1. Terry Fox, born in 1958 in Winnipeg, has become a Canadian icon after running his Marathon of Hope in 1981. Fox had his right leg amputated above the knee in March, 1977, because of a cancerous tumor. He decided he would run across Canada, aiming to raise at least $1 from every Canadian for cancer research. He began the run in Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 but was forced to end it on Aug. 31 after it was discovered the cancer had spread to his lungs. He died June 28, 1981 but every September there is a Terry Fox Run in 60 countries around the world that have collectively raised more than $360 million for cancer research.

2. Michael J. Fox, born in Edmonton in 1961, is an actor in television and movies. He starred in two television series, Family Ties, from 1982 to 1989, and Spin City, from 1996 to 2000, winning a total of four Emmys and four Golden Globes. He also starred in the successful trilogy of Back to the Future movies. In 1998, he disclosed that he had had Parkinson's disease for seven years and has since become a public spokesman for research leading toward a cure.

3. Alexander Graham Bell, born in 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland, invented the telephone in 1876, an idea he originated while living in Brantford, Ont., but one he perfected while living in the United States. Bell, who was once a teacher of the deaf, championed aid for the deaf throughout his life. In his later life, he bought an estate at Baddeck, N.S., where he devoted his life to inventions, including an early version of the iron lung, a wax recording cylinder, a phone that transmitted speech by a ray of light, and a hydrofoil boat. He died at Baddeck in 1922.

4. Frederick Banting, born in 1891, in Alliston, Ont., discovered insulin in 1922, along with his colleague Charles Best. In 1923, Banting and Best were awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. Banting was killed in 1941 when the bomber plane he was a passenger in crashed in Newfoundland.

5. Wayne Gretzky, born in 1961 in Brantford, Ont., is perhaps Canada's best-known hockey player. In a 21-year career, Gretzky won four Stanley Cups and nine Hart Trophies as the NHL's most valuable player. He holds or shares 61 NHL records. As the executive director of Canada's 2002 Olympic men's hockey team, he led the team to its first gold medal in 50 years.

6. John A. Macdonald, born in 1891 near Glasgow, Scotland, was Canada's first prime minister, overseeing significant milestones in the country's growth. He served from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in Ottawa in 1981. During his years as prime minister, Macdonald helped Canada grow by adding four more provinces, shepherding the construction of a national railway and developing a nationalistic trade policy through high tariffs. He was voted out of office over his involvement in the Pacific Scandal, campaign contributions made by railway magnates, and could not contain the animosity between French-Canada and English-Canada over the Riel Rebellion.

7. David Suzuki, born in Vancouver in 1936, is an academic and environmental activist who founded CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks has been the host of the CBC television program, The Nature of Things, since 1979. His fascination with the natural world has led him to create documentaries and write more than 40 books on the theme. He has been an outspoken proponent for reversing climate change and seeking forms of renewable energy.

8. (tie) Tommy Douglas, born in 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland, was the leader of the first socialist government in Canada and is generally acknowledged as the father of socialized medicine. Initially involved in church work, the Depression convinced Douglas that political action was the only way to alleviate people's suffering. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1935 but left his seat to become premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961. During that time he introduced universal Medicare and a pension plan, ideas that were eventually implemented federally. Douglas returned to Parliament as the NDP leader from 1961 to 1971, resigning his seat in 1979. He died of cancer in Ottawa in 1986.

8. (tie) Pierre Trudeau, born in 1919 in Montreal, was one of Canada's most dominant prime ministers, serving two stints in the office, from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Charismatic and unpredictable, Trudeau oversaw the implementation of the War Measures Act during the October Crisis of 1970, campaigned strongly to help defeat the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty and established a constitution with an entrenched Charter of Rights in 1982.

10. Rick Hansen, born in 1957 in Port Alberni, B.C., has become a hero to people with disabilities around the world. Paralyzed at 15 in a car accident, and inspired by Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, he undertook a worldwide tour in his wheelchair, beginning in March of 1985. The Man in Motion tour finished in May of 1987, raising $26 million for spinal cord research. Hansen is presently the president and CEO of the Rick Hansen Foundation, which has raised hundreds of millions for spinal cord research.