What Was the First Historical Event That Left a Deep Impression on You as a Kid? (WW2, JFK)

[formercalifornian]

In addition to the Challenger explosion, Pan Am 103 also made its mark on my memory.

As a young kid, I remember my parents following Nixon's impeachment fairly closely, and I vaguely recall news coverage of Vietnam, but those stories didn't have the same effect as the events of my high school and college years.

[Towhee]

I grew up during World War 2 and what remains in my memory is the Black-outs. The second impressive event was V-J day, I was at a rodeo when it was announced.

[nicet4]

When Truman fired MacArthur.

[jtur88]

I was 6-1/2 when FDR died,. I was in the back yard watching my dad doing something, and the neighbor came over and said he just heard on the radio that President Roosevelt died. If somebody had asked me that morning if I could name the president of the United States, I'd have said "Name the what?" So I guess that was some kind of current events threshold for me.

[texdav]

The main one when I was a kid was the polio epidemic. It was worse than aids because no one knew how to prevent it and it was a epidemic.

[mullman]

On a lighter note....
The first 'historical' event that I recall making an impact was one day mid August, 1977.
I came in from playing in the backyard on a typical hot summer afternoon and my mother was just sobbing in tears listening to the news on the radio - Elvis had been found dead at Graceland.

Next was surely the murder of John Lennon, then the assassination attempt on President Reagan, followed by the Challenger explosion. That was around the time I 'discovered' girls, so the next few years of current events passed right by.

[deerislesmile]

I think (aside from Elvis dying) mine was the Iran hostage crisis, or rather the release of the hostages. I vividly remember signs all over that simply said "444".

[chilaili]

We didn't have a TV in my family until I was nearly 10 years old and I grew up in a pretty isolated environment, so most seminal events completely passed me by until I heard about them much later. I think the first event I knew about firsthand was Margaret Thatcher becoming Britain's first female dictator - I mean Prime Minister.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by deerislesmile

I think (aside from Elvis dying) mine was the Iran hostage crisis, or rather the release of the hostages. I vividly remember signs all over that simply said "444".

You have had a nice life as far as that goes. I remember the cold war when we were taught duck and cover drills at school and the atomic cloclk of how close scientist thought we were to nuclear war;being in the army in vietnam;the cuban misssle crisis;kennedy's assination;9-11. The scientist atomic clock probably made me really start doubting what scientist said more than anyhting.They were sure it was going to happen any time.

[WyoNewk]

I was born in '45. I learned to write so that I could pen weekly letters to my cousin/godfather, an army soldier stationed in Korea during the Korean "Conflict". (It's always been the Korean War to me.) And I remember my parents going to the voting booths to vote for Eisenhower (over Stevens), but it wasn't until JFK was running for office that I really took interest in politics.

The Space Program was big time, too. When I was in the 8th grade (58-59), I think everyone could name the astronauts -- all seven of them. They were my heros and influenced my desire to fly. To this day, if I could go anywhere I wanted -- outer space.