Mount Rushmore: "Where Were You When You Heard The News" Moments, 1980 And Beyond

[Ben E Lou]

It's said that everyone who was older than 10 or so in 1963 knows where they were when they got the news of the JFK Assassination. Off the top of my head, I find this interesting for a more "modern" era because I think there are two obvious ones, and then the others are up for debate.

Unless, of course, I'm missing something and there are other obvious ones.

At any rate, here's my list:

9/11
Challenger Explosion
The O.J. Bronco Chase
Columbine Massacre

[Ben E Lou]

I put Columbine above the other mass shootings of the timeframe involved because of what I perceive to be the gradual lessening of the collective shock. Sadly, it's the only one where I can remember precisely where I was when I heard, and can recall watching the coverage in horror.

[Radii]

9/11
Challenger Explosion
The O.J. Bronco Chase
Magic Johnson Press Conference Announcing HIV/Retirement


The first three are instant for me. For the fourth one... I grew up taking sports, and basketball especially, way too seriously. Magic was my top sports hero (yes, even as a UNC fan, I admired Jordan, but I worshipped Magic). So its the one I remember exactly where I was and the feeling of devastation that I had about it.

[Logan]

9/11 and OJ Bronco Chase are clear autos. Frankly the verdict announcement would probably be in there too but I'll bucket them together.

I'll add OBL killed and the Magic Johnson HIV announcement.

Have a couple other Honorable Mentions but I'll see what others think first. I was too young for the Challenger explosion.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Logan

Have a couple other Honorable Mentions but I'll see what others think first.

Ditto, I have two others that I was considering.

For some reason Columbine didn't hit home for me in the same way, I can't explain why.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Radii

Ditto, I have two others that I was considering.

For some reason Columbine didn't hit home for me in the same way, I can't explain why.

I actually have a very specific memory of it, as I was home sick from school that day, but it fell just shy. It would probably be #5 for me.

[cuervo72]

I don't remember where I was for Columbine. Probably at work, but I wasn't near a TV.

I very much remember 9/11, OJ, and Challenger. I'd probably add Diana to the list.

[Brian Swartz]

Challenger and 9/11 only for me. Magic's HIV is honorable mention -- I remember it, but not as much as the others.

[JPhillips]

9/11 Specifically the fall of tower 2
OJ Verdict
Raid on Branch Davidians
Reagan Shot

[molson]

The first night of the original Gulf War would be there for me. I was 14, and U.S. wars were just something from the past that you read about or watched movies about. I remember hearing about the start of the air campaign during basketball practice and feeling the fear and wonder that my country was at war right now.

9/11 tops the list.

The moment I realized Donald Trump was going to be president is a contender going forward, that feeling is burned into my memory, but, not sure if that fits because it's so recent.

I remember where I was when I heard about Columbine and Challenger, but neither had a huge impact on me in the moment. I was in 2nd grade at the time of Challenger, I'm not sure why we weren't watching it live, especially since we were New England kids and Christa Mcauliffe was all over the news leading up to it, but we weren't, and I just heard it from a kid while walking home from school.

[sabotai]

9/11
Challenger Explosion
OJ Verdict
The start of the Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)

Edit: For the Gulf War, what I remember is the coverage on TV. The "night-vision" shots of Cruise missiles being launched and the reporters in Baghdad talking about the city being hit.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Reagan Shot

How did it happen?

Let's take another look...

[Izulde]

9/11
Challenger explosion
OJ Verdict
Heath Ledger's death

Okay, I know that last one is really odd, but for events other than the first three, I don't really remember where I was or what I was doing. Finding out about Heath, I do. I was in my room at the fraternity house, multi-tasking on teh Interwebz, when I saw the news. Absolutely devastated me, because 1) it was so unexpected, 2) he was one of my Top 5 favorite actors of all time, and 3) he was so close to my age. It still hurts to think of what might have been as his career continued to progress.

[cartman]

9/11 - Specifically seeing the second plane hit live
Challenger Explosion
The OJ Freeway chase - this happened during the reception after my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. Everyone was crowded around the one TV in the place watching
Princess Di death - I was moving from Texas to California, driving the Penske moving truck. All it had in it was a radio, and coverage of the death was on every station for two days.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by cartman

9/11 - Specifically seeing the second plane hit live
Challenger Explosion
The OJ Freeway chase - this happened during the reception after my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. Everyone was crowded around the one TV in the place watching
Princess Di death - I was moving from Texas to California, driving the Penske moving truck. All it had in it was a radio, and coverage of the death was on every station for two days.

This would be mine. My mom took the Princess Di thing extremely hard, so it remains etched in my memory.

Edit: The OJ Freeway chase happened while my family was celebrating my birthday, on my birthday. That one will remain with me forever too.

[JAG]

My top 3 would be 9/11 (by far and away first), Challenger, OJ Bronco chase.

4th is tougher, but maybe the 35W bridge collapse in Minnesota. I actually didn't find out about that until we got a call from family. I took that bridge every day 2x a day and had driven on the bridge a few hours earlier to pick up my oldest from daycare. I remember being annoyed at the construction going on that was slowing traffic to a crawl on it that day and then watching the news on tv in disbelief...and thinking I needed to figure out a new route to work.

[Radii]

Two that I haven't seen yet that were my other contenders for my #4 spot;

news of Kurt Cobain's suicide.

Hurricane Katrina - so many hurricanes over the years both in the gulf and up the east coast where there are early reports that a major city could be hit, and sometimes there was damage... but there was a moment watching hurricane coverage with the ex wife and in-laws where it sunk in that a city the size of New Orleans was underwater and being fully evacuated, there was just a feeling of dread that swept over me realizing the amount of destruction that had been done. I can't really pinpoint a moment in any of the news coverage, but I will never forget that feeling.

[lungs]

1. One of my first somewhat coherent memories was watching footage of the Challenger explosion. I was three and a half years old. So I figure that would have to be on my list.

2. 9/11 for sure. College freshman, pretty surreal day overall. Mostly watched coverage from my dorm room.

3. Start of the Iraq War. Just got back from a spring break trip to Winnipeg, of all places.

4. Obama elected in '08.

[Ben E Lou]

Interesting responses by many. I wasn't so much thinking "your four personal 'where were you' moments," so much as "what have been the objective top four cultural 'where were you' moments?"

[CU Tiger]

1- Challenger. They wheeled a TV cart into our classroom to watch the historic launch.
2- Start of the Iraq war. I was at a friends shooting basketball outside. I remember his dad telling us and us running inside and huddling around a TV until way too late.

[Now I have to aside here. 9/11 obviously should fit,, but it doesnt because of life I was on a construction site and it was HOURS before I knew there was an event. The the rest of the day captivates me]

3- This one will probably not make anyone else's list. But Dale Earnhardt's death. I grew up a fan. I had met him 3 weeks before his death. Just typing that brings back those emotions
4- Columbine but for all the wrong reasons. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember and am ashamed of the reaction me and my college roomates had. I wont elaborate...but it haunts me a tad.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Interesting responses by many. I wasn't so much thinking "your four personal 'where were you' moments," so much as "what have been the objective top four cultural 'where were you' moments?"

It seems we have three solid universal entries (Challenger, 9/11, OJ) and everyone has their own slant on the fourth.

I know I answered off your intent (objective cultural moments) despite sharing personal reasoning.

[Ben E Lou]

I had Columbine at #4, and the other contenders were Gulf War first night, Reagan, and Magic. I didn't choose those because I was thinking there might have been some personal bias because...

Reagan: Got the news when I walked in the house from the bus. (I was in 6th grade.) We lived on a corner and the bus dropped right at my driveway, so I was inside the house before kids who were lingering had left the stop. I yelled out of the house "Reagan got shot!!" Kids starting jumping up and down and cheering. Someone yelled back "is he dead?" I said no, and there was mass disappointment. All cheering stopped. (More context: some of those same kids were literally in tears getting on the bus the morning after he won because black people were going to be rounded up into slavery again when he was inaugurated.)

Gulf War: My brother-in-law was over there and my sister was staying with us. She was hysterical.

Magic: I was leading YL at a high school that had a heavy basketball culture, and I got word from the kids at the high school. It was HUGE news there, but didn't seem as big elsewhere.

Point being, all three were tainted with overcharged circumstances for me, but I'm not sure they were as big a deal to the overall American memory as Columbine.

[Ben E Lou]

Oh yeah, and it's interesting about OJ. Yeah, 9/11 and Challenger were my two "obvious" ones...Challenger because sooooooooooo many school kids were watching ilive in class when the explosion happened. I didn't expect OJ to be as much of an "automatic" as it has been.

[Ben E Lou]

Double Dola:

And yeah, i was torn between "O.J. Verdict" and "O.J. Chase." I went with the latter because it was such a "breaking news"/no pre-notification/stopped-whatever-you-were-doing-and-watched thing, as opposed to the verdict where we knew to tune in at 2pm EDT (or whenever it was being read.)

[thesloppy]

Most of these examples I can remember pretty well, but I have no memory of the Challenger explosion whatsoever, and I was 14 at the time, not exactly an infant. Either I wasn't at school that day (which wasn't exactly rare), or my entire high school didn't notice (also entirely plausible).

[NobodyHere]

[tarcone]

Challenger Explosion
9/11
Miracle on Ice
Shock and Awe of Desert Storm

All of these really stick in my mind. Shock and Awe scared me somewhat because I was in my early 20s. Thought my selective service card was going to get pulled.
'Do you believe in miracles? YES!" Great moment. A moment bigger then sports.

[NobodyHere]

In all seriousness though:

9/11
Start of 2nd Iraq War
OBL getting killed
Robin Williams dying

[ColtCrazy]

For me, it would be:

9/11
7/7
Challenger Explosion
OJ Verdict

I remember where I was distinctly for each of these events. It probably helps I was working in England at the time of 7/7 and was about 10 miles from the events. Given the general lack of knowledge about London and its suburbs, family and friends were very worried about us since it took some time to get through to them.

[RainMaker]

9/11
OKC Bombing
Columbine
Cubs win WS

I remember the OJ chase but I actually have a more vivid memory of the verdict being read.

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

How did it happen?

Let's take another look...

Bravo, sir.

[Toddzilla]

9/11
Cubs Win World Series
Cubs Win NL Pennant
Cubs Championship Parade

um, maybe we need some better criteria

[digamma]

9/11
Challenger
OJ Chase
Bay Earthquake in 1989

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by Ben E Lou

Oh yeah, and it's interesting about OJ. Yeah, 9/11 and Challenger were my two "obvious" ones...Challenger because sooooooooooo many school kids were watching ilive in class when the explosion happened. I didn't expect OJ to be as much of an "automatic" as it has been.

My friend and I had turned the TV on in his new apartment which had about nothing else in it to root against the Knicks and it was just kinda there.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by digamma

Bay Earthquake in 1989

Also not a bad one, as again, already had the tv on to tune into the WS.

[digamma]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Also not a bad one, as again, already had the tv on to tune into the WS.

Yeah, it's one of the ones where I remained riveted for hours and then it was all anyone talked about for a while.

Plenty of viable fourth spot alternatives mentioned, but for me that one stands out.

[Vince, Pt. II]

That would have been my fourth if I was going personal. It was a big deal, but I figured it was regional enough that it wouldn't get tons of play around the country. Perhaps I was wrong?

[Ryche]

9/11 and Challenger most obvious as it seems for most.

Honestly didn't pay much attention to OJ so I'll go with a couple of others not mentioned. The 35W collapse gets an honorable mention as I crossed that bridge the night before.

The Indian Ocean tsunami
Osama Bin Laden's capture

[JediKooter]

I'm old, so easier for me to break it down by decade.

80s:
1. John Lennon murdered
2. Reagan getting shot
3. Space Shuttle Challenger
4. World Series Earthquake

90s:
1. Desert Storm
2. OJ Simpson (the whole thing)
3. No more Soviet Union
4. Princess Diana death

2000s:
1. 9/11
2. Michael Jackson death
3. Earthquake/Tsunami off the coast of Indonesia
4. Obama Elected

2010s:
1. Fukashima earthquake
2. Prince death
3. Trump elected
4. (Still have 3 years left, so leaving this spot open)

For my ultimate 1980s to today Rushmore:
1. John Lennon murder
2. 9/11
3. Desert Storm
4. Indonesian Earthquake/Tsunami

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

How did it happen?

Let's take another look...

Is that from the SNL skit? I seem to vaguely remember watching something like that or it could just be the Mandela Effect kicking in or the mexican food.

[Butter]

I was out of the country for OJ, in Italy. It was all over the Armed Forces News, that's for sure, but was not as big a story as the '94 World Cup in the USA at the time.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

How did it happen?

Let's take another look...

Mr. Wheat!

[Logan]

One of my personal HMs that I haven't seen mentioned yet was hearing about Tiger's Thanksgiving incident. Obviously not of the same historical importance and I'm probably including all the fallout from it, but there was such a strong "WTF?!" reaction to the news.

[tarcone]

Another I thought of was the Women beating China in World Cup Soccer on penalty kicks.

[nilodor]

9/11
OJ Bronco chase
Fall of the Berlin Wall
Trump wins the Election (personal one would be 2010 Gold Medal game)

[nilodor]

Dola:

I'd add Hurricane Katrina but it wasn't really one specific event, news kept coming out over days and weeks. Similar to the tsunami's in 2004

[bob]

I'd add the Columbia explosion, but I understand others might not remember it as much as the other events on here.

[MIJB#19]

For me personally:
9/11
Murder of Pim Fortuyn
Death of Johan Cruijff
Fall of the Berlin Wall

[Radii]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

For me personally:
9/11
Murder of Pim Fortuyn
Death of Johan Cruijff
Fall of the Berlin Wall

I've been looking forward to hearing from posters that don't live in the US, thanks.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Ahhhh ... I'm only seeing this after you put the cultural vs personal aspect onto it.

In that, I'd say 9/11, Challenger, Iraq War night, and OJ.
Reagan fifth.