I confess: I've always been a news junkie. Even as a kid, I was big into knowing what was going on. Probably the earliest news memories were watching the 6PM news and hearing the casuality totals for the day from Vietnam. I remember seeing the rioting after Martin Luther King was killed. I watched the 1972 Winter Olympics from Sapporo Japan. In high school, I was right on top of Watergate. (By then I was doing Current Events Extemporaneous Speech every Saturday morning, so it came kind of naturally.) I vividly remember watching with amazement as the Saturday Night Massacre unfolded, and wondering about the identity of Deep Throat. And I was always amazed at the coincidence of a night watchman finding a taped lock could bring down a presidency. (Last night at dinner, Brian asked why President Nixon resigned. That prompted a quick review of Watergate, and probably this thread.) Shortly thereafter, there was Patty Hearst and the debate over whether or not she had been brainwashed. I remember watching the 1980 Dream Team win at hockey, and in college bringing my radio to the beach, not for pop music, but for Iran Contra hearnings. It's great to see my own son showing such an interest in history, and the corresponding interest in current events.
Alice, in my class I've started a weekly current events sharing called 'Tuesday Newsday'...4 kids each week research a news article of their choice. There are many online kid-friendly news sites...the kids identify the 5 Ws and H, summarize the article and write a few sentences about their own thoughts on the article. On Tuesday, the kids present their article summaries. There's definitely a buzz of current events excitement in my room on 'news day'.
Not most important, but I believe the most buzzed about "current event" of my youth was OJ Simpson's trial. I was in middle school and remember being completely fascinated by it all. I also do a current events activity in my class and I love it, as do the students. I love Channel One news for my students.
I remember in 1982 or 83, 20/20 aired a special on AIDS. It was still very misunderstood. It was terrifying, I was in 3rd grade.
From a life long history nerd and teacher I love your passion. I love that Brian is interested in History! If you ever need anything to interest him, please let me know.
JustMe~we must be around the same age because I remember OJ's trial being a big deal. The Challenger exploding when I was 5. The basketball dream team winning the Olympics. 9/11 of course. Clinton's sex scandal.
My earliest memory is of my dad coming up the stairs (we lived above the bank where he worked) to tell Mom that Kennedy had been shot. I remember watching Armstrong walk on the moon; sitting on the floor of the staff room at school watching Canada defeat the Soviets in game 7 of the Summit Series ; hearing that Terry Fox had been forced to abandon his run across the country.
I was an 80-'s child--I remember being confused about Iran-Contra. I remember Ollie North and of course, the space shuttle. I had been enamored with the fact that a teacher was going into space! To me, that meant that it was open to anyone and everyone! I watched for days as they covered the explosion. The shooting of President Reagan was scary to me. I didn't understand why someone would want to kill a President. I remember my mom crying over John Lennon being killed. Was that the 80's? Mt St Helens erupting was amazing to me. I was glued to the set! Princess Dianna marrying Charles was my fantasy. I reenacted that wedding, with myself as the princess and Bo Duke as the prince, many many times! I remember the night we bombed Baghdad for invading Kuwait. It was on CNN and they had 3 reporters in a hotel who were terrified while they were reporting! I was stunned by the kids in China at Tianenmen (sp) Square. I am still stunned by their bravery! I was terrified by the Tylenol tampering. It seems so long ago and yet, just yesterday. Our news today seems so constantly full of the "big" things--war, murders, terror.
Yep, you're one year older. Yes, the Clinton sex scandal was big. Michael Jackson's ordeal. Princess Di being killed. The Oklhahoma City bombing. The Gulf War. Columbine and other school shootings...I was in high school when the need to create "intruder plans" was first heard of, at least in my parts. Oh, and JonBenét Ramsey's sad murder. That was another one I was very interested in.
Along with what those my age have mentioned, I remember Ryan White (young man with AIDS from a blood transfusion). His struggle, the discrimination and everything was mind blowing to a little girl like me living such a wonderful, stress free home life. I remember when he died and he had on Michael Jackson's glove or was it shades? or something for his burial. MJ was at the funeral.
Besides what the other late 70's/80's events that have been mentioned: SNOW in Miami! It made international headlines on January 19, 1977.
Let's see, I remember: Carter beating Ford in the presidential election (this is my earliest TV viewing memory) The Iran Hostage Crisis Elvis and Jim Morrison's deaths being taken very badly by my friend's older sisters Regan being shot Pope John Paul II being shot The first flight of Space Shuttle Columbia I'm sure there are a ton more, but I'm only stretching back to when I was nine and earlier.
The one that I remember most was the Jonestown murder/suicides. All those people drinking the poisoned kool-aid. It shooke me to my core to think that one person could cause all that death.
All of this, for me. We must be about the same age as well. I remember being in 3rd grade and going to the library as a class to watch the news with the OKC bombings happened. And then I was in high school when 9/11 happened. JFK, Jr.'s death I remember as well -- *ETA: The Columbia disaster. I was a freshman, maybe, and we had been at an academic meet that day, and we were driving through East Texas as the debris fell all over the area. We didn't know what had happened, but realized later we had seen some of it.
Mine are pretty much the same as JustMe and smalltowngal, although they're both a few years older than me so I was young when those things happened. The only thing I can remember the exact day/what I was doing is 9/11. I was in 8th grade, 3rd bell, and the principal came over the intercom and told the teachers to turn the tv's on. We watched the news all day.
I remember John F Kennedy Robert "Bobby" Kennedy Chappaquiddick Island Bay of Pigs Cuban Missile crises King, Martin Luther, Jr. Woodstock Apollo I Neal Armstrong "...one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind." Kent State Nixon's Resigning the Beatles Elvis Richie Cunningham Three Mile Island Chernobyl The Berlin Wall being built and the Wall coming down "The Day the Music Died"---the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper Vietnam Vietnam P.O.W.'s return home 1965 New York City Blackout Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe The John Powers and the U-2 crisis Chicago Democratic Convention
My mom was very pregnant with my youngest sister. (The blackout was in November, and my sister was born in December.) Dad was stuck in NYC, where he was lucky enough to get a hotel room with a couple of other guys he worked with... the hotel rooms were snapped up instantly as people realized they were stuck in the city overnight. Our house had a fireplace, and mom gathered the 4 of us kids into the living room in sleeping bags. Johnny Johnson from across the street, who was probably about 16 at the time, spent the night in case mom went into labor and needed to summon help. I remember it as a big slumber party, watching the flames of the fireplace as I drifted off to sleep.
I grew up out in the country-we hade 3 channels (cable hadn't made it out there yet and this was the '80's). I confess I really did not follow much in current events. Someone had to explain the difference between republican and democrat to me before I first voted (imagine my surprise to find out my parents were republicans). We just seemed very far removed from what was happening in the "big cities". When I went to college and started taking courses in poli sci, etc. I started to follow it more. Now I can converse on the subject fluently. I was thinking the other day how there is so much more info out there now-these kids really don't have an excuse-24 hours news channels, etc. Even my 1st Graders will ask me if I saw the news last night because they want to talk about something that happened.
Around 4 years old (1966) I remember becoming aware of the Vietnam war and being really worried Santa was going to get shot down over Hanoi or taken out by a sniper on a Da Nang rooftop. At 6 I got really freaked out over the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. I really liked him because his hair was longer than LBJ, Nixon, or Humphrey.
I remember most of the events mentioned. I also remember the Kennedy-Nixon TV debate. Although I was too young to care, I remember our neighbor sending my mom a 'crying towel' after it was over. I remember the 1967 Detroit riots. My dad was a cop in Detroit, and he was gone for days during the riots.
Well, one of my earliest memories is the yellow ribbons from the First Gulf War...also the Bronco chase and the O.J trial...I too remember where I was when I heard the news about Princess Diana. The Capitol shootings in 1998 also stick out in my mind because we had just went on vacation to D.C. the week before..9/11 is probably the most vivid..I was a sophomore in high school taking the ISTEP when the planes hit.
Oh I do remember that too. Very sad. I was home from college for the summer during the Bronco chase-I had just come home from watching the movie Speed and wondered if it was continuing on t.v.
One of my earliest memories is making patriotic crafts in our kindergarten class during the Gulf War. I also remember watching the troops come home on the news. I was cleaning my bedroom and had the news on in the background when the Columbia disaster happened. I remember my great uncle telling us about Diana--we had been busy and hadn't heard the news. I also remember the 1992 election, and vividly remember our "mock election" we had at school.
--Winston Churchill's death, as well as JFK, MLK, and Bobby Kennedy --Vietnam--the draft, the protests --Charles Manson and his followers --First man on the moon --Watergate and Nixon's resignation --'72 Dolphins --Lucy and Desi's divorce --Len Bias --Condredge Holloway, first black QB in the SEC --George Wallace --Kent State --Flower children and communes --
