull and useless !
Source(s):
Experience

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I'd say our greatest achievement is:

FIRE - We need it to cook, to heat, to survive. The fact that we mastered and harnessed it so early is why we all exist today. Whoa. Deep.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/78252871@N00/270803703/
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Other contenders:
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1. Space flight. We overcame a biological handicap keeping us glued to the earth's surface.

2. Sex. Sure, other species may do it. But we do it pretty darn well. It keeps some of us happy, and keeps us populated.

3. Music. It's beautiful, touching, and expressive. We may not need it to survive, but it's an amazing part of what it means to be human.

4. Penicillin. Simple and life-saving. It's changed everything about the way humans function, survive, and thrive. It is the showpiece of modern medicine, in my opinion.
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A lot turns on how you define achievement, and what you consider makes an achievement great.

Personally I would not count things that happened over a long period of time as a single achievement. Nor would I count things that weren't intentionally pursued as achievements.

Some things I would *not* classify as achievements:

- The development of language. (Happened over a long period of time, was not an intentional project. Plus it is debatable if we were actually human before we had language!)

- The discovery of the laws of physics. (Not a single achievement, but a composite of many.)

- The discovery of penicillin . (Happened by accident.)

Next, what do I feel makes an achievement great?

Personally, I don't think the subsequent importance of something is a factor that counts much towards its greatness.

For example, on a personal level, I couldn't have done most of what I have done in my life without having learned to read and learned to count. But I don't rate either of those as great achievements.

What I'd say makes an achiement great is that it was demanding in a number of ways, especially demanding in terms of showing character. The kind of thing that makes you proud to be a member of the species that did that.

I don't count me learning to read as a great achievement. But someone learning to read at age 93 is definitely a great and extraordinary achievement:

So now maybe you can guess the kind of things that would make my shortlist of humanity's greatest achievements...

- Great voyages of exploration (Captain Cook, Lewis and Clark etc)

- Remarkable political struggles (Indian independence, anti-apartheid movement etc)

- Early flight pioneers (unlike most innovations, people had to put their lives on the line and plenty actually died to make it happen)

- Space exploration (Apollo, Hubble, ISS etc)

As for what I feel is the greatest, I'll say the Apollo moon landings.

They're probably the one single thing that makes me proudest to be a member of the species that did that. They demonstrate an amazing spirit of adventure, great courage, coolness and intelligence in the face huge risks, the teamwork and excellence of hundreds of thousands of people to accomplish a goal, the ingenuity to find solutions to all kinds of new challenges....

And it doesn' hurt that it can all be summed up in such vivid and memorable pictures.

http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/Science--Technology--and-Society/STS-471JSpring-2007/6A5459A7-2FC1-42D1-98A1-D4A9AD9F6A38/0/chp_astronaut.jpg
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Fire, Language and numbers are the greatest achievements.
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