What are Your Top 3?

[TBKahuna123]

It's amazing how many of us ahve the same answers.

I'm 38

1.) Reagan being shot. I remember this event because I was really confused by it all. I thought my parents hated Reagan, but they were so upset. It was very confusing, but also was very enlightening. As much as they disagreed with his politics, they didn't want to see him shot. That'a something that makes us unique in this country.

2.) The Challenger disaster. I was very much into the space program in 8th grade, so I payed a lot of attention to these things. I was in the library and watched it happen. I ran back to my class, and they wouldn't believe me.

3.) 9/11. This is obvious. I was in meetings at our state capital when it happened. They put us in total lockdown because no one really knew what was going on. All we could do was sit there under guard by state troopers and watch it happen. One of the guys in the meeting with us had a son working at the Pentagon who hadn't been heard from. Thankfully he was able to contact his father, so I saw both the grief of those who were missing loved ones and the relief of those who found them alive. It was a powerful experience. It's also the only time I've ever drank to forget. It was a very long day.

So I guess all the events that first come to mind for me were traumatic. That disturbs me a little. Lord knows plenty of good has happened in my lifetime too.

 

[bobsgirl]

1) How old are you?

2) What are the top three most important historical events of your life thus far? Feel free to explain why or add details.

1. I'm 56.

2. November 22, 1963. I remember exactly where I was when I heard President Kennedy had been assassinated. I was in 4th grade, and I can still recall vividly watching the funeral on TV with my mother, and especially the drum cadence during the processional to Arlington National Cemetery.

May 4, 1970. The Kent State shootings. Possibly because KSU is in the part of the state where I grew up, and I was 15 and just beginning to be politically aware. As I've gotten older, I've come to realize how very young and naive we all were.

September 11, 2001. A horrible, tragic day that was the catalyst for so many changes in the way we live, most of them involving the loss of personal freedom and privacy. And our increasing military involvement in the Middle East that I doubt will end in my lifetime.

 

[newlegz]

1. I'm 54

3. I was watching Monday Night Football when Howard Cosell announced that John Lennon had been shot and killed.
.

As a young beatles fan, watching documentaries that show the clips of both what you heard on TV and the behind the scenes recordings of the moments that led up to it, I find myself emotionally effected. Its very moving to watch to me because of how much I enjoy the music. The other documentaries of JFK, etc., dont move me as much and I think its a anecdote that shows the power of music.

 

[janeyl]

I'm 44

I'm struggling to define just 3...

1. The Falklands war beginning. my father was in the Navy and the concept that he could actually go to war and potentially die really affected me. In the end he was devastated because he didn't get to go but was the man who was on duty when a lot of the casualty lists were coming through-including friends and colleagues of his. It changed our family dynamic forever...

2. Nelson Mandela's release from Roben Island-I watched it with tears pouring down my face. As someone who felt the injustice of the apartheid system so strongly but could do nothing but boycott, it felt as though evena tiny thing could make a difference

3. Now I struggle between 9/11 and the Berlin Wall. I was at home decorating when the radio announced that a plane had crashed into the WTC-and imagined a light aircraft...when they announced a second one, i knew it was momentous and couldn't tear myself away from the news channels for the next 3 days or so. When the towers collapsed, it felt like the apocalypse had begun...ah but 1989, I was 23, I was full of optimism and hope and watching people climbing up on that symbol of unfairness and oppression felt like an epiphany...

so...Ima cheat and have 4

 

[EllieB58]

I'm 52

1) 1963 JFK assassination. I remember my mom crying as we watched the TV. I can still see the old black and white TV images.

2) 1972? Olympic terrorism, Munich Germany.

3) 1991 Desert Storm Iraq War.

 

[unregistered]

 

[silverwhisper]

erika queried:
how old are you?

i'm 40. it's taking me some time to get used to saying that...

erika queried:
what are the top three most important historical events of your life thus far? feel free to explain why or add details.

in no particular order: the challenger explosion, absolutely. it was the first serious setback i knew of in the space program, although of course i have since learned of others. it was also the first time i understood just how far away success can be, esp in a decade when it felt like everything was going well.

although i certainly remember the mount st. helens explosion, of much greater impact on my own consciousness was the explosion of AIDS on the public health awareness and the consequent outing of the very subject of homosexuality.

for many, many reasons, both relating to what i was doing then and where i was working at the time, 9/11.

i think it's interesting that many are pointing to the election of barack obama: i'd always i figured we'd have a female president before we'd have a black president. in re-reading, i see the falling of the berlin wall and am shocked that didn't occur to me.

ed

 

[JRaven]

A local radio program was talking about this yesterday (which was the anniversary of the Challenger shuttle disaster), and I thought it might make an interesting topic, so here are two questions:

1) How old are you?

A very sexy 47.

2) What are the top three most important historical events of your life thus far? Feel free to explain why or add details.

"Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed." Only 9 at the time, I was completely amazed. Like Nomad, I looked up at the moon (as I'm sure many others did) and tried to put it all together in my mind. I was a geekgrrl even then. I knew how far away the moon was. I also remember Shell giving away these cardboard models of the LEM with a fill up. My brother and I would walk up there each moonlanding and get one. We didn't buy any gas, but they'd give us one any way.

"...And in Viet Nam today, there 2,145 Viet Cong killed, 23 Americans." (or whatever numbers it was) Walter Cronkite giving the "score" at the end of the evening news. I can remember doing a little math in my head and came to two conclusions. 1) If those numbers were true, there shouldn't be anybody left for us to fight. 2) In six more years, my 11yo brother was going to get drafted to go to Viet Nam. (I wasn't off by much.)

On the other hand, your question is about historical events of my life. For me, the summer of 1998. Hubby took the kids to his parents for a week. I went out for a one night stand. That was only the second dick I'd ever had. And, I haven't looked back since!
Jenny