What's The First Big News Story You Were Aware Of As A Kid?

[Wonderful Monds]

Thought this was an interesting discussion spurred on by this Deadspin post:
http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/whats-the-first-big-news-story-you-were-aware-of-as-a-k-1783225504

I think I can vaguely remember some OJ stuff, as well as hearing about Princess Diana.

I think my answer would have to be Clinton/Lewinsky though. I didn't really fully "get it" at the time (obviously lol) but I just remember thinking that the president was going to get fired and thinking that was mind blowing.

What's weird is I don't remember things after that which were pretty big, like a lot of people answered Columbine; though I could definitely see my parents trying to hide that one from me.

What say you?

EDIT: After reading some other answers in the comments, I definitely recall hearing about Timothy McVeigh a lot and I knew he was a bad dude, I don't know if I remember the actual bombing though.

If sports stuff count, the 1996 Bulls might be some of my earliest formative memories, lol.

[Redsfan320]

9/11 for me. After that, the Columbia shuttle explosion and "Shock and Awe," that first night we hit Baghdad.

Edit based on one I forgot just now, but remember after seeing it mentioned in the Deadspin comments- Dale Earnhardt's death, I was really into Nascar at the time.

320

[Boston Red]

Challenger

[Wonderful Monds]

9/11 for me. After that, the Columbia shuttle explosion and "Shock and Awe," that first night we hit Baghdad.

Edit based on one I forgot just now, but remember after seeing it mentioned in the Deadspin comments- Dale Earnhardt's death, I was really into Nascar at the time.

320

Oh man, I remember the day Dale Sr. died. I believe that is the only time in my life I've seen my dad cry.

[Raisor]

The hoopla around the bicentennial

[redsfanmia]

The day Elvis died.

[Chip R]

I remember some of the later moin landings. I was very much into Watergate.

[redhawkfish]

Munich Olympics.

[Chip R]

The hoopla around the bicentennial

RFS remembers the hoopla around the centennial.

[RedTeamGo!]

One of my first memories that has stuck with me is the Reds winning the World Series in 1990. It mostly sticks out because my dad started clapping and somehow a bee flew in between his fingers and he got stung when he went in for the clap. Dad is allergic to bees so his World Series celebration was interrupted with a trip to the ER.

[dabvu2498]

The Reagan assassination attempt.

[Wonderful Monds]

One of my first memories that has stuck with me is the Reds winning the World Series in 1990. It mostly sticks out because my dad started clapping and somehow a bee flew in between his fingers and he got stung when he went in for the clap. Dad is allergic to bees so his World Series celebration was interrupted with a trip to the ER.

That sucks, hard. :lol:

Also, technically the Reds HAVE won a World Series in my lifetime...just, I was only 2 months old... •__•

[WrongVerb]

The 1974 Xenia tornado and the hoopla surrounding it put me on my career path.

First national news story was probably the 1976 election.

[marcshoe]

I grew up, as most my age did, in a home where the news was on from six until seven every day. Given that I was born in 1962, this meant that there was hardly a time before I was aware of Viet Nam. I was afraid to go to Charleston, I remember, because that's where the news came from, and I assumed that's where Viet Nam was. Eventually came the assassinations of MLK and Bobby and the 1968 election. On a positive note, I was obsessed with our attempt to put a man on the moon.

Oh, and the spaceship landing on the White House lawn in '67, but no one else seems to remember that.

[Dom Heffner]

Nixon resigning.

[mth123]

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

[Revering4Blue]

Nixon resigning.

I was going to post the same thing.

I then realized that the Patty Hearst kidnapping preceded Nixon's resignation by several months, so that's my first big story recollection.

On a related note, and confusing childhood moment, I recall as a youngster a TV news announcer mentioning a kidnapping by Guerrillas; at the time, of course, I thought the announcer was referring to Gorillas. :lol:

[George Anderson]

The whole Vietnam war was my first memory but like so many others Nixons resignation is my first specific memory.

[dougdirt]

In terms of local news, the 1990 F4 Tornado. I was six and spending the night with my aunt and uncle who lived in Lawrenceburg, Indiana at the time. The tornado was quite close and I can remember being in the basement, not really understanding what was happening. The next day we drove around and looked at the damage - I still have a few memories of the carnage. http://eaglecountryonline.com/local-article/25-years-ago-f4-tornado-struck-bright-harrison/

When it comes to national news, nothing non-sports related really sticks out until the OJ chase/fiasco.

edit: Ok, so I actually do remember some stuff from the first Iraq war - so I guess that counts.

[RedEye]

Great topic. My first memory of a news story is John Lennon's death. I was five and pretty freaked out. I already knew lots of Beatles tunes by heart thanks to my dad. I still can't really believe that I'm now older than he was when he died. Such a loss.

[Roy Tucker]

The Cuban Missle Crisis. Nuclear war was a very real thing and we all thought we were going to die by Russian ICBMs.

[Wonderful Monds]

In terms of local news, the 1990 F4 Tornado. I was six and spending the night with my aunt and uncle who lived in Lawrenceburg, Indiana at the time. The tornado was quite close and I can remember being in the basement, not really understanding what was happening. The next day we drove around and looked at the damage - I still have a few memories of the carnage. http://eaglecountryonline.com/local-article/25-years-ago-f4-tornado-struck-bright-harrison/

When it comes to national news, nothing non-sports related really sticks out until the OJ chase/fiasco.

edit: Ok, so I actually do remember some stuff from the first Iraq war - so I guess that counts.

My mom loves to tell me stories about how she was pregnant with me while working at a video store in Harrison that became a Blockbuster when that tornado came through. :lol:

She freaked out, and I had an ungodly fear of tornadoes up through like pre-school. THANKS MOM.

EDIT: Holy crap! I grew up in Bright/Harrison, I had no idea how much damage that thing actually did! AND IT TRAVELED ALL THE WAY TO MASON. DAAAAAAMN.

[Roy Tucker]

And JFK's assassination. Walter Cronkite choking up and the haunting cadence of the drums as the caisson bearing his body rolled through Washington DC. And TV pre-emoting everything for 3 or 4 days. That was unheard of then.

[dougdirt]

My mom loves to tell me stories about how she was pregnant with me while working at a video store in Harrison that became a Blockbuster when that tornado came through. :lol:

She freaked out, and I had an ungodly fear of tornadoes up through like pre-school. THANKS MOM.

EDIT: Holy crap! I grew up in Bright/Harrison, I had no idea how much damage that thing actually did! AND IT TRAVELED ALL THE WAY TO MASON. DAAAAAAMN.

Yes - that thing was no joke. It wasn't just a tornado, it was one for the ages, unfortunately.

[Todd Gack]

Gulf War

[JaxRed]

The Cuban Missle Crisis. Nuclear war was a very real thing and we all thought we were going to die by Russian ICBMs.

Same here. We were Catholic and went to confession every day.

[westofyou]

1968 for me, the whole shebang, King getting shot, riots in Detroit, RFK getting shot, Tigers win World Series, Nixon beats Humphrey.


I can still see it, family room, big tv in a cabinet.. made of real wood. next to a mid sixties fireplace, bricks red, but kinda a bleached red. Big couch, shag carpet (no grape juice there Mister!) Across the room was a bar, little sink, little fridge, little ginger ale for me as I watched that box spit out all that stuff.

Then I went out to play, no parents watching me, mom would ring a cowbell to get me home, other kids moms had whistles or sent out one of their 5 kids to find their brothers and sisters

[Wonderful Monds]

1968 for me, the whole shebang, King getting shot, riots in Detroit, RFK getting shot, Tigers win World Series, Nixon beats Humphrey.


I can still see it, family room, big tv in a cabinet.. made of real wood. next to a mid sixties fireplace, bricks red, but kinda a bleached red. Big couch, shag carpet (no grape juice there Mister!) Across the room was a bar, little sink, little fridge, little ginger ale for me as I watched that box spit out all that stuff.

Then I went out to play, no parents watching me, mom would ring a cowbell to get me home, other kids moms had whistles or sent out one of their 5 kids to find their brothers and sisters

Ha! The family I lived next door to growing up still had a giant cowbell they would crank at dinner time when it was time for the kids to come home. Just reminded me of that!

[919191]

Generally Viet Nam news- I remember seeing on the screen about the number of troops killed. Didn't think much of it until I asked my mom what the "trooops" were. She said they were people. That scared me somehow and the impersonalization of that haunts me still when I hear how eager some are to utilize ground forces.

And specifically Apollo 8.

[cumberlandreds]

Viet Nam. When I was a kid my dad always had the 6:30 CBS News on. Every night a total of wounded,killed and missing in action would be put on the screen for that day. As a kid I found this fascinating but in reality it was very sad.
Also remember some of the civil rights protest but couldn't understand it all.
Then Watergate happened and that was on TV everyday it seemed. I would get angry when they pre-empted re-runs of Gilligans Island. Also remember watching Nixon resign and the next day taking off into oblivion for California.

Also should mention the Apollo flights. As a kid I loved watching all of that. I can remember watching many of the blast offs. There was one around Christmas time and thinking how are they going to open their presents in space? But I really don't remember the first moon walk. I think that was late at night and probably wasn't allowed to stay up to watch.

[redsrule2500]

OJ Simpson Trial!

[Chip R]

I remember the Patty Hearst thing, the Munich Olympics and Nam. Even though I wasn't even a teenager yet, I was worried the war would go on and I'd eventually be drafted. I remember the 72 election and being for Nixon because I heard a rumor that if elected, McGovern would make us go to school on Saturdays.

[Newport Red]

Apollo moon landing,

[redsfan30]

Same for me....not so much the trial itself but the verdict for sure.

This is an awesome topic!

[bucksfan2]

Love this topic, a couple of memories stick in my mind.

1. Stanford Jennings taking the kick off for a TD in Super Bowl 23. I vaguely remember the play, I do however remember my dad hitting this old black and white TV on the top when he was running.

2. The Reds 90 WS. A couple things rally stand out about that series. One has nothing to do with the games, my uncle was babysitting us that night, he was driving us home and in turning into our subdivision the door by my brothers car seat swung open. That was the same night as the Davis HR and we were jumping up in our living room giving each other high fives. I remember banging pots and pans after the final out, as well as writing Eric Davis in the hospital.

3. The OJ car chase I watched from a Barleycorn's that no longer exists. We watched the verdict in my 8th grade class room.

4. 9/11 happened during the week I was off work before starting my Soph year in college. My mom came into my room and said I should turn on my TV something is happening with the World Trade Centers. I remember watching the news all day long (man do I miss Peter Jennings) and even remember getting my hair cut that day.

[klw]

I remember being upset that the Watergate hearings were preempting Mr. Rogers. I also thought the use of gasoline by tanks in the 72 Mideast War was part of Vietnam and the tanks used so much gas it caused the gas shortage. I also remember telling my pre-K teacher that the surgeon general says smoking is bad for you. I was very precocious.

[BuckeyeRed27]

This is a cool topic. I guess my first vague memory was of the Berlin Wall coming down. I was in 7th grade during the OJ stuff and remember that really well.

[Kingspoint]

The war in Vietnam. We prayed for peace daily....for many, many years.

[Kingspoint]

1968 for me, the whole shebang, King getting shot, riots in Detroit, RFK getting shot, Tigers win World Series, Nixon beats Humphrey.


Bewitched was interrupted for the MLK announcement.

[sdwagers]

Challenger explosion , Reagan shot and Michael Jacksons hair on fire stand out

[klw]

For awhile as a kid I thought the Son of Sam was going to come through my window.

[Donder]

Berlin Wall coming down was my first as well. I had no idea what was going on but night after night when my parents had the news on I recall seeing that wall come down.


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[RFS62]

The Cuban Missle Crisis. Nuclear war was a very real thing and we all thought we were going to die by Russian ICBMs.

Same for me. I remember how scared the teachers were at school.

[SunDeck]

The moon landing. I was four and went out on the back patio to look up, convinced I'd see the lunar module touching down.

[SunDeck]

Berlin Wall coming down was my first as well. I had no idea what was going on but night after night when my parents had the news on I recall seeing that wall come down.


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I was in Berlin while parts of the wall were still being dismantled. Turkish kids were selling plastic bags full of bits and pieces from the wall and I still have the ones I bought. Whether they were legit or not, it didn't matter to me.

[Kingspoint]

For awhile as a kid I thought the Son of Sam was going to come through my window.

That's a terrible memory. Some other things happened that year. Summer of '77. Blazers' only Championship. End of the Big Red Machine's success in the post-season, but they were still good (Gullett left us). Seattle Slew Horse-of-the-Year. Beckenbauer and Pele' leading the Cosmos to the NASL Cup over the surprising Sounders. P.L. Greer, 2nd year of back-to-back Greyhound-of-the-Year Awards, where 10,000+ would show up every night he raced. Multnomah Kennel Club was probably the 3rd best track in the country at the time. Star Wars. Saturday Night Fever. Hotel California. Fleetwood Mac's Dreams album. Walk This Way.

[Kingspoint]

Same for me. I remember how scared the teachers were at school.

For good reason.

[SunDeck]

A few of us have mentioned Vietnam. I remember the evening news; it was pervasive, so I can't pinpoint my first recollections of it. But i do recall we received the mailing of graphic images from the war that Larry Flynt sent to people in Hamilton County.

[westofyou]

A few of us have mentioned Vietnam. I remember the evening news; it was pervasive, so I can't pinpoint my first recollections of it. But i do recall we received the mailing of graphic images from the war that Larry Flynt sent to people in Hamilton County.

Saved mine, a classmate used them for her senior paper

[TRF]

Elvis for me. I was at my then Step Dad's work, a Levitz in Mesa Arizona, sitting in the breakroom.

[Assembly Hall]

Great topic and a lot of the responses take me back to my youth.

For me it would be the fall of Saigon.

[SunDeck]

Saved mine, a classmate used them for her senior paper

Pretty sure my parents tossed them out.

[RedsfaninMT]

A few pop in to my mind...the Kent State Massacre is quite vivid. My best friend's dad was mayor in Oxford at the time. His dad got death threats, so his folks sent their 3 kids to stay with us for a couple of weeks. I remember being told that I could tell nobody that my buddy was staying at my parents house.

MLK's and RFK assassinations hit my folks hard.

The lunar landing is another vivid memory.

And all this makes me reaffirm that I am not as young as just a few on here.

[mth123]

Elvis for me. I was at my then Step Dad's work, a Levitz in Mesa Arizona, sitting in the breakroom.

What about Elvis? Being banned from the waste down on TV? His going in the army? His Marriage? His Divorce? His death?

I'm guessing his death. You don't seem old enough for the rest (me neither).

[RiverRat13]

Mary Lou Retton.

[gilpdawg]

The Tylenol Murders. I was 4, so I'm amazed I remember all that, but I do.


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[Rojo]

n/m

[TRF]

What about Elvis? Being banned from the waste down on TV? His going in the army? His Marriage? His Divorce? His death?

I'm guessing his death. You don't seem old enough for the rest (me neither).

Yeah his death. I mean I'm not THAT old.

but yeah, I'm old.

[Assembly Hall]

The Tylenol Murders. I was 4, so I'm amazed I remember all that, but I do.


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And you just made me remember it........good one.

[Revering4Blue]

And you just made me remember it........good one.

I'd plum forgotten about it, too.

That's one more reason that this thread rocks.

[Reds Fanatic]

I remember the death of Elvis well as we were on a family vacation passing through Tennessee at the time and I remember every radio station regardless of format playing Elvis music that whole day. I also remember well the assassination attempt on Reagan. Another story I remember around that same time was the Atlanta Child Murders where a serial killer named Wayne Williams killed over 20 children in the Atlanta area over a few year period late 70s and beginning of the 80s.

[Assembly Hall]

I'd plum forgotten about it, too.

That's one more reason that this thread rocks.

LOL and I concur.

I was telling the wife about this thread and she brought up something that I had completely forgotten about. When the Ford Motor Company was on trial for the Pinto in the little town of Winamac, Indiana.

[membengal]

I distinctly remember, in what was a huge local to Cincinnati story, the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire coverage. I was six, and have a clear memory of the news coverage and the shots of the fire burning. To this day have a fear of fires and crowded places.

[Reds Fanatic]

Another big story I remember from when I was a kid was the US hostage crisis in Iran

[westofyou]

I distinctly remember, in what was a huge local to Cincinnati story, the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire coverage. I was six, and have a clear memory of the news coverage and the shots of the fire burning. To this day have a fear of fires and crowded places.
My folks had tickets for the next nights show

[OesterPoster]

I'd have to say the Miracle on Ice in 1980. I was 6 and remember taping together some Christmas wrapping paper rolls to make a hockey stick. I scored a ton of goals in our kitchen while my mom and dad watched the game in the living room.

[Yachtzee]

I distinctly remember, in what was a huge local to Cincinnati story, the Beverly Hills Supper Club fire coverage. I was six, and have a clear memory of the news coverage and the shots of the fire burning. To this day have a fear of fires and crowded places.

I remember that. We were visiting family in Cincinnati at the time. I remember we would listen to WLW to and from Lima, where we were living at the time. I remember every time got in the car on that trip, they would talk about the Beverly Hills Supper Club. I was six at the time and because of the name of that place, it made me think that Beverly Hills was a suburb of Cincinnati until a few years later, when the Beverly Hillbillies reruns taught me that it was actually in California.

1976 was the first year I really started understanding the news and what was going on in the World. That was the first season I really got into listening to baseball on the radio with my dad. We would get in the car and drive around listening to Reds games because he couldn't get good reception of WLW in the house. So I remember a lot of news stories from WLW during that period. Mostly I remember the Bicentennial Celebrations and the Presidential Election, The Reds World Series, the Summer Olympics, and Patty Hearst getting sentenced to prison (who I thought had tried to assassinate President Ford, confusing her with Sarah Jane Moore and Squeaky Fromme).

[RFS62]

Earlier in this thread, I said the Cuban Missle Crisis. I was reading something online yesterday about Sputnik, and I realized that was my first memory. I remember my mom taking me outside and gazing at the cosmos looking for Sputnik.

[marcshoe]

The first local story I remember might be the first specific story as well, but I didn't think of it until I saw a reference earlier this evening: the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, WV, in December 1967. 46 people were killed.

[westofyou]

The first local story I remember might be the first specific story as well, but I didn't think of it until I saw a reference earlier this evening: the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, WV, in December 1967. 46 people were killed.

Exactly, for me it was the Detroit riots in 67, the ones in 68 made me go.... ummm is this normal?

[westofyou]

I remember that. We were visiting family in Cincinnati at the time. I remember we would listen to WLW to and from Lima, where we were living at the time. I remember every time got in the car on that trip, they would talk about the Beverly Hills Supper Club. I was six at the time and because of the name of that place, it made me think that Beverly Hills was a suburb of Cincinnati until a few years later, when the Beverly Hillbillies reruns taught me that it was actually in California.

1976 was the first year I really started understanding the news and what was going on in the World. That was the first season I really got into listening to baseball on the radio with my dad. We would get in the car and drive around listening to Reds games because he couldn't get good reception of WLW in the house. So I remember a lot of news stories from WLW during that period. Mostly I remember the Bicentennial Celebrations and the Presidential Election, The Reds World Series, the Summer Olympics, and Patty Hearst getting sentenced to prison (who I thought had tried to assassinate President Ford, confusing her with Sarah Jane Moore and Squeaky Fromme).

1976 was the year I moved to Cincinnati, I had a great and odd time that year.

[membengal]

My folks had tickets for the next nights show

Good lord. So few remember how bad that fire was (165 people died).

A few links:

https://creepycincinnati.com/2014/05/31/the-beverly-hills-supper-club-site/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Supper_Club_fire

http://www.iklimnet.com/hotelfires/imagesfire/bhfire.jpe

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[SunDeck]

Earlier in this thread, I said the Cuban Missle Crisis. I was reading something online yesterday about Sputnik, and I realized that was my first memory. I remember my mom taking me outside and gazing at the cosmos looking for Sputnik.

My dad was training to be an Army Security Agency morse code high speed interceptor at a base in Massachusetts and he was scanning channels with other trainees, listening for Sputnik, when he heard a faint "blip, blip". Turns out, he was the first American to detect it; his class got to speak with Eisenhower as a result.

[WrongVerb]

Good lord. So few remember how bad that fire was (165 people died).

A few links:

https://creepycincinnati.com/2014/05/31/the-beverly-hills-supper-club-site/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Supper_Club_fire

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That's a good one. I remember that now and it is one of the first big stories I was aware of.

[TRF]

The time for me between news stories gets muddled. Crappy home life, moved a lot. I seem to recall few newsworthy items after Elvis' death and before the 84 Olympics. But some stick out. Something about the Iran Hostage Crisis. Here is why: I was 11, I think, and they broke into the debut of Battlestar Galactica. For an 11 year old, that was criminal. Then skip ahead a couple of years, The Who concert in Cincinnati. My mom tried to get tickets, but couldn't.

I moved to Cincinnati during the teacher's strike. That was a very long school year for me. 4 schools when I was in the 6th grade, 2 in Arizona, 2 in Cincinnati.

[SunDeck]

I've been wracking my brain, trying to remember the first local event, other than Brooks Robinson crushing my soul. Here it is- very local, since we lived in Delhi; the Cabinet Supreme Savings and Loan robbery and quadruple homicide in September, 1969. This rocked the whole, quiet township.

11215

[WrongVerb]

I was a teen when the Alton Coleman manhunt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alton_Coleman) happened, but it's the first time I remember people I knew actually living in fear of something that had a tiny, tiny chance of ever affecting them. My friends' parents (we lived in Dayton) wouldn't let them go outside while this manhunt was going on. It confused me because this guy wasn't even in the area and wasn't going after white kids.


During the summer of 1984, 28-year-old Coleman and Brown, who was 21, embarked upon a killing spree through several Midwestern states. By the time the couple were caught, Coleman was charged or wanted for questioning in sexual assaults on at least 20 people in 13 separate attacks, including seven murders. Almost all of the victims were African-American like Coleman and Brown. Some authorities have said that was simply because the duo knew they would blend better in the black community and that there was no racial motive in the murders. But John E. Douglas, a retired FBI profiler, argues that there was at least some racial motivation in the attacks. On page 184 in The Anatomy of Motive, he cites evidence that Coleman, in the middle of a vicious sexual assault, "went into a practically incoherent tirade about how blacks were forcing him to rape and murder other blacks."[2] Coleman and Brown also left a racist slogan in lipstick at the scene of the rape and murder of Tonnie Storey.[3]

[GAC]

Sitting in the classroom, as a third grader, and listening to the unfolding news playing over the intercom of the Kennedy assassination.

[GAC]

Great topic. My first memory of a news story is John Lennon's death. I was five and pretty freaked out. I already knew lots of Beatles tunes by heart thanks to my dad. I still can't really believe that I'm now older than he was when he died. Such a loss.

I was in a huge funk for many months over his murder. They were such an influence on me that it was like my whole world came to an end.

[Spider Tre]

Earnhardt's death. i was 7 at the time.

i remember talking about it in school but i don't recall watching NASCAR when he was around. first race i actually remember watching was the Pepsi 400 where Dale Jr. won

[Dom Heffner]

Yeah his death. I mean I'm not THAT old.

but yeah, I'm old.

I was in a house on Berkshire Rd the day he died. Road connected Clough Pike with Beechmont Avenue near McNick High School.

Sitting with my grandma.

[Hollcat]

My earliest memory is probably the early 70's news about Vietnam Nam and the oil crisis but I really didn't pay any attention to them. One thing I remember well that hasn't been mentioned is the airliner crash into the icy Potomac River which was Jan 1982.

[RichRed]

The hoopla around the bicentennial

This is mine too. I remember because my elementary school had a bunch of events, including a special picture day, around the bicentennial. I wore a fairly hideous shirt with some kind of red, white, and blue pattern on it. I have no doubt that my mom thought it was amazing when she picked it out, but in her defense, it WAS the '70s.

The first story I remember following in any detail was the Iran hostage crisis.

[Assembly Hall]

I was at the folks' house yesterday visiting. I posed this thread topic to them. Dad is 75 and Mom is 71. Dad's first response was dropping the bomb on Japan. Mom's was Buddy Holley dying. The one thing that stuck out in my conversation with them was JFK. They both talked about that quite a bit. But it was interesting to hear what the older folks takes were on the topic.

[vaticanplum]

Challenger

Me too. I have vague memories of two things in 1984 - the Summer Olympics (specifically Mary Lou Retton and the track and field) and the presidential election. I also remember Thriller on TV, which I guess would have been 83, so I was very young.

But the Challenger is the first thing I remember being BIG, and I think one reason it sticks out so much is because we were watching it while it happened. Because of Christa McAuliffe being a teacher, we all watched it on a TV in the hallway at school, which in itself was a memorable thing. I don't know that my memories of it would be so vivid if it had just been on the evening news and I hadn't seen it live. I also remember, kind of weirdly, the Statue of Liberty renovations around that time.

The first news story I got super into of my own accord was Baby Jessica falling down the well in 1987 -- the rescue was also something we watched live, on a Friday night just before prime time TV kicked in.

Really interesting to read all these BTW.

[KittyDuran]

I believe mine was JFK's funeral...not the assassination, then months later the Beatles on Sullivan. I think it's startling how the news was received comparing now and then. There was radio, TV, newspaper, then magazine usually in that order. The news was B&W in my house until 1973-we got cable via the city in 1974. First sporting event I really remember was the '68 Winter Games with Killy (first sports crush) and Fleming.

[foxfire123]

The Iran Hostages is the first BIG news I remember. I can remember Elvis's death since my mom cried, and the first space shuttle launch, and several others. But the first that really made an impact was the hostages.

[RedlegJake]

The Kennedy Nixon TV debates. My mom was all over Kennedy because he was so good looking. Then my dad would get mad "That's a fine way to pick a president!" And then they'd get in an argument over the merits of women voting....seriously. Of course this was still the days of Ozzie and Harriet type roles. Mom always wanted to be a nurse but dad would throw a hissy fit - "if I can't provide for you then that's a a reflection on me!" She eventually became a nurse, then later a star saleswoman for Medical Implements and devices but it took dad most of his life to reconcile with the fact she actually ended up with a more successful career than he had had despite her late start. Just before he passed though he bragged about her accomplishments, showing off her various sales awards and had her degree framed on the wall in his shop/study/man cave/former garage. From neanderthal to enlightened man in one lifetime....

[GAC]

The first local story I remember might be the first specific story as well, but I didn't think of it until I saw a reference earlier this evening: the Silver Bridge collapse in Point Pleasant, WV, in December 1967. 46 people were killed.

A large contingent of my Dad's side of the family resides in Gallipolis, and across the river (Point Pleasant). The area holds a special meaning for me because our annual family reunion is held in Gallipolis every summer (since the early 1900's).

I too remember when the Silver Bridge collapsed. But here is what is really eerie about that moment when it went down.... my uncle Parker was driving back to Point Pleasant from Gallipolis, but got stopped by the red light on the Ohio side before crossing the bridge. He was sitting at the light when the bridge collapsed. :eek:

[TeamCasey]

Walter Cronkite and the Vietnam War. Oddly, I think I place Walter Cronkite in all my early memories.

Woodstock.

[westofyou]

TV sighting!


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[RedsBaron]

The assassination of John F. Kennedy is my first vivid memory of a big news story. I was 8 years old, attending a small elementary school near our home. Sometime early that afternoon a guy who lived next to the school burst into the room and yelled "the president's been shot!" I wasn't even sure what president he was talking about. I can remember watching the funeral and the newscasts, and being somewhat upset that they pre-empted my favorite cartoons. I can also recall that my mom was watching live as Oswald was being transferred from jail when he was suddenly killed by Jack Ruby.

[919191]

Walter Cronkite and the Vietnam War. Oddly, I think I place Walter Cronkite in all my early memories.

Woodstock.

When I was elementary school age we had a dog that would sleep on the living room floor. When the CBS news came on and Cronkite was talking he would raise his head and watch the TV. During commercials and when they went to a video report and Cronkite's voice ceased, he laid his head down. When Cronkite came back on again he raised his head up and watched again. All thr time. Always thought it must be something about Cronkite's voice.

[UPRedsFan]

Iran hostages and yellow ribbons tied on trees, Carter's failed rescue attempt, Reagan being shot.
In baseball, I'd say Pete's hitting streak

[marcshoe]

My parents divorced when I was one, and we lived with my grandparents until my mother remarried, in 1969. My step-grandfather didn't trust color televisions, so my old news story memories are in black and white, on a big, RCA (always RCA) floor model. Even though mom remarried in late June, I remember watching the moon landing on the black and white tv, the same one I had watched all the other launches on. That's probably because I went to watch it with my grandmother, who fed my space obsession.

That wasn't my first news memory, but it was a clear one.

[WVRedsFan]

Those five days in 1963, Nov 22-26. I remember where I was, what I was doing and the sadness after.

[Slyder]

Remember to Spade and Neuter your animals followed by Days of Your Lives theme... My babysitter always watched Wheel of Fortune and DoYL.