Dillards 28: A Walk Down Memory Lane

[Chickenbutt]

59 minutes ago, FJismyheadship said:

The first news story I remember was a mother killing her children. Thought maybe it was Andrea Yates, but the years don't match up.. I was younger. 

Then I remember Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

Susan Smith? October 1994.

[EmmyJay]

My first real memory of a current event was the Columbine shooting, which was a big deal because I live in Colorado. My mom wasn't happy sending me too school for the next while. Mostly I'm miffed about it making a huge deal about bullying ( not that having ways to deal with bullying is a bad thing) because those two kids where horribly mentally ill and I wish they could've gotten real help.

People I've talked to who were in high school at the time vs young elementary like I was, often talked about schools becoming ridiculous towards anyone who was in anyway alternative.

[send*the*ferrets]

59 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

I vaguely remember the 96 Olympics in Atlanta, I do remember Donovan Bailey winning the gold meal in the 100m. I was obsessed with speed skating after the 98 Olympics in Nagano, Catriona Le May Doan was my hero for so long. The Winter Olympics have always interested me more than the Summer ones but I did love Rio.  

The Atlanta Olympics had the bomb or bomb threat, right? I don't remember the olympics, but I remember a back pack bomb. 

[Georgiana]

12 minutes ago, send*the*ferrets said:

The Atlanta Olympics had the bomb or bomb threat, right? I don't remember the olympics, but I remember a back pack bomb. 

They had that weirdo mascot, I can tell you that.  

[Exposedknees]

My first memory of "news" was my Mom watching the Watergate hearings. I was annoyed because the after school cartoons weren't on, and she was monopolizing the TV.

[JordynDarby5]

I remember watching the fall of Berlin Wall too. I remember the disbelief at first. That this really wasn't happening. People really weren't crossing.  Then crying as they were hugging and so excited and happy for them. I also remember being afraid for them. What was the response from Soviet Union/Russia going to be? I remember my dad pacing and telling us not to get too excited because any minute they were going to show up. Reminding us how it always went. They crushed all of the others and they would probably crush this one too.  I remember the complete surprise when that didn't happen. Being so happy for all those people and crying. Families reuniting for the first time in so long. Watching them destroying the wall.  Every time I see it since then I cry. It just makes me so happy. It was my earliest memory of something good happening.

[mpheels]

24 minutes ago, send*the*ferrets said:

The Atlanta Olympics had the bomb or bomb threat, right? I don't remember the olympics, but I remember a back pack bomb. 

A bomb went off during the closing ceremony - one person killed by the bomb and a second died of a heart attack (attributed to the bombing). The police initially suspected a security guard - they publicly identified him, and the media treated him pretty terribly. The actual perpetrator was Eric Rudolph, who had also bombed abortion clinics as a lesbian night club in the region.

[singsingsing]

I remember being in my very early teens and realizing one day that I was already alive when the Berlin Wall came down. I was blown away because it had always seemed like an historical event to me. I imagine that might be how people born around the turn of the millennium feel about 9/11. Are there any 18- or 19-year-olds here who want to chime in?

 

[nst]

 I remember being a child and the Day after was on and I wasn't allowed to watch it 

and then I remember the movie Surviving with Zach Galligan and Molly Ringwald who played teens who wanted to commit suicide - again I wasn't allowed to watch it - meanwhile I found it on you tube and watched it like last week and it was stupid 

Pop culture was a thing 

All those other things I mentioned in the previous thread i was a full blown adult  opposed to Reagen when I was still a child 

 

 

[HumbleJillyMuffin]

8 hours ago, Destiny said:

Are you me? Cos I was super obsessed with being a gymnast after those olympics too - fortunately an obvious severe lack of talent talked me out of it instead of my parents having to. I still remember her winning the gold; it's my only clear memory from those games. Of course, as soon as her wheaties box came out, I wanted to get that too, even though I didn't like Wheaties. They got me the cereal, then I had to actually eat it, which sucked, but I saved that box for YEARS.

Oh my goodness, me too! And I had the haircut too. I'm a huge fan of elite gymnastics but I really appreciate and enjoy the NCAA women's gymnastics as well, and it always makes me feel old when they make a big deal about McKenna Kelley from LSU being Mary Lou Retton's daughter. Especially when they show Mary Lou in the audience, cheering for LSU with that trademark grin on her face. 

[Destiny]

3 hours ago, jerkit said:

I was super obsessed with the 96 Atlanta gymnasts. I was 8 and I remember being on vacation with my mom and her best friend. We were staying in a condo on the beach and we would stay up late to watch them compete. 

I was too, though I was way older lol. That was one of my all time favorite meets. They all contributed in unique ways to something special. :-D

[send*the*ferrets]

13 minutes ago, mpheels said:

A bomb went off during the closing ceremony - one person killed by the bomb and a second died of a heart attack (attributed to the bombing). The police initially suspected a security guard - they publicly identified him, and the media treated him pretty terribly. The actual perpetrator was Eric Rudolph, who had also bombed abortion clinics as a lesbian night club in the region.

We went camping in Michigan that summer and then drove up into Canada and back to our home (Missouri)- I remember listening to it on the radio. That was also the summer my mom was selected for a jury for a murder trial- she would change the station constantly to avoid the news! 

[Million Children For Jesus]

I remember Reagan getting shot in 1981 when I was 6 years old. Next, I remember Paul McCartney getting busted with cocaine at an airport and I cried to my dad, "They're obviously wrong, musicians would never do that! Musicians, teachers, and politicians don't do things like that!" He got a big stupid grin, and I was so mad because all I wanted was for him to agree with me. That's when I decided I hated the Beatles and I would only love Willie Nelson because he didn't do drugs. Not kidding. Again, Dad said nothing.

I remember being very passionate about the 1984 election, Reagan again. My teachers brainwashed the whole class to love Reagan. Affluent white neighborhood and all. I watched the Challenger blow up on TV while I was at school, and then my dad got investigated because he made some of the parts. It was awful. We were so relieved when they determined he had nothing to do with it.

 

[BabyBottlePop]

My earliest news memory is Princess Diana dying. I don't think I knew who she was before that, but I saw the flowers and cards in front of Buckingham Palace on the tv. I made a little card/sign and stuck it in our front garden.

[Palimpsest]

Earliest political memory:  Probably where I was when I heard JFK had been assassinated.  My American friend was in floods of tears and I was a bit confused as to why.

Not mentioned yet, the Human Rights (or Black Power) salute at the 1968 Olympics. Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos had enormous guts.

The 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.  No-one believed that there would ever be a terrorist attack at the Olympics.  

[mpheels]

2 minutes ago, send*the*ferrets said:

We went camping in Michigan that summer and then drove up into Canada and back to our home (Missouri)- I remember listening to it on the radio. That was also the summer my mom was selected for a jury for a murder trial- she would change the station constantly to avoid the news! 

I was a summer camp that week - very limited TV, so we didn't watch the closing ceremony. The next morning, a group of us piled into one of the camp buses and our counselor drove us to the beach to watch the sunrise (it was a marine science camp with a heavy fieldwork component - field trips to watch the sunrise on the last morning of camp were traditional). The counselor turned on the radio as we started heading back to camp, and that's when we heard the news.

[season of life]

17 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

I remember being in my very early teens and realizing one day that I was already alive when the Berlin Wall came down. I was blown away because it had always seemed like an historical event to me. I imagine that might be how people born around the turn of the millennium feel about 9/11. Are there any 18- or 19-year-olds here who want to chime in?

 

I'm 19 going on 20 in October and it's so difficult to relate to people reliving their memories during the OJ trial or the deaths of significant political figures because I was not around. I can only read about the reactions through other people or the news. 

Personally I am weirded out by the idea that there are kids who were born AFTER 9/11 and were not alive when it happened. 

[formergothardite]

Speaking of fake memories, I swear I remember this old church lady dying and going to her funeral, but apparently she is still alive and kicking. This came up when my mom mentioned visiting her and we got into a debate on if she had died. Clearly my mom won that one since she just visited her, but I remember going to her funeral! I must have mixed her up with another old church lady. 

The Susan Smith incident was terrible. It was awful thinking about what the last moments for those children were like. 

[Pasta]

I just realized that the US government had shut down twice in my life. Very interesting

[Jaedzia]

My first news memory was the ending of the Iran hostage crisis. I had just turned ten. My father made some comment about Iran knew to let go of the hostages because they were about to have to deal with Reagan. He also said something about a feather in President Carter's cap. We didn't have a TV in the house for most of the 70s. I was raised fundie lite. I was extremely sheltered in the 70s. 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

UGH, I'm so old!  The 1st news story I remember was when Reagan got shot in 81(?) I was in 5th grade at time, and they announced it over the loud speakers. I don't remember much after that, I was only only 10. The 1st news story I really remember paying attention to was the 1986 explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger, when I was 15. 

[Mrs. Figg]

9 hours ago, WhatWouldJohnCrichtonDo? said:

Ooh, the '84 LA Olympics were totally awesome! Really good opening and closing ceremonies.

I was also 5/6 during the '84 Olympics. I remember standing in the rain in my tiny town watching the torch runner go through!  It was really awesome. And wet. 

[LawsonBatesEgo]

My birthday is September 12, but with the time difference in Australia, it means September 11 commemorations are usually all over the news. I've actually had people tell me I shouldn't celebrate my birthday because it is disrespectful. It annoys me because you can be aware of something sad that has happened, but at the end of the day, as blunt as it sounds, life goes on. You can pull up something bad that happened on every day of the year, September 11 is just (rightfully but still) a very well known one. You can't let it stop people continuing to live their lives. 

[SorenaJ]

My earliest news memory is the birth of Prince Nikolai of Denmark when I was 4. After that, probably 9/11. 

[smittykins]

I have vague memories of watching the news coverage of the plane crash that killed Jim Croce(I remember seeing the wreckage)in 1973; I had just turned 7.  I've always been a fan of his music.