What’s the first major news story you remember as a kid?

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I was involved in it!!! The storms in 1986. We loved in a basement flat literally on the seafront in Brighton. Weather said it was going to be 'gusty', then hurricane force winds tore up huts, houses, massive trees, flipped trucks, the lot! Also brought with it lots of rain which caused the flood gates to fail and as such, basements were flooded (3-4 foot of water!). I remember not being able to get out due to the water pressure and firemen having to break down doors and windows.

I was 6

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No-Jicama-6523@reddit

I have to revise my post! I said Herald of Free Enterprise 1987, but I do vaguely remember this. I remember that the actor who play Rene in allo allo was injured.

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NewChapterBeginning@reddit

That was January 1990.

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Damo0378@reddit

Yeah, he took a massive chunk of tree to the forehead when it fell on his car.

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TheOldSeaDog78@reddit

That was 1987.

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cpbradshaw@reddit

The flood was 86, the great storm was 87

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clydebuilt@reddit

I was going to say Lockerbie, but after a date check, this was it. We had relatives in Brighton and they thankfully only lost their greenhouse. That was huge news!!

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dreadwitch@reddit

Haha Michael Fish and his 'just a bit blustery'

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cpbradshaw@reddit

That's the one

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0hCrumbs@reddit

This was my mine also , my mum slept through it and I remember the noise and it sounding like the sea had somehow made it to our house and the letterbox wouldn’t stop knocking in the wind, got a day of school the next day and we went down the warren to see the beached sealink ferry on the apron

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anabsentfriend@reddit

I was in Brighton that night. My mum worked nights and I was on my own. I was 15 so not a young child but it was really scary. I was worried about my mum being out in it. No mobile phones then.

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Localone2412@reddit

Yes I remember this as well. My dad did insurance claims and I remember him being so stressed due to the workload this caused

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

Im from Brighton and remember that extremely well. I had bought a flat in upper Lewes Road. I ended up with 6 people and 4 dogs because friends places had major issues. We went to the level around 6.30 with the dogs and the devastation was jaw dropping. The sea front copped it badly

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himneska@reddit

The case of Holly and Jessica in 2002. It happened in my area and my parents stopped letting me go walk down the road to my friend’s house on my own after that.

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BrilliantPatience0@reddit

This is mine as well. We didn't even live near the area, but suddenly kids everywhere were being kept under lock and key. I remember my dad and older sister stood in front of the TV (they came rushing in from the garden when they heard their names on the TV) and both of them were near tears when their bodies were discovered.

I was 9 at the time, so i do vaguely remember Diana dying as well. But the lingering memory there was no cartoons (especially as my dad was recording something off the TV for me so that tape was no good 🤣) But Holly and Jessica are the first major story that sticks with me

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notmerida@reddit

i remember this so vividly. i was 8. i remember my mum asking me what id do if a man asked me to walk with him and i said “kick him in the privates and run away”. she didn’t know what to say so she told my dad hahah

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Overthinker-dreamer@reddit

I remember this well. I was 9, and from Cambridgeshire, I remember listening to all the adult conversations around that time.

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gitsnshiggles1@reddit

The disappearance of Madeleine McCann. First thing I remember seeing on the telly and thinking "this is big news". My mum was glued to the news when it happened.

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Potential-Ordinary-5@reddit

Me too

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Potential-Ordinary-5@reddit

Madeleine McCann. And it terrified me.

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No-Calligrapher-7415@reddit

The Berlin wall being knocked down..

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spookystarbuck11@reddit

Little Jamie Bulger being taken 😞 I was 5 at the time but I remember the articles about it.

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Krakshotz@reddit

The 7/7 bombings.

Was in primary school and the teacher wheeled in one of those big TVs, despite having no aerial it picked up a very faint signal of BBC News and you could make out the wrecked bus.

When I got home, CBBC had been replaced by the news coverage

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CrossCityLine@reddit

Princess Diana dying I think I remember, I was only 6 at the time.

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CourtshipDate@reddit

There were no cartoons! Disgrace!

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TheInitialGod@reddit

Yep. My stepdad woke me up for school, and all I could think was no Ninja Turtles this morning to go with my coco pops

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joe_ivo@reddit

Yeah…that’s my memory of the day. My mum woke me up and told me…but I remember being absolutely outraged it was just rolling news all day. Have a memory of my mum doing the ironing watching Prince Charles receive the coffin at the airport.

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jelly10001@reddit

I was 5 and I remember trying to get my Mum to write to the BBC about the cartoons not being on.

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Several_Hospital_129@reddit

My husband is English. We didn't meet until several years after Diana died. He said it feels weird knowing that I found out before him. I was home from college with my family. We were watching TV when the news broke in. I remember feeling numb. I literally couldn't believe it.

My future husband was sound asleep 😴 in bed 🛌. He only found out the next morning when he went to church ⛪️, and the vicar said they needed to pray 🙏 for the Royal family.

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Barnatron@reddit

Ditto for Good Friday Agreement - the cancelled the Simpsons!!

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Cautious-Diver-9613@reddit

I came here to say this

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Suitable_Balance101@reddit

I found out I was pregnant with my first baby that day. My only son… I’ll never ever forget that day but I remember it with a smile 😊 rest in paradise my boy forever 26

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totesboredom@reddit

Same. I remember walking into my parents bedroom and my mum was crying with the radio on.

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AirconGuyUK@reddit

Same for me.

Came down stairs at grandmas. Uncle watching news.

'Diana is dead..'

I went and played with k'nex but my mum was seriously upset. We're all named after Royals. She was a massive royalist and loved Diana.

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Odd_Committee_100@reddit

Same, although I do remember the Bosnian war being talked about on the news quite a bit prior to that, usually by Michael Buerk or Moira Stewart

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rustynoodle3891@reddit

I thought I remembered the Falklands but being born in 83 I doubt it!

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drivingagermanwhip@reddit

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

Hmmmm, listening to the news while in the womb

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Still-BangingYourMum@reddit

The womb o'clock news........

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JimmyHaggis@reddit

That's the first big news story I remember. I was 7

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

Hmmmm, listening to the news while in the womb

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drivingagermanwhip@reddit

I'm the same age. My parents always had radio 4 on and I remember being fed up of hearing that one story over and over the whole day.

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AdDisastrous6356@reddit

You were born in 1990 or 91.

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CrossCityLine@reddit

Quick maffs

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AdDisastrous6356@reddit

I did a lot of pingers in the 90s. You should be impressed

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Sussurator@reddit

I remember that, the gulf war and Clinton’s antics in the White House.

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Proper-Throwaway-23@reddit

I was something like 10 or 11 I think. I remember going downstairs to watch cartoons in the morning, seeing this on the news and going to wake my parents up to tell them as it was clearly a big deal given that every channel seemed to be covering her death and none of the usual morning entertainment was on. The only other times I recall tv being completely taken over like that would be 9/11 and to a lesser degree, Covid.

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hamjamham@reddit

Same with me! Went downstairs before parents had woken up, was pretty much in all the channels. Went upstairs to tell my parents & they thought I was joking (weird thing for an 11 y/o to joke about!) .

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PigsAreTastyFood@reddit

Me too and every channel said turn to a news channel . I remember waking my parents and telling them, it ruined cartoon network for me that morning

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Mispict@reddit

Me and my friends were coming down from an acid trip. It was very difficult to wrap our heads around it.

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Educational-Angle717@reddit

Yeah this!

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rustynoodle3891@reddit

I was around that age , we got off a flight to "insert Spanish place" and were told. Again I was 6-7 I think and didn't care I just wanted to kick my football on the beach

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Zealousideal-Low3388@reddit

We lived in Spain, I remember not understanding why everyone was so upset. And why the Spanish kids could play out and we were sat indoors

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permanently-cold@reddit

I remember the news broke on the morning we were going on holiday to Benidorm. The funeral took place whilst we were there and I remember all the adults watching it on a massive screen in the dining area.

I was almost 10 so I didn't really care all that much and was just enjoying having the pool pretty much to myself

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No-Locksmith6662@reddit

Same. I was coming up for 5 years old and distinctly remember going into my parent’s bedroom for our normal Sunday morning snuggle in their bed, noticing that there was no music playing on the radio and asking why.

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Lufc87@reddit

I'd just got a TV in my bedroom when that happened. Switched it on to watch my Sunday morning staples but obviously the news had taken over.

I ran down the hall to tell my mum and dad and walked in on them wrestling. I think my dad was winning.

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-TheHumorousOne-@reddit

Same. We were perplexed why every channel was showing the news instead of our usual morning cartoons.

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psychopathic_shark@reddit

My brother work me up and told me about it but in the morning I thought it was Richard and Judy 🤷🏻‍♀️

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FamProbsLookingAtDis@reddit

Michael Jackson's death and the Haiti Earthquakes

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Jeggasyn@reddit

Well, this post is pretty depressing. I'm going to bed

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Chopsticks_Charlie@reddit

London bombings when I was in school, wondering about the old man at work up there

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cayosonia@reddit

My parents were at the Ideal Home exhibition at Earls Court but they left before the bomb went off. We were staying with our grandparents and they had heard about it on the radio. Of course back then there were no mobile phones or instant news so I think it was an anxious wait for my grandparents.

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Jeggasyn@reddit

Pretty sure there were mobile phones

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AnonymousTimewaster@reddit

9/11

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Subaruchick99@reddit

Apollo13

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mooglus@reddit

The minors strike is the earliest news I remember. I found the word ‘picket’ fascinating for some reason.

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happydog43@reddit

Vietnam

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Unstableavo@reddit

Mark Speight death.

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notmerida@reddit

this was truly heartbreaking

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ramapyjamadingdong@reddit

I did not know he had died! Thats very sad.

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Odd_Lab_7244@reddit

It was very sad

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Unstableavo@reddit

It was such awful business.

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dreadwitch@reddit

I didn't know who he was but what I do remember is when they announced his death on newsround and the Karen's of the day lost their shit about it. Like how on earth could the tell kids that someone died, worse that they committed suicide, even tho they never said that at all... Just that the police said it wasn't someone else that killed him. The outcry from that was too much.

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Unstableavo@reddit

I remember it on newsround too. I liked Mark, Kristen and there was an American man on the show

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Didymograptus2@reddit

The Aberfan disaster

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mk6971@reddit

The first Shuttle launch

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releasethekaren@reddit

Madeline McCann. I just remember the repercussions of it, mostly because I was about 6 with a very similar look. My mother would not let me out of her SIGHT

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Quiet_Type2040@reddit

Elvis’s funeral being reported on John Cravens Newsround

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wildeaboutoscar@reddit

Anthrax I think? My parents got the newspaper and I remember it being on the front cover a lot. Didn't know what it was though. Or foot and mouth, remember the news showing dead cows on fire.

I remember coming home from school to see news coverage of 9/11 as well.

Earlier than that it would have been Diana dying but I didn't really know it was news. It was just some dead person interrupting my cartoons.

God the news is bleak isn't it, thinking about it.

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_o0Zero0o_@reddit

The UK joining the states in their war against Iraq. I was about 5-6

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BrightSignal8032@reddit

Madeline Mccan

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Visible-Management63@reddit

The Falklands war I think.

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Other-Wonder-633@reddit

Elvis is dead. That old.

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thecatsothermother@reddit

That has to be Challenger or Chernobyl, both in '86. Although I was 12 at the time, I used to live somewhere so safe that I could be out most of the day o non-sbmchool days, only returning home for meals. I was also the biggest bookworm, and I paid zero attention to the news till we moved in '86.

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Cam_Sco@reddit

Still check tins of corned beef to see if they are from Argentina or Brazil. Only buy Brazilian.

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jimmyboogaloo78@reddit

Getting up to watch kids tv and being annoyed about some crap about a stupid ferry sinking a all the channels in 1987..I was nine.

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JonathnJms2829@reddit

Death of Michael Jackson, I think.

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rustynoodle3891@reddit

Shamon kiddie fiddler, he he

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RyCarbo96@reddit

🤡

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Christian-Metal@reddit

Ignorance....ignoraaaaaance

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WayneCl@reddit

Moon landing and astronauts stepping out on to the moon.

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Mrsizzle96@reddit

The US-led invasion of Iraq.

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Cam_Sco@reddit

Falklands. I would've been 4 but vividly remember being conscious of it. Then the Challenger in 86. We watched that in school. I did a painting of it that went on the wall in our classroom.

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claridgeforking@reddit

Probably Lockerbie.

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Holiday_Cat_7284@reddit

I think John Lennon being shot

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Lion_tattoo_1973@reddit

John Lennon being shot. My mum was absolutely devastated, and cried all day.

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banwe11@reddit

I remember Nelson Mandela being released from prison and presumably the salmonella scare to do with eggs was in the news around the same time.

As a 6 year old, I conflated the two and was wondering why everyone was so interested in this fella named Salmonella who was being released from prison 🤔

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psychopathic_shark@reddit

I loved this 🤣🤣

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elnovino23@reddit

Aberfan disaster, in 1966 a Welsh school was buried by a collapsing pit heap killing 116 children and 28 adults, i was 7 and couldn't understand how a pit heap just fell over, we lived close to one and my town was a coal town with pit heaps for miles around.

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Odd_Lab_7244@reddit

Death of Freddie Mercury

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mkr215@reddit

The 7/7 bombings. I was five and on holiday (Scottish schools had already finished up) in Spain with my parents, can remember turning the tv on in the apartment and seeing footage of the tube stations and the bus that had been bombed. Remember bombarding my parents with questions about their friends who lived in London.

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hodge91@reddit

I was in London a few weeks later, as 13 year old was kind of the first time something of that significance where I was aware of how eerie things were

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AirconGuyUK@reddit

I was pulling a sickie on 7/7 so I just sat in bed pretending to be ill while actually watching terrorism play out.

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Spiritual_Bet3955@reddit

Mum and I were on holiday in London at the time, and my sister rang up asking if we were okay.

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Dismal-Rush7613@reddit

Iranian Embassy SAS

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Dr_Gillian_McQueef@reddit

Iranian embassy. I was 8.

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anabsentfriend@reddit

I was 9, I remember it well. There was a lot of bombings on the news in the 70s. Then we went into fear of nuclear war in the 80s.

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Dr_Gillian_McQueef@reddit

My Dad was in the RAF and we were at Brize Norton. We'd just moved back to the UK from Germany and were used to bomb scares etc.

I remember being terrified when the flashbangs went off and they went in the windows.

And then forevermore every lad I ever met pretty much had an Uncle/Dad in the SAS.

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psychopathic_shark@reddit

And every single one of them were on the balcony.

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Verdigri5@reddit

Same age, not sure now whether I remember it or just think I do having seen the footage several times since, I definitely remember the Falklands though.

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thecatsothermother@reddit

Actually, yeah, the Falklands I remember.

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pointsofellie@reddit

The Dunblane shooting. I was at primary school at the time and they called us all into an assembly about it.

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psychopathic_shark@reddit

I also remember this. Schools talked a lot about it afterwards

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twoxraydelta@reddit

Also this for me.

My school used to leave all of the external doors unlocked during the day. Overnight, new protocols were put in place. By the time we came back from the easter holidays tall steel fences surrounded the perimeter and a new buzzer entry system was put in place at the main door.

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h00dman@reddit

I was also in primary school. We didn't have an assembly but they did stop lessons to tell us what had happened.

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lucylous2@reddit

Tesco horse meat scandal i wasnt conscious for a good few years soz

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portablekettle@reddit

Only early 20s and the two big ones are Grenfell and the stabbing/attack on London bridge. I was in either year 8 or 9 at the time in highschool. I also have memories of a terror attack in France around the same time

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rainbowsaintreal@reddit

James buldger

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AirconGuyUK@reddit

Diana is my earliest one, but my second earliest one is the sinking fo the Kursk.

Then 9/11.

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Delicious-Stop5554@reddit

I remember that well. I think the first thing I remember is coverage of apartheid in South Africa - not so much the story but there was a symbol BBC news used of flags cut in the shape of the country - used to fascinate me.

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Legless_Longjumper@reddit

The primary school shooting in Dunblane in 1996. I was 5 years old.

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AirconGuyUK@reddit

My only recollection of anything Dunblane was a kid in my school (this would have been primary school) ranting about how he was getting his guns taken away.

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Shitelark@reddit

You handy at tennis, mate?

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Fwoggie2@reddit

Andy Murray and his brother Jamie survived that by hiding under the headmaster’s desk.

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LeTrolleur@reddit

Kinda glad I wasn't old enough to remember this one to be honest, some kids/parents must have been terrified at the time that someone else would do something similar again.

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takhana@reddit

I think my parents protected us from Dunblane a bit (I was 6 and my sister was 8) but I remember Princess Diana dying the year after incredibly vividly.

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nowdoingthisatwork@reddit

I can remember some of the mums in our village crying in the playground at pick up time, it must have been all over the lunchtime news and radio. I was only 5 or 6...I also remember that she took all my toy guns away shortly after.

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crowort@reddit

Think this is the earliest for me but I was 9.

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richard0cs@reddit

I think this is my earliest one. Or maybe the docklands bombing which was the month before.

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Ifyoocanreadthishelp@reddit

9/11.

I was 5 and didn't really understand it I just knew I also enjoyed knocking down towers.

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ConflictOfEvidence@reddit

Falklands war. My dad recorded the news on my Button Moon tape.

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Aerodye@reddit

911

I don’t remember very much but I remember sitting in my parents bedroom and seeing the towers on TV

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Purple-Hamster499@reddit

Summer 1977. At home with the radio blaring out. News flash that Elvis had died.

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Itchy_Clap@reddit

Princess Diana, 9/11, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman

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12thnightkitties@reddit

The election of John F Kennedy. I was in second grade and I remember going to bed and feeling like it was Christmas Eve. Then waking up to find I got a great present!

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Roonwogsamduff@reddit

JFK

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Soukchai2012@reddit

The Falklands war

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rebelallianxe@reddit

The Ethiopian famine probably and the Miners Strike. Lockerbie and Challenger later yeah.

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Murky-Union552@reddit

The murder of James Bulger. I was the same age as the killers and I remember them addressing it at school

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heidivodka@reddit

I was about 2 years younger than them and I couldn’t believe what they had done. Even at that age I knew what they did was so completely wrong. We had a scare a month after his death, my brother (non verbal autistic) when missing in Blackpool. I was panicking thinking someone had kidnapped him from the early learning shop, we all split up to find him. Thankfully we did, had had held onto a woman’s pram and followed her into Superdrug and was feeling the bottom of her underskirt(he had a thing for soft textures). I had nightmares for months afterwards.

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cliffybiro951@reddit

Yeah actually I remember that one too. Seem to recall all the parents at school talking about it. Non of the kids walked to school alone for months after that. Even if they only lived round the corner

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XtreamXTC@reddit

This is also the first I remember, I must have been 12 or 13 and had a paper round, it was in the front page of every newspaper I delivered that day.

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Fine-Statistician132@reddit

Kennedy assasination not sure if it was JFK or Robert. I went to a small convent school and the headmistress came into class to tell us and we said a prayer. It meant nothing to me apart from someone was shot dead.

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MrSpud45@reddit

Hungerford / great storm in 87 are the only ones that stick in my mind. My mum had a close friend live near to Hungerford - couldn't get through on the phone to check as lines had been cut by the police.

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NeilDeWheel@reddit

Elvis Presley dying. I was 7 and being driven to my grandparents when it was announced on the car radio that Elvis had died. All the adults were snicked and upset but I just turned and asked “Who’s Elvis?”

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WesternEmpire2510@reddit

Diana

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SoupyAT@reddit

Fall of Berlin Wall

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Donnasuelewis@reddit

Zeebrugge ferry disaster

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d-a-s-a-l-i@reddit

The fall of the Berlin Wall

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VexedRacoon@reddit

Princess Diana or Twin Towers.

Twin Towers was more of an impact because I came home from school and all the kids TV had been wiped off and this news replaced it. I didn't really see the big deal or why it was important to us that there was some kind of disaster in the US.

I remember also something about Princess Diana but as a kid I didn't care about royal family (still don't). I was born in the late 80's.

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rustynoodle3891@reddit

Bit of a gap there. I was a kid for one and watched the other on a tb behind the bar in a snooker hall drinking Stella!

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VexedRacoon@reddit

Most of my childhood was about playing with Legos, running around outside in the woods with our dogs, and kids TV shows. I wasn't interested in world events.

I imagine now kids are probably sucked into this stuff a lot more considering social media apps etc.

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Incitatus_For_Office@reddit

Legos?

Lego is plural on its own. Lego sets, yes. Legos, no.

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cliffybiro951@reddit

I’d just left school when twin towers was happening. I remember my dad was at home, was odd seeing him as he was always at work (coal miner) while I was home and home when I was at school. We sat and watched it unfold on tv and I distinctly remember not being able to use the dial up internet as phones had gone down for a period of time.

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drivingagermanwhip@reddit

I was 11 and remember the teachers making a big deal about 9/11. I'd never heard of the world trade centre and I guess it's one of those things where every day the news is about terrible stuff happening to people I don't know and I didn't really get why that specifically was a big deal.

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pixpix89@reddit

This is the same for me. I was born in 89 and I have a vague memory of Princess Diana. But then it was 9/11. I never paid attention to the news. Just remembered coming home from school wondering why they’d replaced my TV shows with a movie…

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djferris123@reddit

I was born in 93 and remember 9/11, well I remember going to the child minders house and being annoyed there was no TV to watch.

Another thing I remember is the 2002 world cup and going into school early to watch England play, no idea if it was just my school

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FALSE_PROTAGONIST@reddit

Chernobyl

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Undefined92@reddit

9/11

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cliffybiro951@reddit

I remembered another. Mad cow disease or swine flu. Can’t remember which. We were on holiday somewhere in the caravan and we would have to stand in this liquid before we walked though any fields.

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siybon@reddit

The Mary Rose being pulled up. I have a distinct memory of a big yellow thing carrying it.

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cliffybiro951@reddit

I remember a girl at school had been to see the wreck in a museum or something? She brought a video for us all the watch on tv in class

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PurplePlodder1945@reddit

I remember our class watching that when I was in form 1 in comp

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scruntyboon@reddit

That yellow thing has just flooded back into my memory, so that has to be my answer too

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Miss_Type@reddit

The big inflatable thingy? Was that it? They inflated it off the ocean floor. It was amazing to watch it come up!

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Damo0378@reddit

Snap!!!

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damapplespider@reddit

There was a Blue Peter appeal to help raise her so suspect this helped cement it in memories more than if it was just a news headline. I sail in the Solent now and often take those of a certain age to see the marker buoy. And, if you haven’t been, the Mary Rose Museum is magnificent.

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Jazzlike-Basil1355@reddit

JFK. I was 5

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MsPB01@reddit

Prime Charles marrying Lady Diana Spencer - I was five at the time, and Mum says I asked why the Royal Family didn't have an iron

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cm-cfc@reddit

Dunblane sticks with me, as i was in Primary school at the time

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ijs_1985@reddit

Gulf War early 90s I remember being on the TV World Cup 90 and the tears!

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ApprehensiveYam9631@reddit

The storming of the Iranian Embassy in 1980 by the SAS. It’s all everyone was talking about at school the next day

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cliffybiro951@reddit

Funnily enough it’s reminiscent of today. I remember something about fuel prices going up in the 90s. My dad had the news on the radio while on holiday in Devon. He went to fill up before it went up from 40p a litre to a reported 70 odd pence.

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BG3restart@reddit

Idi Amin visiting the UK.

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anasfkhan81@reddit

The Herald of Free Enterprise sinking in 1987

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WorkingCity8969@reddit

Elvis dying. Everyone was crying and that made me cry. I had no idea what was going on 😖

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OmniWise@reddit

The war in Cambodia and Mul of kintyre playing on the radio.

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milkteacuppa@reddit

7/7, my dad tried explaining it to me and I was like "oooooh explosions so cool!" and he had to explain "no, moron, people were murdered"

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Yahoo_Rye@reddit

Aberfan disaster

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Reasonable-Ad1170@reddit

I wasn’t born yet but we found out after they past family were there helping. My great aunt lived nearby and the amount of “tourist” that we’re looking for the site. She used to slam the door in their faces. So I don’t remember it but I remember being told about it.

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Miss_Type@reddit

That must have been awful. How old were you, if you don't mind me asking? I'm just thinking you must have been the same age as some of the children.

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Yahoo_Rye@reddit

I was eight at the time , it was a disaster that will say with me forever.

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Miss_Type@reddit

I'm sure. I wasn't born then, but I remember reading Spike Milligan's poem about it, and asking my dad what it was about. He got choked up explaining what happened to me.

[-]

Psychological-Plum10@reddit

We had a Welsh headmaster, and I remember being shocked to see a tear roll down his face when he told us about it.

[-]

Prestigious-Garbage5@reddit

I remember being at school when this happened, and our teacher broke the news to us. She was clearly (and rightly) shocked by the disaster.

[-]

frankie_0924@reddit

Lockerbie disaster

[-]

SignatureFull5096@reddit

Holly & Jessica. Was 6 years old and remember it being the first time I really found out how evil the world could be to little girls

[-]

Overthinker-dreamer@reddit

I remember this very well. I was 9 and living in Cambridgeshire. It was the first new story I followed and understood.

I think about them often

[-]

SignatureFull5096@reddit

me too. as i’ve gotten older too and realised how ‘not old’ Ian Huntley was when he did it it’s always thrown me. when i was 6 he was a nasty old man, now im 30 he wasn’t old at all!

[-]

baileylikethedrink@reddit

The Exxon Valdez disaster. I was so sad for the little oil slick birds on the news. I was four.

[-]

Olliejc24@reddit

9/11 for me, my memory of it is very hazy now but it was definitely the first time I remember something happening and the world feeling like it stopped. I would have been nearly 7.

[-]

jjb0rdell0@reddit

Giving Honk Kong back to China or Princess Diana dying. They happened pretty close to each other I think

[-]

W51976@reddit

The Great Storm of October 1987. We lost power during the night, and I remember all the cars in the local street were flattened by fallen trees.

[-]

Defiant-Tackle-0728@reddit

The Falklands War in 1982.

I also remember the Mary Rose being lifted from the Solent though that ones abit fuzzy.

I was 4/5.

The bigger ones with clearer memories is the Miners Strike in 84/5.

And Challenger in 86.

[-]

Advanced-Plastic2862@reddit

Lockerbie bombing

[-]

death-in-tipton@reddit

Elvis dying.

[-]

GlassDriver3855@reddit

The assassination of JFK.

[-]

TheD4rkSide@reddit

Little Jamie Bulger for me. Haunts me more now I have kids.

[-]

Shitelark@reddit

The Falklands War.

[-]

EmptyStock9676@reddit

Zebrugge ferry disaster, interrupted cartoons on tv. Remember seeing the ferry on its side. So tragic

[-]

Proper-Throwaway-23@reddit

Jamie Bulger. I was very young but remember how heartbroken and horrifed everyone was. I didnt have much grasp on the realities of it at the time but still found it extremely harrowing. Everyone's parents became extremely paranoid for a while afterwards and knowing what I learned about it as I got older, I can completely understand why. The next big ones were Princess Diana and then 9/11.

[-]

saltire5@reddit

Probably the murder of James Bulger. Not so much the news stories as such, but i remember the emphasis of us being told as kids to Never Speak to Strangers. I remember my parents talking about it with other parents at the time, and how genuinely upset and outraged people were at the time.

[-]

mbridge2610@reddit

Iraq War 1

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True-Register-9403@reddit

Fall off the Berlin wall, didn't really understand it, but knew it was something significant.

[-]

Crackers-defo-600@reddit

Moon landing 1969. Brother stayed up (of course) I was told the next day.

[-]

LadyInAllPower@reddit

Maybe the Falkland’s war. I remember being a bit scared and confused

[-]

westmidlands-@reddit

Probably holly & jessica in the Man Utd shirts or the 9/11 attack

[-]

Jaybee021967@reddit

Birmingham pub bombings and The Yorkshire ripper

[-]

JamesAyres0310@reddit

Grenfell Tower Fire. Still have those images permanently etched into my mind. Coming downstairs in my school uniform and seeing the first images after dawn break. Yup that sucked and the aftermath sucked.

[-]

kittysparkled@reddit

Mount St Helens erupting in 1980. I was 4 and it started a lifetime fascination with geology - I did my degree in it and work for a geology research organisation now.

[-]

boringfantasy@reddit

Chilean Miner Crisis

[-]

r_keel_esq@reddit

Mandela's release.

I was three or four, but my Mum and I had been on many Free Mandela marches during my early-childhood so I was vaguely aware of what was happening as my mum watched the news with years of joy.

[-]

inevitablelizard@reddit

Depends if you mean remembering the actual news story itself. I remember foot and mouth because I saw evidence of it all around, closed off public footpaths leading out of our village and I asked my parents about it, but I don't remember any news report about it.

I remember being vaguely aware about some buildings called the twin towers around late 2001, but I didn't see any news coverage or really understand it.

The 2004 tsunami was probably the first actual news story where I can remember seeing news coverage of it.

[-]

FenianBastard847@reddit

The Torrey Canyon oil tanker disaster

[-]

Theallseer97@reddit

It's absolutely horrendous but the one story that stuck out to me as a kid and I still remember reading the newspaper for the details to this day, Baby P's tragic little life. Fucking horrendous. I'll never forget it. Was about 8 when I read it in The Sun newspaper.

[-]

ExpressPoint2699@reddit

The Aberfan disaster, where coal slurry slid down a mountain side in Wales and covered a school with most of the school children killed.

[-]

ConsciouslyIncomplet@reddit

Ditto - I seem to remember we were watching g it at school when it happened? However that might be ‘rose tinted glasses’.

[-]

PurplePlodder1945@reddit

I don’t remember elvis dying but I do remember Charlie Chaplin dying the same year (1977) on Christmas Day. I have no idea why that’s stuck in my head. Also remember how hot it was in 1976 - we thought it was just a lovely summer when we were kids - I was 6

[-]

smoulderstoat@reddit

I can remember the 1976 drought.

[-]

nutwiss@reddit

Standpipes in the street. Probably my very first memory at all!

[-]

Repulsive_Dig_133@reddit

yeah :) and the Ladybird plague that happened that year. Remember being at my grannies house and watching the weather forecast and it was going to be 27 , and everybody was omg ! ( Scotland lol ).

Live down south down and it was 40 a couple of years ago.

[-]

dreadwitch@reddit

Do you remember the greenfly plague the year before? I remember my mum saying there'll be loads of ladybirds soon lol took a year though.

[-]

Psychological-Plum10@reddit

That was the year I got married I didn't think we drank that much at the reception :)

[-]

Verdigri5@reddit

We had just moved from London to a little village, I remember dad having to drive to the village green to a bowser to fill jerry cans with water.

[-]

Dry-Explanation6521@reddit

The launch of Sputnik

[-]

WitchyWoo9@reddit

Jamie Bulger, I was only 10 when it happened but I vividly remember it being shocking and deeply upsetting even though I didn't understand the full extent of what happened.

[-]

Thin_Chain_208@reddit

Man walking on the moon

[-]

your_swindon_lot@reddit

A plane crashed near my house (East Midlands airport) and I remember seeing it on the news and seeing it in real life.

[-]

Uklurker@reddit

Me too, keyworrg was my first news I could remember. We lived at Long Eaton so it was big 'local' news

[-]

No-Jicama-6523@reddit

Do you remember Lockerbie? That was less than two weeks earlier. I was 9 and remember both, it felt like the sky was falling down.

Early 2025 felt eerily similar, January 23rd the crash in DC then in February that weird flipped plane in Toronto, everyone survived, but it feels like one major accident that changes aviation followed by one likely forgotten.

I also remember the top of a 737 being ripped off and in managing to land around the same time, so it felt like a lot was going on in the sky.

[-]

Specific_Tap7296@reddit

I remember the TV was on but we wasn't watching then they stopped the program to announce Lockerbie. All the adults stopped talking to watch. Pretty scary as a kid

[-]

Damo0378@reddit

I found out about it exactly the same way. It was during the Lenny Henry show if I remember correctly, and I thought it was part of the show at first and thought it was hilarious at first. That didn't last long. I was 10.

[-]

Sltre101@reddit

Interestingly they were 3 very different incidents that changed aviation in big ways.

Lockerbie - all the security measures it brought with it - and was the final nail in the coffin for Pan Am.

Kegworth - understanding that pilots need more thorough training when systems change. That whole accident happened because it was a new variant of the 737 and the pilots used knowledge relevant to the older version, leading to them shutting down the wrong engine.

The roof ripping off - Aloha 243 - lead to a greater understanding of metal fatigue, human factors in maintenance and inspection requirements for older aircraft.

[-]

SparklyRainbowAngel@reddit

Very interesting information. Thank you.

[-]

ubiquitousuk@reddit

Me too as I was also quite local. I think about this every time I travel along the M1 (not so often these days) and see the landing lights spinning the road.

[-]

anabsentfriend@reddit

Kegworth. Awful. I watched the documentary yesterday.

[-]

nineteenthly@reddit

I lived in Leicester until fairly recently and was a young adult at the time. I remember it well. There was also the Colin Pitchfork case around the same time, and it was soon after Lockerbie, near where I live now.

[-]

stulogic@reddit

Lockerbie bombing. Had family in that part of the country so mum was a bit panicked at the time. I didn’t really get why Moira Stewart was giving me the calm gravitas as she announced it on the BBC while my mum was a bit less composed shall we say.

[-]

rimarshall99@reddit

I work with someone who walked out of the kegworth disaster. He went for a cigarette and apparently that’s what saved him

[-]

Important_Ruin@reddit

Kegworth?

[-]

Sea-Breaz@reddit

There was a documentary about the Kegworth Disaster on bbc2 a couple of nights ago.

[-]

hopping32@reddit

Hillsborough. I was 11 and the photos they put in the papers would never be allowed now.

[-]

blac4bird@reddit

Petrol hitting £1.00.

Absolute chaos, queues everywhere.

[-]

tx1998@reddit

Probably 7/7 or Hurricane Katrina

[-]

Ethel-The-Aardvark@reddit

1969, the first Moon landing. I was quite small but it's a strong memory, and I suspect my fascination with space and science fiction is partly a result of it.

[-]

Psycho_Splodge@reddit

Herald of free enterprise sinking

[-]

saludpesetasamor@reddit

The Zeebrugge ferry disaster, and the King’s Cross fire. I think they happened in the same year.

I was supposed to have been on the ferry but my mum changed our plans, and I would have been in the King’s Cross fire if she’d taken me with her to London that day like she usually did (no idea why she didn’t). She was in the fire but got out.

That’s some Final Destination shit.

[-]

Spare_Tyre1212@reddit

For me it was Aberfan - national tragedy killing a large number of kids in their school. Dreadful.

[-]

SGRiggall@reddit

Apartheid ending, I lived in South Africa at the time, I was about 9 or 10

[-]

Plus-Mulberry6761@reddit

9/11. I was 7, in England, but I still remember watching it after coming home from school (was a breaking story at the time) didn’t understand what was going on though. Second is probably the 2004 tsunami, same kind of thing - knowing something bad was happening but not really able to understand the gravitas of it

[-]

ChopperChedder22@reddit

Gotta be the towers, it was all anyone saw or spoke about for probably a good week. Would have been 7 i guess.

July bombings next (london 7/7),

Sadam hussain being hung (actually remember watching the video of it happening, guess thats where i got into rotten dot com).

Not sure if the bombings and the hanging were the opposite but those are my 3 main ones i remember

[-]

Gullible_fool_99@reddit

The Argentine invasion of The Falkland Islands.

[-]

Stevebwrw@reddit

The Apollo 11 Moon Landing.

[-]

Outrageous_Shake2926@reddit

I remember being woken up in the middle of the night and being taken downstairs to watch humans landing on the moon.

[-]

MaidInWales@reddit

Same here 😊

[-]

Quiet_surprise79@reddit

Princess Diana's death but the one that hit my child brain hardest was Geri Halliwell leaving Spice Girls the year after. I was devastated 💔

[-]

MaidInWales@reddit

The first moon landing and moon walk.

[-]

PeasBeard@reddit

James Bulger murder when I was like 10

[-]

EvilTaffyapple@reddit

I remember watching the fall of the Berlin Wall on the news - I would have been 6 at the time.

[-]

Miss_Type@reddit

That was an amazing thing to see happen.

[-]

roxana2708@reddit

Princess Diana I was seven at the time

[-]

Successful-Watch3814@reddit

The Yorkshire Ripper

[-]

ExtremeJujoo@reddit

Jonestown😳 I was a little kid and caught it on the news. My father was mortified, and quickly turned the channel.

[-]

Mc_and_SP@reddit

The Queen Mother dying

[-]

Infamous_Telephone55@reddit

The Falklands war.

[-]

psychopathic_shark@reddit

The Hillsborough disaster.

[-]

Miss_Type@reddit

I watched that unfold on the telly. My brother was watching the match, or going to, and when things started happening, he was too shocked to send me out of the room. I wasn't really young, but should probably not have seen it.

[-]

Capable_Vast_6119@reddit

Yorkshire Ripper.

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Top_Khat@reddit

9/11 however I apparently I asked my mum why there was no cartoons on when Diana died

[-]

Practical_Bitch@reddit

Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster in 1987 comes to mind. I used to go on holiday by ferry a lot as a kid and it looked so scary. Also Hillsborough disaster in 1989, the newspaper front pages were so upsetting. I don't think I saw the news on tv much as a kid so it was most likely what I saw when I visited the newsagent or heard on the radio.

[-]

ColdShadowKaz@reddit

The only time the news actually interrupted the program to say that the IRA were going to stop and the peace talks went the way they should which is towards peace.

[-]

Brickie78@reddit

Charles and Diana's wedding. I was 3. My dad had set up a camera on a tripod pointing at the TV screen to capture the Big Moment. I toddled in and pressed the shutter (on one of those dangly remote things) so when he came to actually take the picture the film wasn't wound on.

Then there was a little street party in the cul-de-sac and I played with the neighbour's kid under the trestle tables.

[-]

pinkdaisylemon@reddit

The Aberfan disaster in 1966. I was 5 years old and have a vivid memory of standing in front of our black and white TV and seeing the news. I remember feeling very sad and my mum and dad being very upset. I didn't like the stark grey of the slate and the pictures of the school and debris.

[-]

Miss_Type@reddit

Miner's strike and the Falklands war. I remember Arthur Scargill was always on the news. I also remember some of the IRA bombings.

[-]

likeyournamebutworse@reddit

I remember when Michael Fish said there wouldn't be a hurricane and then all the trees blew over.

[-]

Several_Hospital_129@reddit

The long gas ⛽️ lines in the late 70's. I vaguely remember asking my mother what was going on. Try explaining an oil 🛢 embargo to a 6- year- old. 🙄

I also remember the hostage crisis. My father watched ABC news every night, and Peter Jennings would count the days.

[-]

Goudinho99@reddit

Zebruga ferry disaster resulted in an episode of Dogtanian being cancelled

[-]

Mr-RS182@reddit

Death of princess Diana

[-]

hotdogswife@reddit

September 11th (I was 6, turning 7) - the news was shown on the telly in my classroom for some reason!

I remember another kid crying because she had family that lived in New York or something.

[-]

twopeasandapear@reddit

9/11 and the Soham Murders.

[-]

icklepeach@reddit

Piper Alpha I think.

[-]

Nervous_Condition_26@reddit

Either Maddie McCann or the Boxing Day Tsunami whichever was first

[-]

AveragelyBrilliant@reddit

I’m 63 years old. I remember the major stories, like being woken up in the middle of the night (in the U.K.) to watch the moon landings and various other Apollo related activities. Grainy black and white TV set, huge sofa and a blanket. Heaven.

[-]

markedasred@reddit

Birmingham Pub bombs. Our dad was Irish, so he got persecuted every time he spoke back then. He died soon after.

[-]

PutMammoth9156@reddit

Chernobyl, was terrified as an 8 year old.

[-]

Cosmic-Hippos@reddit

Aberfan

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Damo0378@reddit

Raising of the Mary Rose and the Falklands War. Both 1982. I was 4 years old.

[-]

casserollingstone@reddit

The death of Michael Jackson when I was about 6 or 7. Stuck with me for life because people were sobbing in the streets

[-]

EccentricDyslexic@reddit

Lybiya being bombed by bush. I remember going to school and nobody else knew! I thought it was end of the world! Now with trump and the closest we got to WW3 and I'm "meh".

[-]

Paull7@reddit

Probably the Iraq raw around '03

[-]

Bubbly-Weakness-4788@reddit

Yorkshire Ripper. I was only 6 but my dad was glued to the news.

[-]

KatarinaCruz@reddit

Chernobyl, probably, or maybe the shuttle Discovery. Sometime around ‘85 or ‘86 sort of time.

[-]

Wrong_Chicken_8497@reddit

2011 Haiti. I was only 6 or 7 at the time

[-]

FilmFanatic1066@reddit

Twin towers, I was about 9 at the time

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Melonpan78@reddit

I never understood news stories as a child unless they directly related to me, so I remember my mum telling me about the Zeebrugge disaster and that meant something, as we sailed to France on Townsend Thoresen every year.

[-]

Border-Babies@reddit

The Iran US hostage situation in 1979. It was on the news every night, I was 10

[-]

tee-dog1996@reddit

9/11, I remember very little but I do remember hearing about it and not understanding at the time. I was only 5 and a half

[-]

microwave900@reddit

April Jones going missing

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UrMomDotCom666@reddit

don't know if it counts but 2012 olympics. I was in reception and they made us colour in british flags. I remember finding it really difficult to know where the different colours went.

[-]

Real_Dependent2919@reddit

JFK assasination... im old

[-]

XSjacketfiller@reddit

John Prescott punching the guy who egged him on the election trail!

[-]

sharkkallis@reddit

York Minster burning. One of the biggest storms I've ever heard (from my parents bed).

[-]

Commercial_Level_615@reddit

The kid falling into the gorilla enclosure

[-]

SparklyRainbowAngel@reddit

I remember the Aberfan disaster. We lived in a small mining village in Scotland and my granny made loads of tablet to sell to raise funds for them. It was the only time I wasn't allowed any, so I knew something bad had happened.

[-]

No-Jicama-6523@reddit

I don’t remember Challenger, which surprises me a little. It’s probably the Herald of Free Enterprise overturning, March 1987.

[-]

pixeltash@reddit

I remember the Herald disaster, but possibly only because we went on a sister ship the following year on a school trip and the teachers didn't find our jokes very funny.

I remember Challenger for a similar reason, the joke there was of we can send one teacher to space why can't we send them all... Then it blew up and the joke got darker, but was still made.

Looking back we were pretty rotten kids to teach. Also looking back we had pretty shit teachers. A geography teacher argued with me that Transylvania wasn't a real place, because it was in a fictional book. I wasn't saying Dracula was real ffs. I got sent to the head for a bollocking. No internet then to look things up, so teachers word was law.

[-]

Villandry64@reddit

Aberfan disaster. I remember my mum crying when she heard the news.

[-]

Jamjar2023@reddit

Holly and Jessica, was 8 at the time.

[-]

xxx654@reddit

JR getting shot. It was on the news.

[-]

HangTheError@reddit

9/11. We had an assembly and a moment of silence. Catholic primary school in the UK.

[-]

No_Professional_7730@reddit

Probably Diana passing as I was about 9. News that affected me and worried me? 9/11…sudden realisation that the world was not safe.

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FatFluent@reddit

Lockerbie…

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Leapimus_Maximus@reddit

The release of Nelson Mandela. I remember all the church bells ringing out.

[-]

KeepOnTrippinOn@reddit

Miners strike 1984, I was 6.

[-]

Consistent_Rich_153@reddit

I feel quite old in comparison to a lot of you! Mine is the fall of the Berlin Wall. I also recall Hillsborough, Lockerbie and the release of Nelson Mandela.

[-]

ParchedZombie@reddit

Bhopal chemical disaster.

[-]

Pat8aird@reddit

Lockerbie.

I was 4. My Dad was a Policeman at the time and was made to go and help ‘clean up’ over Christmas.

[-]

halfport@reddit

Zeebrugge, herald of free enterprise hit me hard as I'd been on a (different) ferry

[-]

Dissidant@reddit

The snow in 1987, I got to make snowmen in the street because everything ground to a halt 😄
Was so bad a family members boss had to used a landrover to help people get into work

Also later that year you will either remember this infamous line or you won't

"Earlier on today apparently, a woman rang the BBC and said she'd heard there was a hurricane on the way. Well, if you are watching, don't worry, there isn't!"

Bunch of nearby homes had their roofs taken off a house couple doors up got condemned/knocked down

[-]

Ambitious_Rent_3282@reddit

The first moon landings aged 4

[-]

xDzerx@reddit

Two most memorable were the death of Princess Diana and the American 9/11 both of which were everywhere on the news at the time.

[-]

VioletRosely22@reddit

Same age as you! I remember Princess Dianna's passing as we to Paris a few days later to go to Disneyland Paris for my birthday and we went through the tunnel. I asked my mum why there were flowers and remember her being sad. We also got flashed on the same trip!

[-]

FairlyInconsistentRa@reddit

The Herald of Free Enterprise sinking. Was too scared to take a bath for months afterwards.

[-]

Physical-Industry-21@reddit

Fighting on the Gaza strip. That was over 50 years ago and it's still going on. It'll never end over there...

[-]

dannywalk@reddit

Weirdly the Iran embassy siege of 1980 I. London. I was about 5 and I remember seeing it on the news.

[-]

Willsagain2@reddit

The Moors Murderers arrests and charges

[-]

dreadwitch@reddit

Honestly I can't remember 😂 possibly the start of the Falklands war when I was about 10 ish, although it I hunted the for the big news stories earlier I'd probably see something I remember once reminded.

[-]

humanityisdyingfast@reddit

Madeleine McCann

[-]

humanityisdyingfast@reddit

Arab Spring

[-]

rabidrob42@reddit

Diana's funeral, I was 8, didn't understand what was going on, and being annoyed that I couldn't watch my cartoons.

[-]

buy_me_a_pint@reddit

Princess Diana dying

[-]

undoneyet@reddit

Bay of Pigs and my mums considering pre-emptively ending us all.

[-]

twentiethcenturyduck@reddit

And there was me thinking I must be the oldest person reading this thread as I had just got back from a work stress management course when the twin towers happened!

[-]

jungleddd@reddit

Falklands War.

[-]

louse_yer_pints@reddit

Falklands conflict I think off the top of my head.

[-]

Consistent_Umpire443@reddit

9/11 for me I was 5 and I remember my dad telling me this is huge news this is just not somthing that happens all the time.

[-]

RochesterThe2nd@reddit

The SAS storming the Iranian Embassy in London.

[-]

Far_Side_Base@reddit

Car powered by splitting water into hydrogen/oxygen. Guy died in suspicious circumstances shortly after his story was in the news.

[-]

MobileFluid1174@reddit

The Hillsborough Disaster

[-]

kernowgringo@reddit

Exxon Valdez

[-]

DavidJonnsJewellery@reddit

Elvis dying. That was a big deal

[-]

MutinousMango@reddit

Sri Lanka tsunami, but only because my middle school did a big donation drive to send out there

[-]

twentiethcenturyduck@reddit

Radio Caroline shutting down (my mother cried). 1968

[-]

CactusCastrator@reddit

9/11. They brought us all into the school hall and wheeled in the TV so the teachers could watch.

[-]

MaxDaClog@reddit

Vietnam war. Was on the telly for all of my pre teen years.

[-]

LeTrolleur@reddit

9/11

Sitting playing on the floor with my best friend in his parents' lounge after school, was only 6 years old so we had no idea what was going on, what it meant, or the impact it could have.

[-]

BocaSeniorsWsM@reddit

The Iranian Embassy siege. I remember seeing the SAS lads climbing from balcony to balcony.

[-]

Blueskiesbrowneyes@reddit

Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. I was a couple of years younger than them but it's the first news story I remember.

[-]

BoomalakkaWee@reddit

My earliest memories are of Apollo 11 and the first men on the moon in 1969, when I was 6 years old; and the Apollo 13 emergency the following year. I remember our infants' school headmistress leading a prayer for the safe return of the three astronauts.

While I understood what was happening, I was still so young that I couldn't imagine it not ending successfully - I remember watching live news coverage of them splashing down safely and my parents being immensely relieved, while to me and my little brother it was like the standard happy ending to a family film.

[-]

DeadBallDescendant@reddit

The first moonlanding probably. Or the Investiture of the Prince of Wales. Both of which we watched at school.

[-]

mrstone2@reddit

Challenger disaster is something I clearly remember. I have seen it on the main channel of Soviet TV - I remember being appalled by the glee on presenter lady's face

[-]

RoyofBungay@reddit

I can remember August Bank Holiday in 1979 when Mountbatten was killed by the IRA.

Wondering why my father cheered when he heard it on the radio.

[-]

madkenstalin@reddit

Iranian embassy hostsges. But not sure if thsts a memory from the time or after. Falklands war.

[-]

Maus_Sveti@reddit

Very vague memory of waiting in a freezing cold field to see Halley’s Comet pass over. No memory of the actual comet. I have a decent chance of being still alive for the next one though.

[-]

OkPerformance66@reddit

[-]

popshares@reddit

The Torrey Canyon supertanker shipwreck and enormous oil spill off the Scilly Isles in 1967.

Largely forgotten now, it was a huge deal at the time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrey_Canyon_oil_spill?wprov=sfla1

[-]

Conscious-Bee5910@reddit

For me it was John Lennon’s murder. I was six and watching the news for some reason. I thought his name was John “Lemon.” My parents had to correct me.

[-]

TangoMikeOne@reddit

I vaguely remember Operation Nimrod - the storming of the Iranian embassy by the SAS, that's as early as I can remember (but I'm aware that the "memory" might have been contaminated by any and all mentions of the SAS in the weeks and months afterwards. If not that, then the Falklands war)

[-]

Fabulous-Part-1125@reddit

For me it was princess Diana dying. I was 11 or 12 at the time. I remember seeing it on all the channels on tv and everyone talking about it.

[-]

Luckluck13@reddit

Elvis Dying

[-]

jimonlimon@reddit

I was born in 1965 and remember watching moon landings live on TV. Probably not Apollo 11 and 12 in 1969, more likely Apollo 14-17 in 1971 and 1972.

[-]

Advanced-Fig6699@reddit

Daniel Handley - been 30+ years and for some reason I still can’t get him out of my head

[-]

tnahrp@reddit

the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. it was on the radio constantly and everyone was talking about it for a long long time. I mean you still hear her name mentioned every now and then and it's almost been 20 years

[-]

ThatJ4ke@reddit

The crash of Spanair 4088 in Madrid. It was easy to remember because it happened on my sister's 20th birthday.

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Key_Produce2617@reddit

Hillsborough.

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MelkorTheCorruptor@reddit

Diana 1997 (I was 7), then it was the sporting event of Manchester United winning the treble in 1999, then it was Y2K, just the massive parties going on around the world for NYE for the new millennium, then it would be 9/11 in 2001.

Huge moments in time.

[-]

Enough-Ad3818@reddit

Valley Parade fire.

I don't remember the event as much as I remember my Mum sat sobbing, watching the TV.

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kalzan@reddit

Terrorist attack in London the night my parents went on a date up central London.

I wasn’t THAT young I was like 10-11 and having a sleepover with my friend at my house that night. We just watched a horror movie and when it was finished it automatically went back to the channel it was on which was bbc news, broadcasting the aftermath of the attack.

I freaked out so bad, hyperventilating, called my mum about 20 times and she didn’t answer and i genuinely thought maybe she died. I remember thinking I was going to be an orphan like Tracy Breaker (loved that show). She finally answered and told me off because I was only supposed to call if it was an emergency but when I told her what was on the news they came home because traffic was going to be bad.

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damienlaughton@reddit

It was the brown outs in the 70s. I remember watching on the news, pictures of people pushing shopping trolleys around an unlit supermarket; people had candles and had attached them to the trolley handles.

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nowdoingthisatwork@reddit

I have vague memories of the miners strikes and of seeing about Hillsborough when my dad was watching the news.

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ShareCrafty5822@reddit

The King Is Dead... Elvis Presley passes away.

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PinkandTwinkly@reddit

Mad Cow Disease and John Gummer feeding his daughter a burger on telly

Think is was 9 or 10

[-]

LilacMages@reddit

The Soham murders in 2002

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Knitterwitter909@reddit

I remember two events but I can't quite place them.

I remember a passenger plane hijacking somewhere that went on for days. Maybe with passengers being let off a few at a time? Would have been 1987, 1988. I remember drawing pictures of it on my school jotter, keeping a little record of how many people were let off, or maybe dead people being thrown off, and the teacher asking me why I was doing it.

And I remember some men, British men I think, who were somewhere in the Middle East and were going to be executed. Again mid-late 80s. I was so worried that might happen to my dad, even though we didn't even have passports at the time. But that really frightened me. I can't remember their names, if they were executed, anything about it. There were maybe 2 or 3 of them. Businessmen I think who'd gone there for work then done something wrong.

I was a happy kid, I'm a happy adult. I don't know why these 2 things stick in my memory.

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MiserubleCant@reddit

second one would be Terry Waite et al, I think?

first one I also vaguely remember something like that but can't place it. thought I remembered it being a french plane in africa, but google is pointing me towards Air France 139 or Air France 8969 which were 1976 and 1994 respectively, so neither of them fit.

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Knitterwitter909@reddit

I don't think it was anyone as well known as Terry Waite. I'm sure these men had some kind of trial. I can't remember. Maybe they weren't British. I think about it now and again. I vividly remember going to bed after hearing about them on the news and being so worried for my dad (who had never left the UK so was totally safe) and not wanting to tell my parents why I was so worried

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ivy_man2@reddit

Fall of the Berlin Wall.

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Haynes_@reddit

My first memory ever that I can date is 9/11. But I think actually I saw it on the news a couple of days later.

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TexasBrett@reddit

The collapse of the Soviet Union, December 1991.

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schmoovebaby@reddit

Probably poor Jamie Bulger, just because it was so horrific. I was nine

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Joshthenosh77@reddit

Lockerbie

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SnooMacarons5600@reddit

JFK assassination.

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glumpoid92@reddit

Lockerbie was first I really remember. Then there was the United 747 a couple of months later where the cargo door opened and took a chunk of fuselage with it. As a kid I was morbidly fascinated by passengers getting sucked out of the plane..

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dwair@reddit

Following on from the space theme, I can remember watching the first moon landing on the telly. Mainly because it was my folks's first telly bought for the occasion.

[-]

ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit

Argentina invading the Falklands

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Consistent-Dance5461@reddit

I think it was elvis dying, I was only 4 and couldn't understand why everyone was crying on the tv

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Elvis dying.

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Madyakker@reddit

I don’t remember this at all but I remember the news of Marc Bolan dying a few weeks later. I had no idea who he was.

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CunningOctopus@reddit

Same, mum was crying

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Scarred_fish@reddit

Yep, same. I think I remember it because it was the first time something on the news really affected people I knew.

[-]

NotAboutTheCrown@reddit

The fall of the wall in Berlin… had no idea of what was happening at the time but I remember the images

[-]

Insertnameherebois@reddit

The Phone-Hacking scandal.

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Greglebowski74@reddit

Mount St Helens eruption. I was 6, and was fascinated by volcanos.

[-]

Abervilla@reddit

Elvis dying.

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Annual-Individual-9@reddit

John Lennon being shot.

I was 8 so there must have been lots of major stories before this, but this is the one I remember, my Mum was a big Beatles fan so maybe it's because it had more of a personal impact than more 'distant' stories. We had grown up with the Beatles music so even as young kids we knew who he was. It came on the radio while we were having breakfast I remember it clear as day. 1980.

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Spiritual_Bet3955@reddit

I was 17 when the news broke, and my elder sisters were both Beatles fans.

[-]

SignificanceHead9957@reddit

The miners strick in the 70s.

[-]

scotiaboy10@reddit

Falklands war

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Wonderful-Cow-9664@reddit

Quite a few if I’m honest, I was a weird kid and used to watch the news with my mum 🤣the ones that stick out the most are Chernobyl, the fall of the Berlin Wall and Hillsborough

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asymmetricears@reddit

I think Prince Edwards wedding. I guess major is a matter of opinion on that one. If the bar for major is high then it would be 9/11.

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nitram1000@reddit

Herald of Free Enterprise.

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Persona_Insomnia@reddit

Princess Diana's death.

[-]

StephenHunterUK@reddit

John Smith dying.

[-]

Bowtie327@reddit

Michael Jackson dying, before that I just remember hearing about Iraq all the time

[-]

amore_pomfritte@reddit

Iranian embassy siege was exciting. IRA bombings were scary.

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PontiusThe-AV8Tor@reddit

The end of the Vietnam war with the fall of Saigon in 1975. Whole world glued to tiny TVs. Then the raid on Entebbe in 1976. Then 1977 Virgina Wade winning Wimbledon in the Silver Jubilee year! And seeing Star Wars in the cinema and being blown away by the modernity of it all!!

[-]

Azure_727@reddit

The Dunblane Massacre. I was 9.

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Genki-sama2@reddit

9/11

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Tompsk@reddit

Elvis dying. But I seem to remember lots of news flashes in the 70s for planes being hijacked. It seemed to be a thing then. It was a big deal as it interrupted the night’s TV. ‘We interrupt this program to bring you a news flash’ isn’t something I’ve heard for a long time.

[-]

V1mbai@reddit

Mine was Bill Clinton and Miss Monica. Everyone was talking about, didn't have an idea of all the sex but definitely everyone was talking about it

[-]

j389191m@reddit

the ferry disaster Zeebrugge , i remember because it was a saturday morning and they cancelled kids tv

[-]

FinnemoreFan@reddit

The first moon landing. I was three, and my parents lifted me from my bed in the middle of the night to watch it on TV.

[-]

Prestigious-Slice-10@reddit

Elvis dying. They announced it on the radio "The King is dead", we had a queen at the time so not Royal Family but music royalty.

[-]

Daft-Count@reddit

Elvis dying

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Glasgowbeat@reddit

Mad cow disease

[-]

BlackJackKetchum@reddit

Munich Olympics. That was in 1972, I was 6.

[-]

Engausta@reddit

I remember as a paper boy delivering newspapers that had a dc10 about to crash on the front page.

[-]

Calm-Raise6973@reddit

The wedding of Charles and Diana. I was 5.

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lesagent@reddit

9/11 .

I got home from school around midday for lunch. My mum told me to stay quiet very sternly because there is some building burning in US

[-]

batty_61@reddit

The first moon landing - I was 7. I remember being allowed to stay up and watch the grainy black and white footage of men in space suits bouncing around on the lunar surface.

[-]

Extension_Pickle_581@reddit

I was 8 when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon and I remember my mum and dad waking us to watch it.

[-]

ishtah84@reddit

Terry Waite being released

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Apprehensive-Cat-500@reddit

The death of Freddie Mercury. 6 year old me was devastated.

I can remember our school trip to London being cancelled because if bombings, but in my young mind I pictured cannon style bombs!

The first time I was genuinely affected by the news was the Dunblane massacre. I was in primary school at the time and it felt really scary to suddenly realise that somewhere you think is a super safe place, could actually not be.

[-]

reachingechoes@reddit

Murder of Jill Dando. I didn't know who she was but vividly remember two teachers talking about it as we filed into the classroom

[-]

crucible@reddit

Yes, Challenger for me, too, it was a few months before I turned 6.

[-]

Late_Mechanic1663@reddit

The Falklands War.

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Artistic-Cream6921@reddit

Challenger disaster. I remember getting dressed up as a kid for both the weddings of Charles & Diana and Andrew & Fergie, but I was too young to know anything in the news back then. The challenger disaster was the first proper world news I can remember.

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Zahgurim65@reddit

Probably the massacre of the Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Watergate was also the same year, as was Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland. So, one of those three.

[-]

Midnight_Crocodile@reddit

Elvis dying in 1977, I was 6, didn’t have much idea who he was but it was big main news

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anabsentfriend@reddit

I was 6 too. I remember it well. I did know who Elvis was as I grew up with a lot of music in the house.

[-]

ERTCF53@reddit

Moon Landing, but not the first one.

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meteorastorm@reddit

Lesley Whittle kidnap and murder. I was about 7 and I read the whole story in the paper. My parents didn’t realise until I became extremely scared of being kidnapped as a child.

I mean, they laughed, but tried to say they didn’t have enough money for me to be kidnapped. I didn’t understand the correlation and spent the next few years being terrified!!

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real_light_sleeper@reddit

I vaguely remember the Yorkshire Ripper being caught.

[-]

ScientistJo@reddit

The arrest of the Yorkshire Ripper. I didn't really understand why he had his head covered or why people were yelling at him when they showed him being walked into the Police Station.

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Lazyscruffycat@reddit

The hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. I don’t remember exactly which victim it was that they had found but I distinctly remember sitting and watching a news report on my Nan’s b&w tv. I was aged maybe 5 or so, it might have been 1977 or 1978.

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anabsentfriend@reddit

This was massive. I was born on the south coast but my mum was from the area where most of the murders happened, it was frightening. I would've been 6/7.

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BroadDraft2610@reddit

The Piper Alpha disaster in 1988. I have recurring nightmares to this day of being trapped in a fire.

[-]

ManyHatsAdm@reddit

Lockerbie, the Falklands War or Piper Alpha, not.sure about the chronology though.

[-]

CommercialAd2154@reddit

I don’t know if it’s a ‘news’ event as such considering it’s something the whole world could experience for themselves, but the first thing I clearly remember is the total eclipse of 1999

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ojdewar@reddit

Either the 1990 World Cup (more of a sporting event though) or Margaret Thatcher resigning.

[-]

InternationalRich150@reddit

Zebrugge ferry disaster. Think i was 9ish. Remember seeing the ferry in the water on its side on tv.

I was 8 when we had the "great storm" which im sure was news worthy. Blew out our bedroom windows and took most of our roof off. I remember walking through Stamner woods(Brighton) and being amazed that wind managed to blow them down. 8 year old me didnt even know the word hurricane haha

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Spiritual_Bet3955@reddit

Death of Bobby Kennedy.

[-]

Ok_Swordfish8672@reddit

9/11

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MoreTeaVicar83@reddit

Debatable whether it's a "news story", but Star Wars being released in 1977 caused a major stir, I was six at the time

[-]

smeech1@reddit

January 1965 - the death and funeral of Winston Churchill.

I was too young to be aware of Kennedy's assassination, and clearly remember watching the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

[-]

GeggingIn@reddit

Mad cow disease.

[-]

I_like_Your_Face500@reddit

The Dunblane massacre is the thing that sticks most in my memory; coming in p7, I think, turning on the telly and being stunned by what was on the news. Unbelievably sad.

[-]

SnooCapers5126@reddit

Princess Diana for sure. Rest her soul

[-]

Prestigious-Garbage5@reddit

Harvesting spaghetti from the trees, BBC April fools joke. I'm not sure if I remember when it was first shown as I would have been just 4, so it might have been just a repeat.

[-]

Scotster123@reddit

Elvis Dying - I was 4; we were on a tiny island visiting family, and I saw it on a tiny black-and-white TV. I went to tell the adults, and they didn't believe me.

[-]

Btd030914@reddit

Lockerbie I think, so December 88 when I’ll have been 7.

[-]

anabsentfriend@reddit

The Sex Pistols swearing on prime time TV in 1976.

After tgat, the Silver Jubilee, Thatcher gets in, test tube baby, IRA bombings. I was between 5-9 during these things.

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Localone2412@reddit

Probably could remember earlier but the biggest impact for me was the falklands war. First time I remember something being extensively televised, even on John Cravens newsround. I think being from Portsmouth and seeing the ships brought it closer to home. I remember following it on tv for its duration

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norfolkandclue@reddit

9/11. I was almost 5 and apparently asked my mum why they kept showing the same thing on the TV.

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Psychological-Plum10@reddit

For me is was. the assassination of John F Kennedy, I remember my mum was really upset and trying to explain what it meant.

[-]

thefooleryoftom@reddit

I remember Lockerbie, IRA bombings in London, Margaret Thatcher, interest rates spiking in 1990 (forcing us to move).

[-]

Cube2D@reddit

The 2013 pope being elected or prince William's marriage. Can't remember. Second one is much more pleasant than the multiple "Diana's death" comments 😬

[-]

GreenyRed@reddit

When the Queen died. I went around telling everyone this.

Turned out, it was the Queen Mother. Didn't know the difference back then.

[-]

TheSecretIsMarmite@reddit

The SAS storming the Iranian embassy. I would only have been about 3.

What a weird thing to remember from being small.

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ScholarOk4307@reddit

I vaguely remember Diana, but 9/11 for me. I was in Spain. Our caravan didn't have a TV, so had to go to the site pool and watch their TV. I was only 10, so didn't seem like a big deal, but 25 years later, I realise it was 🤣

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Racing_Fox@reddit

I honestly don’t remember any news stories from last week let alone my childhood

[-]

IncreaseInVerbosity@reddit

I was 6, heard a big booming noise. Asked my parents what that was, they hadn’t heard anything. When they put the news on, turned out the IRA had bombed Canary Wharf.

[-]

WhyN0tToast@reddit

Death of princess Dianna, I broke the news of Dianna and 9/11 to my family.

Dianna was a ticker on bottom of screen on nickelodeon, 9/11 I either turned on the news or they were reporting over cartoons. Can't remember.

Either way I'm a harbinger of bad news!

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Affectionate-Post289@reddit

The first moon landing.

[-]

ManIsready@reddit

Mike Tyson Rape charges Remember being about 3 or 4 (born 88) and asking my Mom what the mean looking man did and just said hes horrible lol

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Navy_Rum@reddit

Can vaguely remember Hillsborough when I was 5. I’m not from a sport-appreciating family but we were visiting my grandparents in Halesowen and my grandpy - who was a big sports fan - happened to have it on TV. I think it took a while for the penny to drop that something was wrong.

Sometimes I do wonder if it isn’t my own memory though, and what I can remember is my mum telling other people about where-we-were-when in the aftermath.

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Uncoolusername007@reddit

The Falklands war.

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IndianaCrohns82@reddit

The fall of the Berlin Wall.

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Adorable_Week7181@reddit

Lockerbie was one of the first and made me terrified of flying for a long while.

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Lily_Hylidae@reddit

I would say this, too, I was 10.

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No-Jicama-6523@reddit

Lockerbie is early but not the first for me, but because it’s gone on and on and keeps coming back I feel like the photo of that cockpit on its side in a field would be a key image in narrating what was going on around me growing up.

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havoc-heaven@reddit

Probably Jamie Bulger for me. I was too young to understand what had happened but my mum was distraught so I knew it was big.

[-]

smell_a_vision@reddit

The death of Elvis. My mum was heartbroken and we couldn’t understand why? I thought it had something to do with Jesus.

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ADHDJ86@reddit

The Hillsborough tragedy. I was 3

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AdDisastrous6356@reddit

John Lennon being shot

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

England winning the world Cup, I was 5

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iknownothingwhy@reddit

SAS storming the (ironically ) Iranian embassy in 1980 and John Lennon death , also 1980 . I was 7

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gilwendeg@reddit

Elvis dying.

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Sltre101@reddit

9/11 - I remember watching the towers falling live on the news. I was 5 at the time.

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Prestigious-Garbage5@reddit

The Great train robbery in 1963.
I remember talking about it to my friend the next day and thinking £2.5 million was such an unimaginable amount of money (which it really was back in the day), and what we would do with that amount of money.

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stulogic@reddit

Lockerbie bombing. Had family in that part of the country so mum was a bit panicked at the time. I didn’t really get why Moira Stewart was giving me the calm gravitas as she announced it on the BBC while my mum was a bit less composed shall we say.

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DrinkBen1994@reddit

For some reason it was Michael Jackson dying

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alanm1986@reddit

nearly 40 now, probably Princess Diana or 911, remember abit more about 911 when my dad picked me up from school, think I was stoned at the time as well

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othernine@reddit

Excluding local bombings and shootings (which were on news basically every day in Northern Ireland during my youth), probably Dunblane.

[-]

Quality_Cabbage@reddit

IRA man James McDade being hoisted by his own petard. Not only do I remember it, I was technically a witness to it. Mr McDade had been trying to plant a bomb at the telephone exchange in Coventry city centre but his device had exploded as he was doing it. I was in my bed, three miles away in the suburbs and heard an almighty boom. I was five at the time.

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MolassesInevitable53@reddit

The Aberfan disaster.

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lalajia@reddit

Charles and Diana getting married, I was wee, and it was like a fairytale wedding to me.

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tcpukl@reddit

The latest IRA bombings.

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Upbeat_Map_348@reddit

I think it was the SAS storming the Iranian embassy. It seemed like a movie.

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Embarrassed_Park2212@reddit

John Lennon's murder. Remember it being announced on the radio in the car. I think it was Dave Lee Travis on and it was a Sunday I believe. We were on the way to visit my nan.

I could be wrong on the day and the radio presenter.

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GreyfoxUK@reddit

Princess Diana. I remember it was a Sunday. My brother woke my mum and I to tell us it was on tv.

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3507341C@reddit

I was about 6yo when I heard that America was at war with gorillas and their boss was Viet Kong, obviously something akin to King Kong. I was too scared to talk about it with adults.

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BeanOnAJourney@reddit

I think it was less a specific news story but more just generally becoming aware of the famine in Ethiopia.

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cutielemon07@reddit

Probably the Good Friday Agreement. I was about 4. I don’t really remember the context. The first I remember and understood was the Millennium.

Conversely, I do not remember 9/11 and only learned it happened in school when I was 14

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FranzLeFroggo@reddit

Mine was 7/7 (I was 6), I'm 28 this year . asked my dad and he remembers Thatcher being elected. He will be 58 this year

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pulltheudder1@reddit

I remember a few, but one that sticks in my mind as a teenager was death of Princess Diana. I’d gotten up and done my Sunday paper round, and there was nothing in the papers about it, it was weird coming in, having breakfast then turning on TV and seeing it everywhere.

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Old_Introduction_395@reddit

Apollo 11, 1969. I was 5.

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Syranight264@reddit

9-11, I was in middle school, England. I had no idea at the time how significant it was. The whole school watched in every classroom.

I was more interested in everything else but the news. I'll always remember my geography teachers eyes.

[-]

Ashamed_North348@reddit

I remember the Vietnam war, it terrified me, I didn’t want to watch the news, I still don’t.

[-]

broadarrow39@reddit

1987 Zeebrugge ferry disaster. My dad came and woke me up to tell me.

[-]

iimMrBrightside@reddit

Pope John Paul II dying

[-]

Inevitable-Yard6567@reddit

Death of Elvis

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Candid-Bike-9165@reddit

Diana dying i think if not that then it would be stuff from the early 2000s I think....twin towers food and mouth something like that

[-]

coleslawontoast@reddit

Princess Diana

Think I was watching cartoon network and there was a yellow ticket at bottom of page

[-]

PresentReindeer9011@reddit

Hillsborough and James Bulger

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gponter79@reddit

Literally the same for me. I’m 46 and from Merseyside.

[-]

Bad_Combination@reddit

Fall of the Berlin Wall.

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hrfr5858@reddit

The Kobe earthquake, all the roads ripped up.

[-]

Polar-Snow@reddit

9/11 for me. All adults was shocked around me and I didn’t know why until much later.

[-]

Own_Emphasis_3910@reddit

Herb Clutter family murders that became In Cold Blood.

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Neefew@reddit

I apparently watched 9/11 happening but was too young to remember it. The first news story I remember happening was the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami that hit Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India

[-]

permanently-cold@reddit

I can remember seeing the Windsor castle fire on the news. It was Novemebr 1992 so id have just turned 5

[-]

PhysicsForeign1634@reddit

The Apollo moon landing. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin setting foot on the moon. Mum and Dad called me in to watch it on the news. I was 4-and-a-bit.

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sihasihasi@reddit

The death of Elvis, then John Lennon a couple of years later.

[-]

CartoonistFirm4172@reddit

michael jackson dying, i was 8 at the time and remember my brother running in my room to tell me

[-]

Nosworthy@reddit

The OJ Simpson trial and my dad getting up in the middle of the night to listen to the verdict on the radio.

Then probably Diana after that.

[-]

Snow-Gecko@reddit

Swine flu in the late 2000’s

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oldpunk57@reddit

I’m old the assassin of JFK

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Repulsive_Dig_133@reddit

Remember the Iranian Embassy Siege in London , it was live on TV. Not sure before then, remember the power cuts in the 70s and the winter of discontent and rubbish piling up , but only because I was seeing it , didnt see it on the news. Remember my dad shaving with a birthday candle stuck in a bar of soap one dark morning. It was unusual.

[-]

CharieRarie@reddit

9/11 for me. I didn’t fully understand but knew it must be something crazy. We couldn’t watch tv because every channel was on emergency news. My grandma was visiting, she and Mum were being incredibly calm but you could hear something was up in their voices.

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