What is the biggest media event you can remember from your childhood??

[K1092902]

Mine is the death of the Princess of Wales. I was 12 at the time- Mum came and woke me and my sister up (much to her annoyance as she had been on a night out the night before) and told us it was important we watched as it was a huge deal. I can still remember sitting there that morning watching the news coverage. The next day mum took us to London for the day and we went to put flowers outside Kensington palace.

I didn't get it at the time but I was the same age as harry and honestly can't imagine having to live through my teens, getting married and having DD without my mum by my side never mind dealing with the pressure of royal life..

Lockerbie and Enniskillen. I remember my mother crying in the kitchen.

Earliest was John Lennon's assassination. Key events: Live Aid, The Miner's Strike, Hillsborough, the demise of the Berlin Wall and 9/11.

The Aberfan disaster...... those poor parents trying to dig out their children from the slag heap with their bare hands.....

The Ethiopian famine for me too. I was 4 or 5 and I remember the news footage of those poor kids with their distendied bellies and flies on their faces. I remember a conversation I had with my mum about it at the time. Also remember my mum telling me to "eat your dinner, there are children starving in Africa". Actually thinking about it I also remember watching Live Aid.

The miners strike when I was four or five. My Uncle was on strike and I remember my mum taking me to see the Scabs bus come through our town.

The Fred West murders, Dunblane and tbe death of Princess Diana.

I grew up in Australia. There can only be one answer I think for children of my generation: Lindy Chamberlain's murder trial. It divided the country. She was found guilty of the murder of her daughter Azaria Chamberlain and sent to jail. Later evidence was found that showed that she had not done it.

It seems like dingo jokes are just a funny aside to most of the rest of the world, but I can't imagine the horror of having your baby carried off by a wild animal. Then trial by media, and then jail. And your daughter's fate a punch line on the Simpsons

And of course the Ireland V Romania penalty shootout in Italia 90 😃

Heygirl
Yes that penalty shootout! I remember it so vividly.

(Not irish btw)

Being bored rigid watching the Appollo Moon Landing.

And at school for weeks afterwards having to make collages of it, write stories about how the astronauts must have felt, doing moonwalks in PE and making graphs about the relative size of earth and the moon.

Decimalisation.

9/11 is the first one I can remember.
Not very well though as I must have been about 4 or 5 at the time and I think my mother tried to avoid me hearing too much about it.

The ones I remember seeing on TV are the ones I can link emotions/personal events to.

So I remember watching the miner's strikes as we had lots of power cuts - once when I was a small child in the bath and screamed the place down I was afraid of the dark.

I was DESPERATE to be a bridesmaid, so was totally transfixed watching Charles & Di's wedding.......peering into a weeny black and white TV that was in our holiday cottage. (A rare treat) I was gutted I couldn't see what colour the ribbons and flowers were!

And Zeebrugge was just before I was going on my first ever time abroad.....A ferry trip to.....Zeebrugge . I was trying to work out how I would have got out.

You know, looking back, I think I was an anxious child and I don't think watching the news was helpful for me. I avoid it now

I mean our currency being decimalised from pounds, shillings and pence, not decimalisation of the moon landing!

And of course the Ireland V Romania penalty shootout in Italia 90 😃

Well, if we're getting onto sporting happiness, I can remember Pat Cash climbing into the stands to celebrate winning Wimbers in 1987.

And before that, very vaguely recall being in Spain during World Cup 1982, with me and my brother being given endorsement beach towels.

Gawd Lizibet, you've made me feel ancient now

Zeebrugge ferry disaster - was the day before my 12th birthday.

Weirdly DS2 grandad was on it - and survived.

*I had also been on the ferry the year before

Yes I remember JFK being shot, I was hardly aware of who he was. It really was a defining moment when I became aware of the wider world.

I remember Hillsborough vividly. I was playing in the living room while my dad was watching the football, then he suddenly started screaming for my mum, who ran in and the screen was showing the tragedy happening.

I remember Chernobyl happening but was too young to understand what was happening at the time.

Same as Gorbachev's resignation after the coup a few years later. That was massive news that summer.

And I remember Zeebrugge.

And as an 80s child, so many IRA bombings and attempts that they all blended into one.

Adding to my list:

Hillsborough
Miners' Strike (my dad was a miner and I remember going picketing outside the DHSS with my mum because they refused to pay benefits to the dependents of the strikers)

I remember spending most of my 2nd year of uni watching the OJ Simpson trial. We had viewing parties and all guessed what we thought the verdict would be!

Obviously Blair winning was a huge memory for me because it was the year I started teaching too. The world seemed a lot different then and full of hope.

9/11 I remember watching live as it happened because it was a half day due to staff training and the kids had all just gone home. I don't think the world has been the same since then.

Berlin Wall coming down and the Lockerbie disaster

9/11 is the first one I can remember.
Not very well though as I must have been about 4 or 5 at the time and I think my mother tried to avoid me hearing too much about it.

Okay, I absolutely feel like Methuselah reading that.

I could be your mother just!

Fall of the Berlin Wall one f my earliest memories. You could phone to win a brick from Andy in his broom cupboard!!

Yes Mornington you must be a similar vintage as me !

Decimalisation- I remember trying to buy an ice cream with old pennies and the ice cream man telling me they weren't used any more ! ( my mum came out and saved the day though !)