What was the first major news story you remember as a kid?

[igotbills]

Mine was the disappearance of Madeline Mccann in 2007 - I was 10

Elvis dying. I remember my parents discussing it. I said "who,'s elvis?" So they weren't massive fans, but I remember them talking about it and sensing that they cared and were shocked.

I was 6 and very annoyed when they interrupted Top Cat to announce JFK had been assassinated.

But it might have been even earlier listening to my mum and dad talking about Ian Brady and Myra Hindley and they had found another body.

There was a homophobic “joke” that did the rounds at my school, that I didn’t understand. It took until my 30s before I got it. I won’t repeat it

The zubrugge (sorry not sure how to spell that) ferry disaster. I remember being horrified.

At the time, did anybody think they were faked, or did that suggestion only come later?

John Lennon being murdered, December 1980. I can picture my dad coming in from work and telling my gran, and me not understanding who he was till they said he was a Beatle.
I remember being taken to dad’s work as they had no childcare in the school holidays and his music was on the radio a lot. I feel like it was a white Christmas but maybe I’ve misremembered that bit.

Elvis dying. I was away camping with the guides and the older ones were all in tears. I was 11 and didn't know who Elvis was.

John Major resigning and only because I was incensed that they cancelled children’s TV on BBC1 for it 😂. After that it was probably Princess Diana dying.

The disappearance of a young girl called Genette Tate. I was very young and I was very upset and shocked that a person could just vanish.

I remember the newspaper with her sweet face smiling out and I've never forgotten her.

Berlin Wall coming down, I was 12

Actually just realized Lockerbie was the year before.

The Brighton Hotel bombing. I remember vividly my mum telling me as we walked to school - I was 10.

Soham murders. I was the same age as holly and jessica at the time it happened, so aged 10.

Princess Diana. Then 9/11 was the next most significant

This thread makes me feel ancient!

for me it was the Jeremy Thorpe scandal

aberfan disaster!!

Margaret Thatcher leaving office. I was five and my grandparents came round with a bottle of champagne and they and my parents watched the news and toasted a brave, new Thatcherless world.

I remember the moon landing, I was 6. And now I feel ancient. 😂

Me too. Or possibly the death of Churchill the year before

9/11 for me too. I would have been 8, I remember my parents watching the TV with their hands over their mouths in shock. It's funny to think that most people knew what the twin towers were before that moment, and everyone else my age and younger just knows about them in the context of the attack. The various wars in Iraq and Afghanistan come next.

It was either the miners strike, Nelson Mandella being released or the Zeebrugge ferry disaster.
The 80s is one big blur to me now.

Indira Gandhi being assassinated.

The Cuba missile crisis. 1962 I think. I remember being terrified.

The Great Train Robbery.

@ChanelNo19EDT re. Moon Landings, I was only 5 so wouldn't have been aware of any conspiracy theories. However I think those all kicked in much later.

I remember dad watching it on a B&W tv, glued to it. I thought it was boring.

Next thing was being aware of something called the Watergate Affair. Always on the news etc. Except to me it was the Watergater Fair. I really wanted to go to that fair! Unsurprisingly my parents found it hard to explain what it actually was....