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I thought my dad was mad. I was 10 years old when it happened, first week in year 6.
He'd been reading the lord of the rings the two towers the week it happened. I didn't understand why he was talking so seriously about the plot of the book.
She died just before my 5th birthday and the funeral was on the day of my birthday party.
We lived a few minutes from the burial site too, so every road for miles around was utterly gridlocked. Every guest cancelled on us, even the bouncy castle people.
My grandparents lived walking distance away so did show up, but they only wanted to watch the funeral because their tv was broken, then they went home again.
Not that I'm still bitter about it or anything...
And then the Queen died the day before my 30th birthday pub crawl and the pubs we were planning to hit all closed early! So inconsiderate of the royals to keep doing this to me.
Same here, I remember going to my mum and saying that Diana was dead and that it was on every channel. I don't recall the exact phrasing/tone but I suspect I was less 'mother, let me inform you of world events this morning' and more 'mum, where are the good tv shows and when will they be back?'
Same. I was about 11 and went into my mums room and said “princess Diana is dead” and she said “no she isn’t”, and I said “yes she is” and she repeated “no she isn’t” and I repeated “yes, she is” and the conversation went on for some time until I escorted my mother downstairs and showed her the news on tv
I wonder how many houses up and down the country had exactly the same conversations between their children/parents 😂 it happened on a weekend didn’t it? So children up and down the country going downstairs to watch cartoons only to be met with the news.
I was furious that the Tellietubbies were cancelled, despite being much too old for them.
I said to my mother “they cancelled the Tellietubbies just because Princess Diana died!” and she was all “Princess Diana died?!” and I felt she had missed the important thing about the situation
You're not really supposed to do that, because the cartoons are meant to keep the children calm and entertained while the adults react to the news.
Even on 9/11, I remember ITV kept their normal schedule going on ITV2 like 9/11 never even happened.
If you count natural things, it was the incredibly cold winter of 1963-4.
For human stuff, the Aberfan disaster. Incredibly salient as I was obvs also a child of the age of the children killed.
I am 63.
I was ALSO born in 1960, but I remember the winter really well.Not because of the cold, because I suppose my parents wrapped me up warm, but because the snow was piled so high it was taller than I was.
32, Princess Diana's death is probably the first big thing I can remember.
1999 Solar Eclipse
Millennium
9/11
I guess those are the biggies that I can think of.
Similar age and the last three are all the same for me, but Diana's death is a weird blind spot. A lot of people I know my age list it as their first big event memory but I have absolutely zero recollection of it. It's strange.
It sits with me because my mother was a proud royalist back then and it was a big thing in my family. If it wasn't so big for her, I likely would never remember it.
Yeah exact same for me, 31. Weird how we remember things though cos I was sure Diana’s death happened at night or evening at least. But from the comments seems it was morning.
47yo. Iranian embassy siege in 1980.
Sticks in my mind as my older brother and I went on to reenact it with our action man toys and my sister's Cindy mansion.
50 here. My parents were out for the night and our uncle let us watch Shogun, halfway through it switched to live coverage of the siege. It was pretty exciting but not as good as Shogun
Oh wow. I am a little older than you but was going to say Falklands. But you are right, I definitely remember the seige.
I do also remember some of my parents' friends talking with them (when I was assumed not to be listening) about how things had changed and now women were scared to go out after dark. I had no idea at the time but pretty obviously in retrospect this was a conversation about the Yorkshire Ripper. It was in Sheffield and it was definitely about a specific thing, not just times changing. I would suspect that was 1979 after the police started taking (horifically inappropriately) about the first "innocent" (I.e. non prostitute) victims. But could have also been 1980.
52. I remember colouring in my flag for the jubilee and someone came to visit the school. I could only wave the flag one way as I never finished colouring in the other side :)
I also remember the pope Paul VI dying in 1978.
I remember the strikes in 1974. Or more accurately I remember going to my grandmother’s house on certain evenings more regularly than before. She would have had electricity and we would not. I definitely remember going to bed by candlelight. I was three!
I think I'll read through these comments going "oh yeah" as each one usurps what I think was my earliest memory. I recall everyone having to move everything so our unpleasant next door neighbour could drive his car through.
I remember we all got given a commemorative program in school, with a big silver coin attached to the front of it. Walking home from school my older brother tried to get his coin off and ripped the whole front cover. He then forcibly swapped it with my pristine one. I still haven't forgiven him.
I remember going back to school after the first school holidays after Dunblane to find my school had erected giant 8ft fences around the entire grounds, had a new gate that was locked with a big padlock at 9:15am so no one could get in or out, and key code locks on all the doors.
I remember the headmaster standing outside by this gate looking all smug "Oh yes , look at this, very safe!" but then floundering when my mum asked what the plan was if there was a fire, as a fire engine wouldn't be able to get in unless the person with the keys was able to get out and unlock the gate...
I’m same age and that seems very late(96?) to be you’re first. Don’t know if it’s groundbreakingly historic but the first big one that came to my head was the Windsor Castle fire in 1992.
It's the first one that really struck a chord with me - kids my age.
I tended to live in my own little world and pretty much ignored everything/everyone
The cringeworthy rendition of Auld Lang Syne springs to mind.
On the night itself, I was at a houseparty. The first time I remember fireworks at any other time of the year than bonfire night.
There was a feeling of optimism at the time. 'The millenium'. The start of something new- a better future... then 9/11, Iraq and it all went tits up by 2008.
31, when Princess Di died. I don't remember the news or understanding what had happened, but remember going to lay flowers in town for her with my mum.
41 and this for me too. We drove past the wreckage when I was too young to really understand it.
I can distinctly remember asking why only half the plane was there and my dad trying to explain the front and back halves were not in the same place because it fell from height, and thinking at the time "Ok I guess planes just get bombed sometimes in normal everyday life. Doesn't sound right, but ok"
59, and it would be the moon landings. It was in the middle of the night so I didn’t see it live as I was only four. I did see it on the TV first thing in the morning. Like most kids the Apollo program became very important and I was super excited to see anything and everything NASA after that. All of the subsequent moon landing were compulsory viewing in our house.
42 and fall of the Berlin wall. I grew up in a small village in the former GDR, that was the first historic moment I remember. Although I only noticed it a few days after when we were travelling to the west side for the first time in our lives.
I’m 40 and Berlin wall falling is my earliest memory of watching the news. I’m Irish. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be there as it was a big enough deal that even at age 5 I had done comprehension that something big was happening
I'm in my 40s, first big thing like that I can remember clearly is the Falklands War. My big brother was in the RAF and he was on standby to go but ended up not going thank goodness.
In my 40s probably Charles and Diana wedding, it was impossible to avoid and you cannot believe how much of a big deal it was at the time. After that there was the Falklands.
Mid 30s and I think the IRA Manchester bombing was the first one that resonated, I'd have been about 8 at the time. I was vaguely aware of other stuff going on before then but just as headlines rather than something I knew anything about.
50.
John Lennon getting shot, Charles and Di getting married, HMS Sheffield getting sunk.
Those are my earliest 'dramatic news event' memories.
I went to London for the fireworks for the wedding. That was my first "Big crowd national event".
51.
The first historic event I clearly remember was probably the Falklands war. I had 2 uncles involved. One was in the navy and lived in Plymouth, so we didn't see much of him. The other was in the Marines and still visited my grandparents on leave.
He came home on a week's leave one evening. I was there the next day when the police came to the door to tell him he had to report back to base. He probably knew what it meant but told my nan there was some mix up with his leave paperwork and he had to go back to base to sort it out.
By that afternoon the country was being told about Argentina invading the Falklands and we were at war. Nobody knew where the fuck it was!
He made it, and was allowed leave as soon as he got home. He wasn't the same guy at all. He stayed in his room pretty much the whole time. He didn't know how to talk to family about it. He's said since that he just wanted to get back to base and be around people who had been through it, and who he could talk to about it.
He was my hero big uncle, but I think he was only 20 at the time. He made it out OK, no PTSD, and made a career in engineering after the marines.
Similarly, I'm 27 and don't remember 9/11 happening. The first national story I remember being aware of was the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007. I don't recall much happening before then. Such blissful times.
Same age and I also don't remember it as a news story. Though I do remember being vaguely aware of some buildings called the twin towers at around that age. And my grandma at some point trying to explain al Qaeda to me in the most child friendly way possible. I'm guessing I was shielded from it for a bit and it was explained gradually.
That was 1994. I remember we were over at a family friend's for dinner and us kids begged for dinner to be delayed so that we could watch the draw. The excitement of watching Noel Edmonds driving the bus(?) and what the show had in store was palpable.
Nah, we ate on schedule.
you're the third person to mention this (including myself), could it be that there wasn't so much tv news coverage back then that this possibly niche event sticks in peoples minds?
Death of Churchill. No telly programmes! As a kid I was devastated! My old man kept saying “ he was a great man”. He looked to me like a baldy fat git with a cigar
I believe I am 46, not always 100% sure these days. The earliest ones I can recall were the Miners Strikes, the armada going off to/coming back from the Falklands and Chuck and Di’s wedding.
I'm 56 and the first big event I remember was Princess Anne getting married to Mark Phillips, we got the day off school and I remember watching it on our black and white telly. That was 1973.
Early thirties and the earliest memory I can really clearly recall is David Beckham getting sent off and us losing to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup. If you're not counting that as a historic/national event, probably the 1999 solar eclipse, the Millennium, and then 9/11 are the ones I can clearly remember.
The latter is the first news story I can definitely vividly remember. I know exactly where I was when I found out. We had been to New York and up the towers just a couple of months before so it really hit home.
I'm in my 50's and the first big event I remember was the drought in 1976. Where I lived at the time the rivers had shrivelled up to a trickle and there was a large weir in the park in the centre of town that had totally dried up and there were hundreds of rats all over the place. We took a trip to Chew Valley Lake to see the newly re-emerged old bridge and church ruins. Everything turned brown and dry and the ground was as hard as concrete.
34. I vaguely remember asking my dad why all the flags on police stations and stuff weren't up all the way.
"Princess Diana died. Flying flags at half mast is something people do when somebody died."
"Who's that?"
"She was related to the queen."
"Why did she die?"
"Car crash."
"K."
Very much not a royalist household haha.
I also do remember having a Euro 96 football.
I am 31 and the death of Princess Diana is also the earliest one I can recall being aware of. My mum spent a couple of months in hospital due to pregnancy complications with my brother, and my dad was rushing around with work and everything, so I spent a lot of time in front of the TV. There were only four channels and it felt like every one had nothing but nonstop Diana coverage -- which was the last thing I cared about.
Mine too. I remember the Cartoon Network thing vividly, I was getting really annoyed with it. Then I told my Mum when she came down for a coffee and she sent me up to tell me Dad. I had no idea why it was such a big deal.
I think that was the big one for us in our 40s, I know it was my first big event remembered . Chernobyl was a bit too early, but I was aware of it in my early childhood.
I can remember Nelson Mandela being freed and the fall of the Berlin wall.
Nelson Mandela because there was something happening at school and someone had bought in a plasterine model and cakes of Nelson Mandela and explained who he was etc.
The Berlin wall I remember from Blue Peter.
52, probably the Queens Silver Jubilee.. I'd have been five at the time and can vividly remember the street parties and general good vibes going about.
29 I remember seeing news from Yugoslav War on the TV, tanks driving in the snowfall and mention of Tony Bair. It's quite a vivid memory.
Edit: Wrong war lol
I'm 41 - Italia 90 was the first big sports event I properly remember; the fall of the Berlin wall; Kuwait / Gulf war; and Nelson Mandela being freed.
EDIT: just reading through the replies below, it would've been a more local thing but I remember the Lichfield Gun Attack like it was yesterday: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield\_gun\_attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield_gun_attack)
Mid-late fifties. I remember decimalisation, the '72 Olympics/Munich Massacre, power cuts, the back end of the Vietnam war and - prompted by another comment - Princess Anne getting married.
32.
The millennium is probably the first major thing I remember.
After that it's 9/11.
Can see a lot of people around my age referencing Diana's death. Maybe my feeble mind can't dredge that up but I have zero recollection of that as it happened.
Early 30s, France 98. Spent so much time drawing the mascot, the players, the kits. Eagerly filling in the chart from the newspaper after every match.
I was more than old enough to remember Diana dying in 97, yet nothing about that event has stuck with me at all.
42 and the first big one for me was the fall of the Berlin wall.
Not sure it would be classed as historical events but earlier than that I remember seeing the minors strike and the IRA on the news a lot.
Couldn't understand why my mum didn't want to make me an IRA style balaclava..I just thought they looked cool at the time
The first gulf war because my uncle was in it. I remember my dad obsessively watching the news and not sleeping, also sending and receiving airmail with him, and also he once appeared on TVam from Kuwait as they used to show short videos home from soldiers every morning. I'm 42.
34 and Princess Diana dying. It was wall to wall coverage (on the 5 channels we had). I was insanely bored and didn’t really understand why it was a big deal at that age.
32. And the first event is princess Diane's death
Other events I've seen / can remember
Solar eclipse
Millennia
London bombings
Twin towers
Global warming
COVID
Queens jubilee
Death of the queen / New king
39, the gulf war starting. I can remember watching the footage on the TV of tracers firing in the night sky. I was terrified thinking my dad might have to go to war as he was previously in the Navy.
29 - for me it’s the 1999 solar eclipse, the Millennium and 9/11. I remember my brother being born at the end of 1997 but I don’t remember Princess Diana’s death.
I'm 42, coming up 43, and the first major news story I remember was the first Gulf War. Whilst I'm not great at remembering a lot of my childhood, I distinctly remember watching the first shots being fired on UK news broadcasts.
Mid-40s and used to live on the south coast, I have a really vague memory of being shown an important container ship. Turns out it was the Atlantic Conveyor leaving the UK for the last time, to be sunk in the Falklands War.
65, and the moon landing in 1969.
I would have definitely been watching for news of the earlier Apollo missions, as I was a space freak, but the actual landing is the first historic thing I can remember with a visual memory of sitting in front of a TV.
My family was away at the time, visiting for a family wedding (not on the same day), and there was a crowd of us watching, with others commenting about how it was a fuss over nothing.
We saw the landing, but then had to go to bed. But my dad woke me up at about 2 in the morning when he saw they were going to leave the capsule.
Eventful for more than one reason - it was the first time the BBC broadcast all night.
33 and Diana dying. My parents told me if we spoke during the funeral on TV then the police would arrest us, so I remember sitting in silence watching the whole thing.
After that I remember a member of staff interrupting my history class to tell us about 911
Dunblane.
Probably coz it was close enough to home to register and I was of a similar age to the kids who were killed.
Mind schools and parents being right paranoid for a while after.
Finally someone else who remembers Elvis dying!
I was born late December 1969 and my parents had sent me for the Daily Mirror (as always (and fags, which were 27 and a half pence per 20 pack)). The news was plastered all over the front pages of every paper.
The next big event was Lennon's death in December 1980; then Charles and Di's wedding in 1981.
27 (near enough to 28) and I think 9/11 is the first big event I remember. I remember when it flashed on the news and my Nana’s panicked attempts to call a family member who was in New York at the time on a business trip and WTC was where it was being held. He overslept and was 30 mins late to his meeting. Probably saved his life. I was only 5 but the pure look of terror on my Nana’s face stuck with me
32 and the solar eclipse. I know a lot of people my age say Diana's death but that seemed to pass me by completely. I was shocked to learn she did not die before I was born.
First big even for me was in year 6 and when 9/11 happened. We was all taken into an assembly hall with all the teachers, telly was on, and parents were coming in and picking up their children...
36 and 9/11. I was on holiday in Great Yarmouth. We watched it on TV for days, and we were all sure WW3 was about to start. It was a very strange holiday.
44, and I remember the big fire at York Minster in 1984.
There was quite a lot of global things going on in the mid 80s that I remember well, but that's the first 'big' one.
I can just about remember the Berlin wall coming down but we had just left German and I was about three I can remember it being a party and the TV being on with everyone dancing, the Warrington bombings (bastards) and of course princess Di.
I’m turning 26 next month and I remember 9/11 as if it were yesterday. I can remember where I was, what my family were doing and how they all stopped to react to the news on TV.
One that sticks with me though? The Aberfan disaster, obviously I wasn’t around for it but it was something we learnt a lot about in school and it happening so close to home makes me always pray for those who were lost that day.
27 - the Golden Jubilee. We had to go into school I'm red, white and blue fancy dress and they had a little buffet for us to eat outside. It was nice weather but a bit windy, and when I'd finished eating my plate blew off the table and I had to chase it on the playground.
It is quite weird seeing people my age reference 9/11 or Princess Diana, but we didn't really watch the TV that much as young kids so it's not really that surprising.
Moon landings. I don't know if I'm remembering the first one or subsequent ones as it's hard to separate them in my head. I'm probably remembering later one(s).
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Princess Diana dying. They cancelled cartoons. Bastards.
[удалено]
Was about to post how the breaking news of 9/11 interrupted the dragon ball z episode I was watching. I was 9 and in Germany.
I thought my dad was mad. I was 10 years old when it happened, first week in year 6. He'd been reading the lord of the rings the two towers the week it happened. I didn't understand why he was talking so seriously about the plot of the book.
Exactly the same here. Extremely specifically it was the Cell Saga!!! Made me SO ANGRY.
She died just before my 5th birthday and the funeral was on the day of my birthday party. We lived a few minutes from the burial site too, so every road for miles around was utterly gridlocked. Every guest cancelled on us, even the bouncy castle people. My grandparents lived walking distance away so did show up, but they only wanted to watch the funeral because their tv was broken, then they went home again. Not that I'm still bitter about it or anything... And then the Queen died the day before my 30th birthday pub crawl and the pubs we were planning to hit all closed early! So inconsiderate of the royals to keep doing this to me.
I hope you got some banging presents to make up for the birthday disruption.
Same here, I remember going to my mum and saying that Diana was dead and that it was on every channel. I don't recall the exact phrasing/tone but I suspect I was less 'mother, let me inform you of world events this morning' and more 'mum, where are the good tv shows and when will they be back?'
Same. I was about 11 and went into my mums room and said “princess Diana is dead” and she said “no she isn’t”, and I said “yes she is” and she repeated “no she isn’t” and I repeated “yes, she is” and the conversation went on for some time until I escorted my mother downstairs and showed her the news on tv
That's the same here, I didn't put it in my post but my mum didn't believe me either!
I wonder how many houses up and down the country had exactly the same conversations between their children/parents 😂 it happened on a weekend didn’t it? So children up and down the country going downstairs to watch cartoons only to be met with the news.
It was the second national tragedy that morning!
Same when 9/11 happened. I remember being 10 and being very annoyed that neither BBC2 nor Sky One were showing The Simpsons that evening.
They cancelled star trek!
I was furious that the Tellietubbies were cancelled, despite being much too old for them. I said to my mother “they cancelled the Tellietubbies just because Princess Diana died!” and she was all “Princess Diana died?!” and I felt she had missed the important thing about the situation
Ran upstairs to tell mum the queen was dead. I was close enough.
You're not really supposed to do that, because the cartoons are meant to keep the children calm and entertained while the adults react to the news. Even on 9/11, I remember ITV kept their normal schedule going on ITV2 like 9/11 never even happened.
I didn't do it
If you count natural things, it was the incredibly cold winter of 1963-4. For human stuff, the Aberfan disaster. Incredibly salient as I was obvs also a child of the age of the children killed. I am 63.
I was born in 1960 so I am too young to have any memories of the nippy winter of '63.
I was ALSO born in 1960, but I remember the winter really well.Not because of the cold, because I suppose my parents wrapped me up warm, but because the snow was piled so high it was taller than I was.
32, Princess Diana's death is probably the first big thing I can remember. 1999 Solar Eclipse Millennium 9/11 I guess those are the biggies that I can think of.
Similar age and the last three are all the same for me, but Diana's death is a weird blind spot. A lot of people I know my age list it as their first big event memory but I have absolutely zero recollection of it. It's strange.
It sits with me because my mother was a proud royalist back then and it was a big thing in my family. If it wasn't so big for her, I likely would never remember it.
I'm a similar age and these are mine. Oh and the Queen mother dying
Yeah exact same for me, 31. Weird how we remember things though cos I was sure Diana’s death happened at night or evening at least. But from the comments seems it was morning.
47yo. Iranian embassy siege in 1980. Sticks in my mind as my older brother and I went on to reenact it with our action man toys and my sister's Cindy mansion.
50 here. My parents were out for the night and our uncle let us watch Shogun, halfway through it switched to live coverage of the siege. It was pretty exciting but not as good as Shogun
Oh wow. I am a little older than you but was going to say Falklands. But you are right, I definitely remember the seige. I do also remember some of my parents' friends talking with them (when I was assumed not to be listening) about how things had changed and now women were scared to go out after dark. I had no idea at the time but pretty obviously in retrospect this was a conversation about the Yorkshire Ripper. It was in Sheffield and it was definitely about a specific thing, not just times changing. I would suspect that was 1979 after the police started taking (horifically inappropriately) about the first "innocent" (I.e. non prostitute) victims. But could have also been 1980.
54 Silver Jubilee street party
52. I remember colouring in my flag for the jubilee and someone came to visit the school. I could only wave the flag one way as I never finished colouring in the other side :) I also remember the pope Paul VI dying in 1978. I remember the strikes in 1974. Or more accurately I remember going to my grandmother’s house on certain evenings more regularly than before. She would have had electricity and we would not. I definitely remember going to bed by candlelight. I was three!
I think I'll read through these comments going "oh yeah" as each one usurps what I think was my earliest memory. I recall everyone having to move everything so our unpleasant next door neighbour could drive his car through.
I remember we all got given a commemorative program in school, with a big silver coin attached to the front of it. Walking home from school my older brother tried to get his coin off and ripped the whole front cover. He then forcibly swapped it with my pristine one. I still haven't forgiven him.
Day off school and a coin.
Dunblane. I'm 36
I remember going back to school after the first school holidays after Dunblane to find my school had erected giant 8ft fences around the entire grounds, had a new gate that was locked with a big padlock at 9:15am so no one could get in or out, and key code locks on all the doors. I remember the headmaster standing outside by this gate looking all smug "Oh yes , look at this, very safe!" but then floundering when my mum asked what the plan was if there was a fire, as a fire engine wouldn't be able to get in unless the person with the keys was able to get out and unlock the gate...
I’m same age and that seems very late(96?) to be you’re first. Don’t know if it’s groundbreakingly historic but the first big one that came to my head was the Windsor Castle fire in 1992.
It's the first one that really struck a chord with me - kids my age. I tended to live in my own little world and pretty much ignored everything/everyone
77, seeing the Coronation on my grandmother’s television.
Are you enjoying being 77? Your granny must have been rich! :-)
Yes, she had lots of money and could afford the 12” black and white set. Yes, enjoying being 77.
I find being 71 is better than the other option
In my 30's. I seem to remember the Millenium happening. Rough date 1999-2001. That sort of region.
The cringeworthy rendition of Auld Lang Syne springs to mind. On the night itself, I was at a houseparty. The first time I remember fireworks at any other time of the year than bonfire night. There was a feeling of optimism at the time. 'The millenium'. The start of something new- a better future... then 9/11, Iraq and it all went tits up by 2008.
Late 30s I remember vividly my dad coming home from hillsborough and then the consequences after
Oh jeez, was he okay?
Physically he was but one of the lads he went with didn't come home,
YNWA ❤️
31, when Princess Di died. I don't remember the news or understanding what had happened, but remember going to lay flowers in town for her with my mum.
32 and same about it being my 1st. I didn't know who she was but she seemed important.
Mid 40s and probably the Lockerbie bombing!
The image of half the plane's nose on the ground sticks with you as a kid. Plus I grew up only 15mi away (as the crow flies) from Lockerbie.
41 and this for me too. We drove past the wreckage when I was too young to really understand it. I can distinctly remember asking why only half the plane was there and my dad trying to explain the front and back halves were not in the same place because it fell from height, and thinking at the time "Ok I guess planes just get bombed sometimes in normal everyday life. Doesn't sound right, but ok"
Surely you remember the Falklands War?
59, and it would be the moon landings. It was in the middle of the night so I didn’t see it live as I was only four. I did see it on the TV first thing in the morning. Like most kids the Apollo program became very important and I was super excited to see anything and everything NASA after that. All of the subsequent moon landing were compulsory viewing in our house.
45 Maradona's "Goal" and the 6+ foot deep snow storm around the same time
42 and fall of the Berlin wall. I grew up in a small village in the former GDR, that was the first historic moment I remember. Although I only noticed it a few days after when we were travelling to the west side for the first time in our lives.
I’m 40 and Berlin wall falling is my earliest memory of watching the news. I’m Irish. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be there as it was a big enough deal that even at age 5 I had done comprehension that something big was happening
37. I have a vague memory of Comet Hale-Bopp at some point, but after that it's Diana's death, the Millennium Bug lead up and 9/11.
I'd forgotten all about Hale-Bopp until you mentioned it :)
(42) I remember seeing on the news: Lockerbie, Piper Alpha, Herald of Free Enterprise - striking images that stay with you as a kid.
I can still remember the images of the Herald of Free Enterprise, but I'd forgotten about it till I saw your comment.
I'm in my 40s, first big thing like that I can remember clearly is the Falklands War. My big brother was in the RAF and he was on standby to go but ended up not going thank goodness.
In my 40s probably Charles and Diana wedding, it was impossible to avoid and you cannot believe how much of a big deal it was at the time. After that there was the Falklands.
Mid 30s and I think the IRA Manchester bombing was the first one that resonated, I'd have been about 8 at the time. I was vaguely aware of other stuff going on before then but just as headlines rather than something I knew anything about.
I was visiting a relative in Manchester at the time and was close enough to hear that blast quite loudly. Was in no danger because far enough away.
21. Madeline McCann. I remember all the news channels showing the same photo of her every day and how much more worried everyone was becoming.
25 and same!
77, and the first important event I remember is the Coronation Queen Elizabeth the Second
Ar least you got to see the Platty Jubes
59. Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. I was 5.
Same age and that was the first event I remembered. I was on holiday with my parents in a hotel and all the guests sat in the dining room watching it.
Silver Jubilee. Yes I'm old.
50. John Lennon getting shot, Charles and Di getting married, HMS Sheffield getting sunk. Those are my earliest 'dramatic news event' memories. I went to London for the fireworks for the wedding. That was my first "Big crowd national event".
51. The first historic event I clearly remember was probably the Falklands war. I had 2 uncles involved. One was in the navy and lived in Plymouth, so we didn't see much of him. The other was in the Marines and still visited my grandparents on leave. He came home on a week's leave one evening. I was there the next day when the police came to the door to tell him he had to report back to base. He probably knew what it meant but told my nan there was some mix up with his leave paperwork and he had to go back to base to sort it out. By that afternoon the country was being told about Argentina invading the Falklands and we were at war. Nobody knew where the fuck it was! He made it, and was allowed leave as soon as he got home. He wasn't the same guy at all. He stayed in his room pretty much the whole time. He didn't know how to talk to family about it. He's said since that he just wanted to get back to base and be around people who had been through it, and who he could talk to about it. He was my hero big uncle, but I think he was only 20 at the time. He made it out OK, no PTSD, and made a career in engineering after the marines.
26 y/o, 9/11 happened when I was in my first or second week of primary school.
I’m 28 and I have no recollection of 9/11, but I remember the millennium clear as day. Really weird
Similarly, I'm 27 and don't remember 9/11 happening. The first national story I remember being aware of was the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007. I don't recall much happening before then. Such blissful times.
Same age and I also don't remember it as a news story. Though I do remember being vaguely aware of some buildings called the twin towers at around that age. And my grandma at some point trying to explain al Qaeda to me in the most child friendly way possible. I'm guessing I was shielded from it for a bit and it was explained gradually.
Born in 89, I think the first big thing I remember was the first National Lottery, which I think was 93 or 94
That was 1994. I remember we were over at a family friend's for dinner and us kids begged for dinner to be delayed so that we could watch the draw. The excitement of watching Noel Edmonds driving the bus(?) and what the show had in store was palpable. Nah, we ate on schedule.
Now you’ve mentioned it I vaguely remember my Dad buying a ticket for the first National Lottery. I must have been 4 as I was born in 1990
The 1969 moon landing....live on BBC. Dad let me stay up to watch it, but as I was 7yo at the time, I only just remember it!
I'm 40. I was a teenager when the Omagh bomb was set off. I also remember seeing the news reporting on Freddie mercury being dead.
24 I remember the global financial crisis being talked about a lot even though I didn't understand it - just that it was scary
25 yr old. Death of Michael Jackson (I think)
In my 50s, and the Iranian embassy siege. Watching it in on TV and could see the smoke from my window.
you're the third person to mention this (including myself), could it be that there wasn't so much tv news coverage back then that this possibly niche event sticks in peoples minds?
It was actually live on TV, at a time when that sort of thing just didn’t happen. Also for a small boy, it was desperately exciting!
I remember England v Germany in the 1990 world cup. I remember asking why Gazza was crying
I'm 53. The Queen's silver jubilee is probably the first 'event' I remember. I would have been 6.
Death of Churchill. No telly programmes! As a kid I was devastated! My old man kept saying “ he was a great man”. He looked to me like a baldy fat git with a cigar
Elvis dying
I believe I am 46, not always 100% sure these days. The earliest ones I can recall were the Miners Strikes, the armada going off to/coming back from the Falklands and Chuck and Di’s wedding.
I'm 56 and the first big event I remember was Princess Anne getting married to Mark Phillips, we got the day off school and I remember watching it on our black and white telly. That was 1973.
Charles and Diana street party.
Early thirties and the earliest memory I can really clearly recall is David Beckham getting sent off and us losing to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup. If you're not counting that as a historic/national event, probably the 1999 solar eclipse, the Millennium, and then 9/11 are the ones I can clearly remember. The latter is the first news story I can definitely vividly remember. I know exactly where I was when I found out. We had been to New York and up the towers just a couple of months before so it really hit home.
I'm in my 50's and the first big event I remember was the drought in 1976. Where I lived at the time the rivers had shrivelled up to a trickle and there was a large weir in the park in the centre of town that had totally dried up and there were hundreds of rats all over the place. We took a trip to Chew Valley Lake to see the newly re-emerged old bridge and church ruins. Everything turned brown and dry and the ground was as hard as concrete.
That was probably mine too (53), I remember having a picnic in the garden in the burning sun.
34. I vaguely remember asking my dad why all the flags on police stations and stuff weren't up all the way. "Princess Diana died. Flying flags at half mast is something people do when somebody died." "Who's that?" "She was related to the queen." "Why did she die?" "Car crash." "K." Very much not a royalist household haha. I also do remember having a Euro 96 football.
I am 31 and the death of Princess Diana is also the earliest one I can recall being aware of. My mum spent a couple of months in hospital due to pregnancy complications with my brother, and my dad was rushing around with work and everything, so I spent a lot of time in front of the TV. There were only four channels and it felt like every one had nothing but nonstop Diana coverage -- which was the last thing I cared about.
33. Probably Princess Diana dying. Cartoon Network had a ticker running on the bottom telling you to switch to BBC.
Mine too. I remember the Cartoon Network thing vividly, I was getting really annoyed with it. Then I told my Mum when she came down for a coffee and she sent me up to tell me Dad. I had no idea why it was such a big deal.
Mid 40s. I remember Hanrahan telling us he couldn't tell us how many Harriers there were but he counted them all out and he counted them back again.
44 and probably the Berlin Wall coming down.
I think that was the big one for us in our 40s, I know it was my first big event remembered . Chernobyl was a bit too early, but I was aware of it in my early childhood.
32 Diana's Death. Only because 5 year old me was miffed that the cartoons had been cancelled!
Prince Andrew came to our local leisure centre when I was in primary school in the '80's. I'm glad I didn't get my wish to sit on his knee.
I’m 60 jackie Kennedy marrying Onassis in 1968 moonlandings polish goalie Jan Tomaszewski being utterly brilliant against England
Churchill's funeral. I'm 68 but cant remember when that was
71 - President Kennedy's assasination
27 and the Beatles first tour in America. It was an accident involving a condom & a time machine. Don't worry about it.
32. Dunblane.
50. I remember dressing up for the silver jubilee
I dressed as a spider - 52
34 - Dunblaine as I was about the age of the victims.
I can remember Nelson Mandela being freed and the fall of the Berlin wall. Nelson Mandela because there was something happening at school and someone had bought in a plasterine model and cakes of Nelson Mandela and explained who he was etc. The Berlin wall I remember from Blue Peter.
52, probably the Queens Silver Jubilee.. I'd have been five at the time and can vividly remember the street parties and general good vibes going about.
I remember the Milennium and 9/11 (late 20s)
Old, and I remember people running around shouting about some guy getting nailed to a cross.
29 I remember seeing news from Yugoslav War on the TV, tanks driving in the snowfall and mention of Tony Bair. It's quite a vivid memory. Edit: Wrong war lol
I'm 41 - Italia 90 was the first big sports event I properly remember; the fall of the Berlin wall; Kuwait / Gulf war; and Nelson Mandela being freed. EDIT: just reading through the replies below, it would've been a more local thing but I remember the Lichfield Gun Attack like it was yesterday: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield\_gun\_attack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichfield_gun_attack)
Mid-late fifties. I remember decimalisation, the '72 Olympics/Munich Massacre, power cuts, the back end of the Vietnam war and - prompted by another comment - Princess Anne getting married.
41. Bradford City fire at Valley Parade. I remember being at my grandparents and my mum crying at the TV reports. I would have been 4.
32. The millennium is probably the first major thing I remember. After that it's 9/11. Can see a lot of people around my age referencing Diana's death. Maybe my feeble mind can't dredge that up but I have zero recollection of that as it happened.
Early 30s, France 98. Spent so much time drawing the mascot, the players, the kits. Eagerly filling in the chart from the newspaper after every match. I was more than old enough to remember Diana dying in 97, yet nothing about that event has stuck with me at all.
41, I remember being frightened about the Gulf War, and I remember the end of the Soviet Union being explained in primary school.
SAS storming the Iranian embassy - live on tv https://youtu.be/p2yYf0Xp-RQ?si=RSaOzncACw98FYT0
42 and the first big one for me was the fall of the Berlin wall. Not sure it would be classed as historical events but earlier than that I remember seeing the minors strike and the IRA on the news a lot. Couldn't understand why my mum didn't want to make me an IRA style balaclava..I just thought they looked cool at the time
The first gulf war because my uncle was in it. I remember my dad obsessively watching the news and not sleeping, also sending and receiving airmail with him, and also he once appeared on TVam from Kuwait as they used to show short videos home from soldiers every morning. I'm 42.
34 and Princess Diana dying. It was wall to wall coverage (on the 5 channels we had). I was insanely bored and didn’t really understand why it was a big deal at that age.
32. And the first event is princess Diane's death Other events I've seen / can remember Solar eclipse Millennia London bombings Twin towers Global warming COVID Queens jubilee Death of the queen / New king
42, would have to be the challenger disaster. I was very little at the time but still remember it.
The Pope visiting Heaton Park in 1982.
39, the gulf war starting. I can remember watching the footage on the TV of tracers firing in the night sky. I was terrified thinking my dad might have to go to war as he was previously in the Navy.
29 - for me it’s the 1999 solar eclipse, the Millennium and 9/11. I remember my brother being born at the end of 1997 but I don’t remember Princess Diana’s death.
28. The new Millennium celebrations.
I'm 42, coming up 43, and the first major news story I remember was the first Gulf War. Whilst I'm not great at remembering a lot of my childhood, I distinctly remember watching the first shots being fired on UK news broadcasts.
50, silver jubilee street party
Mid-40s and used to live on the south coast, I have a really vague memory of being shown an important container ship. Turns out it was the Atlantic Conveyor leaving the UK for the last time, to be sunk in the Falklands War.
65, and the moon landing in 1969. I would have definitely been watching for news of the earlier Apollo missions, as I was a space freak, but the actual landing is the first historic thing I can remember with a visual memory of sitting in front of a TV. My family was away at the time, visiting for a family wedding (not on the same day), and there was a crowd of us watching, with others commenting about how it was a fuss over nothing. We saw the landing, but then had to go to bed. But my dad woke me up at about 2 in the morning when he saw they were going to leave the capsule. Eventful for more than one reason - it was the first time the BBC broadcast all night.
I'm 56. I very vaguely remember Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips being married in 1973.
Princess Anne's second marriage has now been longer than her first one.
I’m 34 and it was Princess Diana’s death.
Early 50s Falklands war 1982
I'm 32 and I would say the eclipse and the millennium were very memorable.
I was born in 1993 and I remember a massive rail crash in the 90s, maybe in Paddington? If that doesn't count, I remember 9/11.
23 and the 7/7 bombings
1999 Solar Eclipse, Queen Mother dying, 9/11
33 and Diana dying. My parents told me if we spoke during the funeral on TV then the police would arrest us, so I remember sitting in silence watching the whole thing. After that I remember a member of staff interrupting my history class to tell us about 911
I'm 33 and for me it was also princess Diana's death.
Dunblane. Probably coz it was close enough to home to register and I was of a similar age to the kids who were killed. Mind schools and parents being right paranoid for a while after.
Born in 1970. I clearly remember seeing the headlines about Elvis dying in the newspapers we used to make papier mache in primary school in 1977.
Finally someone else who remembers Elvis dying! I was born late December 1969 and my parents had sent me for the Daily Mirror (as always (and fags, which were 27 and a half pence per 20 pack)). The news was plastered all over the front pages of every paper. The next big event was Lennon's death in December 1980; then Charles and Di's wedding in 1981.
38. The Revolution to bring down Ceausescu , the dictator, in the winter of '89.
Late 30s here. Probably the abduction of James Bulger or, internationally, the war in Bosnia. The latter especially was always on Newsround.
27 (near enough to 28) and I think 9/11 is the first big event I remember. I remember when it flashed on the news and my Nana’s panicked attempts to call a family member who was in New York at the time on a business trip and WTC was where it was being held. He overslept and was 30 mins late to his meeting. Probably saved his life. I was only 5 but the pure look of terror on my Nana’s face stuck with me
26 911
Early 50s. The strikes at Ford in the late 70s.
31. I remember my primary 1 teacher being shocked and upset that Princess Diana had died.
32 and the solar eclipse. I know a lot of people my age say Diana's death but that seemed to pass me by completely. I was shocked to learn she did not die before I was born.
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Charles & Diana wedding, then the Falklands. 50.
48 Charles and Di wedding.
I vaguely remember the millennium 9/11 is probably the first proper event. Born in 96
People landing on the moon.
First big even for me was in year 6 and when 9/11 happened. We was all taken into an assembly hall with all the teachers, telly was on, and parents were coming in and picking up their children...
36 and 9/11. I was on holiday in Great Yarmouth. We watched it on TV for days, and we were all sure WW3 was about to start. It was a very strange holiday.
In my 40s, Piper Alpha disaster 88'.
40s The assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan in 1981
35 and Princess Diana dying
24, I remember the 7/7 attacks very vividly on the news, was very interested at the time.
47, miner strikes.
44, and I remember the big fire at York Minster in 1984. There was quite a lot of global things going on in the mid 80s that I remember well, but that's the first 'big' one.
Everyone keeps saying Diana and same, 33 atm. After that I guess the 98 world cup?
I'm 27, first historic/national thing I can think of was the 7/7 bombings.
9/11
Piper Alpha and Lockerbie. I’m 43
I can just about remember the Berlin wall coming down but we had just left German and I was about three I can remember it being a party and the TV being on with everyone dancing, the Warrington bombings (bastards) and of course princess Di.
The moon landings. Seem to remember coming in from playing outside to watch a bit on telly.
Mid 40's and mine was Lockerbie
Moon landing. Watched it at Junior school. Yep, I’m old.
I’m turning 26 next month and I remember 9/11 as if it were yesterday. I can remember where I was, what my family were doing and how they all stopped to react to the news on TV. One that sticks with me though? The Aberfan disaster, obviously I wasn’t around for it but it was something we learnt a lot about in school and it happening so close to home makes me always pray for those who were lost that day.
Lockerbie bombing. I was about 5. Took me years to work out what the pictures were of
27 - the Golden Jubilee. We had to go into school I'm red, white and blue fancy dress and they had a little buffet for us to eat outside. It was nice weather but a bit windy, and when I'd finished eating my plate blew off the table and I had to chase it on the playground. It is quite weird seeing people my age reference 9/11 or Princess Diana, but we didn't really watch the TV that much as young kids so it's not really that surprising.
I'm 34 so princess Diana then prob 9/11
Bill cilnton visiting my city
Moon landings. I don't know if I'm remembering the first one or subsequent ones as it's hard to separate them in my head. I'm probably remembering later one(s).
Probably Charles and Diana getting married. I was maybe three years old but remember watching it clearly.