What’s the first major news story you remember?

[Brandon]

7 hours ago, Jason said:

Wow! Didn’t realize there were so many old folks here. For me it was the inauguration of Reagan as my parents took me to it in person 

Yeah, I kept reading and waiting to see someone post about having a courier pigeon deliver news about the annexation of Texas.

[Stradling]

11 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Yeah, I kept reading and waiting to see someone post about having a courier pigeon deliver news about the annexation of Texas.

AIR doesn’t post much anymore, neither does VG.

[Brandon]

Just now, Stradling said:

AIR doesn’t post much anymore, neither does VG.

Well done.

[Lou]

I remember Claude insisting the Yankees were only using Cole to drive up the price for everyone else.

[Taylor]

14 minutes ago, Stradling said:

AIR doesn’t post much anymore, neither does VG.

I wonder if anyone's first big news story was when VG "died."

[Sully151]

The murder of John Lennon. I was 7. 

[NJHalo]

I remember my father waking me up to see Nixon resign on TV. 

[Lhalo]

On 8/15/2020 at 12:47 PM, Vegas Halo Fan said:

The Cuban missile crisis. I lived in Florida and had a father in the military. I only  found out years later how serious it was.

[Homebrewer]

On 8/15/2020 at 11:55 AM, Jason said:

Wow! Didn’t realize there were so many old folks here. For me it was the inauguration of Reagan as my parents took me to it in person 

Yeah, you youngsters should show some respect, damn it.

[DCAngelsFan]

On 8/14/2020 at 1:19 AM, Tank said:

For me it was ML Kings assassination (April) followed two months later by RFKs assassination (June). I was 8 at the time.

Hmm, curiously, I'd also say the RFK assassination - I remember it clearly 'cause of the irony - I was probably trying to watch cartoons on tv when the Special Reports broke in - I remember calling out to my mom telling her "Someone shot Kennedy" - and from the other room, she kinda laughed and said "Oh, no,  that happened years ago."

I could see it right in front of me - but didn't want to correct her., 'cause I knew she liked him.   I just turned the volume up so she could hear for herself, eventually.  

Kind of like the Challenger - we heard it at work, and I went to tell a couple of guys about it, and I  - but I found I couldn't break in to their conversation to tell them.  Finally, I just turned on someone's radio,  turned it to the news station, and let them hear it themselves. 

That's one of those things that hit shockingly hard.  

[Jason]

44 minutes ago, Homebrewer said:

Yeah, you youngsters should show some respect, damn it.

Lol! It’s just that many here were adults before I was even sperm 

[Kevin]

I was born in '85 and grew up in the East Bay so I vaguely remember the '89 earthquake. Desert storm a little bit but not enough to make a lasting impression.

The first one that did stick with me was our soldiers being dragged around in the streets of Somalia being all over the news.

 

[Tank]

1 hour ago, DCAngelsFan said:

Kind of like the Challenger - we heard it at work, and I went to tell a couple of guys about it, and I  - but I found I couldn't break in to their conversation to tell them.  Finally, I just turned on someone's radio,  turned it to the news station, and let them hear it themselves. 

reminds me of when magic johnson announced his retirement because of HIV. it was parent-teacher conference day at school, and i was meeting with a family i'd known for a long time, and knew they were lakers fans. told them the news and they couldn't believe it. jaws dropped open and were in total disbelief.

oh, and during the conference, the dad farted, a real loud one too. just making an unforgettable day that much more unforgettable.

[Taylor]

3 minutes ago, Tank said:

oh, and during the conference, the dad farted, a real loud one too. just making an unforgettable day that much more unforgettable.

I didn't know you taught st1ckboy.

[Brandon]

14 minutes ago, Tank said:

reminds me of when magic johnson announced his retirement because of HIV. it was parent-teacher conference day at school, and i was meeting with a family i'd known for a long time, and knew they were lakers fans. told them the news and they couldn't believe it. jaws dropped open and were in total disbelief.

oh, and during the conference, the dad farted, a real loud one too. just making an unforgettable day that much more unforgettable.

I was going to mention this one but wasn't sure if it was the first memory, but it was the first one I thought of and the first impact on me as a kid.

There was no internet or 24 hour sports shows. I was walking home from school with my cousins. And one of their neighbors at the end of the street named Chris Potter ran up to us to walk the rest of the way and says, "Did you hear about Magic Johnson? He has AIDS!"

I remember walking to their house the rest of the way completely dejected and a bit messed up as he was my favorite athlete. Back then, AIDS/HIV meant you were either gay or did drugs with needles. As a kid I couldn't comprehend it or make sense of it. My favorite basketball player is leaving because he has AIDS?

That walk home was one I'll never forget. And the funny thing is because of no internet or social media I just had to take the dude at his word. I think once I got home I saw the press conference. I didn't think he was gay or did drugs to which for a majority of people they saw it and realized someone doesn't need to be gay or share needles to get HIV.

Just a moment I won't forget when he said it. I was too dumb about the Challenger and Desert Storm. But this one I completely understood. If the question was posed as most impactful first story one heard, it might be this.

[Tank]

43 minutes ago, Taylor said:

I didn't know you taught st1ckboy.

having him in class was like having chevron build a refinery right in the middle of my room.

[Homebrewer]

As a child I remember being given the polio vaccine for a deadly disease and in the same week, being taught how to hide under my desk at school because there was a bomb coming that would melt everyone down to goo.
and then they wondered why Nancy's " Just Say No" program failed..

[fan_since79]

Old person here. The Cuban Missile Crisis. My Mom was worried, the teachers were worried, but us kids didn't comprehend the danger. I was living in Philadelphia at the time and the whole east coast would have had only a few minutes warning in case of an attack.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 8/15/2020 at 7:29 PM, Stradling said:

For me it is Elvis dying.

I was on my way in to pick up my final paycheck from a summer job when this news broke.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

10 hours ago, Lhalo said:

Fallout shelters were big business back then.

[Stradling]

3 minutes ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

I was on my way in to pick up my final paycheck from a summer job when this news broke.

I was 5 or so when he died.  It was a rainy day in August in Garden Grove. 

[Brandon]

Ha, I remember when we had to do the whole "duck and cover" shit here in CA because of the earthquake fear. We even had to create and bring to school and store "earthquake kits" that were basically brown paper bags with some bandages and some canned beans and weenies. 

[Blarg]

On 8/14/2020 at 10:41 AM, Tank said:

i was in 8th grade when she was kidnapped, and my history teacher had us do an ongoing project where we had to read the news each day. I was riveted by her story, especially the shootout in south central LA.

The SLA BBQ? Yeah, I was 15 at the time and painting the hull of my dad's new Choey Lee sailboat in Long Beach. I had no idea it was going on and didn't hear about until we drove home and heard it on news radio. 

[Blarg]

On 8/14/2020 at 7:44 PM, AngelsLakersFan said:

This will blow your mind, I never watched the Simpson growing up.

I was reading Groening's Life in Hell comic strip in the LA Free Press before he started the Simpsons on the Tracy Ullman show. 

Someone put this up in the Machine Room at The Post Group and people wrote in the names of employees that fit the description. For many it was not well received.

[Homebrewer]

20 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

I was on my way in to pick up my final paycheck from a summer job when this news broke.

 

On 8/15/2020 at 7:29 PM, Stradling said:

For me it is Elvis dying.     

I read the other day, that he died 43 years ago ...at age 42. So he's been dead longer than he was alive.