Defining Moments

[impressive]

TC's "Magic Bullet Theory" thread made me think of those times in our lives that we will always remember where we were & what we were doing. 9/11 & the London bombings are recent examples.

But what about others? My earliest (although the images are quite fuzzy, since I was only 4 years old) is RFK's assassination -- 'cause my mother was crying. I somehow missed the moon landing. No recollection there. I have vivid memories of Watergate.

I know where I was and what I was doing when I learned that Elvis had died.

Then, there's a looooooooooooong gap ... until Challenger ... then O.J.

Discuss.

 

[Guest]

vaugely remember the hostages and jimmy carter... then regan being shot...
however, i was the second person on the grassy knoll. it was preutero projection.

 

[Guest]

.....

 

[carsonshepherd]

John Lennon's murder. Parents and all the adults around me sad, weeping, candelight vigils for John. The impact didn't hit me until I was older but the deep sadness and genuine, heartfelt mourning for John left a big impression on me. I still tear up when I hear Watching the Wheels

 

[Guest]

.....

 

[AppleBiter]

A friend from VA wrote a song about it, still one of my favorite songs:

Nobody Knows Your Name - Cabot Wade

You are the man
who shot the man
Who kept me seventeen
I know it's hurt you too
but I still can't let you slide

You waited in the shadows
Caught him in the cold
The words on my tv screen
John Lennon's been fatally wounded
God, how I cried

And did you think you'd be a superstar?
You showed the world just how insane you are
And did you think you'd win eternal fame?
Well, you were wrong
Nobody knows your name.


That was the first verse of it anyway. Does anyone, without googling, remember his name? I do.

Mark David Chapman. *nods*

 

[simply_cyn]

There's been so many of them really .... but my first was definately Elvis Presley's death. My grandmother and I used to sit up all night in the summertime and watch Elvis Presley movies over and over and I was in LOVE (for a young kid!)

I remember when the challenger blew up and that school teacher died (my mom was one and I wanted to be one) ...

David K. and the his Waco sect - I was student teaching and heard about it while making photo copies in the teacher's longue ...

The Gulf War breaking out and being glued to the T.V. every moment ...

O.J. Simpson freaking out and the big chase in the white suburban, almost making me late for my flight to Florida for my big Disney World trip ...

I'm sure I will think of more once I wake up ...

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

For me it was teh Challenger explosion. I was a senior in high school, and was walking to one of the offices when our dean called out to me. I can still see the gym, standing there, so empty and hollow as he says "there's been an accident with the space shuttle".

I was hoping to go on to college and be a mission specialist, to fly on that great majestic machine. I wept for their lives and the fear that the shuttle would never fly again.

And even today, I watched on the 4th as Discovery took off and if given a chance I'd ride to the stars without a moments hesitation.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Pearl Harbor.
The start of any world war.
Woodstock. (does that count? )
The first televised broadcast. (Wasn't there!)
The first MTV broadcast... sad, but true, I was there...
The day Princess Diana died. I remember exactly where I was when I heard.
The Oklahoma City bombing. I know 9/11 overshadows it, but I remember where I was when that happened, too.
Jim Jones massacre... I remember that, but I was little...
Columbine. That was horrific.
The New York power outage a few years ago. Otherworldly, that one...
The Tsunami.
Geraldo opening Al Capone's vault. *snicker*

 

[Huckleman2000]

I was in Kindergarten when JFK was shot. Those days are some of my earliest memories.
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan and my sisters arguing about which one was cutest.
The moon landing.
Vietnam War and the Draft.
Watergate.
John Lennon's death.
Jack Nicklaus winning the '86 Masters. (my son was an infant)
Columbine.
9/11.

 

[Guest]

Things I remember.....

I was born on Elvis's birthday in the year that he died (I was not 'there' for it but my mother was a huge fan... she used to joke that I had taken his soul for him because of the birth on his day and the death in the year I was born)
Lennon dying (music was and IS such a huge part of my life)
Reagen being shot
The Challenger exploding... I was in third grade and we were all watching it on TV... I was from NH, Christa M was from NH and we had met her, she was the aunt of one of my best friends... Dora and I were sitting there watching right up front when it exploded... Mrs Estess came up and took me and Dora in her arms and held us as we both cried
FloJo.... what an amazing woman
Sandra Day O'Connor an amazing woman
I too saw the first video on MTV
"Read my lips no new taxes"
"I did not have sexual relations with that woman"
Feeling sorry for myself one day while trying to get my life back together at my dad's house and sitting down to watch Columbia land.... my heart stopping in my chest seeing it explode in the sky and being suddenly transported back in time to the first one that I saw explode
Princes Di's wedding
Waking up one august morning to a frantic phone call from my friend Casey, she was in tears and I finally understood her.... Princess Di was dead, the beautiful princess was dead... I watched the funeral.... and the Elton John song that he redid for her
The death of Luther Vandaross, Barry White
OJ and his crap
Walking into history class and saying happy birthday to my friend John and listening to our teacher tell us 'congratulations class you have now entered the first war of your lifetime' ... the gulf war
9/11.... finding out that Bri's mother was in the towers, my ex inlaws were in the Pentagon (they were on the other side that day) and getting the phone call from my dad and him telling me that he was being reactivated
Bush walking up to the podium with all his cowboy swagger telling them that they are all dead for what they did and the rest of the world pooh poohing him
the London bombings and watching Blair walk up to his podium the same way that Bush did and saying the same thing (nothing like eating crow in the worst possible way)

there are more.... I will just have to think of them

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Yesterday afternoon, I was reading John Dean's book, "Conservatives without Conscience." Try that for a scary read on defining moments in American history over the past 40 years.

 

[matriarch]

Declaration of war against Argentina, over the Falkland Islands. Watching each and every newscast avidly, trying to make sense of it all, listening to the daily newscasts and wondering why on earth they were fighting, killing, over a piece of barren rock, when the people who lived there considered themselves British, lived British lives, ate British food, drank British beer. Why? What was the point of all that carnage, grief and pain??

Princess Di's death. I was in the bath, on Sunday morning, and my youngest came rushing up the stairs, yelling, Princess Di's dead!. I didn't believe him at first. I watched the funeral, watched the whole day until there was nothing left to watch. I don't think I'll ever forget the sight of her sons walking behind the coffin, or the way her brother's voice broke at the end of his eulogy. I remember my disgust at the way the detractors got on the band wagon, and everything bad that could be said about her, was. With no thought of the pain they were causing her sons, her mother, her sister. Bastards.

Challenger explosion. All I can remember is seeing it on TV, after the event, probably on the news that evening at home.

9/11. Who doesn't? I was at work, for a small family business, based in an annexe to their home. I got a text from a friend, telling me to get to a tv. now. I rushed through to the kitchen, the tv was on, and as I looked up to it, I saw the second plane. What does one say? Think? Total shock, and total blank.

The London bombings. I was at work, someone sent me an e-mail, and a link. I went on to the BBC News website, and there it was. We dragged a radio out of the cupboard and switched it on, listened to the news all day as it happened.

There have been so many things happened in my life, its difficult to remember them all. Maybe if I had a timeline up of Major world events, they would jog my memory.

 

[matriarch]

Well..........lookie here

 

[dirtyjoe69]

For me they would be and in no particular order;

The Challenger Explosion
Regan Assasination Attempt
John Lennon's Murder (i just can't call it an assasination but that is a completely different topic)
Tupac's Murder
Toronto Blue Jays winning back to back world series
Wide Right! Scott Norwood missing the kick to win the Super Bowl for the Buffalo Bills(that still hurts me to watch)
The Oklahoma Bombing
Wacco Texas
The PLQ taking over the cabinet in Ottawa
72 Hostage taking at the Olympics in Munich
The Iran Hostage Crisis
Nixon Resigning
Clinton Sex Scandal
The video of the last helicopter leaving Siagon
Elvis' Death (first 45 I ever bought was Jailhouse Rock)
The LA riots after the Rodney King verdict
And Jerry Springer (j/k wanted to see if you were paying attention...lol)

 

[dirtyjoe69]

damn

I forgot my most important one:

The terrotist attacks in New York both times the World Trade Centers hit...

It is why I joined the mob!

Great Thread by the way!

 

[Guest]

 

[Nirvanadragones]

(I guess this is where Nationalities seperate us a little... )

I was 13 and just about to start highschool when Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after 27 years.

I was doing my final year of highschool when he was inaugurated as the first democratically elected State President of South Africa. It was one of the most amazing events that I have been allowed to witness.

9/11: I was on maternity leave with my daughter. She was 5 months old, and I remember flipping through all the channels on TV not knowing what to expect next.

London Bombings last year: I was within 12 Km's of three of the major areas that were hit.

 

[Tom Collins]

I was in 7th grade when Challenger blew up. I was, of course, in class when it happened.

On 9/11 I was driving a rig on I-40 headed into California to make a delivery. I saw it on the news when I stopped in Kingman to fuel up. I was eating Popeye's while listening to it on the radio as I drove on down the road. It wasn't until around 10pm that I remembered it was my birthday.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Let's see...

The Korean War
Joe McCarthy makes a mockery of the US
Dr. Jonas Salk develops the vaccine for Polio
Explorer I, the first US satellite orbits the earth
Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th states.
MLK's speech in Washinton "I have a dream."
Assassination of JFK
Viet Nam
Assissination of MLK
Assassination of RFK
The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago
Woodstock
Kent State 4 students killed by the National Guard
Watergate Break In
Munich Olympic Games
Roe v. Wade
Jonestown
Iran Takes US Hostages
Mount Saint Helens Erupts
The break up of AT&T
The Challenger Explosion
Black Monday - Stock market drops 22%.
The Fall of the Berlin Wall
Invasion of Panama
The Gulf War
9/11
The Second Gulf War

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Unless I missed it nobody has mentioned the resignation of Richard Nixon. Evil as that whole period was that instance defined politics for the next 10 years in America.

 

[Guest]

 

[dirtyjoe69]

yep

been mentioned a couple of times

 

[ABSTRUSE]

I remember the RFK assasination, the funeral.
Challenger deeply impacted me as did 9/11.
I was stunned by the killing of Anwar Sadat.
I watched them choose John Paul II as Pope.
I cheered when Mandela was freed.
Live Aid rocked...the first one.
I never thought I would see the Berlin Wall come down in my lifetime.
Diana's death shocked me.
I waited to watch them pull Baby Jessica up from the well.
I followed all the top trials.
The 88' olympics in Calgary were my favorite
I saw Speilburg bring dinosaurs to life.

and I've witnessed lesser stories of joy and pain.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I waited to watch them pull Baby Jessica up from the well.

Oh my god I forgot about that...

I also sobbed and sobbed (speaking of Jessicas) when Baby Jessica was taken from her adopted parents...

and who could forget Mary Beth Whitehead and the baby M case?

or Mary Jo & Joey Buttafuoco and Amy Fisher?