Not at the time, but: 4 Presidents were born here.
Where I live now & lived the longest: Berkeley riots in the 60s, Oakland Hills firestorm of 1991.
Where I was born & raised: John Denver’s fatal plane crash.
The river caught on fire.
3 females were kidnapped and held for 10 years then escaped.
The Von Trapp family settled here after escaping Europe during WWII.
“American Taliban” John Walker Lindh went to my high school.
I’m not sure how well known the Mitchell brothers were outside of California, but I could hear the gunshots from my living room when Jim killed Artie.
Charles I started the Civil War by raising his standard in Nottingham. Later, ended it by surrendering to the Scottish army at Southwell. King John, villain of many Robin Hood tales, died in the castle at Newark. The last battle of the Wars of the Roses, Stoke Field, took place at East Stoke.
There was an even bigger one in Anchorage, Alaska in 1964.
Here in Portland, it would have to be the eruption of Mount St. Helens, even though the volcano is not in Multnomah County, or even in Oregon, for that matter.
September 18, 1858 - Lincoln debated Douglas.
Other than that, nothing.
I was born in Johnstown and lived there when we had the 1977 flood.
I lived in the Denver area in 1999 when the Columbine School shootings occurred. I lived in Jefferson County and Littleton is in Arapahoe County, but the shock and concern crossed county boundaries. At times like that we were all Denverites, regardless of which county we lived in.
Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (and 18 other people) were shot just about two miles from where I live in front of the Safeway where I do my shopping.
Well, it was 66 million years ago, and a huge event.
Is there a prize?
The DC Sniper(s). Well, I actually live in the adjacent county now, but at the time, I was in Montgomery County where the first 5 people (and the last) were shot. Only shot one in my current county (Prince George’s).
My high school made international new from the violent beating of a pro-gay advocate. IIRC, the indecent happened right between my homeroom and English lit, my locker couldn’t have been more than a couple of yards away.
Not often you get confirmation that your HS was indeed redneck central.
Either Kevin Coe, the South Hill Rapist, or when Billy Tipton died in Spokane and turned out to be a woman.
We had a big flood in 1982. Reagan came and posed with a sandbag. That made the national news.
Hometown (long ago and far away):
The first slave ship, Desire, was built.
The first ship for the American Navy, Schooner Hannah, was built.
Resident Col. John Glover and his fisherman Mariners rowed Washington’s Army across the East River to save their buns.
Resident Col. John Glover and his fishermen Mariners rowed Washington’s army across the Delaware River on Christmas night to attack and rout the Hessians and save us all from the British language.
Resident Elbridge Gerry became Governor and then VPOTUS, signed the D of I, and gave his name to the ubiquitous practice of carving the landscape into political enclaves - gerrymandering (pronounced with a HARD G, please!)
US Marine aviation started there (first plane built and flown-details unclear to me right now)
USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) sailed into the harbor in 1814, 1933, and 1997.
Los Angeles, we could add the Charles Manson murders to events allready mentioned here. And possibly the McMartin preschool trial.
Oh yeah. That reminds me. My home county (St. Charles County, MO) was one of the many that were involved in the massive floods in 1993. That was a pretty big deal.
I don’t know if my OP poisoned the well but it seems like a large percentage of these are crime related. I expected more history and less crime. But I guess that’s what is newsworthy.
Montgomery County, Ohio was home to the Wright Bros. airplane development, and also the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
I tried to find something more historical for my Montgomery County (Texas) but came up empty. The only other “newsworthy” fact I recall is that Farrah Fawcett’s parents lived on Lake Conroe, and it was big (local) news whenever she visited them.
:o