What is the earliest major news event you remember?

[Kathy]

When I was 7 I was in the second grade when the principal came over the speaker in our elementary school in November to tell us about President Kennedy.

We had only 2-3 channels on tv...and I remember all week long the funeral procession was on TV and I didn't understand. It seemed like the same picture over and over when in reality it was the processional in many cities.

When I was 13 (I think?) we hooked up a TV to a temporary electric pole while we were camping one summer to watch the landing on the moon!

[Carmen]

I remember the announcement of the death of actress Marilyn Monroe in August of 1962. I recall my mother's comment that it was a shame someone so beautiful died so young. I was only 9 years old at the time, and of course was not sophisticated enough to understand the full scope of the "was it suicide, or was she murdered" mystery, her alleged intimate connections to policical figures and all of the media hype that went along with it. But, I do remember it was "big news."

[spasmo]

Growing up in the Houston area I was really aware of anything to do with the space program. We were good friends with the woman who baby sat for the Lovells during the space missions, and I remember going over to her house and seeing some of the cool stuff that she was given after Apollo 8 (the first manned mission to orbit the moon) and listening to her story after Apollo 13. I was seven by that the time and I just couldn't believe that anyone could survive all of that. It was kind of hard for me to understand that she REALLY knew the Lovells... even though I saw the framed mission patches (that had been in the space craft) and now were proudly displayed on her wall. It was just so too cool!

[QuiltAngel]

My earliest would being 7 in second grade and learning of the President's assassinaton.

Lunar moon walk, Nixon resigning, Space Shuttle Challanger,
Berlin Wall coming down, Sept. 11

My family has found it interesting in the timing of some things. the Iran hostage situation began the day after we got married. Challanger exploded two days after Michelle was born and Tianamon Square was when my youngest was born. We need to research the older son's birth.

[ertech05]

I remember in being in school and hearing a teacher come in during a film and tell the others that the space shuttle had blown up...But I dont have a real good memory of that...

[chiney]

I remember Hurricane Hazel hitting Hamilton Ont. in 1954 with the slashing rain and power outage that lasted a couple of days. It's still apparently one of the worst storms to have hit the west end of Lake Ontario!

[IamCricket]

I remember I was watching tv & my brother said "Elvis died". So I went running into the kitchen, and asked my Mama who Elvis was, and she asked "Why?". I told her he had died, and she started crying. I thought he was a member of the family or something. It took me the rest of the evening to find out that he wasn't someone from my family.

[txgurl]

I believe the earliest news event was when I was in elementary and they annouced the Cuban missle crisis and we were sent home from school. This was while Kennedy was in office. It was very scarey, as there was possible nuclear threat to our country at that time.

[Canadian Girl]

My earliest was when I about 7 and my father announced that President Kennedy had been killed: my brother and I were watching TV and I remember saying "who's that?"

I then remember when Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated: our Grade 6 teacher incorporated it into his curriculum :) We were all soooo sad that Bobby's wife was expecting!!!

I also remember when Prime Minister Trudeau declared the War Status, back in October 1970: A british diplomat and a Federal Minister had been kidnapped by a rebel group and the Minister (a member of Parliament... not a man of religion) was subsequently murdered. Those were such trying times for our country!!!

The Lunar Landing was another major event and I remember staying up to watch it. While we waited, we watched an Ann Frank biography.. and was very much appreciated by my school mates and we were learning about her in school.

[wingriderprincess]

Mine was when President Kennedy got shot. Another teacher ran into our room and told our teacher and she tossed her pencil on her desk, lowered her head and sobbed. I remember the stillness of the room. We all just sat there, quiet as mice and then the principle made the announcement over the intercom system. I was so :confused:

[Sib2of11]

I'm really dating myself here, but I remember the launch of the first unmanned space satellite, Sputnik, around the time I turned eleven years old. I wasn't much into the news back then, but I did know that that Russia and the U.S. were in a Cold War. I remember being scared to know that Russia had a Satellite in space, but I don't really know why I was scared.

Another major event I remember was the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1962. I was 15 years old and knew enough about world events that I was very, very afraid.

[charliemae]

Sputnik was also my first major news memory. I was about 7 then and wasn't sure what to think. A combination of fear and excitement is the only way to describe it.

[Texas-Ali]

My earliest memory of a news event was sitting on top of a VW van, watching the first unmanned Apollo space shot take off. We lived in Cocoa Beach, and my dad worked for NASA, so we saw all them, even the ones that were unannounce. My dad would call us and tell us to go outside. We knew it meant something was taking off. I did not realize how strange it was to have all the Apollo patches from there until I saw some of the same items in a museum that we had at home. We watched one on tv because my mom did not feel good, and Walter Kronkite was the announcer.

I also remember my parents thinking it was soooo cool that we could now watch Bewitched "In Living Color".

[bgcmom]

My earliest real news event was the Death of Elvis. It didn't impact me, but my older brother was devistated! The next major news story was when I was in 5th grade and we were in the cafeteria watching a news story for History. The BIG EVENT was when the Presidential elections were held and Ronald Reagan beat Jimmy Carter. Then later that year, it was the assassination attempt on Reagan.
Of course, since then there have been MANY MAJOR news stories to follow.

bgcmom

[Marian Paroo]

Really, really clearly? The Kennedy-Nixon election in 1960, but I have a vague memory of my mom saying we couldn't go to eat in some hamburger place anymore because it was being picketed by African Americans and that in our family we neither tolerated racism nor crossed a picket line.

[Charger]

In 1962 I remember John Glenn's orbiting the earth three times. My fourth grade class watched it from a tv that had been brought into our classroom.

[Parrothead]

The day President Kennedy was shot. I was in the second grade. The principal came in and spoke to our teacher, we were sent home from school early. I remember watching the funeral on tv, and I remember the incredibly sad atmosphere everywhere. I didn't exactly understand it, but I knew it was something really bad.

I do remember the year before when we had bomb drills, but I didn't know why, just it was scary.

[Marian Paroo]

I do remember the year before when we had bomb drills, but I didn't know why, just it was scary.

Oh, when I was growing up in the States, I remember bomb drills, 'til some time in JHS.

My cousin, who was born in '47 says she remembers getting dog tags in her district, they were THAT afraid.

And, I work now with a Russian woman who remembers that they had bomb drills, too! :D

[lesliesnini]

I, too, remember Kennedy's assassination. I was about 7.
The first man on the moon was a big deal in our house, too. It was my twelfth birthday.

[Kate]

My earliest major news event was when I was in 10th grade (I think or maybe 9th) when the OKC Federal building was bombed. We had all of our tvs on in school, and I remember just thinking, who would do this? A few years after that I ended up moving to OKC and just seeing how much that has affected so many people there still to this day. The memorial site is just beautiful though.

[crunchies0313]

Thats the first major news event I remember also.. OKC Bombing. The first one that had a major impact on me would be 9/11. I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing. But when Columbia happened in 2002...my whole community felt it and showed it. I live really close to JSC/NASA in Houston. The astronauts had children that went to schools with me and near me. It was one of the hardest things to see and cope with.

[Marian Paroo]

My earliest major news event was when I was in 10th grade (I think or maybe 9th) when the OKC Federal building was bombed. We had all of our tvs on in school, and I remember just thinking, who would do this? A few years after that I ended up moving to OKC and just seeing how much that has affected so many people there still to this day. The memorial site is just beautiful though.

Only that?

I knew a gal who worked in the building, well, actually had an office in the building, she was a social worker in the field, so she was never there.

It took me a long time to get in touch with her, we hadn't been in contact for a while. Got through (phone lines to OK were overloaded) thru an ex-lover. She was spending a lot of time on the site doing rescue/recovery once she got back to the area.

[windgoddess]

I remember the Kennedy assassination too. I was 7. Even though we live on the other side of the world, it was a major shocker here as well.
I was also aware of the rise of the Beatles in 1963/1964. They seemed pretty radical then and we loved their music.

[Daisyjen904]

I remember watching television and seeing the report about Bobby Kennedy being killed.

[Candela]

I remember Reagan getting shot when I was in Kindergarten. I arrived at school and my teacher had the TV on to watch the news. I think that's about the earliest one that I remember!

[Marian Paroo]

Yeah, isn' that a pip about people considering the Beatles radical (at least in the first years). And folks were so upset about the hair, it some schools they banned Beatle haircuts!

[Meaux]

Sitting in class at St. Andrew's Elementary School, Sr. Mary David sitting at the podium, an announcement over the PA that President Kennedy had been shot, seeing my teacher weep. I was 7.

[sunsoaker]

My earliet memory of a major news even was the moon landing. There were other things I should probably remember, but I was too busy being a kid to think about those things.. I had such a sheltered childhood. Too sheltered for my own good sometime, I think...

[GirlyGirl]

I remember Watergate because all of our TV channels (all 3 of them!) werent showing my regular shows and I was bored. I cant remember how long it lasted, but it seemed like forever!

[sueperb]

I remember President Kennedy's death & funeral as it fell on my sister's birthday... I know we were under 5, but everyone was so upset on a special day.

[suzizack]

I remember seeing the first trip to the moon on black and white TV .. lived in Beaumont , Tx..
Jane

[joyinaz]

Elvis dying was my earliest memory..

[SmallSpaz]

I agree Elvis dying was the the 1st I can remember, or maybe that was just a memory of mom talking about him dying. The next thing I remember was the space shuttle exploding.

[clogaholic]

I remember President Kennedy's death too. I remember that what got my attention was seeing my teacher crying. He left the room and came back in crying and told us that the president had been shot. Later, he told us that he had died and we all cried together.

[mimarg5557]

My first thought was the walk on the moon...

But, no, it was JFK's funeral...My grandpa died around the same time.

I was only 6.

[Sib2of11]

I remember as a child news of the sinking of the passenger ship the Andrea Doria in the mid-1950's. But the first major news story that I not only heard about but was keenly interested in was the Cuban Missle Crisis.

[D'anne]

I remember the day JFK was assasinated.. I was watching TV when it happened and my mom was crying.

[Duchie]

My earliest was Elvis dying. I was in total utter shock. My mom and I just sat there staring at the TV, crying. I was so upset crying but I was mad too because I hadn't gotten to meet him yet. I didn't think it was fair that he died.

[ARTIST]

I remember the day president Kennedy was killed. I was three years old and my MOM asked me to get the box of kleenex for her from the bathroom because she was crying. I really didn't understand much except that what was on the tv was making my Mom really sad.

[jessiegrl28]

The earliest memory that I have is I was in 1st or 2nd grade and we were watching a show on tv when it was interrupted because of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Then I remember the Berlin Wall, Desert Storm.

[ARTIST]

wELL YOU ARE A YOUNG LADY!!!!

[jessiegrl28]

LOL I am 27 will be 28 in November..