Where were you?

Death of Princess Di - I was at home, still living with my parents, it was absolutely pouring outside. I switched on the TV and it always took a while for the picture to come up, although the sound would come on a bit earlier. I heard the news was on and so pressed for another channel, only when the TV heated up, it was the same thing. Took me a bit to realise that they were broadcasting across both channels. Took them ages though to actually say what had happened, just 'her death will be a huge blow to the royal family' and stuff like that, so I thought for ages that the Queen had died.

9/11 - I was working in London at the time as a tour guide. I'd been down to our depot that morning for a meeting and we'd found out a lot of the drivers were being made redundant, so when I got to the city centre and people said 'have you heard what's happening' I thought they meant this. 'No, in New York...' We got the word that the tours were canceled but the next few buses, including mine, would still run, but we would really just be ferrying people to hotels, airline offices etc. Two of the planes were still in the air at this point and the whole of central London went very very quiet, as apparently MI5 had information one of them might have been heading for Big Ben. It was a really weird atmosphere. We put on the driver's radio and listened to the news, and were doing that when the one hit the Pentagon. Spent the day, from about 9am to 7pm, getting people to embassies and such - one woman said her son worked at the World Trade Centre but had a week's holiday, only she didn't know if it was that week or the week before.

The attack on Glasgow Airport I remember because by then I was working for the TV news and got the call to just basically jump in a taxi and go join the reporter out on the scene. For the next three days we got to go out and about, in amongst all the international correspondents and such. And I got to fulfill a long-held ambition of walking through a police cordon, showing my pass and going 'press'. Always wanted to do that.

We had a discussion a bit like this in the newsroom the other day but more along the lines of what was the earliest big story you could remember, started because we were reporting something on Lockerbie and one of the girls was so young she didn't remember the bombing. Mine wasn't much better though as the earliest thing I remembered was the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster.

The death of Princess Di: I was working as a cashier as Walmart when I heard the news

911: It was about 6:30 in the morning and I was watching Little House on the Pairie, I was living with my parents at the time and my dad walked into the room and asked if he could watch the news. As we turned the news on the Pentegon was just hit. I remember going to work that night and the store was so quite that it felt kind of weird that we weren't busy. I live in a military town, and the Army base is one of the communication bases, so the goverment closed the base just in case a bombing might occur.. It was a sad time in my life.

I remember the Challenger blowing up. We just moved to Arizona, (my dad was in the military) and a girl down the street I played with was upset and she told me the news about what happened.. I was like 9 years old..

Two of your's Puma strike me as events that still clearly ring in my mind, with one of them having a profound effect on me.

Princess Dianna's death - My daughter had just been born and I was still at home on maternity leave when I woke up to the news.

911 will go down forever to me as the most unbelievable and heartbreaking event. I use to take my husband to work at 6am prior to taking my daughter to preschool, then going to work. We hadn't listened to the news that morning and I was driving my husband to work when we heard on the car radio a plane had crashed in to one of the buildings. And there was some type of hysteria about it that just wasn't sinking in at that moment, although the reports at that stage thought it might have been a plane just gone out of control. I said to my husband, "I think that is one of the largest buildings in the states." Netherless I dropped him off and went back home and turned the television on, and well the horror unfolding was mortifying. I saw the second plane hit, although now I can't recall if I watching it live. I took my daughter to preschool late and arrived at work late and our offices were morbid and we all did very little that day. I was a programmer and had access to the internet and all I could do all day was read the newspaper articles, logged onto all the USA papers and was absolutely horrified by the images being relayed. I couldn't help but cry most of the day. I felt that the entire world was about to be destroyed by war and like many of my colleagues went home early to be with our families. Since then I rarely read the newspapers or watch the news as its happening.

The other event was also a USA one. The disappearance of Modesto woman called, Laci Peterson. We were in Fiji that Christmas with our 5 year old daughter and it was New Years Eve and I had one of the few arguments I’ve ever had with my husband, and went back to our room hundred yards away, where our daughter was being watched by a Fijian woman. Our daughter was asleep and I turned on the television to watch the New Years fireworks in Australia as Fiji is ahead of us in time, I think LOL and after the fireworks this interview came on with Laci’s family and how she had gone missing on Christmas eve. I started to cry about this poor woman, or maybe I was feeling sorry for myself, and my husband came into the room. And we both sat their entranced by this story of the missing Laci who was pregnant at the time. For the next two or three years we both followed via the internet this case in America up until Scott Peterson, her husband, was placed on death row because of it. The morning of the verdict we both were late to work. I still google to find out what is happening with the case.

Princess Di's death - we were traveling back home to the States from the UK after visiting relatives. We got up really early, and I know we learned about it before we took off. I remember that when we landed at Philly International, there were reporters waiting for our flight to ask us for our reactions. My family ducked them.

9/11 - Walked into 9th grade Honors Bio. The tv in the room was on, and the first building had been hit, but not the second. We didn't do any work all day, most of the day. Everyone, every class had the tv on. My 10th/last period teacher was basically in tears during class. And I had a friend whose mother was traveling from one of the airports, and she was...terrified until her mom was finally able to call us. All after school activities were canceled - I remember that because I ran cross-country.

And I remember...and found it so scary...there were no trails in the sky. It was totally blank, and around here, the sky was cloudless. Just blue, with nothing.

I'm a young'un - the only event I really remember is 9/11, but I vividly remember that entire day. I was at college and left for class right before the first planes hit, so I didn't know anything was wrong until class change at 11am. I was walking into my number theory class when I noticed a girl crying hysterically into her cell phone. One my classmates came in and told me about the World Trade Center. Then, as an afterthought, he mentioned that oh yeah a plane had hit the Pentagon too. Well, my dad works at the Pentagon. I spent the next ninety minutes literally too afraid to move. As soon as class got out, I nearly killed myself biking across campus to my dorm to get to my computer to find out if my dad had made it out alive (he's fine). I pretty much spent the entire day glued to AOL IM, tracking family members and friends, and playing "info update" tag.

I was a young kid, but I still remember the JFK assassination, and later the assassination of MLK and RFK.

I was in a class when someone came in and told the teacher the president had been shot. We weren't quite old enough to really understand what it all meant (we would over the next three days), but I still remember it.

I have a lot of memories about people and events; I've seen (from a distance) a few presidents, including being within twenty feet of Clinton when he was president and speaking at Vanderbilt (along with Al Gore).

For a more lighthearted memory, a few years ago there was a major hurricane headed towards Florida. They moved the space shuttle to Ft. Campbell (which is near Nashville). It was almost surreal watching the plane carrying the space shuttle fly over. It was flying fairly low as it got nearer to Ft. Campbell.

Princess Diana - We were staying at my BIL's in Yorkshire, on our way back to Newmarket after our honeymoon. My SIL and I were having a cup of tea and listening to the radio and we heard the news. We turned on the TV and watched it. When we drove home a couple of hours later, I can't ever recall seeing the A1 (a busy north/south road) so quiet, even for a Sunday. All that was on the radio was mournful music and no talking. Very eerie.

9/11 - I'd just turned over to BBC1 to check the news headlines on ceefax and saw footage of one of towers with smoke coming out of it. They didn't really know what had happened at the time, only that a plane had flown into the side of it. So, I was sitting there thinking, 'oh some moron has driven his little plane into the WTC..not smart'. Then, moments later I watched the second plane hit. To this day, I will never forget how the 'pilot' adjusted the angle of the plane at the last minute for maximum impact.
I was glued to the TV for hours after that. I just could not believe what I was seeing.

I was too young to remember JFK's assassination.

The first politician's death I remember was Winston Churchill's because I watched the State Funeral on television.

I remember Robert Kennedy's and Martin Luther King's assassinations.

San Francisco, Dec. 7th, 1941, age 9 1/2 -- heard the news when I came home from Sunday School. Some neighbors loading cars to head for the Sierrras. At night, my father and other neighbors on the roofs looking for Japanese planes.

Death of FDR, saddened and did not know who the hell Truman was.

V.J. DAY -- sirens and free hot dogs at the beach in Capitola.

JFK, listening to the news while driving, assassination announced, and I swerved and almost crashed into a telephone call.

I think I'm a little younger than the average, so I wasn't alive for many of these earth-shattering events.

I do remember watching news footage of bombs going off during the first Gulf War.

I was ten when Princess Diana died, but it didn't make a big impression on me. I only remember seeing some of the footage of the funeral.

9/11 was the first big news event I recall. I was 14 and just started high school a few weeks earlier. Strangely, when I think of that day I don't really remember being a brand new high school student. I just remember the day. I was in Computer Keyboarding--third period I believe--around 9:00 I guess when the teacher put on the TV. She was watching, and she told us a plane had hit a building in NYC (I didn't really know what the World Trade Center towers were). I was like, "Well, that sucks." Because I couldn't really see the TV, I didn't really know what was going on yet. On my way to fourth period--English--I saw a friend. I still remember the look of shock on her face. I stopped and asked what was wrong. She just shook her head. In English, the TV was on. At that point, the principal came over the intercom, classes stopped, and everyone watched TV until an early dismissal. We watched the towers fall. Very odd--and very scary.

Two vivid ones for me:

JFK. I was a freshman in high school. Attending a Department of Defense school in Seoul South Korea. It was Saturday in Korea. We were scheduled to have a field trip to the demilitarized zone. When we arrived at school we were told about the President. We were offered the choice of going on the trip or returning to our quarters. I chose to go, but the bus was much quieter than you would expect from a bunch of high school students. I think most of us were too young to really grasp the importance of the event.

Oklahoma City. It was only a few days after tax filing day, so I was still brain dead and had slept late. My parents were here for some reason. I came out of the bedroom into the living room and the tv was on with the news. They were showing the front of the building. I thought it was somewhere in the Middle East and was shocked to find out it was in the US.

One thing that sticks in my mind from 9/11. When they played the Star Spangled Banner for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace instead of God Save the Queen, I cried.

MM

MaryMumsy said:

One thing that sticks in my mind from 9/11. When they played the Star Spangled Banner for the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace instead of God Save the Queen, I cried.

Click to expand...

That's on YouTube, if you interested.

On 9/11, I was working at a computer manufacturer. I went in to the cafeteria for my first break at 8:00 AM, the first tower was already hit but not the second. I saw the tv and thought it was interesting that a small private jet (so I assumed) had hit the WTC. Then as I was watching, I saw the second plane hit and I knew that it was no accident. We were under attack. When they said that there were still some planes missing, people got worried where I worked because we were a large building within about 100 yards of a major airport runway. I called my wife and told her I loved her. Then they sent us home early.

Iraq's first Kuwait invasion in 1990 stuck in my head for some reason. I saw the first reports live becuase I stayed up late watching tv in my room. Within hours, Bush had mobilized our forces for Desert Shield. It was the first major war that I had been old enough to be a part of.

The OJ verdict, I was in my college dorm room watching it on tv. When the Not Guilty was read, I hollared "What?!?!" At the same time, I heard screams from all around the dorm building from people not believing it.

I was in algebra class when JFK was killed. The teacher wore a bow tie, was about five feet tall, and that was maybe the only day of the year when spit wads didn't fly over his head during the whole of the class session.

When men landed on the moon, I was hanging out in Golden Gate park with a transistor radio to my ear while watching a company baseball game.

When OJ was tooling down the freeway in his white Bronco, I happened to be not too far away, bellied up to a bar at an RV park full of retired swabbies in San Diego. Good TV. Strong drinks.

The day after 9/11, a local bridge was damaged, cutting off access to South Padre Island. From here, for a while, it looked like something very bad was only just starting.

I'm old enough to remember a lot of things... but the ones that stand out most to me, of course, are the May 3rd, '99, tornado outbreak, 9-11 and the Oklahoma City Bombing.

By the time May 3rd of 1999 was over, I was nigh on to insane. We had 77 tornadoes that day and overnight into the 4th, and the Big One came at us from south of Chickasha, Oklahoma. It followed the highway northeast like it was coming to visit a friend. At its worst, it was clocked with 318mph wind - the max ever recorded at the time. I remember finally managing to fall asleep sometime in the wee hours of the 4th, only to be awakened by the blaring of another tornado warning and sirens going off. I literally shook my fist at the heavens and said, "Either kill me or quit frickin' me!" Only I didn't say 'frickin''. Ol' Boy bought me a safe room for my birthday that year.

I was on the phone with my sister when the news came that a plane had gone into one of the Towers, and like many here, I assumed it was a small private plane. I was watching Good Morning America when the second plane plowed into the other Tower and it was all downhill from there.

When McVay attacked the Murrah Building, I was outside mowing the lawn - about four miles north of the blast. Even over the sound of the mower, I heard the explosion and thought a gas line had blown somewhere close. I shut off the mower and headed inside to turn on the TV and Channel 9 was already broadcasting from their helicopter, circling over the now-famous view of the scooped out front of the building. I grabbed for the phone to call Ol' Boy - 'cause he's a printer tech and had machines in that building - and I was very lucky that day: he answered immediately and was miles away from the carnage, and I got through to him before the cell phone towers were filled with emergency traffic and no one could get through. If I had hesitated even a few moments, I wouldn't have been able to reach him and I'd've gone nuts trying to find him.

Days afterward, he drove me within a block of the wreckage, and no matter what you saw on TV or in pictures, it was nothing compared to seeing it live. If you're ever in Oklahoma City, the Memorial is definitely a place to visit. It takes you along a path that leads you from a bright sunny 9:00am, through the blast and its aftermath.

One of the most poignant displays is a pile of shoes and keys. Many of the shoes belonged to the children who were killed on the first floor.

I was in high school when the space shuttle exploded.

I was at home on a day off when Oklahoma City happened.

I was house sitting for my former boss when Princess Diana died.

I was at work when the first report about 9/11 was on the radio.

The death of Princess Di - I was about to go to bed, and came downstairs. My roomate was watching tv - cnn - and stayed up to watch it. I remember they had just pronounced her dead. i was so shocked.

The JFK assassination - not born yet!

911 - I have no idea why I was home. Maybe I was sick? turned on the news just as the second tower came down. Stayed glued to the tv forever. I remember being terrified. There was also a weird sense of connection, as there were a lot of people from the Bay Area on those planes, and they were all heading for California. Even more so as tales started coming out about flight 93. Everyday, on my way to work and then home, I drive by the tribute park put up in honor of flight 93.

My other huge memory moment was the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in Northern California. (thinking of this because of what just happened in Japan) I was alone with my sister's friend shelly at our house - weirdly enough, Shelly was the roomie when Princess Di died. Everyone was out - mom and my sis at the vet, my dad not home from work in San Francisco, yet. I remember the house bending in two different directions. I also remember the weird sense of time. After it happened, I remember looking at the clock, thinking it had been about 15 - 20 minutes. It was two hours later. I've never forgotten that day or that weird sense of lost time.

JFK - I was in 4th grade. I remember vaguely the announcement coming over the loudspeaker, but what I will always remember is my teacher, Mr Anderson, sitting down, head in hands, crying. And I remember watching the funeral procession, particularly the music and the riderless horse.

RFK, MLK, Challenger - remember those but not as clearly for some reason, even though I was older.

9/11 of course - I saw the second plane hit live on TV, and that's when I knew we were being attacked. I immediately called my brother and my son - my son was in college and I woke him up. He dropped the phone (after I convinced him that I had actually seen it) and woke up his neighbors in the dorm. I could hear everyone yelling and crying in the background.

Death of Princess Di - In the car, when my dad knocked on my window and said "Come inside, Lady Di just died." I had no idea who that was, too young, so I just followed and found out.

9/11 - I remember the exact moment. I was playing Need for Speed on my computer and at two meters on my right a friend opens the radio at the exact hour, and the first thing I heard over the engine sounds is something along the likes of "Twin Towers attacked by two planes."

Columbia - In the basement of a house, with my parents upstairs having a party. I left to be on my own, couldn't stand the gossip, so I went to the basement and turned on the TV. Next thing I see is flashing lights, which weren't lights, they were the lit up parts of Columbia. Sad.

JFK - wasn't born then!

JFK -- I have no idea. I don't recall that one. Nor do I really recall Bobby Kennedy or MLKjr.

I remember watching the moon landing, but not sure where.

Elvis, I was in the Navy in San Diego in school. I only remember that because I remember some of the women bursting into tears.

John Belushi. I remember driving somewhere and hearing it on the radio.

Space Shuttle Challenger. I was watching the launch while I was working at Longfellow Middle School.

Space Shuttle Columbia, I was waiting in line at a Jiffy Lube.

9/11, I was at work, listening to the radio when the first plane crashed and I remember them thinking it was some horrible accident until the second one hit. Then I entered the manager's meeting and said, "The twin towers have been hit by planes." So we all turned the TVs on and got no work done that day as we watched in horror.

I was in a bar, Bingo's, after our softball game when the low speed chase of the white Bronco took place.

The death of Princess Di had no effect on me.

Let's see--

JFK- Wasn't around yet. Born 3 years later.

MLK/RFK- Too young to know what was going on.

OKC- I think I heard about it at work that day, over the radio, then saw footage on TV later that night. And when they tracked him and started revealing more details, I freaked the F%^& out. I was working in the Federal Building in Dallas, and they discovered that we were one of the original targets. (!!)

Princess Diana- I was 31, finishing up my last year of college. I was at a bar in Denton called Riprocks when my friend (and one of the bartenders) Staci came in and said, "Did you guys hear? Princess Diana was just in an awful car accident." And I seem to recall us watching on the bar TVs what happened after that.

911- It was a Tuesday morning, I remember. That was the day I worked remotely from home. My husband had already gone into the office. When I flicked on the computer, I saw something on the Yahoo homepage about plane hitting the WTC. I figured it was something like in the 1940s when the plane hit the Empire State Building, and intended to go back and check it out, but needed to get busy. My friend Jessica PM'd me through Yahoo and was like, "Have you heard? Have you heard? Turn on the TV!!" Needless to say, I like just about everybody else that day, was unable to do much work.

9/11, I was doing my independent research on West Nile Virus in College. Part of this included driving around to different sites in the country where I had set up mosquito traps. I was completely out of touch from reality. On the car radio, there was a station doing "pranks" on people. They would have them tune in and then say something on the radio to prank them, or they would call them up on the phone. They were mostly funny, although a little immature. I was getting ready to change the channel when they started talking about planes hitting the twin towers.

I thought it was the most despicable, disgusting joke I had ever heard in my entire life. So I turned off the radio completely.

It wasn't until I got back to the lab that I discovered classes were cancelled...

JFK assasination. In highschool - so yeah, I'm old. The principal announced it over the loudspeaker and then sent us all home. I remember how sick I felt and how quiet everyone was.

When I was very young (it's probably one of my first memories) my mother took me to the radio and said I had to remember what I was hearing because it was history being made. The radio was just making this silly beeping noise.

It was Sputnik.

[And I've just realised I have to add for all the younger people who're going, 'What was Sputnik?' that my mother was right. This was the very start of the Space Age.]