I am by no means the authority of American perceptions, but I really think you are quite wrong. I think Bannister is way, way more known than Hines.
I’d put Bob Beamon ahead of Hines, too.
As Little Nemo points out, you are confusing Hines with the John Carlos/Tommie Smith incident (which probably reinforces how relatively unknown Hines is today). And while they’re better known than Hines and the incident itself is remembered, I don’t think that either Carlos or Smith is as well known by name as Bannister.
American here. I heard of Bannister when I was a kid in the 1970s (IIRC, I first heard of him when reading an SRA reading lab assignment about him breaking the 4-minute mile mark). I’d never heard of Hines before reading this thread.
You’re right, and I’m embarrassed.
I’ll go sit quietly in the corner now.
I also am an American who knows who Bannister is but not Hines.
I could immediately tell you who Roger Bannister is and what he’s known for. Not so much Hines. However, in my case I chalk it all up to to reading The Perfect Mile a couple of years ago. Without reading that, I don’t think that Bannister would ring a bell either.
Good book, BTW.
I’m an American and I’ve heard of Bannister (I’ve known about him since I was a kid in the 80s), and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Jim Hines. With running at various distances, the names that come to mind from the past (in my example, anything from '96 and prior, since I turned 18 in '96) are Jesse Owens, Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Bannister, Steve Prefontaine, and…that’s about it. I was and am a big sports fan, but my knowledge about running has only increased a fair amount in the past 5 years, and I wouldn’t consider people like Alberto Salazar, Frank Shorter, or Bill Rodgers to be very famous to the general public, or even general sporting public.
I would say Bannister, in part because Hines wasn’t exactly the first to break the 10-second barrier in the 100m; he was the first to do it with electronic timing. (There were a number of hand-timed 9.9 100m runs before that; I wouldn’t be surprised if he ran at least one of them.)
Also, the “4-minute mile” seems to be more of an “accomplishment” than the “10-second 100m”. How many people today know who Javier Sotomayor (the first 8-foot high jumper) or Sergey Bubka (the first 20-foot pole vaulter) are?
Peruvian here.
Hines. The 100m dash is the king of running.
The 4 minute mile is an interesting thing, but the mile isn’t an Olympic distance; didn’t know who broke the 4-minute thingy.
Sotomayor and Bubka are even bigger names for me.
Bannister is a household name that was taught to us many times during my elementary school days. I’ve never heard of Hines until today. However, now that I know the name, I’m sure I will hear of him many times in the future.
ETA: I grew up in NJ
I’m American and know of Bannister and hear of him fairly often. Have never heard of Hines.
Bannister, by a mile.
I see what you did there. 
To be nitpicky, it was Bannister by 1650.639 yards. 
To be really nitpicky, the exact difference is 1509.344 meters (or is it “metres” when talking about the distance?).
Aren’t you both saying the same thing? 1 mile less 100 metres expressed in yards and metres.
Anyway my quip was snappier…
To be honest I’d have struggled to recognise Hines was a sprinter, but Bannister is a household name in NZ (as well as NJ).