What was the first major news story you remember?

Beatles conquer America

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I think the earliest news I can remember is the minute’s silence on the radio for the death of King George VI, I was probably about 5 years old

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The shooting of JF Kennedy.

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The shooting of President Kennedy, on 22 November 1963
The Aberfan Disaster on 21 October 1966

So although they were three years apart, now that I look back they seem to have been much closer together

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I was trying to figure out which was first, Kennedy assassination or the Cuban missile crisis. Most because my dad was SAC (strategic Air command) and they kept the B52s in the air and didn’t see him for awhile.

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Same here … except I can’t remember the actual moon landing.
I was outside playing and he called me inside to sit and watch something on the TV. He said it was making history and was special.
I’m actually just guessing it was the moon landing.

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Likewise!
At least not in real time, it was the build up, the tension.
We’d build model rockets at home and in school out of junk. Action Man was second best!

Oh Action Man … I had two.
Filched off my brothers. I called one Sebastian as he was dressed in a French Resistance oufit and the other Chekov, in his Russian uniform.
Much better than girl’s dolls.

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Who would dare argue with Sebastian and Chekov? :open_mouth:

I think I may have mistreated them a tiny bit. :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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Similar, Smithy. Another memory was 1977, ERII, and another Elizabeth for us.

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I wonder if major news seems more diluted nowadays with all the coverage it gets?

Possibly so, Morti. And maybe it also depends who or why remembers it. One for me was the Aberfan disaster. It was the scale of it and number of children.

That was absolutely horrific … so yes, it would really stick in the mind.

First might have been the Smog over london . It was so thick the only way to go anywhere was to follow the tail lights for the car in front, often landing up in someone elses driveway. Yes it was that thick you could hardly see your feet, I kid you not.

link

That was definitely in the news …here’s a video

I would have liked to have been there when The Beatles conquered America, and the world!

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Certainly remember the assassination of Kennedy, although i was only 5 or 6 at the time, but the memory is very clear.

After that, and much closer to home, was the Aberfan disaster in Wales where so many young children lost their lives.

I was almost 8 years old when WW2 ended but don’t remember much about it. I remember the death of King George VI but that was expected and did not have the same impact as events such as the Aberfan disaster, the Dunblane massacre or the JFK assassination. Being a football fan I also remember the Manchester United plane crash. More recently the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.

Dunblane was another of these events for specific memories. In this case it was close to my parents lived.