Poll of the Day > What's the first major event you remember?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mine was the columbine shooting, I still remember that breaking into my cartoons and being really confused, I wasn't even in school yet so it was also one of my first lasting memories in general.

The Berlin Wall coming down.

OJ Simpson probably

A plane crash in 1989 that killed over 100 people.

9/11. I was 15.

Stuff like OJ or the columbine shooting just kinda happened in the background. I know they were things that happened, but I don't have any memories of hearing the news or having any sort of reaction to it at the time.

Monica Lewinsky

The Challenger disaster

I remember watching the Challenger blow up. I would have been 8 (almost 9) at the time.

I remember things before that (like watching Star Wars in a movie theater when Return of the Jedi came out when I was 6), but I don't think I was paying any attention to "major events" (ie, news) at all for most of my childhood. I can't really think of anything that happened before that where I would have been aware of it at the time.

My first thought was also Columbine. I remember walking into my parents bedroom and seeing the helicopter view of the school. I was too young to really know what was going on, just that it was a big deal.

Moon landing.

I remember people freaking out at JonBenet Ramsey when I was 7. Other than that, I remember the Steelers Super Bowl loss in 95, but thats not a nationwide major event in the same sense.

I remember the controversy over California's Prop 13 in 1978. I was in Kindergarten at the time. This law required that property taxes would be set at their 1976 values, and could not be increased by more than 2% per year, with a maximum rate of 1% of the cash value of the property. This applied to residential and commercial properties. Property values could only be increased beyond those limits when a property is sold or substantially improved, which would cause the property to be reassessed at current market value. In addition, it required a two-thirds supermajority to pass state or local tax increases.

The ballot proposition passed by nearly two to one.

The effect of this law was that long term (generally elderly) home owners would pay lower tax rates than new buyers, making it more difficult for younger people to buy homes, and making older people more likely to hold onto their current homes. Property tax revenues also declined by 60% in 1979. From 1978 until 2012, housing prices increased 170% in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, while tax revenue increased only 67% on homes that did not change hands during that time period.

Furthermore, the supermajority requirement made it very difficult to pass new taxes, even when necessary to finance new expenditures. San Diego County fell afoul of this when they raised sales taxes 0.5% to fund a new jail and courthouse; this tax increase passed with a simple 51% majority, not a 2/3 supermajority. The county was forced to reduce their sales tax until the $320 million in illegally obtained income had been repaid (Rider v. County of San Diego).

argonautweakend posted...

I remember people freaking out at JonBenet Ramsey when I was 7. Other than that, I remember the Steelers Super Bowl loss in 95, but thats not a nationwide major event in the same sense.

Yeah, if we count Super Bowls, I can remember Super Bowl XVII (and the Dallas/Washington playoff game before it), which would have been when I was 5. But I wouldn't think that applies for the question being asked.

January 1998 North American ice storm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_1998_North_American_ice_storm?wprov=sfla1

Though im in western Canada I remember hearing about this. Would have been 8 at the time.

After that would be 9/11

Diana's death comes immediately to mind, though I might be able to think of something earlier if I tried harder.

adjl posted...

Diana's death comes immediately to mind, though I might be able to think of something earlier if I tried harder.

I remember my mother waking us up early early early in the morning to watch Charles & Diana's wedding. I think it started at like 2 or 3 in the morning, Pacific Time. I remember thinking "WHO CARES??? I don't know any of these people! I could be sleeping right now!"

Pope John Paul II being shot. My Polish grandparents were deeply upset by the assassination attempt, and I can remember the adults talking about what it all meant.

9/11, I was nine. I think they showed it to us in class and tried to impress how important it was on us

I was in the Black Friday tornado

9/11 is the most impactful. I was 13 and still remember that day which I can't really say for most other things that far back. I have some memories of watching the Monica Lewinsky scandal but that was just because my grandpa always had the news on probably.

Even though I'm sure other events happened while I've been alive, the biggest one that I remember that comes first was the Challenger explosion. I was in elementary school and we were all watching it, then the next thing you know it's on fire and the teachers were freaking out so you knew this was something serious. I hadn't personally experienced death prior to this, so understanding fully what was going on at the time I had no idea.

adjl posted...

Diana's death comes immediately to mind, though I might be able to think of something earlier if I tried harder.

I remember coming out of school asking my dad why people were making a big deal of it and his response was 'screw the royalty we fought a war to get away from them'

adjl posted...

Diana's death comes immediately to mind, though I might be able to think of something earlier if I tried harder.

i think this is it for me too

Being at the Berlin Wall.. running back and forth between both sides to relay messages between my Mum and my Grandma who were on opposite sides

After that was Australia's Bicentenary, all school students received a coin

I remember the national lottery being launched. Google says that was 1993. Probably that.

BADoglick posted...

I remember coming out of school asking my dad why people were making a big deal of it and his response was 'screw the royalty we fought a war to get away from them'

In Canada, the anti-royal sentiment isn't quite as pronounced as it is for some Americans, but I similarly didn't really understand who she was or why it was a big deal. I also could have sworn I was in kindergarten at the time, but I would have been 8, so I guess I misremembered that.

Reagan getting shot by Hinckley.

The Mammoth earthquakes in 1979. They literally thought it was this fat guy skiing!

robbobmur posted...

Moon landing.

You mean the "Moon landing".

nuggetg posted...

You mean the "Moon landing".

Yes, 1969, " one small step for man , one giant leap for mankind."

The moon landing.

The election of 88 I guess. I remember my 1st grade teacher making a big deal about it.

This one was pretty memorable, just because a power transformer blew up right near by bedroom. That and we didn't have power for over a week and had to huddle around a radio for entertainment like it was the 1940's all over again:

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2023/03/03/rochester-ny-ice-storm-1991-what-happened-a-look-back/69963383007/

Apollo 11 Moon landing. It was broadcast on TV over and over throughout the day, and was shown in schools.