# What was the most newsworthy event to happen in your county (or equivalent) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119 "2014-08-08T19:33:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/1 "2014-08-08T19:33:18Z")
Just like the title says. I’m sure those of you that live in big urban areas like NYC or LA will have trouble coming up with a “most” but many of us live away from those areas. What happened in the history of your area that got national coverage, international coverage, or in the history books? I currently live in Hunterdon County New Jersey. I would say it’s pretty clear that the number one news story in the history of the county is the Lindbergh kidnapping and the subsequent Bruno Hauptmann trial. Easily the crime and trial of the century. Probably the first large scale modern media circus. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/2 "2014-08-08T20:02:11Z")
[The attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Jordan) ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/3 "2014-08-08T20:09:07Z")
I’m in LA. The first things that came to mind were the major quakes, OJ and the two riots. But perhaps the biggest national/international story here would be [the assasination of Robert Kennedy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Robert_F._Kennedy). ---
**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/4 "2014-08-08T20:13:15Z")
Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The American Revolutionary War started here, which was probably all over CNN back then. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/5 "2014-08-08T20:15:34Z")
[Rotterdam was bombed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotterdam_Blitz) by the Nazis on May 14, 1940. The Dutch capitulated the following morning. There is _still_ a small village of emergency housing on the outskirts of town. Probably the most newsworthy thing people are likely to remember, I think? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/6 "2014-08-08T20:19:41Z")
Where I live now: Hudson Country, NJ - Hurricane Sandy Where I grew up: Fairfield County, CT - Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting For NYC, I’m pretty sure 9/11 is the most newsworthy. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/7 "2014-08-08T20:26:40Z")
The [tallest man who ever lived](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wadlow) came from my county. (I live on the border between Madison and St. Clair counties in IL, so I consider them both “mine”.) The [East St. Louis Riot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_St._Louis_Riot) of 1917 was one of the worst in US History. The largest pre-Columbian [civilization](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippian_culture) in North America was based here. The [Mississippi River Festival](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River_Festival) was held for a dozen years at my alma mater. Bob Dylan and The Band played there in 1969, it was Dylan’s first live show after his infamous 1966 motorcycle accident. I’m sure there’s more. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/8 "2014-08-08T20:29:34Z")
There was an earthquake in San Francisco on April 18, 1906. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/9 "2014-08-08T20:35:48Z")
Pilgrims landed in Plimoth in 1620. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/10 "2014-08-08T20:37:54Z")
The Cuyahoga River, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, was so polluted in 1969 that it actually caught fire. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/11 "2014-08-08T20:38:44Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Where I live now: > Hudson Country, NJ - Hurricane Sandy Weehawken: Aaron Burr kills the guy on the $10 bill. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/12 "2014-08-08T20:41:01Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Pilgrims landed in Plimoth in 1620. I live around the corner from the church they built in the Netherlands while they were here, before they left. There’s a nice brewery next door now. There, two more things! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/13 "2014-08-08T20:54:31Z")
University of Michigan is here in Ann Arbor ([Washtenaw County](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washtenaw_County,_Michigan)), and so we end up in the news from time to time. The most recent thing I can recall is the supreme court ruling against affirmative action in admissions. [Milo Radulovich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_Radulovich) was a resident of nearby Dexter. in 1953 he was branded a communist sympathizer and stripped of his USAF comission; the subsequent legal case and national publicity marked the beginning of the end for McCarthyism. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/14 "2014-08-08T21:05:09Z")
**jonbenet Ramsey** ’s murder. She would have turned 24 two days ago. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/15 "2014-08-08T21:08:10Z")
Oregon State Hospital, Marion County, Oregon. Famous for being the main location used in filming “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/16 "2014-08-08T21:22:24Z")
Victoria, Texas – May 15, 2003. 19 illegal immigrants locked in a truck, die from the heat. > **[Trapped in Heat In Texas Truck, 18 People Die (Published 2003)](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/15/us/trapped-in-heat-in-texas-truck-18-people-die.html)** > > Bodies of 17 people are found in Victoria, Tex, victims of stifling heat inside trailer truck apparently being used to smuggle them into United States; 18th person dies later in hospital; trailer had 100 people from Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala;... ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/17 "2014-08-08T21:40:40Z")
West Chester, OHIO - Home of the current Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Hmm, what else…We’ve got an IKEA and a Bass Pro Shop is coming soon! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/18 "2014-08-08T21:53:00Z")
Probably the [riot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_1964_race_riot) in 1964. If you’re going by the county I grew up in, then it’s probably the [Battle of Valcour Island](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valcour_Island) in 1776. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/19 "2014-08-08T21:57:48Z")
> [@jayrey](#): > > Oregon State Hospital, Marion County, Oregon. Famous for being the main location used in filming “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975. Along the same line (although I’m sure its not really the most newsworthy event): Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe made their last film here. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119/20 "2014-08-08T22:30:09Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Fairfield County, CT - Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting I grew up in New Haven County, Connecticut. There perhaps the most newsworthy or notorious event is almost certainly the [home invasion and subsequent murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters (the father survived)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire,_Connecticut,_home_invasion_murders). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-most-newsworthy-event-to-happen-in-your-county-or-equivalent/695119.md?page=2)