What’s the first major news story you remember as a kid?
Posted by nodemus@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 552 comments
For me it was the space shuttle challenger blowing up it was difficult to comprehend at such a young age. It felt like I was watching a movie.
Financial_Breath5433@reddit
Ironically The Iran embassy siege
cpbradshaw@reddit
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
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.
NewChapterBeginning@reddit
That was January 1990.
Damo0378@reddit
Yeah, he took a massive chunk of tree to the forehead when it fell on his car.
TheOldSeaDog78@reddit
That was 1987.
cpbradshaw@reddit
The flood was 86, the great storm was 87
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!!
dreadwitch@reddit
Haha Michael Fish and his 'just a bit blustery'
cpbradshaw@reddit
That's the one
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
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.
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
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
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.
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
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
Overthinker-dreamer@reddit
I remember this well. I was 9, and from Cambridgeshire, I remember listening to all the adult conversations around that time.
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.
Potential-Ordinary-5@reddit
Me too
Potential-Ordinary-5@reddit
Madeleine McCann. And it terrified me.
No-Calligrapher-7415@reddit
The Berlin wall being knocked down..
spookystarbuck11@reddit
Little Jamie Bulger being taken 😞 I was 5 at the time but I remember the articles about it.
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
CrossCityLine@reddit
Princess Diana dying I think I remember, I was only 6 at the time.
CourtshipDate@reddit
There were no cartoons! Disgrace!
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
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.
jelly10001@reddit
I was 5 and I remember trying to get my Mum to write to the BBC about the cartoons not being on.
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.
Barnatron@reddit
Ditto for Good Friday Agreement - the cancelled the Simpsons!!
Cautious-Diver-9613@reddit
I came here to say this
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
totesboredom@reddit
Same. I remember walking into my parents bedroom and my mum was crying with the radio on.
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.
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
rustynoodle3891@reddit
I thought I remembered the Falklands but being born in 83 I doubt it!
drivingagermanwhip@reddit
Reasonable-Key9235@reddit
Hmmmm, listening to the news while in the womb
Still-BangingYourMum@reddit
The womb o'clock news........
JimmyHaggis@reddit
That's the first big news story I remember. I was 7
Reasonable-Key9235@reddit
Hmmmm, listening to the news while in the womb
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.
AdDisastrous6356@reddit
You were born in 1990 or 91.
CrossCityLine@reddit
Quick maffs
AdDisastrous6356@reddit
I did a lot of pingers in the 90s. You should be impressed
Sussurator@reddit
I remember that, the gulf war and Clinton’s antics in the White House.
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.
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!) .
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
Mispict@reddit
Me and my friends were coming down from an acid trip. It was very difficult to wrap our heads around it.
Educational-Angle717@reddit
Yeah this!
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
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
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
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.
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.
-TheHumorousOne-@reddit
Same. We were perplexed why every channel was showing the news instead of our usual morning cartoons.
psychopathic_shark@reddit
My brother work me up and told me about it but in the morning I thought it was Richard and Judy 🤷🏻♀️
FamProbsLookingAtDis@reddit
Michael Jackson's death and the Haiti Earthquakes
Jeggasyn@reddit
Well, this post is pretty depressing. I'm going to bed
Chopsticks_Charlie@reddit
London bombings when I was in school, wondering about the old man at work up there
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.
Jeggasyn@reddit
Pretty sure there were mobile phones
AnonymousTimewaster@reddit
9/11
Subaruchick99@reddit
Apollo13
mooglus@reddit
The minors strike is the earliest news I remember. I found the word ‘picket’ fascinating for some reason.
happydog43@reddit
Vietnam
Unstableavo@reddit
Mark Speight death.
notmerida@reddit
this was truly heartbreaking
ramapyjamadingdong@reddit
I did not know he had died! Thats very sad.
Odd_Lab_7244@reddit
It was very sad
Unstableavo@reddit
It was such awful business.
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.
Unstableavo@reddit
I remember it on newsround too. I liked Mark, Kristen and there was an American man on the show
Didymograptus2@reddit
The Aberfan disaster
mk6971@reddit
The first Shuttle launch
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
Quiet_Type2040@reddit
Elvis’s funeral being reported on John Cravens Newsround
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.
_o0Zero0o_@reddit
The UK joining the states in their war against Iraq. I was about 5-6
BrightSignal8032@reddit
Madeline Mccan
Visible-Management63@reddit
The Falklands war I think.
Other-Wonder-633@reddit
Elvis is dead. That old.
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.
Cam_Sco@reddit
Still check tins of corned beef to see if they are from Argentina or Brazil. Only buy Brazilian.
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.
JonathnJms2829@reddit
Death of Michael Jackson, I think.
rustynoodle3891@reddit
Shamon kiddie fiddler, he he
RyCarbo96@reddit
🤡
Christian-Metal@reddit
Ignorance....ignoraaaaaance
WayneCl@reddit
Moon landing and astronauts stepping out on to the moon.
Mrsizzle96@reddit
The US-led invasion of Iraq.
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.
claridgeforking@reddit
Probably Lockerbie.
Holiday_Cat_7284@reddit
I think John Lennon being shot
Lion_tattoo_1973@reddit
John Lennon being shot. My mum was absolutely devastated, and cried all day.
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 🤔
psychopathic_shark@reddit
I loved this 🤣🤣
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.
Odd_Lab_7244@reddit
Death of Freddie Mercury
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.
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
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.
Spiritual_Bet3955@reddit
Mum and I were on holiday in London at the time, and my sister rang up asking if we were okay.
Dismal-Rush7613@reddit
Iranian Embassy SAS
Dr_Gillian_McQueef@reddit
Iranian embassy. I was 8.
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.
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.
psychopathic_shark@reddit
And every single one of them were on the balcony.
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.
thecatsothermother@reddit
Actually, yeah, the Falklands I remember.
pointsofellie@reddit
The Dunblane shooting. I was at primary school at the time and they called us all into an assembly about it.
psychopathic_shark@reddit
I also remember this. Schools talked a lot about it afterwards
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.
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.
lucylous2@reddit
Tesco horse meat scandal i wasnt conscious for a good few years soz
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
rainbowsaintreal@reddit
James buldger
AirconGuyUK@reddit
Diana is my earliest one, but my second earliest one is the sinking fo the Kursk.
Then 9/11.
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.
Legless_Longjumper@reddit
The primary school shooting in Dunblane in 1996. I was 5 years old.
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.
Shitelark@reddit
You handy at tennis, mate?
Fwoggie2@reddit
Andy Murray and his brother Jamie survived that by hiding under the headmaster’s desk.
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.
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.
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.
crowort@reddit
Think this is the earliest for me but I was 9.
richard0cs@reddit
I think this is my earliest one. Or maybe the docklands bombing which was the month before.
Ifyoocanreadthishelp@reddit
9/11.
I was 5 and didn't really understand it I just knew I also enjoyed knocking down towers.
ConflictOfEvidence@reddit
Falklands war. My dad recorded the news on my Button Moon tape.
Aerodye@reddit
911
I don’t remember very much but I remember sitting in my parents bedroom and seeing the towers on TV
Purple-Hamster499@reddit
Summer 1977. At home with the radio blaring out. News flash that Elvis had died.
Itchy_Clap@reddit
Princess Diana, 9/11, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
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!
Roonwogsamduff@reddit
JFK
Soukchai2012@reddit
The Falklands war
rebelallianxe@reddit
The Ethiopian famine probably and the Miners Strike. Lockerbie and Challenger later yeah.
Murky-Union552@reddit
The murder of James Bulger. I was the same age as the killers and I remember them addressing it at school
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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?”
WesternEmpire2510@reddit
Diana
SoupyAT@reddit
Fall of Berlin Wall
Donnasuelewis@reddit
Zeebrugge ferry disaster
d-a-s-a-l-i@reddit
The fall of the Berlin Wall
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.
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!
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.
Incitatus_For_Office@reddit
Legos?
Lego is plural on its own. Lego sets, yes. Legos, no.
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.
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.
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…
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
FALSE_PROTAGONIST@reddit
Chernobyl
Undefined92@reddit
9/11
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.
siybon@reddit
The Mary Rose being pulled up. I have a distinct memory of a big yellow thing carrying it.
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
PurplePlodder1945@reddit
I remember our class watching that when I was in form 1 in comp
scruntyboon@reddit
That yellow thing has just flooded back into my memory, so that has to be my answer too
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!
Damo0378@reddit
Snap!!!
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.
Jazzlike-Basil1355@reddit
JFK. I was 5
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
cm-cfc@reddit
Dunblane sticks with me, as i was in Primary school at the time
ijs_1985@reddit
Gulf War early 90s I remember being on the TV World Cup 90 and the tears!
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
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.
BG3restart@reddit
Idi Amin visiting the UK.
anasfkhan81@reddit
The Herald of Free Enterprise sinking in 1987
WorkingCity8969@reddit
Elvis dying. Everyone was crying and that made me cry. I had no idea what was going on 😖
OmniWise@reddit
The war in Cambodia and Mul of kintyre playing on the radio.
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"
Yahoo_Rye@reddit
Aberfan disaster
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.
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.
Yahoo_Rye@reddit
I was eight at the time , it was a disaster that will say with me forever.
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
FatFluent@reddit
Lockerbie…
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.
Key_Produce2617@reddit
Hillsborough.
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.
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.
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.
nowdoingthisatwork@reddit
I have vague memories of the miners strikes and of seeing about Hillsborough when my dad was watching the news.
ShareCrafty5822@reddit
The King Is Dead... Elvis Presley passes away.
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
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.
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.
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
ivy_man2@reddit
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
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.
TexasBrett@reddit
The collapse of the Soviet Union, December 1991.
schmoovebaby@reddit
Probably poor Jamie Bulger, just because it was so horrific. I was nine
Joshthenosh77@reddit
Lockerbie
SnooMacarons5600@reddit
JFK assassination.
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..
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
Consistent-Dance5461@reddit
I think it was elvis dying, I was only 4 and couldn't understand why everyone was crying on the tv
Scarred_fish@reddit
Elvis dying.
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.
CunningOctopus@reddit
Same, mum was crying
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.
Greglebowski74@reddit
Mount St Helens eruption. I was 6, and was fascinated by volcanos.
Abervilla@reddit
Elvis dying.
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.
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
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
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.
nitram1000@reddit
Herald of Free Enterprise.
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.
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.
Genki-sama2@reddit
9/11
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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!!
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.
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.
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.
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
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
Spiritual_Bet3955@reddit
Death of Bobby Kennedy.
Ok_Swordfish8672@reddit
9/11
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.
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
norfolkandclue@reddit
9/11. I was almost 5 and apparently asked my mum why they kept showing the same thing on the TV.
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.
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 🤣
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!
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
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.
Uncoolusername007@reddit
The Falklands war.
IndianaCrohns82@reddit
The fall of the Berlin Wall.
Adorable_Week7181@reddit
Lockerbie was one of the first and made me terrified of flying for a long while.
Lily_Hylidae@reddit
I would say this, too, I was 10.
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.
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.
ADHDJ86@reddit
The Hillsborough tragedy. I was 3
AdDisastrous6356@reddit
John Lennon being shot
Reasonable-Key9235@reddit
England winning the world Cup, I was 5
iknownothingwhy@reddit
SAS storming the (ironically ) Iranian embassy in 1980 and John Lennon death , also 1980 . I was 7
gilwendeg@reddit
Elvis dying.
Sltre101@reddit
9/11 - I remember watching the towers falling live on the news. I was 5 at the time.
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.
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.
DrinkBen1994@reddit
For some reason it was Michael Jackson dying
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
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.
MolassesInevitable53@reddit
The Aberfan disaster.
lalajia@reddit
Charles and Diana getting married, I was wee, and it was like a fairytale wedding to me.
tcpukl@reddit
The latest IRA bombings.
Upbeat_Map_348@reddit
I think it was the SAS storming the Iranian embassy. It seemed like a movie.
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.
GreyfoxUK@reddit
Princess Diana. I remember it was a Sunday. My brother woke my mum and I to tell us it was on tv.
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.
BeanOnAJourney@reddit
I think it was less a specific news story but more just generally becoming aware of the famine in Ethiopia.
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
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
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.
Old_Introduction_395@reddit
Apollo 11, 1969. I was 5.
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
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
gponter79@reddit
Literally the same for me. I’m 46 and from Merseyside.
Bad_Combination@reddit
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
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.
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.
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
oldpunk57@reddit
I’m old the assassin of JFK
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.
massie_le@reddit
Lockerbie and Piper Alpha
adam77deacon@reddit
The Falklands conflict
Mjukplister@reddit
You don’t notice that much as a kid, and I was younger in the 70-80s we didn’t see that much ! Newsround was benign . I do remember the Queen Mother choking on a fish bone though .
Necessary_Spread_511@reddit
Aberfan coal tip disaster
A_Chip_In_The_Sugar@reddit
This is mine too :(
IntGuru@reddit
The capture and death of Saddam Hussein
Aceleeds@reddit
Moon landing
Funny_Tank8531@reddit
Missile attacks of first gulf war, remembering looking up to the sky from the window in the roof and asking if Saddam could hit us, I was 6.
Standard-Train-7310@reddit
JFK's assassination.
dbxp@reddit
Holy cross school, where catholic school girls had to be escorted by the army as protestants were throwing stones at them
FireWhiskey5000@reddit
I have very vague memories of the Balkans war in 1993/94. I know we sent boxes to children in Bosnia. After that it’s either Mad Cow disease or the 1996 Manchester bombing by the IRA (I’m not sure which of those came first)
Revolutionary_West56@reddit
Princess Diana dying
Awellknownstick@reddit
Ladybirds everywhere, on the TV, then as we went to Trafalgar they were swarming all over.
nineteenthly@reddit
Various aspects of the Vietnam war.
SportTawk@reddit
Kennedy assassination
Important_Ruin@reddit
9/11. Came home from school and news was on all night. Would have just turned 7.
ferndaisy@reddit
9/11 we watched it live at my primary school. So awful but very vivid even though I didn't understand it at the time
MiserubleCant@reddit
Herald of Free Enterprise
L-0-T-H-0-S@reddit
The fire at Windscale.
Floyd_Pink@reddit
Chernobyl explosion.
jakhog1@reddit
I was 8 at the time of the space shuttle challenger and the biggest news story that has stuck with me as a kid, I was a geek for all space stuff when I was younger and I remember be really upset about it
Ok_Alternative_530@reddit
Nasa, putting people on the moon…the first time.
deHaga@reddit
Elvis dying
Think-Image-9072@reddit
Princess Diana dying
mcf74@reddit
News on the radio in the morning that John Lennon had been shot dead. I was 6.
Neurokarma@reddit
I remember 2. Bobby is shot, followed by Bobby is dead
siblingrevelryagain@reddit
Bradford football fire, Challenger shuttle
Euphoric-Society8807@reddit
I don't have a memory of this, but when I was 6 I went to see my mom who was in the bath because the news said princess Diana died. I had no idea who princess diana was. My mom said she cried.
Current_Thing2244@reddit
It's a toss up between the Berlin wall coming down and the war on Northern Ireland, I saw footage of both around the same age.
Only_Book_995@reddit
I was aware of the war in Yugoslavia but didn’t understand what it meant
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