One day when I was 7yo, my mother sat me down in front of our little b/w TV, and said “Watch this. It’s something you’ll always remember.” It was the coronation of Elizabeth II, on June 2, 1953. I remember her riding through London in that hideous gold coach, and the throngs of cheering people. Decades later, while visiting London, I saw that gold coronation coach. Yes, it’s hideous. Victoria had refused to ride in it.
I may possibly remember watching one of the 1952 presidential conventions, but it was probably in 1956.
What’s the earliest national/international event you remember?
The death of Pope John Paul I. Yes, the one that died after just a month and the subsequent election of Pope John Paul II. I have memories of Saturday morning cartoons being postponed and the endless hours of tv cameras showing that damn chimney and waiting for the color of the smoke to change!
JFK’s funeral. My parents were watching it on TV with the drapes closed, because it was a sunny day that would have made it difficult to see the picture on our black and white TV.
I didn’t know what had happened, just got a sense of sadness and importance.
Plus, I was hungry in the kitchen and mom wasn’t coming to get me something to eat, so I knew it was important.
The 1980 Presidential election, only because I remember kids on the bus talking about who their parents were going to vote for. I was 7 or 8.
The release of Star Wars would count, if any pop culture moments would count, but I don’t remember seeing it in the theater: I only remember standing in line outside the theater. But I know that I saw it some time between 4 and 7 because we saw it in a drive-in theater when I was 7 or so and I remember it not being new to me. My younger brother on the other hand did not remember that experience because when he saw the remastered film when it was re-released a couple decades ago he said it felt totally new to him.
I’m going to say Eisenhower’s funeral. And it wasn’t something I remember from TV… I remember that the funeral train was going to pass nearby on it’s way back to Abilene, and mom and dad took us kids out to the train tracks to watch the train go by.
Churchill’s funeral was earlier, but I don’t remember it directly, only by association. Mom was watching the funeral on TV and was not paying enough attention to her two young pre-schoolers. My older brother had gotten ahold of mom’s cigarette lighter and we were hiding under the bed playing with it, and my brother managed to catch the bed on fire. I don’t remember Churchill’s funeral but I do remember that!
Same here. I was in first grade at the time. I remember an announcement and getting to go home early. I was happy because my school closed for a couple of days, then disappointed because there was nothing good on TV, just boring news and funeral coverage. I was six, I didn’t really get it.
JFK and even before the funeral. My family was a sort of Catholic (RO-OR and Roman as well) but Dad hated the guy right up to the moment the bullet hit. And I remember vividly the switch in tone and all around the house about him. That more than the somber nature is what struck my young mind as a clue that this was a monumental event in the course of my life. We may have all had various opinions until then but after ---------- we all had to grieve.
I have a very vague memory of the 1944 election–mainly because my school was used as polling station while school was in session. I remember people outside the school yard holding banners (inside would have been illegal). But my first really clear memory came 5 months later when FDR died. My parents were devastated. By that time I was past 8. Then in quick succession came VE day, the atomic bombing of Japan, and VJ day, all momentous events.
I wasn’t four yet, but I remember the Watergate hearings on tv. I had no idea what they were about, but they came on right after Captain Kangaroo which meant it was the end of tv time.
At that time my mother was still working and I spent my weekdays at my great aunt’s house. She had a fat spoiled tabby cat that was used to being the baby of the family and took great exception to my presence. When the Watergate hearings came on tv that was when I played with the cat. One time I got a giant scratch across my face for my efforts. A tiny bit of that scratch has left a residual scar hidden in my right eyebrow.
Another one of Richard Nixon’s high crimes and misdemeanours.
After Watergate, I remember a few tv events, the 1974 election in Canada, the fall of Saigon, the election of Jimmy Carter, but nothing really on a day to day basis until in 1977 we moved to a one t.v channel town and I became a news consumer.
The Iran hostage crisis, specifically the hostages returning home. I remember seeing footage on TV of their return and my not quite six year old self thought the hostages had been held prisoner on the plane the entire time.
For me it was the Watergate hearings as well. I became fascinated, which led to my lifelong interest in politics.
I do have a memory of being served Tang in school because of a moon landing, but at the time, I didn’t have any association with the actual event, I just remember the Tang.
I think for me, it was when the Berlin Wall fell. I remember seeing news footage of people climbing on top of it and thinking how amazing it was. I’m old enough that I should be able to remember the Challenger disaster, but I have no memory of it. We didn’t watch it on TV like so many other schools did.