Inspired by something C.Ann said on another post

[caitycaity]

the ones i remember the most vivdly are:

challenger: i was in school and we were watching it on tv

princess di's death: i was at a back to school party (college) and we heard about it on tv. we stayed up most of the night to watch the coverage.

9/11: i worked just north of the white house and my building was evacuated. before we were evacuated, someone had heard something about it online, but we didn't know it was anything more than a passenger aircraft gone astray until they called for our building to be evacuated.

 

[va32h]

Challenger: I remember watching in on TV in the library at school, but I can't remember if we were supposed to be watching the launch or if they had us watch the news coverage after the explosion.

OJ Verdict - I was teaching preschool and listening to the news on the radio while the kids were having naptime. I was so mad - I remember having a really hard time pulling myself together.

Princess Diana: I was working at Barnes & Noble and got off work around 11:30, was driving home and heard it on the radio.

Columbine: a beautiful May day - I was babysitting a friend's son, and had to keep coming up with activities to keep them busy so I could watch the coverage.

JFK Jr: Was visiting my sister in California - we had gotten up early to take the kids to Disneyland and saw the news coverage. My 2nd sister is very interested in the Kennedy family, and I remember having an argument with her because she wanted to stay home and watch the news.

9/11 - We were living on Ft. Lee in Virginia. I had just gotten back from taking dd to the bus stop - her 2nd day of kindergarten, when the Today show reported on the 1st plane crashing into the towers.

Within an hour, I looked out my window and saw a Humvee full of armed MPs patrolling the base - we were shut down completely. That was in those first several hours when everyone was panicking and we didn't know what or where would be attacked next.

 

[minkydog]

I vividly remember when Hurricane Camille hit the Gulf Coast in 1969. We lived 1 mile from the beach in Pascagoula. I was 13yo, vacationing with my family in Virginia. We stayed up all night listening to a transistor radio(no satellite or cable back then.) The worst part was driving home to Mississippi not know what we would find or even if our house was still there(it was )

 

[Figment22]

I won't list many of the events that have already been mentioned but I'll add a couple:

July, 1969 - First Moon Landing. I was 11 and our family was vacationing at a resort in the Pocono Mts. in PA. It took FOREVER for Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldren to come out of the lunar module after the actual moon landing. I'm talking hours here. All of the adults were gathered in a huge lobby common room waiting for the astronauts to emerge. I, on the other hand, along with other kids wanted to play ping-pong with my new friends. I remember pestering my mom for money for a long time, while she tried to get me to watch the TV coverage! BTW, Ted Kennedy/Chappaquiddick was the very same week while we were still on vacation.

The OJ Car Chase - We were in Orlando staying at Marriott's Cypress Harbour. I remember being annoyed at the CONSTANT coverage because parts of the NBA playoffs were being pre-empted and I wanted to see the Knicks.

1989 SF Earthquake - DH and I were again in Orlando, having dinner at the Fireworks Factory in PI. I remember looking up at the TV screens and thinking, Uh-oh, something really bad is going on here.

We were also at Disney World when Baby Jessica fell into the well.

 

[Talking Hands]

JFK assassination - 10th grade biology class
First moon landing - working at Sibley Hospital as a nurse's aid. Watched it in the nursing station lounge
Challenger - outside watching the lauch with the students I was subbing
Discovery - at home watching tv
Hurricane Andrew - at Ft Wilderness, WDW. I remember going to Epcot and seeing the pictures of Cutler Ridge Mall and just crying as my house was only 2 miles from the mall
9/11 - home watching tv.
Katrina - home still as schools are not yet back in session from her hitting us in So Fla. Many areas still without electricity.

 

[monarchsfan16]

The Columbia incident. I woke up and turned on the tv. First thing I saw was breaking news. All I could thing was OMG, here we go again.
9/11. I was a freshman in high school, sitting in bio when a gym teacher came in white as a ghost and crying, saying a 747 had hit the WTC. My bio teacher stopped class, and told us, practically crying himself, that we were going to get some shaky news when we watched the news in homeroom that day, that a big plane had crashed. I remember every second of that day.
I learned about the OKC bombing leaving school in second grade. I was with my best friend and her mom and it was on the radio while we were waiting to pick her brother up from kindergarten. All I could think was that the bad guy was going to find us in Disney World (I was leaving for there 2 days later).
I honestly don't remember where I was when I learned about the Tsunami. But I remember the days after vividly.
The London bombings this summer. I'll never forget how perfect the weather was that day here. It reminded me so much of 9/11, unfortunately. We were on vacation (mom, my sister, my best friend, and me) in northern NH, at Attitash. My mom came in when she realized I was awake and told me the news. As soon as my best friend woke up I told her what had happened and we turned on the news. That whole day I was so sad for the Londoners (still am). A couple weeks later I found out another close friend of mine had left London the day before the attacks. She had used one of the tube lines that was struck just 24 hours before. Nothing I'm going to forget anytime soon.
That serial killer that was on the loose in the South in 96 or 97. For a short while they thought he was in NH. I spent that day curled in a ball cowering below the windows so he might not see me. I think it was the summer after I was in 4th grade but I'm not quite sure.
Not a national event but huge in NH. Just over 8 years ago, a gunman went on a shooting rampage in Colebrook NH (wayyy up north). He opened fire in a lawyer's office, among other places, killing the lawyer. It then ended in a chase with the death of a cop. I remember watching the tv in terror, watching my mom sob. She didn't tell me at the time, but my grandfather was supposed to be at that attorney's office when that happened. Luckily he'd made the last minute decision to change his appointment to later, but we didnt' find that out until after we had endured a couple hours of terror. There were others killed in addition to the cop (who's son is now married to my mom's cousin's daughter). It was a day of hell for NH, one I'll never forget.

 

[totalia]

Challenger

Princess Di's marriage and death

9/11

OJ

The other things people have said are things that I don't consider world changing. Or maybe, just not that important or shocking to me. If you notice, I didn't post any of the natural disasters. There's a reason for that. They may have been world changing but horrible natural disasters happen all the time. The ones I've posted are due to the nature of human beings. I consider them more important.

 

[staci]

I remember being in first grade when they announced the challanger.

I remember being at home in my living room for princess di.

I remember being at work at an insurance company for 9/11.

 

[staci]

I remember being in first grade when they announced the challanger.

I remember being at home in my living room for princess di.

I remember being at work at an insurance company for 9/11.

my mom remembers jfk; grandma drove the tractor over to the country school and told everyone.

 

[puffkin]

Challenger- was in elementary school. Just remember an announcement, but not too much else. I think I was in First Grade, so we didn't really talk about the space program or things like that yet.

OJ verdict- was in 10th grade English class. My teacher was obsessed with the case so she brought in a radio and we listened to it live (my school didn't have TV's in all the classrooms at that point yet).

Oklahoma City- I believe that I came home from work or a practice or something and my dad was watching the coverage on TV. We had just gotten a satellite dish at this point, and my dad was obsessed with the CNN/MSNBC type channels.

Princess Di's death- This one hit me pretty hard. As an avid People Magazine reader for years, I had been following the royal family and the Kennedy's for years, so I was really sad about this one. We had just gotten home from my cousin's wedding reception when the news broke on the East Coast. I couldn't believe it when they said she was dead. I thought for sure that was a mistake.

Columbine- Was in college, freshman year. Was in my room doing homework when news broke. My roommate and I were glued to the TV for hours.

JFK Jr. death- again, because of being an avid People magazine reader, this was such a shocking death. I was at home, eating breakfast before work when it broke. Again, I just couldn't believe that they were dead.

9/11- I was in college. Had class from 8-11 so I was totally oblivious to what happened. Got to my job at the tutoring center and everyone was real quite, but I still didn't no what was going on. Finally someone yelled out from the back room where the TV was that another plane had gone down in PA, when I realized something was up. Stayed glued to the TV for the rest of the day.

Columbia- At work. Even though it was a Saturday, it was tax season at the CPA firm, so I had to work. I kept refreshing my computer to get the latest updates.

Tsunami- Getting ready for work when first saw it on Good Morning America. Just couldn't believe the devastation. Kept refreshing my computer at work to find the death toll climbing by 10's of thousands every time.

Those are all I can remember from my short life of 26 years. Kind of scary to think what the next quarter centuries major events will be!

 

[scarlett873]

I remember...

9/11 - I was on my way to work when they said that a plane had crashed into the WTC. When I got to work, the second plane had crashed. I was a travel agent then and I can remember people coming in who had not seen any news or anything about it. They wanted to plan their trips to wherever. So there I sat, helping people plan their trips, with my eyes filled with tears. We had the news on up front and I tried to steal away to see what was happening whenever I could. I called my now DH in California as I knew he didn't watch the news in the morning...I remember everything about that day...

Columbine - I was at work that day...

Oklahoma City - I was in college then and had come home and turned on the tv to watch Oprah. She had live coverage of the incidents.

Princess Di's death - I was sleeping when my Dad called me. I remember telling him that she was just in an accident and didn't believe him until the next morning.

OJ - the verdict. We were all at work and we all went into our breakfast bar area (worked for a hotel then) to watch the verdict.

Challenger - I was in junior high...7th grade I believe. I had stayed home sick and was all excited to get to watch "daytime tv" when the news broke.

Columbia - We were in Walmart and walked by a tv that was tuned to CNN.

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Columbia Disaster--I was asleep and my mother called to wake me up, asking if I'd heard the same kind of loud noises she had. I hadn't and turned on the news to see if anything was going on. When the announced that Columbia had broken up over Texas and people were finding bits and pieces on the ground, I was shocked. Later that morning, I had to go to The Colony Library (aboout 15 min away) and the radio DJ was playing "Rocket Man" for the astronauts. That's when I lost it and almost had to pull off the road because I was crying so hard.

Princess Di's Death--The morning it happened, I was at work and a friend of my sister's (who worked with me) came in and said the princess had died. I told her if it was a joke, it wasn't funny and forgot about it. That night, at home I saw on the news it was true and I got upset. I remember getting up at some ungodly hour of the morning to watch/tape her funeral on TV. When Elton John sang his special version of "Candle In The Wind" for her, I bawled like a baby.

9/11--I was on my way to work and the car I had then didn't have a CD player, only a cassette deck with a radio. So I turned on the radio to pop a tape in and heard a local DJ talking about what was going on in NYC. I thought he was making some stupid crack and it was a bit, but it wasn't funny if it was. Then ABCNews breaks into the broadcast and they start talking about the first tower going down. I don't know HOW I got to work that day..I must've been on auto pilot. But work was deadly silent that day and the mall across the street closed at noon so everybody could go home and watch TV. I got permission from my boss to make a LD call to my mother so I could ask her if the son of one of her friends (who is a chef in Manhatten) was alright. After work, I went home and ordered pizza because we didn't feel much like cookiing. I watched the footage of the explosions for the first time on the 5 pm news and just cried like a baby. I couldn't believe it. It was..so surreal.

OKC bombing--I was at school that day and hadn't heard anything until I saw the news that night. I cried for those poor people and I cried even harder when the CMT awards came on (I think it was the CMTs..coulda been the ACM awards for all I know)and Garth Brooks did his performance of "The Change" with the footage of the bombings behind him.

TOV

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Good thread!

So many major events happened in my lifetime, but unfortunately, I don't remember where I was or what I was doing when they all happened:

CHALLENGER: In my Journalism class writing on the school newspaper when the news came through. All the classrooms switched the televisions to live tv so we could watch.

911: I was working at Disneyworld on the College Program, had the tv on while getting ready for work when I saw that first tower go down.

TSUNAMI: At Ruby Tuesdays working and watching CNN while eating lunch when I saw what happened.

 

[simba928]

9/11- I was in Language Arts class in 6th grade and we all had to go out into the hall for a weather emergency type drill. We just thought it was a routine drill. After we had been sitting out there for a LONG time, at least 45 minutes to an hour, we went back into the classroom and our teachers told us what had happened. The reason we had to go out into the hall was because our school is very close to the airport and they didn't know where they last plane was (the one that crashed in Somerset). My mom was in Canada on business at the time and she couldnt get home. Her and her bosses rented a car to drive home after several days of waiting.

Columbia- I was in Costco with my parents. We passed the TV section and they had CNN on. They said that NASA had lost communication with Columbia. My dad said "Don't worry, that is normal" so I didn't pay much attention to it. We worked our way through Costco and when we got on the other side, my uncle called my mom and mentioned that the Columbia had exploded. I went back over to the TV section to watch it. That weekend, I had a huge project for 7th grade Language Arts that was due on Monday that I hadn't even started. The WHOLE weekend, I sat in front of my TV with CNN on (they were of course covering the disaster) while I worked on that project. I didn't do too well on the project, BTW.

 

[Blueeyes101817]

i was at my grandmas house down the shore when i picked up the paper and saw princess diana died..

OJ verdict--i was also at grandmas house

9-11, i was in my third period english class in junior year of high school--principal made an announcement, then the teacher went back to teaching...my dad, who is a firefighter, ended up coming to take my brother and i out of school, adn thats how we found out what really happened

 

[arminnie]

I'm one of the older DISers.

JFK assassination - 9th grade English class.

Me too - my dad was giving me a ride downtown. When I got out of his car they were talking about JFK's visit to Dallas. By the time I took the elevator to the 4th floor, his assassination was being announced.

Nothing else was THAT significant to me (important but not in the same league) until 9/11.

 

[skiwee1]

I remember watching the first landing on the moon. I was sitting on the floor in my mom's bedroom watching our cat have kittens and my mom had the tv on.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm one of the older DISers.

JFK assassination - 9th grade English class.

I remember it too-I was coming home on the bus from 9th grade too!

In addition to all the ones mentioned here, does any other New Englander remember the Great Blizzard of 1979? I think the governor declared a state of emergency for 3 days. I remember getting to know our neighbors, almost everyone had little children, so if anyone was walking up Rte 122 to the supermarket, we had a neighborhood grocery list!

 

[JennyMominRI]

I remember it too-I was coming home on the bus from 9th grade too!

In addition to all the ones mentioned here, does any other New Englander remember the Great Blizzard of 1979? I think the governor declared a state of emergency for 3 days. I remember getting to know our neighbors, almost everyone had little children, so if anyone was walking up Rte 122 to the supermarket, we had a neighborhood grocery list!

I remember the Blizzard of 78,not 79..Unbelieveable storm

 

[Simba's Mom]

Woops! You're right-it was the Blizzard of '78! The memory, you know-it gets worse with age!