Nixon’s resignation.
Elvis Presley’s death for me, too. I was going on six.
Watching the moon landings on a small black and white TV.
I was born in 1973. I don’t remember the bicentennial, but I remember new years day 1980, for some reason.
Joe
I guess this would be considered historical - listening to our Philco radio and hearing that Lou Gerhig had died.
Then a few months later - a real historical event - hearing on that same radio that Pearl Harbor had just been attacked by the Japanese.
Eleven years old at the time.
Was living in Germany in 1933 when the Reichstag fire occured. Don’t remember a thing about that one, though. Do have a vague memory of seeing some dirigibles flying over Berlin.
I recall a lot of press coverage about “the Mid-East crisis,” which in restrospect was probably the Six Day War (1967)–which obviously at the time was not called “The Six Day War.”
I definitely recall the announcement of Helen Keller’s death (1968), as well as Bobby Kennedy’s death a few days later.
The Reagan/Carter election, 1980. I remember going to the polls with my mom and a couple of my uncles, and they asked me who I liked, Reagan or Carter. I picked basically at random and said “Reagan” and they gave me a woo-hoo and hi-fived me. I was born in '77.
The Viking program Mars landing. We were at my aunt and uncle’s farm watching it on B&W tv. I was nine, but it seems like I was much younger.
I also remember tv images of the Vietnam war, but my mother wouldn’t let us watch news coverage of it if she could help it.
I often have a hard time remembering how old I was when stuff happened. I’m 42 now.
My kindergarten teacher said that we would soon say the pledge of allegiance to a new flag. I felt sorry for the old one.
I was 7 when I heard about Watergate on tv.
I remember trying to envision a gate for water and why it would be newsworthy.
Years later when I talked about this day with my parents and other older people, I came to realize that the fear the adults had that day was that the assassination could be the start of nuclear war with Russia. It was a big fear at the time and the information coming out of Dallas that day, with Oswald and his Russian connections, fed that fear.
Tensions were eased within days, but on that first day the worst dreams were possible.
Mine isn’t all that historical: the Ford/Carter election in 1976. I do remember Ford on some talk program saying “I really thought we would win.” I remember the Bicentennial Train that year too. Born 1969.
Heh… plus ça change, plus la même chose…
This wins my vote as coolest memory in the thread. Only 'cos it’s dirigibles, not 'cos it was in Nazi Germany.
The whole Patty Hearst thing. I was 4. I had a playmate named Patty Hearst and I couldn’t figure out why everyone was talking about her and not me.
I was going to say Tiananmen Square—saw it on TV…the one day I had decided, for whatever reason, to record some saturday morning cartoons. The tape’s still around somewhere, just with some gaps in “Flintstone Kids” and the news coverage itself when I got tired of wasting tape on footage of the tops of helmets milling around. Yeah. IIRC, I accepted my mother’s explanation that this was important enough to break in to regular programing with, but noted that surely the protesters could have just waited until Sunday morning, when nothing good was on. (What? It was a perfectly reasonable suggestion!)—but I remembered that I actually remembered the results of the 88 Presidential Race, and that we’d actually had a mock election at school/kindergarten shortly before. (I voted for Dukakis, mainly because everyone else was voting for Bush.)
I remember sttiingon my fathers schoulders and watching FDR riding by in a parade.I listened on the radio(detrola)as they announced the bombing of pearl harbor.I walked down market street .people schoulder to schoulder on market st.on VJ day.I rember seeing my father crying when FDR died.
Not really the event, but actions relating to the 2nd world war. I was almost 4 when it started, but I remember the oilcloth window shades, ration stamps for shoes and gas, air raid alarms, all clear signals, etc. All the excitement of being a kid in a war. I had no idea what was going on, but it was mysterious to me.
The earliest actual event I remember was Truman’s win over Dewey in 1948…I was 10.
The most traumatic was the JFK assassination, I was on a coffee break and heard about it after we left the coffee shop at a TV shop next door. Couldn’t believe it. I was 25. I was to be married the next month and my then girlfriend were both shocked by it. No TV except assassination stories for the next 3 days on all 3 networks.
In case you’re curious, yes we went ahead with the wedding and we’re still married, just celebrated our 45th anniversary last year. 
I think I watched Nixon resign on TV. Certainly my mother pointed him out to me and said, “Do you know who that is?” and she had to tell me. Whether or not he was resigning, I don’t remember, but he was on TV giving a speech.
God, reading all the other posts of Dopers who were barely old enough to remember Tiananmen Square and such makes me feel old. I was at WORK when that happened!
Mount St. Helens. I was 4 and I couldn’t go outside and play.
JFK’s election. I was six. I remember much being made of a Catholic running for president.
1976 Winter Olympics. The first major political event would be the Iranian Revolution.