alabamagal
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 23, 2010 11:30:29 GMT -5
Posts: 8,117
|
Post by alabamagal on Aug 5, 2017 9:00:20 GMT -5
I was in Miami. Mariel boat lift from Cuba in 1980 was a big deal. Also assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981.
|
|
bean29
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 22:26:57 GMT -5
Posts: 9,924
|
Post by bean29 on Aug 5, 2017 9:12:18 GMT -5
I remember the day of the Challenger explosion. Our high school,started in 7 th though, or I wouldn't have been at the high school yet. Lol I was working 1st job out of Technical School. I worked in a large department, some girls had a tiny B/W T/V with a screen about 8x8. We all gathered round that little TV to watch the explosion. We were just numb. 911 explosion boss had a fairly large TV in a cabinet in his office, whole company of about 25 gathered in his office to watch the coverage.
|
|
irishpad
Well-Known Member
Joined: Aug 14, 2012 20:42:01 GMT -5
Posts: 1,175
|
Post by irishpad on Aug 5, 2017 9:14:24 GMT -5
Attempted assassinations of President Reagan & John Paul II. Both happened in my senior year of HS, just 6 weeks apart and both happened during school hours so announced while in class.
|
|
Lizard Queen
Senior Associate
103/2024
Joined: Jan 17, 2011 22:19:13 GMT -5
Posts: 14,659
|
Post by Lizard Queen on Aug 5, 2017 9:21:26 GMT -5
On 9/11 I was at work. I had email at that time, but no internet access. My BF at that time would email me all day, and emailed me the news about the plane. My impression was from reading his emails, that it was a small plane, and it wasn't going to be that big of a deal, despite him calling it an inferno. Then news of a second plane hit. Then they opened up the conference room and turned the TV on for people. I was watching Peter Jennings when the first tower came tumbling down, and I gasped, while PJ didn't realize what had happened. It was hard to believe what I had just seen. Then the 2nd one fell. Damn. We were all in the conference room awhile, but finally went back to work. I don't think they let us go home for the day,. but I'm old, so my memory isn't that great any more.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Apr 26, 2024 1:29:51 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 9:21:51 GMT -5
Maybe she was worried someone would have targeted you to steal them!
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,456
|
Post by billisonboard on Aug 5, 2017 9:22:56 GMT -5
... The pharmacist got this O.o look on her face and said something about it's a good thing nobody found out that we had that many...I laughed and said, had they found out it wouldn't have mattered one bit as A. The new law went into effect only months ago and B. It's still not illegal to possess large amounts of the stuff. I think it might not have been the authorities who would have been a problem
|
|
Apple
Junior Associate
Always travel with a sense of humor
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 15:51:04 GMT -5
Posts: 9,931
Mini-Profile Name Color: dc0e29
|
Post by Apple on Aug 5, 2017 9:37:52 GMT -5
We weren't in school that day, but Nancy Kerrigan got hit with the baseball bat my sophomore year. It was fairly big news since Tonya Harding was from our home state.
|
|
mmhmm
Administrator
It's a great pity the right of free speech isn't based on the obligation to say something sensible.
Joined: Dec 25, 2010 18:13:34 GMT -5
Posts: 31,770
Today's Mood: Saddened by Events
Location: Memory Lane
Favorite Drink: Water
|
Post by mmhmm on Aug 5, 2017 9:45:46 GMT -5
School integration/desegregation.
|
|
andi9899
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Dec 6, 2011 10:22:29 GMT -5
Posts: 30,379
|
Post by andi9899 on Aug 5, 2017 9:48:49 GMT -5
Selena died (for those who know who she is) when I was in high school. Also, there was the O.J. chase. Does that make me old?
|
|
TheOtherMe
Distinguished Associate
Joined: Dec 24, 2010 14:40:52 GMT -5
Posts: 27,163
Mini-Profile Name Color: e619e6
|
Post by TheOtherMe on Aug 5, 2017 9:48:55 GMT -5
7th grade art class when Kennedy was shot. Principle came on PA to tell us the President had been shot. Everybody in our classroom put our head on the tables to wait. Principle came on PA to announce Kennedy had died. There were tears. We were sent home shortly after that and didn't return to school until the day after JFK's funeral.
In high school, there were riots over civil rights. My high school made some national news magazines. It was a difficult time for me. I have learned to be a better person when it comes to race relations and civil rights since those years. I find it sad that none of the minority students in our class (black or hispanic) come to any of our activities.
I was working on the road when the Oklahoma City bombing happened. One of my best friends had transferred to OKC. As soon as I got a phone call from Denver asking if I had talked to our friend, I started trying to contact her. Finally got a hold of a family member and found out she was fine. Her daughter was fine only because my friend was never on time for work. Had she been, her daughter would have been in the day care center which was blown up.
Columbine: I was at work. Came over radio. All work stopped as we were tied to the radio all day. For me, that was one of the most traumatic things I have witnessed.
|
|
Gardening Grandma
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 13:39:46 GMT -5
Posts: 17,962
|
Post by Gardening Grandma on Aug 5, 2017 9:59:06 GMT -5
I had just graduated HS and had started college when Kennedy was assainated. I was in the library when a student burst in saying "The President's been shot!"
Uncertain of what to do (and thinking he might have just been nuts) I went to my next class. The teacher had the radio on and we all just sat and listened to the broadcast. When they announced his death, the teacher said "That's it" and dismissed us. I went home and was glued to the TV the next few days.
|
|
Tennesseer
Member Emeritus
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:58:42 GMT -5
Posts: 63,436
|
Post by Tennesseer on Aug 5, 2017 10:02:58 GMT -5
Selena died (for those who know who she is) when I was in high school. Also, there was the O.J. chase. Does that make me old? I had several decades plus of work under my belt at that time (Selena and O.J.). So no. In my eyes, that makes you young.
|
|
bean29
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 22:26:57 GMT -5
Posts: 9,924
|
Post by bean29 on Aug 5, 2017 10:03:45 GMT -5
Attempted assassinations of President Reagan & John Paul II. Both happened in my senior year of HS, just 6 weeks apart and both happened during school hours so announced while in class. I looked, 1981 so I would have been a junior. Didn't exactly forget this happened, but it didn't even come to mind when I thought of Where were you when... Regan's funeral was more significant to me. I was in about 3rd grade when Watergate was going on. All that was on Network TV was Watergate Trials. Do kids shows. No one we knew had cable or dish then.
|
|
buystoys
Junior Associate
Joined: Mar 30, 2012 4:58:12 GMT -5
Posts: 5,650
|
Post by buystoys on Aug 5, 2017 10:04:13 GMT -5
Not in chronological order:
1. Reagan assassination attempt 2. Diplomatic relations began with China 3. Iran hostage release 4. Pope John Paul II assassination attempt 5. launch of MTV the summer I graduated HS 6. Charles and Diana's engagement 7. Ted Bundy was caught
I remember exactly where I was on 9/11. I was driving north on the GSP and listening to Scott and Todd on the radio. Scott made a comment that a plane had flown into the WTC 1 building. There was a lot of discussion about a possible accident, but no mention of intentional action. A little bit later, one of them said that a second plane had flown into WTC 2 and that we were under attack. Traffic was crawling and I spent almost an hour just getting over the Tappan Zee. You could see the smoke off the buildings as it was one of those clear, beautiful mornings. Needless to say, I was late getting to work that day. I walked into the office and the receptionist told me that the Pentagon had also been hit. I walked to my boss' office, told him I was going home, and he said to not come back to the office until we all knew what was happening. It took me more than four hours to get home that day.
|
|
Tennesseer
Member Emeritus
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:58:42 GMT -5
Posts: 63,436
|
Post by Tennesseer on Aug 5, 2017 10:15:24 GMT -5
School integration/desegregation. In my Caholic high school class of 730 or so students (1965-1969), we had just one black student. The class below mine (a out the same number of students) had two black students. One of those two black students later became a Catholic church bishop. Our high school was not segregated. The thought was black students just did not go to Cathlolic schools even though our city had quite a few black Catholics. Most students at that time simply went to the high schools their friends attended. At the other end of the state, Boston had a lot of problems with desegragstion and busing of its schools during the late 60s to mid 70s.
|
|
Cookies Galore
Senior Associate
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 18:08:13 GMT -5
Posts: 10,731
|
Post by Cookies Galore on Aug 5, 2017 10:19:12 GMT -5
how incredibly beautiful the weather was that day. Amazing blue sky. All planes grounded = no contrails. It was also just an amazing late summer day in Philly. That's what I remember. September is a beautiful month.
|
|
irishpad
Well-Known Member
Joined: Aug 14, 2012 20:42:01 GMT -5
Posts: 1,175
|
Post by irishpad on Aug 5, 2017 10:20:49 GMT -5
Attempted assassinations of President Reagan & John Paul II. Both happened in my senior year of HS, just 6 weeks apart and both happened during school hours so announced while in class. I looked, 1981 so I would have been a junior. Didn't exactly forget this happened, but it didn't even come to mind when I thought of Where were you when... Regan's funeral was more significant to me. I was in about 3rd grade when Watergate was going on. All that was on Network TV was Watergate Trials. Do kids shows. No one we knew had cable or dish then. The day of his resignation is vivid in my mind... I think I was a between 5th & 6th grade. Nixon announced it on Aug. 8 (my dad's 41st birthday) and was stacking straw bales in our barn (it was hot, air very still and the radio was playing) when the top of the hour news announced the resignation was official.
|
|
billisonboard
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 22:45:44 GMT -5
Posts: 37,456
|
Post by billisonboard on Aug 5, 2017 10:27:43 GMT -5
Of course there are a million little individual events that make us who we are today but The Big Event that personally impacted who I am was the shootings at Kent State which took place shortly after I turned 13. My Father was a full-time Air National Guard member. I remember sitting in my parents' bedroom as he changed out of his uniform and listening to him struggle to explain it away. I was thinking to myself that he was not only lying to me but to himself. I wondered what else he had taught me about the world that were lies. It set me up to question everything in my safe little suburban existence.
|
|
Tennesseer
Member Emeritus
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:58:42 GMT -5
Posts: 63,436
|
Post by Tennesseer on Aug 5, 2017 10:28:03 GMT -5
Tying 9/11 to sroo's post, in the past I watched the 9/11 movie with my kids, who have never traveled before it, and they were astounded at the lack of foresight that allowed people to just walk onto plains with weapons, and not contemplate the use of the plane itself as a weapon... 'common sense' is an interesting construct. Was the movie you watched with your kids the TV movie Flight 93? If you have not seen it, I recomment United 93 which was released in movie theaters. It was nominated and won a number of awards. I had not planned on seeing it but curiosity led me to finally do so. A harrowing account of that flight. I recommend watching it.
|
|
GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
Senior Associate
"How you win matters." Ender, Ender's Game
Joined: Jan 2, 2011 13:33:09 GMT -5
Posts: 11,291
|
Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Aug 5, 2017 10:28:25 GMT -5
I'm at the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation, so I've witnessed a ton, maybe too much. I remember all that you have all mentioned, but the following stuck with me the most:
1. My mother sobbing in the living room watching JFK assassination coverage. I was 4. I remember asking why a horse was carrying backward boots and no rider.
2. The daily counts of American soldiers killed that day in the Vietnam War and the new grand total at the start of the evening news.
3. The Watergate hearings. I was in late junior high/early high school, cleaning house for a customer, and she had it playing on the radio and the tv.
4. School integration/desegregation/bussing in Boston, Massachusetts.
5. The Challenger explosion. Christa McAuliffe grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts -- a western suburb of Boston. There is a charter middle school in Framingham now with her name on it. She was a teacher for many years in Maryland, but most notably in Concord, New Hampshire. Florida can try and claim her all they want, but she was only in Florida for the space mission. As for the explosion, like so many, I couldn't immediately fathom what was going on. Was that a booster separating from the shuttle? Was that supposed to happen? Were the astronauts safe and still headed skyward? It took a long time to sink in that she and the others were gone and I remember hoping that their end came swiftly and that they were not conscious as they plummeted back to earth.
6. 9/11. I was a SAHM to a first grader and a kindergartner and the only SAHM in my immediate neighborhood near Hanscom Air Force Base. The kids were in school and I was deep into my morning clean the kitchen/do laundry/etc. morning routine when my husband called and told me to turn the tv on after the first plane hit. As the attacks continued to unfold, our school district decided to close the schools and send the kids home well before noon. Suddenly, I started getting frantic phone calls from neighbors who were either trapped in Boston trying to get home before all public transit was shut down, or stuck in the crush of traffic on the highways as everyone left work to race home. I, alone, met the elementary, middle, and high school buses one by one and shepherded kids into my house as gleefully as I could and fed them lunch and kept the televisons OFF. The older kids knew what was going on, but I immediately warned them not to discuss it in front of the little kids. I think I vaguely explained it as just a surprise early release day and that their parents were on their way to pick them up but were stuck in traffic. I did not believe it was my job to try and explain the day's events to other people's children -- most especially because so much about the attacks was unknown and we weren't sure more weren't planned. So, we played in the yard, we played games, we did homework, we colored, and I dug so very deep down to pretend it was all normal and that we were all as safe as always (when I knew that not to be true at all) even as fighter jets roared by as they took off from Hanscom over and over during the course of the day. Distraught parents arrived one-by-one over the course of the day and picked up their kids and I assured them their children were blissfully unaware, relatively speaking, so that the parents had time to get home and digest the news before speaking to their kids. We then hunkered down ourselves and I went into the Master Bedroom away from my own children to quietly catch up on the news. At the time, we lived in a flight path for both Hanscom and Logan Airport. I, too, remember how beautiful the sky was and how eerily quiet it was. A couple days later, before the air travel ban was lifted, a HUGE Air Force transport plane came into Hanscom and shook us all -- it was so loud and so large in that quiet sky. I remember the younger President George Bush when he so obviously blanched when an aide leaned in to tell him -- while he was reading a book to young school children -- that the U.S. was under attack. He kept it together and continued to read, but it was very clear he was trying to find a way to smoothly wrap up the visit and go get briefed. I remember watching the hordes of people walking out of New York City and the posters and the flyers and the urgent requests for information from worried family members trying to find loved ones who worked in the towers. I remember the digging out and the fire department funerals and the cloud of dust that swallowed lower Manhattan and every one in it. I remember David Letterman returning to his live show a week later, in tears, grief stricken, and trying valiantly to lift our spirits. His musical guest was Five for Fighting who, aptly enough, softly played the piano alone and sang "Superman" to close out the show.
7. I remember Bobby Orr flying through the air scoring the winning goal for the Bruins and John Havlicek stealing the ball to lift the Celtics to victory and the Bulls winning the NBA championship in 1992 the same day I graduated from grad school in Chicago and the city erupting in pure pandemonium and chaos. I remember the Red Sox breaking the curse and, of course, Tom Brady proving that the inflation of the ball has nothing to do with his incredible athletic ability.
I could keep going on...I LOVE current events and politics and world news and, most especially, news stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things...
|
|
Apple
Junior Associate
Always travel with a sense of humor
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 15:51:04 GMT -5
Posts: 9,931
Mini-Profile Name Color: dc0e29
|
Post by Apple on Aug 5, 2017 10:30:01 GMT -5
I looked, 1981 so I would have been a junior. Didn't exactly forget this happened, but it didn't even come to mind when I thought of Where were you when... Regan's funeral was more significant to me. I was in about 3rd grade when Watergate was going on. All that was on Network TV was Watergate Trials. Do kids shows. No one we knew had cable or dish then. The day of his resignation is vivid in my mind... I think I was a between 5th & 6th grade. Nixon announced it on Aug. 8 (my dad's 41st birthday) and was stacking straw bales in our barn (it was hot, air very still and the radio was playing) when the top of the hour news announced the resignation was official. Off topic, but our dads share birthdays! (my dad is a few years younger though)
|
|
bean29
Junior Associate
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 22:26:57 GMT -5
Posts: 9,924
|
Post by bean29 on Aug 5, 2017 10:33:24 GMT -5
Yes Iran Hostages was when I was in HS and Charles & Diana's Wedding-Huge, remember watching it on TV. Also when Diana died I remember I was just getting to end of Maternity Leave for my second child. I remember holding my baby and watching late night TV and crying my heart out.
|
|
JustLurkin
Well-Known Member
This is what you look like right now.
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 5:28:20 GMT -5
Posts: 1,109
|
Post by JustLurkin on Aug 5, 2017 10:48:56 GMT -5
Mitch Synder died while I was in high school ... I understand mental illness and all, but what a F-ing loss to the world.
I was at work-study when John Lewis died, I didn't know anything about politics at the time, and looking at news articles now I see he died one year after I graduated--so maybe I was home for Spring Break or the summer or something--but was definitely at my work-study place, it was the first time I saw grown men openly weep. It was kinda frightening.
Because others have mentioned, I was in kindergarten when Reagan was shot. Was in 6th grade math class when the Challenger exploded. Was at work for both the OJ verdict and 9/11.
|
|
Lizard Queen
Senior Associate
103/2024
Joined: Jan 17, 2011 22:19:13 GMT -5
Posts: 14,659
|
Post by Lizard Queen on Aug 5, 2017 10:54:05 GMT -5
Oh yeah, the royal wedding was huge. And I know 2 people with August 8 birthdays, and I don't know many people at all.
I remember seeing a quick update of the Challenger disaster in school, but think I was probably in JH. For the first launch of the space shuttle, we were seated in front of a large B&W tv in the convent attached to my elementary school at the time.
Stuff like that really didn't affect me as a kid, however. It wasn't until after I graduated that I cared much about what was happening in the country/world. The breaking down of the iron curtain was different because it affected whether or how my family could even see/contact each other.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Apr 26, 2024 1:29:51 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2017 11:18:24 GMT -5
Oklahoma City bombing happened my sophomore year, I remember the TV's in all the classrooms had the news on all day.
OJ was pretty big as well, I remember everyone cheering when the verdict was announced and I just shook my head.
2pac and Biggie dying also was big news.
|
|
swamp
Community Leader
Don't be a fool. Call me!
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 16:03:22 GMT -5
Posts: 45,309
|
Post by swamp on Aug 5, 2017 11:26:18 GMT -5
Reagan shot 5th grade Challenger I was off from school buying skis in Canada. Store got deathly quiet Thurman Munson plane crash. About 7 years old. 9/11. At work. Phone call regarding an estate. Guy sputtered and told me to turn on TV. Turned it on intime to see2nd plane hit.
WTC first time: laws school. People from NYC ready to kill perps because it fucked up public transit
OJ chase. In law school.
|
|
sesfw
Junior Associate
Today is the first day of the rest of my life
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 15:45:17 GMT -5
Posts: 6,268
|
Post by sesfw on Aug 5, 2017 11:40:07 GMT -5
I graduated high school in 1959 and I remember in the summer of 1952 my mother dancing around the room when Eisenhower was nominated for the US Presidency. It was news on the radio.
Our high school had mid-year graduations and I think it was either Jan '57 or Jan '58 that it was announced that Russia had sent a rocket into space. I played in the orchestra so the announcement was made to the audience just before graduation.
Other than that ..... I spent my time in music and la-la land
When JFK was assassinated in '63 I was going to pick up a friend to go shopping. My first reaction was someone was pulling a prank. His death was announced an hour later. The world was in shock and the next thing I knew was a couple of days later when Oswald was killed. Heard it at church.
|
|
|
Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Aug 5, 2017 11:59:17 GMT -5
I was in HS during the country's bicentennial (1976). The summmer Olympics were in Montreal that year and Olga Korbut broke onto the scene.
The Winter Olympics were in Lake Placid in 1980, I was a junior in college that year, and supposed to work them. Instead, I caught the flu and spent 2 weeks flat on my back. We went there to see what was going on (it was about 60 miles from where I lived) and managed to see the Miracle on Ice. I bought 3 tickets from a scalper on the street just before the game started, they thought it was going to be a US bloodbath.
I had just graduated from college when Charles and Diana married. I was working in Lake Placid then, and was late to work that day because I wanted to watch it.
During 9/11, we had just moved into our new lab and were unpacking boxes and listening to the radio. When the news broke, we dug out our new laptops to get them set up on the new wireless asap to see what was going on. I had started my doctorate program and had classes from 3-6 and from 6-9 after work hat night. Most of the class was useless, as we spent the entire time discussing it. Everyone was antsy. When I left for work that morning, the idiot light had gone on on my car and I had driven to work that way. I knew I had to get gas n my way home, but the gas lines were long at my favorite station and others had jacked up the cost of gas $1/gal. I had less than a gallon of gas in my car when I finally got to a gas pump.
|
|
buystoys
Junior Associate
Joined: Mar 30, 2012 4:58:12 GMT -5
Posts: 5,650
|
Post by buystoys on Aug 5, 2017 12:05:42 GMT -5
I was in HS during the country's bicentennial (1976). The summmer Olympics were in Montreal that year and Olga Korbut broke onto the scene. The Winter Olympics were in Lake Placid in 1980, I was a junior in college that year, and supposed to work them. Instead, I caught the flu and spent 2 weeks flat on my back. We went there to see what was going on (it was about 60 miles from where I lived) and managed to see the Miracle on Ice. I bought 3 tickets from a scalper on the street just before the game started, they thought it was going to be a US bloodbath. I had just graduated from college when Charles and Diana married. I was working in Lake Placid then, and was late to work that day because I wanted to watch it. During 9/11, we had just moved into our new lab and were unpacking boxes and listening to the radio. When the news broke, we dug out our new laptops to get them set up on the new wireless asap to see what was going on. I had started my doctorate program and had classes from 3-6 and from 6-9 after work hat night. Most of the class was useless, as we spent the entire time discussing it. Everyone was antsy. When I left for work that morning, the idiot light had gone on on my car and I had driven to work that way. I knew I had to get gas n my way home, but the gas lines were long at my favorite station and others had jacked up the cost of gas $1/gal. I had less than a gallon of gas in my car when I finally got to a gas pump. My dad was working pipeline construction at the time and we had gone to spend a few days with him. I remember we had to pull the hide-a-bed out in his hotel room so we could all have a seat to watch it.
|
|
Regis
Well-Known Member
Joined: Dec 27, 2010 12:26:50 GMT -5
Posts: 1,414
|
Post by Regis on Aug 5, 2017 12:07:42 GMT -5
Startled me for just a second there as the question asked by the OP was "what big event happened while you were in high school"!
|
|