Significant moments like Challenger

[GreenTechGuy]

My girlfriend is a bit younger than i, she's 20, We were watching modern marvels tonight and they had a special on candy. During one of the breaks the little tidbit info they said was that in 1983 Reagan had Jelly Bellys put on the challenger as a surprise for the astronauts. I said something like "thats a bit ironic" she had no clue so thanks to youtube i was able to show her what Challenger was.
This got me thinking the events that had the most impact on the public were obviously Challenger along with JFK shooting, John lennon shooting and 9/11. Would these be the most tragic moments of our last 50 years? I was simply trying to share some history with my girl, am i missing any really significant ones?

[kareemthedream33]

Moon landing was huge. Those are significant "moments" but many important issues were sort of drawn out. Vietnam war, cold war, Cuban misile crisis, etc. I'm even too young to really remember it fully but Kurt Kobain's death was a massive deal among youths.

[ParisDakarBmw]

Berlin wall

[ducatidoc]

Temporal frame of reference is important... my mother will still say Pearl Harbor was the event she remembers most. Me, I'd say JFK shooting (2 days off school in 1st grade), Beatles on Ed Sullivan for the first time, Vietnam, man on moon, Nixon resigning, all the things that happened as I was growing up. Later things, like Challenger, Berlin Wall, even 9/11 don't have quite the same effect on me as they would have on a younger person.

As an aside, I was exchanging posts with Ashley on my other forum today. She is all of 21, of course. I was amazed that somebody mentioned Eleanor Rigby, and she didn't even know what they were talking about. Talk about a temporal reality check ! She googled the lyrics and announced that they sounded ominous. She had never heard the song. I had to post a YouTube clip for her to hear it. Amazing !

[toph]

Berlin wall, man on moon. a few
BUT way out ahead of them all in my opinion is the discovery of how to, use, track and compare DNA

[ducatidoc]

Originally Posted by toph

Berlin wall, man on moon. a few
BUT way out ahead of them all in my opinion is the discovery of how to, use, track and compare DNA

That's a whole different issue. Not so much an event, but an advancement that has profound benefits as well as risks. Others in recent memory along those lines are discovery of antibiotics and development of atomic bombs/atomic energy and computers, for example.

[GreenTechGuy]

Originally Posted by kareemthedream33

Moon landing was huge. Those are significant "moments" but many important issues were sort of drawn out. Vietnam war, cold war, Cuban misile crisis, etc. I'm even too young to really remember it fully but Kurt Kobain's death was a massive deal among youths.

yes those were mega moments in history but those to me were not moments as much as "times" if that makes sense. I don't think kurt cobain is a blip on the radar in comparison just my opinion, drugged out guy shooting himself just doesnt register as tragic moment in US history, but i do remember it nonetheless and i almost remember the girls name that was with him at the time.

[GradyPhilpott]

9/11 would have to rank up there somewhere.

The Marine Barracks bombing in Lebanon.

The 1968 Tet offensive.

The fall of Saigon.

Unabomb

Watergate/Nixon resignation

Katrina and other major hurricanes to make landfall.

Rodney King riots

Jonestown

Iran coups and seizure of the US Embassy.

[Frogman4me]

The creation of TRF which lead to multiple rolex addictions.

[Ebruner]

Oklahoma City bombing, It had a profound impact on my view of what true evil is.

[rkrdr]

the passing of Elvis Presley and John Wayne, two American icons.

[rkrdr]

double post...

[joeychitwood]

Three moments in time that seemed to stop the world in my memory:

1) JFK assassination. I remember my mom and dad crying, something I had never seen before, and it scared me.
2) Shuttle Challenger exploding. Our belief in "technological infallibility" died.
3) The 9/11 attacks on the WTC. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

[BigMac53]

as a 25 year old, some things that come to mind right away are:

Oaklahoma City Bombing
First Gulf War
Sept 11th
First WTC bombing
OJ trial
Columbine
Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
Mandela Election
Bosnian War
LA Riots
Clinton Scandal
Princess Diana's death
TWA flight 800


just a couple that jump out right off the bat. A couple of these events did not directly impact my life as I was pretty young when they happened, but I definitley remember the media coverage and my parents following many of the events closely. There are many more important world events that I remember during my lifetime, but as I said, these few came to mind almost immediately.

[daveathall]

Boxing day Tsunami, approx 230,000 dead.

Warrenpoint massacre.

Aberfan disaster, the death of so many children was a shock for me, even as a child.

I also remember watching the TV, in horror as two British soldiers were dragged from their car and then murdered when they accidentally drove close to an IRA
funeral.

Zeebrugge disaster.

Hillsborough disaster.

Dunblane massacre.

Bhopal gas/chemical disaster.

[Timber Loftis]

Ok, so I was in 8th grade sitting with my class watching the Challenger footage. It was crazy, and we were so shocked.

But how come Columbia isn't as important? The last shuttle missions had their operations significantly changed by the lessons learned from Columbia.

And to harken back a bit further, I remember being in grade school when Columbia first took flight.

Side note on Curt Kobain: The funny bit in his story is the horrible irony that he became the pop icon he hated and wrote songs about hating. Couldn't handle that, so he ate a gun.

[Brunotheboxer]

Since everything else has been covered I remember the day when Magic Johnson said he had the aids. We all thought he was gonna die right away.

[Timber Loftis]

No mention of Chernobyl yet?

[Timber Loftis]

Oh, and if you read this thread quickly it sounds like we're bandying about ideas for rewriting and updating the song "We Didn't Start the Fire."

[Route 66]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

Three moments in time that seemed to stop the world in my memory:

1) JFK assassination. I remember my mom and dad crying, something I had never seen before, and it scared me.
2) Shuttle Challenger exploding. Our belief in "technological infallibility" died.
3) The 9/11 attacks on the WTC. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

These are the three that I lived through and were the most significant in my lifetime.

I would have to rank them:

1. The JFK assassination

2. 911

3. The Challenger exploding

[mtrunner]

Originally Posted by BigMac53

as a 25 year old, some things that come to mind right away are:

Oaklahoma City Bombing
First Gulf War
Sept 11th
First WTC bombing
OJ trial
Columbine
Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster
Mandela Election
Bosnian War
LA Riots
Clinton Scandal
Princess Diana's death
TWA flight 800


just a couple that jump out right off the bat. A couple of these events did not directly impact my life as I was pretty young when they happened, but I definitley remember the media coverage and my parents following many of the events closely. There are many more important world events that I remember during my lifetime, but as I said, these few came to mind almost immediately.

Excellent list. These are all things I remember vividly as well. I remember the first gulf war extremely well because I was going to be a senior in high school and all I kept thinking is if this war lasted for an extended time there might be a draft and I was in a prime position to be drafted.