I have to thank jQuery. Honestly, before jQuery I didn't give Javascript the time of day let alone imagine non-browser uses for it. I have coworkers that are in the same boat; It makes me wonder how many people gave JS a second chance primarily because of jQuery.

edit: It also makes me wonder how many people would give lisp, basic, and etc a second chance if those languages had the equivalent of "Wow" that jQuery provided to JS for me and others.