MEMORY TIME!!! What is the earliest major national or international event that you remember

[Odin2005]

For me it was the 1992 elections, when I was 6 (Big Dawg was an idol of mine when I was a kid! :D ), and then the Bosnian War (I rember the news about it driving me to tears :cry: ).

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. JFK's funeral.

I didn't understand it, really, but it's burned in my memory.

[pokerfan]

17. +1

I was four years old.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

55. I wasn't much older.

[Ptah]

2. Sputnik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFz-6bQC0-M

[Vinca]

4. Sputnik for me, too. I remember my dad taking my brother and I

out to watch for it. Good memories.

[Kool Kitty]

89. Sputnik here, too.

or would that be three? :crazy:

[csziggy]

93. Yes, we went out to look for it going overhead

[TZ]

3. The Hostages in Iran

The failed rescue and their freedom

[RiffRandell]

21. Same here. n/t

[flvegan]

5. 1980 Olympics, USA hockey team's run for the gold medal.

First one that comes to mind at least.

[Odin2005]

16. OMG, my dad talks about that as if it was yesterday!

:rofl:

[Captain Hilts]

58. That was a VERY BIG DEAL. nt

[LynneSin]

101. I remember begging my mom to let me skip church so I could watch it

:woohoo:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. I recall grown-ups TALkING ABOUT

the McCarthy era and the Korean War and the death of Stalin, but the first event I recall being personally aware of and following on the news was the Hungarian revolt of 1956.

[femmocrat]

7. Coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

1950-something

[whistler162]

8. The first or second?

sorry temptation to great.

[femmocrat]

10. HA. HA.

C'mon.... I was too young to count!

:P

[Odin2005]

15. LOL!!!

:rofl:

[Tikki]

13. Yeah...me too...

I remember my parents taking a road trip and I was
crawling around all over the back seat while they were listening to
the coronation (Elizabeth's) drone on and on and on...

June of 1953 so I was 4 years old. Wow...and I really do remember it.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=6916



Tikki

[femmocrat]

25. I think that was when we got our first TV.

I remember seeing it on a black and white TV.

Thanks, I thought it was 1953, but was too lazy to check. Very interesting link!

:hi:

[Captain Hilts]

68. 1953? I think so. nt

[RoyGBiv]

9. Apollo-Soyuz Mission ...

July 17, 1975.

Watched it on television. It was awesome.

[GOPisEvil]

11. The removal of bodies from under John Wayne Gacy's house.

That occurred when I was about 9. I'm sure I remember other things from when I was younger, but on seeing the footage of this event years later, I distinctly remember having watched this on the evening news.

[BeachBaby]

12. Nixon's resignation.

[TZ]

20. You remember that?

Damn..I don't but I think that was about the time we moved so I guess that was occupying my attention

[Rhythm]

42. I remember that as well... i was almost 8.

I remember i kept asking what everybody was so upset about.

[TZ]

46. Yeah but BB was four like me

Impressive to remember that at such a young age..

[BeachBaby]

71. I remember that I was sitting on the living room floor....

playing with my toys. I was facing the big console TV.

I just remember my parents oohing and aahing throughout the entire thing. I didn't know what was going on - just that it had to have been a pretty big deal.

[RagAss]

14. The live broadcast assasination of Lee Harvey Oswald.

[kwassa]

62. I saw it, too.

Jack Ruby sticks a pistol in Lee Harvey Oswald's stomach, and shoots him.
Live on national television.

A couple days after JFK's assassination.

and then the funeral.

We lived in front of the TV for several days.

[RagAss]

83. Yes...these were my first memories in life...it's no wonder I'm a cynic !

I wonder how many of us had these memories as our very first? It would be an interesting study to see how we all turned out.

[WinkyDink]

18. Ike vs. Adlai Stevenson. It was then I learned we were Democrats! (Age 7.)

[dixiegrrrrl]

43. Me too...hearing the convention on the radio..

during a typical Pac. NW storm while living near the Ocean.
Shortwave radio, faded in and out.

[elleng]

52. Ditto!

.

[sniffa]

19. Blizzard of '78 and the pope's visit to Boston

My parents and sisters went to see the pope and I was left with a baby sitter.

[Critters2]

22. Assassination of JFK. I was 5. nt

[bluesbassman]

26. Me too. My mom was in an afternoon bowling league,

And I was with her that day. I remember every adult in the building crying and wailing. My mom grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me straight in the eye and told me that "our President has been shot". A vivid memory that I'll never forget.

[Critters2]

30. My mom was ironing and watching her stories. It was raining cats and dogs,

so my sister and I were playing indoors, in the basement where my mom was watching TV. I remember her just sitting down, and looking like she was in shock. Our next door neighbor lady came over, and she and my mom went upstairs and sat on the sofa hugging each other and watching the news. I don't know when someone finally explained exactly what happened, but I do remember my mom's expression when that first news report broke into her soap opera.

[alsame]

33. Me too. I was in kindergarten, we got sent home from school and

my mother was in front of the TV sobbing.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

36. Same here. Sent home from school and asked to play outside.

I always associate the day with being in our side yard. And how quiet it was.

[av8rdave]

69. Same here

I was in half day kindergarten...just came home and my mom told me he'd been shot.

[FarLeftRage]

23. The Cuban Missle Crisis...

I thought it was all going to end.

[Alexander]

24. The fall of the Berlin Wall.

I remember my teacher telling us about it in grade school.

[rucky]

27. Watergate.

had no idea what it was, but heard alot about it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. The formation of Abell 1835 IR1916

I don't remember it fully, I was quite young at the time, but that's really the first sort of real "news" or universal event that I remember.


Note: obviously we didn't call it that when it was forming; this is merely the name you have given it. Its true name is not only incoherent to and unpronounceable by you, it's incomprehensible and would shatter your sanity were you even to hear it, for it is an old, old name, a name of power from the early times, when names were not spoken with sound as you do but through will and light and aetherous thought, the "speaking" of which set unfathomable energies in unstoppable motion to mold and form and call forth matter from that-which-was-not.

[fizzgig]

29. the challenger

i wasn't quite five at the time, but i have a very clear memory of seeing the footage on tv while my mom and i were at a montgomery wards. after that, it is probably the 88 elections. i voted for dukakis in my school election. i'm assuming it's because who my parents said they'd vote for, but i don't have any memories of them talking about it.

[no name no slogan]

38. I was at home from school that day with a cold

I was a sophomore. I remember flipping channels, looking for something to watch that wasn't a soap opera, and landed on the launch. That was seriously fucked up.

[Lady Effingbroke]

77. I was also a sophomore who was home with the flu that day,

doing basically what you did.

It was even more seriously fucked up where I lived because I went to school with many of the Challenger astronauts' kids. The entire school was in shock and the town kind of shut down and went into mourning, as NASA (Johnson Space Center) is a major employer in the area.

It was strange and sad to see my friends and people I knew on TV when Grandpa Raygun spoke at the memorial service.

[Lyric]

86. Same here. Challenger.

I was seven and in 2nd grade. We were watching the launch on TV in the classroom because of the teachers going up. When Mr. Steel suddenly turned off the TV and went out to talk to the other teachers in the hall, we knew for sure that something was wrong.

:(

[tekisui]

104. Challenger here.

[Left Is Write]

31. Watergate.

[hobbit709]

32. The occupation troops pulling out of Vienna-1955

Followed by the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. My mother worked for the Rec Cross in Vienna at the time.

[no name no slogan]

34. Walter Cronkite talking about Vietnam on the evening news

I think it was in 1972-73, when the Americans were officially withdrawing. I was about three years old at the time.

The event I really remember is the Iran Hostage Crisis, in 1979. I recall that one vividly.

[Vidar]

35. JFK's assassination

[MrScorpio]

37. The 1968 riots

"Oh look, tankies!"

[Pierre.Suave]

39. Challenger exploding

I remember that, very clearly.

[moriah]

44. Same here....

I was six.

[Left Is Write]

53. And how old were you then?

[GOPisEvil]

79. I was in my senior year of high school.

Came back to school from off-campus lunch to the news...

[wickerwoman]

80. Me too.

I was nine.

I never watched the news at all before that but I must have started because I remember a little about Iran Contra and the Berlin Wall coming down. I didn't become a news junkie until the first gulf war.

[charlie and algernon]

40. start of Gulf War I

came home from cub scouts, my mom was watching TV and she told my dad they started the bombing.

[Hayabusa]

97. Same here

I was about 6 years old when it happened and I remembered hearing it on the news.

[Rhythm]

41. The Apollo 11 moon landing

I was about 3, my dad was in the Air Force, and we lived in Florida at the time. I remember walking outside with my dad, and him pointing out the rocket's vapor trail as it headed for space. A few days later, i was sitting on his lap watching Neil Armstrong bounce around on the moon.

[targetpractice]

90. I was 3 and my parents woke me in the middle of the night.

I remember my Mom saying that I would be glad one day that she woke me up for it.

I AM!

[madinmaryland]

45. The well publicized death of Richard III. Things were a bit chaotic.

[elleng]

70. Must have been absent that day!

:rofl:

[Inchworm]

47. Shaking Ford's hand shortly after he became Prez

:hi:

[annabanana]

48. Army-McCarthy hearings

I knew they were important, I knew it was bad... too young to understand anything else about it. (Pop was teaching at Harvard at the time. . so I guess he figured he & his colleagues were automatically suspect)

[elleng]

51. I remember watching some, on EARLY Brooklyn neighborhood tv!

not really understanding.

TOO OLD for this group, as I recall my family complaining about Eisenhower beating Stevenson!!!

[Arugula Latte]

49. I have a very hazy memory of watching the moon landing. I was 3. nt

[Left Is Write]

54. I was 3 then too -

I had just turned three in June. I'm sure my parents watched it, but unfortunately, I have no memory of it.

[LiberalEsto]

50. The 1960 election

I was 8 at the time. I remember my dad cursing and shaking his fist at Nixon's image on the tv.

[SoxFan]

56. Watergate, late stages of Vietnam War

John Chancellor was a nightly presence in our living room.

[mwooldri]

57. Falklands War I remember best.

I guess I should have remembered Maggie Thatchers' election but I don't.

Mark.

[Captain Hilts]

59. JFK's Assassination and funeral. I was 4. MLK's assassination. And RFK's. Then Moon landing. nt

[Skittles]

60. I don't remember JFK's assassination and I was six

I was living in England but still, seems like I SHOULD remember it :mad:

[Captain Hilts]

67. It was already an extraordinary day for me...

My mother had to go to an event commemorating the loss of the USS THRESHER. So, I had to go to work with my dad, who was a submarine captain at the time. I spent all day on board and I remember some of the guys wondering if he'd just been shot, or had been killed, what have you. So, I have two reasons to remember that day.

[jeff30997]

61. The Big Bang.

It was nice but it could have been better.

[RagAss]

84. LOL !

[XemaSab]

63. I would say the Challenger disaster

There were things that happened earlier, but I only have a hazy recollection of those.

[Dinger]

64. MLK's Assassination

I was 8 years old. My whole family was pretty shook up. Very sad, I won't forget it. A real wake up call for me.

[enigmatic]

65. Bobby Kennedy's asassination

I remember watching the late bulletins all night w/ my Father. I was 5.

[dana_b]

66. Nixon resigning

I was 9 and didn't really understand what was happening, but I remember him talking and then getting on the helicopter and raising the peace signs.

[applegrove]

72. Watergate I think. But my parents had the radio on all the time and I went back and read

a writing book I used to practice writing in and I was talking about NATO & Turkey as I practiced. Don't know what year that was.

[Ikonoklast]

73. Russian tanks rolling into Hungary in 1956.

[doc03]

74. Same here, I was going to say

Sputnik but I remember that too.

[Lady Effingbroke]

75. Watergate and Nixon's resignation.

I wasn't quite sure what it was, but it was all over the news.

[carlyhippy]

76. Kent State riot on TV

I was pretty young...I also remember watching Vietnam unfold nightly on the news.

[realisticphish]

78. The Gulf War

i was born in 85

[FloridaJudy]

81. The Russian invasion of Hungary

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/4/newsid_2739000/2739039.stm

My mother must have been one of the first Westerners to hear of it. She was in the habit of listening to Russian radio on the shortwave in order to keep up her fluency - she had worked for the OSS (what was later the CIA) during WW II as a translator. She was demonstrating her translating skills during a dinner party, when some boring report about collective farms, was interrupted by a bulletin that the Soviet tanks were "liberating" Budapest. Everyone else there thought she was joking. I knew she wasn't - my Mother the Spy had no sense of humor whatsoever.

The rest of the guests had to apologize when they read the next day's newspaper.

[jeff30997]

82. My firs erection.n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

85. The 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.

I was only three or so at the time and I remember sitting under the table in my grandma's kitchen watching the swimming and wondering why all the East German ladies had hair under their arms.

After that, it was probably the 1992 presidential election. I remember voting Clinton in my class in elementary (though I don't think he won) and then my mom and I watching the returns and her crying tears of joy at the news.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

87. Big Bang

:evilgrin:

[Withywindle]

88. Jonestown massacre.

I was 9.

I remember other stories from when I was a toddler like the end of Vietnam, and Watergate, going on because of my parents talking about them (and the Bicentennial because even then, at 6, I had a THING for historical costumes and would take any excuse to wear one), but Jonestown was the first story that really hit me personally on an intense emotional level.

To the point where I overheard my dad asking my mom if she'd thrown out that TIME magazine with all the bloated bodies on the cover before I could see it, and she said she had, and I knew she was lying because I'd already swiped it and hid it under my bed.

I stared at it for, seems like hours and hours, for weeks. I just wanted to understand. I still don't feel like I really do.

[MilesColtrane]

91. Gemini VIII mission

They went into a bad spin when a thruster stuck. Fortunately Neil Armstrong was a damned good pilot.

[old mark]

92. Nixon on TV - he was Eisenhower's VP. I never liked the guy.

Even as a little kid I thought there was something wrong about him....


mark

[Muttocracy]

94. Reagan being shot, Di-Charles wedding, or Space Shuttle launch

I'll have to look up the dates to see which was first. I don't think I really remember the hostage crisis.

Reagan shot 3/30/1981
Columbia shuttle 4/12/1981
wedding 7/29/1981

[Doc_Technical]

95. Sputnik in October 1957.

I remember the adults going absolutely apeshit over this.
Their German scientists got the jump on our German
scientists.

[bikebloke]

96. Kennedy's Inauguration 1961

I remember watching it on TV.

I was going to say Alan Shepherd's space flight, but looked it up. Jack was first, with Alan going up in May.

[Lars39]

98. Apollo 7 splashdown.

Yea,I'm approaching geezerdom. lol There's probably earlier stuff I remember, but nothing I can put a definite name to.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

99. When Aldo Moro was kidnapped and killed...

happened in 1978 when I was about 5/6 years old.

[SteppingRazor]

100. John Lennon's assassination, 1980. I was 4.

I don't really remember specifics -- like most memories from that early, it's just images. The evening news showing flowers outside the apartment building, that sort of thing.

[LynneSin]

102. Three Mile Island - only because I lived thru it

My childhood home is about 15 miles from TMI. We had a week off from school because of it but weren't allowed to go outside and play, which totally sucked because it was a beautiful week - definately outside playing weather.

[PVnRT]

103. The 1984 election - first grade

[bamacrat]

105. Berlin Wall falling, I was 4.

Very into news then, had a huge crush on Connie Chung, vaguely remember Tienamen Square.

[raccoon]

106. 1960 election. I remember hearing grownups talk about Sputnnik, though. nt

[KansDem]

109. Same here...

I remember the Kennedy/Nixon debate, or rather reference to it. I have a vague recollection of a news-type magazine cover with both candidates on the cover.

[raccoon]

110. I remember LIFE magazine with pictures of the Nixons after the election. nt

[NewJeffCT]

107. Watergate

I was born in December of 1966, so I'm not sure I remember the moon landing when it happened. Probably not.

However, I remember hating Nixon because Watergate would be on TV in the afternoon when I came home from school, so I missed my afternoon cartoons were pre-empted, as we only had CBS, ABC, NBC and PBS as channels back then. We could occasionally pick up Channel 11 out of NYC...to watch Yankee games.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

108. shooting of indira gandhi