[bpcyclist]

For me, still probably 9-11, followed very closely by landing on the moon.

[TishaBuv]

Originally Posted by bpcyclist

For me, still probably 9-11, followed very closely by landing on the moon.

I knew two brothers, each in one tower at the time. Only one got out.

I was very emotional from that event, lots of other fallout from it, too. Then I got pregnant with our third (bonus) child because of it.

[Mountaindewed]

The Space shuttle Columbia disaster really upset me. I was 10 at the time and I remember coming into my parents room and seeing the explosion on the TV. It got me really distraught for a couple weeks and I made this little book about it with newspaper clippings and shared it with my class.

[bpcyclist]

Originally Posted by TishaBuv

I knew two brothers, each in one tower at the time. Only one got out.

I was very emotional from that event, lots of other fallout from it, too. Then I got pregnant with our third (bonus) child because of it.

I am a Columbia grad. I am so sorry for your loss.

first thing that comes to my mind is the death of michael jackson. when he died, it took me an entire year to get over it (love the guy)

that aside, the miners trapped underground was pretty upsetting, and I also remember following the disappearance of maddilin mcan a lot on the news

death of princess diana and the funeral of the queen mother

the earthquakes in haiti

their's a lot..

[lizardlady]

The assasination of John Kennedy heads a very long list.

[eskielover]

At my age, the list is long.

Assassination of JFK & Robert Kennedy, first space launch, moon landing, the space shuttle accidents both Columbia & Challenger (even more personal because they were built only a few miles from where I lived & landed at Edward's AFB before moving the landing to Florida), definitely 9/11

[Nammu]

The Kennedy’s, Martin Luther king.. Columbia, 911, the pandemic

[TunedOut]

For me, the Challenger tragedy sticks out because it happened during my senior semester in college while I was student teaching. Right after taking attendance, my third grade class, along with nearly every other class in the school crammed into our school's library to watch. Given this mission was all about the teacher , Christa McAuliffe, teaching students from space, this was likely happening all over the country. It was shocking for all of us and hard to know what to say to the kids when it happened.

[divine1966]

Not all tragic, but certainly significant:

Chernobyl

Fall of Berlin Wall, reunification of Germany

Dissolution of USSR

9/11

[DechanDawa]

When John Lennon was shot and killed. It was a time of romance for me and I identified with John and Yoko's romance. So it was a shock to my system that happiness can be so easily ripped away.

[LiteraryLark]

not all are sad but 9/11, Obama becoming the first black president, legalizing gay marriage, the death of Steve Irwin, Grant from Mythbusters dying, Trump as President, the Tubbs wildfire that took my home, the fires currently raging in California, the pandemic, BLM movement, the Aurora shooting, the Boston marathon bombing

[rechu]

For me I guess what most stand out are things that impacted me directly - the 2010 8.8 magnitude earthquake and the riots and social unrest last year. 9/11 to some extent too. I has visited New York only a few months before that happened and had friends living there.

[ButterToast]

Almost three years ago I met my boyfriend/husband/person/thing and a few months after that we adopted our two dogs. Things are hard and life's not great for me much of the time, but I am so immensely grateful to have them in my life. They're the best part of my day each day. I sometimes wish everyone else in the world would disappear and it could be just us with a whole world to explore and experience and we had infinite time together.

[*Beth*]

Good thread, bpc!

The first memory I have of a significant current event was of the Manson murders. I was 6 years old and that hot, hot weird August (1969) is burned into my mind. The Manson murders are mixed in with the Vietnam war in my mind, with the horror of that war.

The Zodiac Killer - and that my mom and I had an extremely frightening encounter with him.

The SLA/Patty Hearst kidnapping.

I recall, as a child in 4th grade, that Watergate was a huge scandal.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane going down (1977).

The Iran hostage situation that happened in 1979.

The 1985 hijacking of flight TWA 847 by a radical Islamic group - a horrifying ordeal in which passengers were held captive (some murdered) on the plane over a span of 17 days. (I gave birth to my first child, my daughter, during the time that hijacking was happening.)

Princess Diana's death. She and I were both married young to men 16 years older than us, we were having our children at roughly the same times, and I felt bonded with her. Her death seemed so cruel, after she had endured such a rough marriage and vicious public life.

The Columbine shootings.

9/11. My family comes from Brooklyn; I had been in NYC exactly 1 year before 9/11.

The Loma Prieta earthquake (San Francisco) in 1989. Terrifying and very, very sad.

President Obama - 1st black pres (a good event!)

My sister was a roadie for many years and one of the musicians she frequently worked for was Tom Petty. She spoke so highly of him, and I've always felt a strong affinity with him and with his music. When he died so unexpectedly, it hit me hard.

The wildfires in 2018 - we thought those were as bad as it could get...now this. Here we are again, but this time with most of the state on fire.

This damned plague. I've so had enough of it.

It feels good to say "I'll stop here."

[bpcyclist]

Originally Posted by BethRags

Good thread, bpc!

The first memory I have of a significant current event was of the Manson murders. I was 6 years old and that hot, hot weird August (1969) is burned into my mind. The Manson murders are mixed in with the Vietnam war in my mind, with the horror of that war.

The Zodiac Killer - and that my mom and I had an extremely frightening encounter with him.

The SLA/Patty Hearst kidnapping.

I recall, as a child in 4th grade, that Watergate was a huge scandal.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane going down (1977).

The Iran hostage situation that happened in 1979.

The 1985 hijacking of flight TWA 847 by a radical Islamic group - a horrifying ordeal in which passengers were held captive (some murdered) on the plane over a span of 17 days. (I gave birth to my first child, my daughter, during the time that hijacking was happening.)

Princess Diana's death. She and I were both married young to men 16 years older than us, we were having our children at roughly the same times, and I felt bonded with her. Her death seemed so cruel, after she had endured such a rough marriage and vicious public life.

The Columbine shootings.

9/11. My family comes from Brooklyn; I had been in NYC exactly 1 year before 9/11.

The Loma Prieta earthquake (San Francisco) in 1989. Terrifying and very, very sad.

President Obama - 1st black pres (a good event!)

My sister was a roadie for many years and one of the musicians she frequently worked for was Tom Petty. She spoke so highly of him, and I've always felt a strong affinity with him and with his music. When he died so unexpectedly, it hit me hard.

The wildfires in 2018 - we thought those were as bad as it could get...now this. Here we are again, but this time with most of the state on fire.

This damned plague. I've so had enough of it.

It feels good to say "I'll stop here."

You are taking me back. Never forget Patty Hearst. A different era.

Was so sad about Tom Petty. That dsmn fentanyl...

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by bpcyclist

You are taking me back. Never forget Patty Hearst. A different era.

Was so sad about Tom Petty. That dsmn fentanyl...

The bank - "THE" bank - that Patty Hearst (holding machine gun) and some SLA members robbed was in a suburb of my hometown (Sacramento, Calif.). The bank (located in Carmichael, Calif) is now a Korean church. A church that, well...looks like it used to be a bank. Strange, indeed.

When I lived back in Sacramento I used to drive my kids past that bank and tell them the whole Patricia Hearst story. Sadly, a woman was killed in that robbery. Myrna Opsahl.

Gaaaaahhhhh...you've gotten me started on pop culture current events. I could keep going (no, Beth, please don't).

Poor Tom. A truly good soul.

[*Beth*]

Originally Posted by DechanDawa

When John Lennon was shot and killed. It was a time of romance for me and I identified with John and Yoko's romance. So it was a shock to my system that happiness can be so easily ripped away.

His murder was a tough one. I was never a huge Beatles fan; still.... they had a tremendous influence on my growing up years. John Lennon's death occurred during my senior year of high school, a year that was such a weird catalyst for enormous change in the U.S. His death was symbolic of the changes happening, actually, not only in the U.S., but in so many parts of the world right at that time... so much loss of idealism.

[mugwort2]

9/11 2001

[LiteraryLark]

Tom Petty was my first man-crush. His music always made me happy.

[splitimage]

The Challenger space shuttle, 9/11 - I was actually watching CNN at work when the second tower was hit. And finally my biggest one by far, is the current COVID pandemic. It's upended my life in so many ways, and affected millions of people.

splitimage

[Soupe du jour]

As for stuff in the news, these past almost four years have been about the worst current events in the US, in my view. The tragically bad pandemic response and right wing extreme propaganda and atrocities have been particularly bad. Yes, 9-11 was frightening and horrible, but fewer than 3,000 people died that day. Over 180,000 have died in the US from covid19. Though some would have been expected even with a proper response, likely a much much smaller number. And yet some who gasped on 9-11 are overly casual about the pandemic. It wasn't 9-11 that made my husband and I need/want to move abroad. It was the last almost four years.

I live within one hour of NYC. My husband and I stood at the top of the World Trade Center only 2 months before 9-11. My town was directly affected by the anthrax scare very soon after. Yes, it was horrible! Yes my bipolar disorder was heading towards its worst. Yes, my beloved mother unexpectedly died one year later, but these current years were worse for the nation. 9-11 didn't cause my worst bipolar years, though that and my mother's death didn't help. But we're talking about current events, not other factors. These past few years and the pandemic will surely overshadow 9-11 in future history books, I think. Sure, 9-11 makes for better action movie material, but again, it was not the most lethal.

[Nammu]

I agree with you soup. And trumps forcing troops into American cities without the governor’s consent is excallating violence. His response to black lives matter is as bad as his response to the pandemic. Democratic rights are in jeopardy.

[KD1980]

The funeral of Princess Diana
9/11
The Citizenship Amendment Bill in India

[mote.of.soul]

In terms of one major world event, current event of our times, even though it didn't effect me directly as I live in a whole separate country, the events of 11th September 2001, were a real shock and I watched it unfold on live TV. I followed closely as well, the worlds response and the horror unleashed particularly in Iraq for years to follow. I was 31 in 2001, and it really opened my eyes to what's happening in our world and how polarized we humans can can be.

Prayers to all.🙏🙏🙏