What are your "JFK" moments?

[Graham Kennedy]

JFK's assassination is probably one of the most famous "moments" in history, the one that spawned the "do you remember where you were when..." meme. But what are your moments, the things that stand out to you?

I was born in 1969, so for me...

Thatcher being elected. The first time I really noticed something going on in the world of politics. At the time, I remember thinking that it would be quite cool to see a woman being elected PM for the first time.

The Falklands war. This had a HUGE impact on me, and it's still something I read about to this day. One of the most famous phrases of the war, from a BBC journalist aboard one of the carriers after a Harrier raid - "I am not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid... but I counted them all out, and I counted them all back."

The Miner's Strike. This won't mean too much for non-Brits, but back in the early 80s this country saw every coal miner in the country go on strike. It was a huge political battle - unions had great political power in the UK in the late 70s, and one thing Thatcher aimed to do was curb that power. On the other side, the strike was deliberately aimed at toppling her government. It dominated the news every night, including scenes of rioting, massed police in riot gear, mounted police chasing down strikers. One or two people even died along the way. Images like this...



The Berlin Wall coming down. It had existed since before I was born, and I'd never been all that aware of it, but watching the people hacking it down themselves was pretty awesome.

Hillsborough. At the time I was a student in Sheffield, and my home team Liverpool came to town to play a big game. I was thinking of going, told my folks that I might. I didn't have a ticket, so the plan was to just go down there and mill around trying to find a scalper. But a bunch of friends were going to drive off to an amusement park that day, and I decided to go with them. Wasn't till late that night that I got home and found that a crowd milling around outside without tickets had been allowed to rush into an already full section of the stadium - crushing almost a hundred people to death. If I hadn't changed my mind, I'd have been in that crowd.

Challenger disaster. At the time, my folks were thinking of buying a shop. We drove off down south, spent all day looking around shops for sale, and came back. As we got hom an "Extended news" report was just finishing. I knew something must have happened, and went to another TV to find out - and that's how I saw it for the first time.

9/11. I was home watching TV when this came on, saw the whole thing unfold on the screen.

Other things I remember, not really events as such, but just gradual changes... the first home computers... the first floppy disc drives... the first Hard Disc drives... colour TV. TV remote controls. Microwave ovens. Satellite TV - most of my childhood there were three TV channels, period. I saw the very first program on the 4th channel (An episode of quiz show called Countdown). Then channel 5, then satellite TV and hundreds of channels.

So what are your big memories? What were you doing when....?

[McAvoy]

Clinton being elected and I remember us kids thought it was a bad idea for no reason. Clinton was part of the 90's an era I grew up in.

9-11. When it actually happened I was a senior in high school and I was in gym class running a one mile run. When I heard about it was when teachers all over started to barge in and tell other teachers. I was in English class I think learning about ballads. That whole day involved us watching the news. Other schools let their kids out but not ours.

Gulf War 2. Watching the bombing and missile strikes while learning about ejection seats when I was in the Navy. Basically that defined my entire time in the Navy. Went to Iraq and Afghanistan three times.

Funny I do remember the first one but I remember it being not all that memorable for me.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

The First Gulf War, seeing it unfolding like it did on TV.

9/11. I was at work at the time, went home early. Just in shock and kind of a daze.

Challenger. I was in school. At first I didn't know quite what was going on.

[McAvoy]

I remember the Challenger explosion aftermath pretty well. Even though I was 2-3 at the time.

[Mikey]

The Challenger explosion for me as well. My third-grade teacher made the announcement.

Certainly 9/11. I remember exactly where I was, what I was eating, how I saw the news, etc., etc. It was identical to how people of the prior generation describe their reaction to the JFK assassination.

Obviously this one will be rather limited to... well, myself; but the day I almost died. In actuality, I'll always remember the aftermath but I'll never have memories of the incident itself because said incident involved me being unconscious and insensate for about 36 hours.

The John Hinckley - Reagan shooting as well.

[IanKennedy]

The Miner's Strike. As Graham said this was a big thing in the UK. It started because the government (who owned the mines) wanted to shut them down because they didn't like the unions. They trumped up claims of them not being financially viable, but the truth was pretty obvious. They broke the strike by splitting the miners into two groups by promising one that their mines would stay open. Only to go back on the deal 2-3 years later. This was the first political march I went on.

Death of Diana. I remember Graham waking me up to tell me about it. Several weeks later he was attempting to find a new place to live and couldn't get to see any properties because the funeral was on.

9/11 I was on holiday on the Isle of White (in the UK) at the time. My parents couldn't get hold of me and didn't know for sure where I was going on holiday, despite me telling them. I was sat on a beach and heard it on the radio. I didn't believe it as an air-plane hitting a building should bring it down. It was only an odd design quirk that made that happen. Got back later that night to see it on the news.

First shuttle launch, everything stopped in school and we got a TV to watch it happen.

Moon landings. I was only 4ish at the time but I remember being at my Nana's and building an Airfix kit of the Saturn V rocket.

[Angharrad]

In no particular order:

Watergate - I remember watching Nixon resign the presidency. I didn't understand it at the time.

The attempted assassination of President Reagan.

The shooting death of John Lennon.

The death of Princess Diana. I was flying back from visiting my parents, the flight was delayed because the plane was having mechanical problems so I was watching the news.

The first bombing of the twin towers.

And of course 9/11 when the towers came down. I remember seeing the image on my bosses T.V., running back to my desk and calling my mom, so that she wouldn't worry when she saw the news. She had actually just gotten up, she lived on the West coast. I told her, "TURN ON THE NEWS NOW."

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Another one, Oj Simpson's trial. A fellow student brought in a portable television and we actually watched the verdict during math class.

[Nutso]

Another one, Oj Simpson's trial. A fellow student brought in a portable television and we actually watched the verdict during math class.

I was in English 4 when this was going on and the teacher left the room to go to the teachers' lounge to watch the verdict, then came back and told us. We didn't ask but, he told us anyway.

[Lt. Staplic]

The 9/11 Attack is really the only one that I have. I was in 4th grade and the first plane hit while I was in music class. I know that because I remember coming back into the classroom from music class and seeing the smoke coming out of the first tower on the news, and then I remember seeing the plane fly into the second tower. I don't remember much else from the day. I can't remember if we were let out early, or if we stayed in class, I do remember going to bed that night afraid.

There are a lot of other memorable things for me: The last launch of the space shuttle, the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson, the confirmed assassination of Osama Bin Laden, etc. But nothing really sticks in my memory quite like that. They just don't feel like the same scale of moment.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Another one, Oj Simpson's trial. A fellow student brought in a portable television and we actually watched the verdict during math class.

I was in English 4 when this was going on and the teacher left the room to go to the teachers' lounge to watch the verdict, then came back and told us. We didn't ask but, he told us anyway.

It was... junior year for me, I think. We didn't get much of anything done during math class, obviously.

[McAvoy]

OJ Simpson trial and even remember the big deal about the chase but it never stood out to me. I think I was in 6th grade at the time. My classmates discussed it but I was never part of it.

[Reliant121]

9/11 for me. I was 6 so didn't really understand an awful lot of what was going on. I remember the pictures though from the news service and hiding under the ironing board the entire time.

[Angharrad]

Today is the anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah Building which was done on the anniversary of the incident in Waco Texas. I remember both of those but I guess their impact has lessened since witnessing 9/11.

I don't know why I didn't mention this in my first post because it made a significant impact on me. 1976 Munich Olympics. Part of the reason I don't watch the Olympics and dont wear ski masks.

[Mikey]

I was young enough to not understand what was going on at the Munich Olympics, but just old enough to know that whatever it was upset my parents and my synagogue community immensely.