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The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: The Pollantir:
What's the first big news story you remember?
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Poll: What's the first big news story you remember?
Pearl Harbor
Kennedy assassination
Watergate
Fall of Saigon
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Challenger explosion
Oklahoma City bombing
9-11
Indonesian tsunami
Other (please explain)
View Results (68 votes)
 

Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 3:08pm

Post #1 of 134 (4190 views)
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What's the first big news story you remember? Can't Post

On this anniversary of Pearl Harbor (my great-uncle Eddie Fiddock was there), I got to thinking about this topic of conversation that came up at a family gathering one year. My parents said Pearl Harbor. For me it was the Kennedy assassination (more RFK than JFK, though I barely remember the JFK assassination when I was seven.) For my son it was the fall of the Berlin Wall, and for my daughter the Oklahoma City bombing. These things really mark the generations, and I got curious. I'm sure I've forgotten some in my list, so feel free to add others. I realize that my list is pretty USA-centric, since it's based on my own experience.

I can't remember if I've done this poll before, but if so, I'm sure there are more people here now.

Also, how old were you at the time? In my family, the age seems to be about 6-11.


(This post was edited by Ataahua on Dec 7 2011, 10:35pm)


Annael
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 3:35pm

Post #2 of 134 (3246 views)
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Eisenhower's re-election [In reply to] Can't Post

I was almost 6. My parents were really happy - they were Republicans until the party took a giant step to the right in the 70s and left them stranded. Soon after, I remember going outside one night to look up and see Sputnik pass by overhead, the first satellite ever. When I was 10, the Beatles hit big in the US with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." I was 11 when JFK was assassinated and I remember every detail of where I was and what was going on when we heard. That was the defining moment of our generation for sure - the assassinations 5 years later of Martin Luther King Jr. and RFK, along with the escalating Vietnam War, made me feel pretty hopeless for a long time about our country, although the first walk on the moon in 1969 was a bright spot.


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 3:54pm

Post #3 of 134 (3250 views)
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The first election I remember was LBJ [In reply to] Can't Post

My dad went to the county convention and came home with a can filled, supposedly, with gold water. But he was a liberal Republican and not too happy with Goldwater.

My grandmother idolized Ike. She had one of the Eisenhower dollars made into a necklace and wore it for years, setting off the alarms at airports wherever she went.

I think growing up with the Vietnam War on the evening news every night really shaped my generation.


Arwen's daughter
Half-elven


Dec 7 2011, 4:33pm

Post #4 of 134 (3206 views)
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Probably the first Gulf War [In reply to] Can't Post

I would have been about 8, but I remember watching some of the footage on the news.


Ethel Duath
Half-elven


Dec 7 2011, 4:50pm

Post #5 of 134 (3271 views)
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Kennedy--and not just from the news-- [In reply to] Can't Post

I was 6 years old in first grade and sometime in the early afternoon the principle came in with a very grim look on her face and spoke to our teacher. At some point after that we were all herded into a larger classroom where they had us all sing America the Beautiful or the Star Spangled Banner (can't remember which) and then they told us Kennedy had been shot--possibly that he had died (this was in eastern Nebraska, so I suppose we'd have been an hour later time-wise). About an hour later when school was out at 3:15 I walked the mile back to my house and found my mom sitting on the edge of my bed with the strangest sad look on her face as she tried to smile at me and soften it a bit while she tried to explain it to me.

Nobody really knew what to do--certainly not at my school, although it was obvious they were trying to give it some thought.

The worst was the next day on the playground where some second grade boy was telling everyone rather belligerently how his dad said he was glad Kennedy was shot because Kennedy was a Democrat, or something to that. effect

Very odd week, that was. I even remember it was sunny on the day it happened, and cloudy the next on that playground.


Ethel Duath
Half-elven


Dec 7 2011, 4:53pm

Post #6 of 134 (3261 views)
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And what does it say about our Demographic here (or our interest [In reply to] Can't Post

in the question?) that almost everyone is saying Kennedy?

Hmmm, very interesting . . .

Thank you Aunt Dora, for a chance to remember that day with all of you here. I certainly have never gotten over it completely.


dernwyn
Forum Admin / Moderator


Dec 7 2011, 5:44pm

Post #7 of 134 (3199 views)
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Sputnik. [In reply to] Can't Post

I don't know if it was the first Sputnik, which was launched in 1957 - I would have been only 3 at that time - but I remember my Dad taking my brothers and me outside late at night, to watch as it passed overhead, like a tiny star.

The Kenneday assassination: they let us out of school early, and as we walked home some kid kept saying that Kruschev was going to come and take over...Tongue


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Dec 7 2011, 6:36pm

Post #8 of 134 (3975 views)
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The Erebus disaster. [In reply to] Can't Post

I was nine, and remember the TV news stories that a plane with 257 people on board had disappeared on its way back from Antarctica and had so many hours of fuel left. The hours counted down, then the deadline passed as there was still no word about the plane.

The wreckage was found on Mt Erebus a few hours later.


Nightingale
Rohan


Dec 7 2011, 6:43pm

Post #9 of 134 (3247 views)
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The death of Princess Diana [In reply to] Can't Post

I was about 8, and I remember everyone being really upset but I didn't really understand why she was so popular (I also remember disliking 'Candle in the Wind' intensely for some reason. Odd).

Then the internet began to really take off for the 'ordinary man on the street', and presenters began to start giving email addresses and websites for the audience to contact programmes with, complete with the ninja like 'forward slash' hand gesture. Laugh So 90s!

My first 'big' news story would have been the war in Afghanistan (I think - it was definitely a military invasion, and I was about 10). I remember seeing it on 'Newsround' (a children's magazine news programme) and seeing all of the footage of tanks - quite scary. I went on the BBC news site afterwards to try and understand it more - I am ashamed to say that I still don't fully understand all of the motives/consequences. Unsure


(This post was edited by Nightingale on Dec 7 2011, 6:50pm)


Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Dec 7 2011, 6:45pm

Post #10 of 134 (3216 views)
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Well, if some nice admin would change my accidental "Other" vote to "Watergate", I'll be all set. [In reply to] Can't Post

I accidentally hit "other" before I saw "Watergate".

Anyway, I was age 5 when it started, and age 7 when Nixon resigned. Mostly, I just remember a lot of hullabaloo on tv that I didn't understand, and lots of Nixon.

The thing that cemented this memory, though, has more to do with some little things my grandma made. She made "Watergate Bugs" out of polished rocks and jewelry findings and sold them at local craft fairs. My brothers and I even played with some she gave us. Laugh

The next big memory is Jimmy Carter's inauguration. I mostly remember how he and Mrs. Carter walked up Pennsylvania Avenue during the parade, and sometimes their daughter, Amy, walked with them. I think I was more impressed by the fact that Amy was only a year younger than I and was going to get to live in the White House. Smile


Gimli'sBox
Gondor


Dec 7 2011, 6:53pm

Post #11 of 134 (3179 views)
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9-11. I was pretty young, around 6-7 and I just remember [In reply to] Can't Post

my mom and dad watching tv at my grandparent's house talking about a plane that hit a big building.


Quote

Also, how old were you at the time? In my family, the age seems to be about 6-11.


Seems like that's when most people have their first big news story. I wonder if that's when you really start listening to the bigger things going on around your little world of play and fun.


RosieLass
Valinor


Dec 7 2011, 7:09pm

Post #12 of 134 (3162 views)
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Watergate. [In reply to] Can't Post

Which would have been when I was 7-8.


RosieLass
Valinor


Dec 7 2011, 7:11pm

Post #13 of 134 (3188 views)
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I remember when they announced in our class... [In reply to] Can't Post

...that Reagan had been shot, and one jerk in the class laughed, and I thought that was pretty abominable.


taekotemple
Grey Havens


Dec 7 2011, 7:32pm

Post #14 of 134 (3274 views)
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Definitely the Challenger explosion [In reply to] Can't Post

I was home sick from school, watching the news footage. It was such a shock to me, and I'm sure to many others as well, especially because of the teacher on board. What a tragic, tragic event.

I can't remember how old I was, I could probably calculate the year if I look it up, but I think I was in 4th or 5th grade.


Ethel Duath
Half-elven


Dec 7 2011, 7:49pm

Post #15 of 134 (3753 views)
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Oops! I spoke way too soon . . . // [In reply to] Can't Post

 


Darkstone
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 8:10pm

Post #16 of 134 (3164 views)
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The Gary Powers U-2 incident [In reply to] Can't Post

I was seven years old. I remember the newspaper being full of stories and pictures about it.


Faenoriel
Tol Eressea


Dec 7 2011, 8:38pm

Post #17 of 134 (3322 views)
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MS Estonia sinking in 1994 [In reply to] Can't Post

Yeah, probably not big in the States or even elsewhere in the west, but huge here in Northern Europe. The ferry cruiser MS Estonia sank in September 1994 in Finnish waters in the Baltic Sea when sailing from Estonia to Sweden.

852 people died, 137 survived. I was 7 years old when it happened.

I still remember the news images of the storming cold, grey water and the orange lifeboats, the hypothermiatic survivors and the stories I heard of what happened on the ship. I might have only imagined the dead bodies based on the news and the stories, or maybe they were seen too on the news.

Anyway. The ship sank in the waters off the coast of my home city. Ferries and ships are a huge industry here and part of the continuing heartbeat of the city. Sea is just out there, with its gentle waves and the innumerable islands of the Turku archipelago.

I love it. The sea.

Now when I think about it, that incident might have been part of me growing to have such respect for nature - Not the approving respect of the superior who allows his inferiors to live because it happens to please her, but the fearful and loving respect of someone oh so very little who understands how dependant she is of the mighty universe around her.

Oh, and I fear sailing. Even though I've traveled by the ferries to Sweden and Estonia many times. I wonder why...


(This post was edited by Faenoriel on Dec 7 2011, 8:42pm)


Faenoriel
Tol Eressea


Dec 7 2011, 8:41pm

Post #18 of 134 (3203 views)
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Pretty sure now the bodies were seen on the news. [In reply to] Can't Post

I have utmost respect for death too. Taking death slightly, no matter who's death, is my Berserker Button.


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 10:01pm

Post #19 of 134 (3124 views)
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The murder of the athletes in the '72 Olympics made a big impression on me too. [In reply to] Can't Post

I didn't list it, because it was around the time of Watergate, but I remember being grief-stricken.


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 10:02pm

Post #20 of 134 (3145 views)
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I remember a few years later [In reply to] Can't Post

going out in the yard to watch a satellite go over. And that reminds me that I forgot to list the 1969 moon landing!


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 10:07pm

Post #21 of 134 (3209 views)
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I had a Jackie and Caroline paper doll set [In reply to] Can't Post

and I had the same reaction to Caroline, being my age and being so famous :-)

"Watergate Bugs!" That's hilarious. I remember our minister reading from Nehimiah 8, "And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate." :-D


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Dec 7 2011, 10:35pm

Post #22 of 134 (3153 views)
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No nice admins around [In reply to] Can't Post

so I did it.

Tongue


Elizabeth
Half-elven


Dec 7 2011, 10:43pm

Post #23 of 134 (3208 views)
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VE-Day. [In reply to] Can't Post

Only a year old when Pearl Harbor was bombed, but I have a lot of memories of wartime, and fairly clear memory of VE-Day (when Germany surrendered). Subsequently, when Japan surrendered I was very confused, because I thought the war was already over and didn't understand why everyone was celebrating again.


Magpie
Immortal


Dec 7 2011, 11:57pm

Post #24 of 134 (3166 views)
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JFK [In reply to] Can't Post

I can remember quite a lot about JFK's assassination (I was 11). The event, the lying in state, and the funeral procession. And my dad bought the Time Life book about the event so I grew up reading it and looking at the pictures over and over again. Those images are burned in my memory.


Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Dec 8 2011, 12:09am

Post #25 of 134 (3121 views)
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You'll have to do, I guess. [In reply to] Can't Post

Tongue

(Thanks!)


(This post was edited by Alassëa Eruvande on Dec 8 2011, 12:10am)

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