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How about 1914, the beginning of the "Great War".

For 1789, you mention the Declaration of the Rights of Men and allude to the French Revolution, however omit the date most directly responsible for the U.S. Government as it exists today: March 4, 1789, the date the U.S. Constitution became effective. This day, along with it's "sister" (Sept. 17, 1787, the date the Constitution was adopted in Philadelphia), is not as celebrated as July 4th, and lacks the flare of the dates highlighted in this article. Whereas a July 4 was necessary (every Revolution needs a start date), the US Constitution (and the context in which it was written) was by all means a historical oddity---though one that has persisted almost entirely unchanged for 220 years. Thus, the Constitution not only effects non-Americans (past, present and future) via the successes of the U.S., but itself sets a shining example for government's to follow and people's to aspire to.

Surely the most important year in human history was the year humans first migrated from Africa.

2001

I was sure that 1985, when Doc Brown invented time travel, would be an obvious win.

It [1776] nudges out 1919, when so much of the political world we live in emerged from the disastrous Versailles treaty—mainly because 1919 depends on 1914, so that’s two years, not one.

But 1776 is not only one year either. Just as with 1919 its events depend on what came before, and were only really completed and realized in what came later.

The premise of the question is absolutely correct though:

It is a parlour game but a little more too: what was the most important year in human history? How we answer it says a lot about who we are.

Absolutely. More than anything this focus on events, as though history were a pointillist canvas, says a lot about who we are.

Are the most important changes and transformations in history present in the answers? Writing, the printing press, the rise of capitalism, the idea of the individual, religion and secularism, the concept of creativity and culture? (Or are we not looking for long-term change, but for the accident and coincidence of the moment - things that could easily have gone the other way and led to a different world - in which case should 1776 be on the list at all?)

The Great War lead in turn to too many other things for this year not to be in heavy consideration: the communist take over of Russia; Versailles; the rise of National Socialism in Germany; WWII; atomic weapons; the cold war....the list goes on and on.

The US is not the center of the universe true, but as an American who is also half Ecuadorian and half Russian Jewish, I cannot help but perceive that the US does and will continue to influence the world more so than any other nation. Add that to the fact that from Tokyo to Milan to Tel-Aviv to Quito (all cities I have been to)the US example rings loud, from skyscrapers to malls to jeans/tee-shirts (the world's dominant clothing now) to the hip-hop and rock hybrids blasting in each on streets and clubs.

This does not justify American foreign policy, nor should it. In fact, many people misconstrue the two. It does justify our example and goes a long way to demonstrating just how drastically the American experiment altered the world, for worse or better.

The farther back you go, the more things will change with a different outcome. If Greece had become a part of the Persian Empire in 480 BC, as could well have happened, is is more than likely that there would have been no Alexander, no Roman Empire, no Christianity, no colonisation by Europeans and so on...

Marr's critera seems to be that the dates have immediate impact, which would leave 1776 out. Most of the world's population probably did not care much about either Thomas Jefferson or Adam Smith in 1776, however influential they have become later.
However, 1945 is a strong contender for both immediate and lasting impact, if only for the last 64 years. The same could be said of 1914 and the last 95 years.

1969, because we set foot on the Moon, something no other creature had ever done before in billions of years. That only happens for the first time once.

I nearly agreed with 1440 for Gutenbergs printing press, but i have to say the the invention of the IC (with the choice of 1958 credited to Jack Kirby) has changed so much more. Without this none of these momentus world changing developments of the last years could have happened, and the best invention ever, the internet with all its unlimited information available at the fingertips, would never have happened. So i say 1958.

There would have been no 1776 if the Persians had won in Thermopylae :)

1492. But I'll throw in 1848 too: year of revolutions, Communist Manifesto, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the Mexican-American War.

1776 is overrated: if the American separatists had lost, it would be regarded in the same fashion as the Dublin Easter Rising in 1916. The war was won in the years that follows, and the United States remained on shaky foundations until the ratification of the US Constitution.

Funny nobody seems to agree with Mister Marr!

I would personnaly agree on the idea that the most important year is the one we're living and not only because it's the only one we have a chance to influence. All the previous years which saw humanity raise from whatever we were (dusts, elementary particles, fishes, monkeys, ...) to whatever we are now (fools, geniuses, degenareted monkeys, gods, ...), meaning each year since The Begining are small parts of the sum of knowledges and experience (and in this sum there are also subtractions because of the knowledges we have lost) leading to what, where and when we are now. So for me year 0 + 01 + 02 + ...+ 2007 + 2008 = 2009.

The persians did win at Thermopylae.