What is your earliest memory of a news event that made national headlines?

[Violet Crown]

When I was a wee babe, a particularly politically passionate babysitter went on and on to my older brother and me about some guy named Nixon and something that should be done to him involving peaches. It was all unclear but sounded exciting.

[FO4UR]

I remember the Challenger Explosion (I was 7yo.), and Baby Jessica stuck in the well.

[cathmom]

I was home from school because I was sick that day too. But I wasn't a student, I was a teacher. :D

 

I was home sick the day the challenger exploded also! I was reading Time magazine in bed and got mad about an article and wrote a letter to the editor about it, and the issue it appeared in has the Challenger on the cover.

[AndyJoy]

I think the first big news I remember is when the Berlin Wall came down. I was about 10.

:iagree:I was 8.

[Negin]

Carter being elected. I was 8. We were living in the U.K. but my brother was glued to the TV.

[annlaura]

I remember Ford being sworn in. My parents drove a Ford Falcon, and I thought it was really cool that the man who made our car was now our president. lol!

[twoxcell]

The first news story I remember watching and being captivated by was the little baby Jessica McClure stuck in a well. This was in 1986 and I was 2.5 years old. I did not realize I was that young until I looked it up just now. How weird is that.

[golfcartmama]

Watching everyone wait for gas in the early 80's, Reagan assassination attempt, the Challenger explosion, the Berlin wall coming down

[ravinlunachick]

Baby Fae is the first national story I can remember. Our school got free newspapers every day, and I used to read all the articles after I'd finished whatever Language Arts work we were doing. I would have been 8 years old.

[HSMother]

The Challenger explosion is what comes to mind. But considering the fact that I'm 40, I'm sure there were other things prior to that that I should be remembering!

 

Michelle

[Ellyndria]

I remember Reagan being shot at. The most vivid memory is the Challenger explosion (I was in 4th grade), because, like others, we were watching it live at school, and had been talking about the mission in class for a while beforehand.

[LeslieAnneLevine]

John Lennon's murder, I was 6.

[FO4UR]

The earliest things I remember are:

OJ Simpson

Princess Diana's death

And I watched the 9/11 attacks on TV in high school.

Don't make me tell you how old(young) I am. :001_smile:

 

Don't worry, you just told us!:D

 

:iagree::lol: I was in college for Princess Di's death and 9/11. I remember walking into the dorm and ALL the girls were glued to the TV...watching Princess Di's coverage. I was driving to English Lit class when I heard about 9/11.

 

 

My baby sister was afraid that OJ was going to drive his SUV all the way to central IL, just to terrorize her. Poor thing! I'm guessing that you are about her age.

 

I remember Ford being sworn in. My parents drove a Ford Falcon, and I thought it was really cool that the man who made our car was now our president. lol!

 

 

I love how kids think.:lol:

[OnTheBrink]

The moon landing.

[skirch]

I had to look to make sure I didn't write that. Me too, exactly!:D

 

LOL. My db came along in September. Yours?

October. :D

Edited August 1, 2011 by skirch

[NicAnn]

I remember Bush/Gore race and election. And September 11th. I was 14, and an NPR junkie even then, so I must remember something else...

 

Although I guess Sept. 11th was the first big thing to happen in my generation.

[Retired]

Operation Babylift-- the evacuations from Saigon, 1975. I was five, and so glad I didn't have to get on those green airplanes.

 

astrid

 

I am the same age but my dad would not watch anything regarding Nam because he spent 2 tours and had undiagnosed PT SD. The only thing I knew about Nam was I couldn't surprise my dad or crawl up in bed with him (he almost strangled me around the age of 5) My 5th birthday was March 31 1975 very close the the lift.

 

My mom would just say war made daddy sick. That was my earliest memory.

 

I called and ask mom about this thread cause I do have a great memory but I really didn't have access to the news to 1976-1977 cause the war was over and dad started watching the news again.

[Mommy22alyns]

The Challenger. I actually saw that on TV. I was folding laundry with my mom.

[nono]

The Israeli track team that was taken hostage during the Olympics. I don't remember exactly how old I was then - early elementary though.

Denise

 

Hey someone else with my earliest memory. There's an annual race here in NJ on Long Beach Island which is held in memory of those who died. The mile markers carry the athletes' names. One of the most significant events I've ever raced as an adult. I thought you'd want to know that on a sandbar in New Jersey, folks still remember.

 

http://www.stfranciscenterlbi.org/special-events/18-mile-run/

[ccm]

I remember the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. I was 7 years old. I was standing in the cloakroom at school when I heard the news. My classmates and teacher were in shock and time seemed to stand still.

 

(I must be really old because the word cloakroom was in use. And, no, it was not Hogwarts!)

Edited August 1, 2011 by ccm

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I remember the death of President Eisenhower, the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, the moon landing, and Watergate:D

[Caterpiller]

Columbine 1999. I was 11. I vaguely remember the Oklahoma City Bombing as well, 1995 7 years old. Mostly I remember that because my family is from Oklahoma and so my parents were really upset about it. I knew it was a bad thing and was upset that my parents were upset. But the Columbine shooting was the first news story I remember hearing that I was terribly upset about.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

Former President Clinton elected. I remember seeing the adds and not liking him. I was 6. The O.J. Simpson murder case. I was 9. My grandparents/guardians didn't talk about the news very much.

[KrissiK]

Hostage situation in Iran in the 1970's. I was proabably 8-10 years old. When was that anyway? (Sorry, it's our first day back to school and my brain is fried)

[vonfirmath]

Mt St Helens erupting, when I was 6 years old. Though I thought it was in Oregon.

[Disney Dreaming]

Elvis dying-I was almost 7. Then I remember Reagan's attempted assassination when I was 10.

[TechWife]

Jimmy Carter's election as president. I lived in Georgia at the time & it was quite a big deal.

[LittleIzumi]

When I was a wee babe, a particularly politically passionate babysitter went on and on to my older brother and me about some guy named Nixon and something that should be done to him involving peaches. It was all unclear but sounded exciting.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[TechWife]

Wow, I was in college when that happened....

 

This thread is amazing to me, but it's making me feel old because much of what is being posted happened in my adult years, including this!

[TechWife]

I was positive the astronauts had gone to the moon for my 5th birthday celebration.

 

Excellent!

[abacus2]

The Challenger Explosion. I was 7 and was home from school sick. The news interrupted The Price is Right to show the Challenger take off. When it exploded, I went to the other room to tell my mom what happened and she thought I was just confused by the normal takeoff smoke.

[bettyandbob]

Munich Olympics

 

Nixon's reelection

 

These events were when I was 6.

[MrsBasil]

I was a sophomore in high school when Columbine happened. That probably sticks out more than anything because of all the threats and lockdowns that followed. It definitely changed the atmosphere in high schools.

 

I was a junior when Columbine happened and, yes, the atmosphere completely changed. Within a month we had our first ever lockdown drill. I remember we had an end of year bomb threat and a lot of people did not want to line up to walk outside.

 

Also, previously unguarded and little used entrance/exits suddenly had cameras and teachers manning them.

 

 

My first vivid memory is the start of the air war part of the first Gulf War. I was 9 and we were going out to dinner when the news broke came on the radio, so we went home and my parents watched CNN.

[TechWife]

I'm amazed at how young everyone here is.

 

Me, too! I wonder if I seem young to you (my first news event was Carter being elected).

[BarbecueMom]

Columbine 1999. I was 11. I vaguely remember the Oklahoma City Bombing as well, 1995 7 years old. Mostly I remember that because my family is from Oklahoma and so my parents were really upset about it. I knew it was a bad thing and was upset that my parents were upset. But the Columbine shooting was the first news story I remember hearing that I was terribly upset about.

 

I wonder if Columbine is more upsetting to the 20-29 age group than 9/11. The terrorist attacks didn't shake me the way the school shootings did. I've never been to D.C. or NYC, but in April 1999 I was a teenager in a suburban high school that already had its share of conflict between "preps and freaks" and bomb threats every other week. I felt much more vulnerable then than after 9/11.

[Melissa in NC]

Watergate

[Miss Marple]

It has occurred to me that there are probably homeschooling mothers on this board who are half my age! That got me wondering what kinds of things were in the headlines when the younger set was growing up. So I ask, what huge news event do you remember from your earliest childhood? How old were you at the time?

 

ETA: Those of you who are "older" (like me!), please answer as well. My earliest memories of national news include the

Freedom Marches/race riots and also U.S. troops being sent to Vietnam (1965, the year I turned 5). I have vivid memories of the Bobby Kennedy assassination, the MLK assassination, the Manson murders, the 1968 election, the Apollo missions of the 1960s (in particular, Apollo 8 & Apollo 11), Jackie Kennedy marrying Aristotle Onassis, Ted Kennedy & Chappaquiddick, Lt. William Calley & My Lai Massacre, Eisenhower's death, Woodstock, Black Panthers... and all of these things happened between 1965 & 1969, when I was between the ages of 4 & 9.

 

Neil Armstrong/Apollo 11 - I would have been about 7 years old. Although we had a TV we never watched it when I was young. This, though, was an exception which is probably why I remember it so well.

[jenn-]

The Challenger explosion. I was in second grade then and I think the whole school was watching because of the teacher on board.

 

:iagree:

[TheCoffeeChick]

I think I was a very inattentive child to the goings on of the world, because I can't for the life of me actually "remember" something happening until the Oklahoma City Bombings and I was 13 or 14 at the time of that! I probably only remember it because I was home sick from school and there was NOTHING ELSE on tv.

[meggie]

:001_smile: Yay, I'm not the youngest! I was a freshman in college when 9/11 happened, ironically in a speech class discussing Pearl Harbor at the time of the attacks. DH would have been a junior in high school.

 

I was a sophomore in high school when Columbine happened. That probably sticks out more than anything because of all the threats and lockdowns that followed. It definitely changed the atmosphere in high schools.

 

Were you in Littleton too? I was a freshman at Chatfield and my friend across the street went to Columbine. I remember that day so clearly and have never been more afraid in my life. I remembering them ushering us back into the building as we came home from lunch and the school going on lockdown and everyone just staring at the TV screen. At the end of the day, I was so afraid to go home (since we were rivals, there were rumors that they'd come after us). The phone lines were busy all day, but finally around 9pm my uncle got through and asked if we were all right. I remember waking up the next morning to hear Sarah McLachlan's I Will Remember You playing on the radio with sound bites from interviews playing in between words. I still can't hear that song without crying.

 

9/11 also stands out in my mind since my dad is a pilot for United. Jason Dahl's (pilot of flight 93) son was friends with my little brother. Definitely got a case of "there but for the grace of God go I." And I remember after that thinking Littleton was cursed.

 

My first memory is of Jim Henson's death. I was 5 and in kindergarten and my teacher told us. I probably remember it so well because my dad had just recovered from pneumonia.

[misidawnrn]

The Challenger explosion. I was in second grade then and I think the whole school was watching because of the teacher on board(one of the teachers at our school had actually "tried out" and made it pretty far in the process, if I remember correctly).

I was in the 6th grade and one of the teachers in my school was a runner up too! How weird is that?

I remember Charles and Diana's wedding and the birth of their kids, the Challenger, I was in K when Mt St. Helens blew. We lived in Montana and our whole yard was covered in ash! I remember that being very cool at age 6.

[BarbecueMom]

Were you in Littleton too? I was a freshman at Chatfield and my friend across the street went to Columbine. I remember that day so clearly and have never been more afraid in my life.

 

No, but my school was very similar in size and demographics, just two states away. We had all the rumors, threats of copycats, finger pointing, bans on long coats, bomb dogs and vehicle checks. It was awful.

 

I met a few people in college who were from Littleton, and I felt so bad for them. The question, "Where are you from?" was a conversation stopper!

[sheryl]

JFK's assassination

[meggie]

I met a few people in college who were from Littleton, and I felt so bad for them. The question, "Where are you from?" was a conversation stopper!

:glare: oh yeah.

"Where are you from?"

"littletoncolorado"

pause

pause

pause

"That Littleton?"

pause

"yes"

[TravelingChris]

Mine is very early- I was only 10.5 months old- it was John Kennedy's assination. I can remember I was in our kitchen in what must have been a high chair and the radio was on. My mother had been visiting with a neighbor. The music stopped and I guess an announcement came on, both my mother and my neighbor started crying. I don't remember other things until I was about 1.5 years old. But I have a very good memory and do remember quite a lot of things about my home and my neighborhood from a home I moved away when I was just 2 years 4 months old.

[simka2]

The Challenger exploding. I was born in 1978.

 

This. Except I am a couple years younger. :D

[muffinmom]

I'm pretty sure it was the Iran Hostage Crisis.

[mcconnellboys]

Alvin C. York's funeral (because all the helicoptors with newsmen flew over our grandparents' farm on their way to the burial down at Wolf River) - I was 4; and then Bobby Kennedy's assassination, because I saw the coverage on a television in our new home on that farm when I was 8....

[Mommy22alyns]

The Challenger exploding. I was born in 1978.

 

 

Me too!

[JFSinIL]

Kennedy being shot - the moms met in the middle of the street to cry and talk about it while we little kids milled about. I remember seeing and being alarmed at the grown-ups standing in the street and crying.

 

Much later - being made to watch some blurry b/w images of some astronaut climbing down a ladder. The room was full of captivated grown-ups - we kids didn't care.

 

Also - tv news every night with color footage of the war in Vietnam. :-(

 

I know my kids will remember 9/11.