Which memorable events in history you've witnessed, either directly or through media?

Since I'm a freak of nostalgia, I think this thread has the potential of producing some fine, fine stories...especially from the oldest & wisest among us.

For example, those of you who lived through the 60's -- I'd love to hear your personal recollection of the Moon Landing or JFK assasination, etc. Everytime you hear it from a different person, it's like a new story altogether. But don't be shy to speak of the 90's as well, if that's as far as you can go. Any story would be a great addition to this thread.

I know there are too many events to list or talk about, but just talk about the ones that truly made an impact on you.

For me it was 9/11 which I witnessed through the media. I was only 13 at the time, living in England. I remember hearing it on the school bus radio and running home where my parents were already watching the news coverage. I remember the confusion and panic, no one knew what would happen next. I think it was probably the biggest news event in my life so far.

I lived a little over a mile from the Pentagon in 2001. On September 11th, I was awakened by a boom that rattled my windows. As the attack unfolded, almost everything in Washington was closed, including the subway system. An exodus of thousands of people on foot began toward the suburbs, some of them walking ten miles or more. It went on for hours. We had an armored vehicle at our corner for a week or so, and major intersections had them for longer.

I'm sure that if any Board members were around from the Civil War decade and if any Board members were around during WWII, they could comment. However, for me, what I witnessed is the 60s. That decade was like something from the Twilight Zone. You had the Civil Rights movement culminating in the March on Washington and the free speech movement led by Mario Savio at UCLA at Berkely. Then you had Medger Evers' murder, and those of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy. There was the police riot at 68's Democratic National Convention in Chicago and then Woodstock. Of course, most of the decade was overlayed with the Vietnam War which I witnessed up close and personal.

Randomly and in no order of importance:

I remember the moon landing and closely watching on tv. What a chill that was when Neil Armstrong uttered the famous words.

I remember the Viet Nam war era when they had the draft lottery which would depend on your birth date. Everyone knew someone who was in Nam. My husband (ex now) was Nam for a year. There were protest, sit-ins,riots, burning of draft cards. What turmoil.

JFK/RFK,MLK what can I say? Looking back now I think "wow", that WAS an unbelievably horrible time in our history. Then of course 911, who would have EVER thought that possible.

The music IMHO was awesome though (i.e. Woodstock), although we sadly lost, and in many cases unnecessarily (on their parts) many of our rock stars to drugs.

TIS

In England in 1997 I remember the death of Princess Diana, I don't think there has been as much outpouring of emotion over one person's death before.

TIS, I forgot the moon landing. Where in Vietnam was your husband? I was in I Corps west of Hue.

Oli,

We had met just months after he got out of VN. Now, I don't know the spelling of these cities and may be a tad off so keep that in mind, BUT it was either Bin Lo or Lo Bin (something like that anyway).

TIS

EDIT: Let me add as far as VN, he was SO sure he'd be drafted that he volunteered draft literally to get it over with and avoid sitting on needles & pins. So he went in at 18 and was out about 2 years later.

he sounds alot like me. At 18 I volunteered, but that was '65. After I got hurt I was out in about 14 months. What branch or unit was he in? That town, I don't recognize hte name. Maybe it was south of where I was.

Oli,

I did a city check and it "could" be "Bien Hoa" It's been a lot of years and all I know it's Bin/Bien something.

He was in the Army. The other part of his service was in Greece which he really liked. He enlisted in 68 I believe and got out in 70.

TIS

I remember the riots of 67. I lived in Michigan at the time and was camping at Lake Michigan with some friends (away from everything). I didn't know til I called home and found out what was going on. People were getting pulled from their cars and beaten, buildings on fire, riots. Now I lived in Grand Rapids at the time, but Detroit had it much worse if I remember correctly. It was pretty unbelievable.

My father owned a dry cleaners right in the area where a lot of the activity was and was fearful his business would be set ablaze. I remember begging him not to go to work the next day (or until this was over). Fortunately, he was spared any loss. It was a scary time.



TIS

Some of the more memorable events that I remember:

1. The Beatles on Ed Sullivan (although not their first appearance)
2. The moon landing
3. The end of the war in Viet Nam
4. Watergate, and the subsequent resignations of Agnew and Nixon.
5. The deaths of Popes John Paul I and II.
6. The shooting of President Reagan.
7. The space shuttle explosions. I had had some minor surgery in 1986 and was home recuperating, so I tuned into the launch. I remember seeing that unusual smoke trail, and the expressions on the faces of the spectators. They even showed the family members of the astronauts. It was terribly sad.
8. For some reason, the deaths of Princess Diana and JFK, Jr. are inextricably joined in my head. I remember staring in disbelief at the TV when John-John's plane went down and they were searching for the wreckage. Nobody believed that they were lost.
9. Of course, September 11th, staring out our conference room window at the smoke of the ruins and thinking of the thousands that must have been in the Towers when they fell.
10. I remember crying when I heard that Elizabeth Smart had been found, I was so happy for her parents. As a parent, it was so frightening to think of someone coming into your house and taking your child while you slept nearby.

Seems like most stories listed here deal with tragedies, certain deaths and assassinations, wars and terror attacks, kidnapping etc. Well, that's history. But hey, we still have sport events to remember as well

So...anyone cares to remember that recent royal wedding? I was told it's an historical event and I must watch and witness like everyone, but I admit I couldn't take it after 20 minutes of seeing them waving hello. Maybe if I was into clothes and fashion I would've been more into it.

Okay. All of the Steelers Superbowl victories. I remember each one like they were yesterday.

One of the good things about living a long time is you get to see a lot of history. In my 60 years I've seen some things I hope to never see again, and conversely, I'd like to see some other things happen again.

The September 11th terrorist attacks were probably the most disturbing things I've seen. My own backyard was attacked in an act of war. I've grown to expect to see that in the Middle East or Iraq but never thought I'd see it in my City. Hearing U.S. fighter jets flying overhead was extremely unnerving.

Even still, I think the assassination of John Kennedy was the news event that had the single biggest effect on me. I was 12 years old then and just at the age when world events were making a difference to me. We (the U.S.) was at the height of the Cold War with Russia, the only other SUPER world power at the time. We had forced them to back down in the Cuban missile crisis the year before and I gave credit to JFK for that. I believed him when he told us that we were a great country and I admired him. Seeing him cut down in such a horrible manner marked the end of the innocence of my youth and brought on the tumult of the '60s.

As far as sports goes, I think my favorite moment was watching Secretariat win the Belmont Stakes (the last leg of the Triple Crown) by 37½ lengths. It was Big Red's "goodbye" and he did it in great style!

[quote=SC]

Even still, I think the assassination of John Kennedy was the news event that had the single biggest effect on me. I was 12 years old then and just at the age when world events were making a difference to me. We (the U.S.) was at the height of the Cold War with Russia, the only other SUPER world power at the time. We had forced them to back down in the Cuban missile crisis the year before and I gave credit to JFK for that. I believed him when he told us that we were a great country and I admired him. Seeing him cut down in such a horrible manner marked the end of the innocence of my youth and brought on the tumult of the '60s.


SC

I think for "our" generation that ONE event (JFK Assassination) is imbedded in all our memories for life. I know I will NEVER forget it. Without rehashing any "conspiracy" or the why/how of it, I can't quite put my finger on it, but I agree that this marked an "innocence" lost for our country. It was simply unheard of that this type of horror could happen in the U.S. We learned (sadly) that it could. Then looking back at RFK, and MLK, what a horribly violent period it was.

TIS

I was only four years old when JFK was killed. It's barely a memory. So for me it's 9/11. Hands down.

I was on my way from the Bronx to IJ Morris funeral home on Flatbush Avenue in Marine Park, Brooklyn. A lot of people may not realize this, but the bridges and tunnels weren't closed until after the second tower was hit.

When I was pulling out of my garage, I'd heard on AM radio that a plane hit the Trade Center, so I figured that it was a single engine puddle jumper or something like that. When I got to the EZ Pass lane at the Whitestone Bridge, I saw all the smoke coming from the first tower. That's when I knew it wasn't a prop plane. Too much damage. I was about halfway across the bridge when I looked to my right and saw, with my own eyes, the second plane hit tower two and explode into a fireball. It was the most surrealistic and frightening thing I've ever seen in my life.

At that point, having known that we were under attack, I still had to deal with the idea of being adjacent to LaGuardia and halfway to Kennedy airport. I was a wreck thinking that a plane would explode right on top of me. I finally made it to Brooklyn and stayed there until the bridges re-opened (around 5 or 6 o'cock that night).

Besides my service, JFK's assassination definitely. It was like killing hope. I tell my students about it and show the Zapruder film.

I'm old (and my skin is cold) ;)so my memories go way back:

--As a little little kid, I saw my Mom and the other women in our apartment building crying. When I asked why, she said "President Roosevent died." (Frankin, not Teddy).
--The Shot Heard Round the World ('51). We were Giants fans in Brooklyn--dangerous thing to be. My uncle gave me his Giants pennant and told me to ride around the neighborhood waving it. Nearly got killed...
--Sputnik ('57), when I and other kids thought the Russkies were going to drop nuclear warheads on us.
--Cheering on JFK as he campaigned on Park Avenue South in NY. He waved to me.
--Cuban Missile Crisis: Was riding a subway car in evening rush hour. While stopped at a station, heard sirens above ground. Everyone on the car looked at each other and shuddered.
--JFK assassination: I was working for the Wall Street Journal at that time, and we saw the news coming in over our wire service printers. An old-timer standing next to me muttered, "People are lousy."

Lots more...

TB? Roosevelt??? Wow, someone older than me.

Truman was Pres when I was born but the first President I remember is Eisenhower and that's pretty vague.

Also TB, you were a great age at a GREAT time to have experienced the birth of Rock & Roll. Now, I'm not saying I wasn't around, but I was only 8 when Elvis hit the scene and didn't appreciate the full impact by going to concerts and R&R shows and such. I would love to have been in the middle of all the excitement not to mention controversy as a "teenager/adult".

TIS

You remember that????

SC, I'm at an age when I can go to the refrigerator for something and stand there with the door open, trying to remember what I was supposed to get. But I remember all sorts of trivial and nontrivial things from way, way back.

TIS, I remember Elvis's first appearance of "The Tommy Dorsey Show," and thinking that he must be a drug addict, but I liked him. But, even before that, I saw Bo Diddley on the Ed Sullivan Show. And I attended every Alan Freed R&R show at the Brooklyn Paramount from '56 through '61. Saw 'em all: Buddy Holly, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, the Harptones, the Moonglows, the Flamingos--you name 'em, I saw 'em.

As someone older than SC and younger than TIS; I share many of their memories. I was in 9th grade history class when the gym teacher - a muscular, virile man - came into our classroom to tells us that the President had been shot; he was crying.

I remember four students being killed at Kent State U. by National Guardsmen. I had been working for NY Telephone at the time, 2 months after dropping out of college. A co-worker said, "they should have shot more of them". I remember my foreman commenting to me, "how come you never say n****r?"
And sadly I remember all the race riots of the 60s; Harlem and Detroit.

Then there are sports; the football Giants losing to the Colts in 1958; Reggie Jackson hitting 3 homeruns in the World Series and the 1980 Olympics USA hockey team winning the Gold.

But of course on top of the list is 9/11. I was standing on Washingtion St, south of Rector St and witnessed both towers burning. I saw Tower 2 begin to fall and I ran to escape a massive building crumbling to the ground. I can replay the entire day; escaping "the cloud", walking 6 miles, sitting at a bar in midtown Manhattan drinking a vodka gimlet, fighting back the tears while the days events played on the TV; Arriving home at 9pm into the arms of my wife and daughter; the days and weeks that followed; being part of city that had to transform and adapt; the ever-present reminders of that day.

Tb, it isn't the number of years that have passed since your memory that is amazing me, but rather your age when the event happened (that astounds me you remember it).

War up close and personal; jungles, house to house front lines.

How could I NOT mention the Beatles aka British Invasion? I was too young to get the full impact of Elvis, but was the perfect age for the "Moptops" or "Fab Four".

The day after their Ed Sullivan performance the school was absolutely a-buzz. That is all you heard thru the hallways...:did you see Ed Sullivan...Did you see the Beatles. Girls were already choosing the cutest. There were Beatle boots, Beatle hats, Beatle lipstick.

The top forty charts were shortly after dominated by mostly English artists. Everybody loved England and everybody wanted to be English. I went to see Hard Day's Night with a friend and man, we waited and waited and waited in a huge line. Once we got in the movie and from the time they showed the Beatles, all we heard was screaming throughout the entire theater. They showed Paul's shoe and girls screamed Fun memories though. I am so happy I was a part of that excitement and glad I saw this great group evolve into the legends that they have become.

TIS

TIS, the British Invasion is part of that 60s decade I cited earlier. I'd forgotten about it. That was phenomenal. 'Till then I had no idea that the British were musicians at all.

It was an incredible time wasn't it? There hadn't been that kind of excitement since Elvis.

Speaking of the Elvis era, I remember my older brother going to see "Rock Around The Clock". He tells of how everyone was getting out of their seats and dancing in the aisles. That was the first of that kind of excitement I think. I just imagine how "new" the whole thing was back then and how many said it wouldn't last. LOL

TIS

I was at school during 9/11 and we weren't really told anything until the afternoon. I had gone home at lunch and learned about the attacks there. Other historical events:

- The death of Pope John Paul II: I just remember this dragging on for days as the media coverage began well before he actually passed away.
- The death of Pierre Trudeau: It was a big deal in this country with plenty of media coverage here.

As a young Catholic, I remember the death of pope Pius. That was the first time that I became aware of the ritual of selecting a new Pope.