What were the main events where you know exactly where you were when you heard?

[BrizzleMint]

Mine were the space shuttle explosion, Princess Diana dying and 9/11 plus the explosion at Mill Hill barracks and the Harrods bombing.

I was curious what they were for older/younger people so what events do you really remember.

Princess Diana
9/11
7/7
Pope John Paul dying. Random as I am not Catholic and had very little interest in the Pope or Papacy.
Madeleine McCann

Elvis

The sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise - My brother and I had both been on school trips abroad, on ferries and my parents freaked out.

Dan Air Flight which crashed in Tenerife - my family refused to fly anywhere.

My brother and I had been pestering our parents to go somewhere more 'exotic', like Tenerife.

9/11 - Was at work when first reports came through and all the people in my open plan place looked at me, as I had a contraband portable radio which got set up for people to listen to.

The start of the Falklands Conflict

Poll Tax riots - was on a works coach tour of Paris and couldn't believe the television news when we went into a bar.

Death of Diana, Princess of Wales

Provisional IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

Omagh bombing

Real IRA bombing of BBC Television Centre - I was at home, living nearby, when it went off.

The nail bombings of Brixton and the Admiral Duncan pub - I lived in Streatham at the time.

The Brixton bombing happened when I was out and about and I had to walk home as all buses to Streatham had to go through Brixton.

The Admiral Duncan pub bombing was a similar thing, but on a massive scale.

I'd just been paid and was in Oxford Street (spending money I couldn't afford) when I left a shop and saw a massive traffic jam of emergency vehicles.

I ended up walking home from Oxford Street to Streatham as all the trains and buses were either stopped or disrupted.

Princess Diana (was in bed, I was a young teenager having a sleepover and my mum came in to tell us).

Michael Jackson (was sat on the sofa unemployed temporarily and had a habit of watching the news late into the night while job hunting, didn't get much job hunting done that night).

7/7 (woke up to the news, my aunt phoned me and in my half asleep state cancelled the call, she was ringing to check I was okay as I commuted into London while at uni and I remember switching on the tv and seeing it all unfold).

9/11 (found out on the way home from sixth form. I remember bumping into my mum who told me, I still remember the specific bit of road we were standing on when she told me).

Piper Alpha (I remember the news showing images of the rescued men arriving at the harbour and helipad and the families waiting there for news)
Lockerbie (just got home from swimming lesson and my uncle was in delivering Christmas presents when the news interrupted)
Kings Cross fire (The news showing the people coming out of the station with firemen)
Bradford fire (literally unfolding in afternoon sports programme)
Dunblane (watching news at home waiting for my mum to come home from work, was lunchtime on a ?Tuesday)
Diana (has been out at Edinburgh festival night before. Got out of bed and couldn’t understand why there was no Sat morning TV but a video about William & Harry)
9/11 (getting ready to go to back shift at work)
Bunsfield fire (watching at work)
London getting the Olympics (watching at work)
Johnny W scoring the drop goal to win England the Rugby World Cup (watching at work)

Shuttle explosion
Queen Mother dying
Princess Diana dying
Hillsborough
Bradford City fire
9/11
7/7
Manchester Woolworths fire

9/11

Bowie

I was sitting in the car at our local petrol station while dh filled with petrol when over the radio came the news about the Shoreham air crash. I think about it every time I'm getting petrol.

9/11 watching TV at home just before doing the school run and everyone was talking about it in the playground.

Challenger was much the same as everyone else - watching at school.

Also watched the Mary Rose being raised at school.

I remember getting up and seeing the news that Diana had been in a crash. I also remember being at work when 9/11 happened we listened all day on the radio.

Whanganui aircrash. I was only about 8 at the time, but I remember my family talking about it as my uncle was one of the people who helped in the aftermath.

Bali bombings DH and I were there, I will never forget the scenes afterwards and the atmosphere in the following days.

Cave Ceek disaster

Dunblane, I remember hearing about this on the news in NZ as a teenager and being utterly horrified.

9/11

Christchurch earthquake

7/7

Diana, 9/11 and 7/7.
9/11 I watched the whole thing unfold because I'd been watching Neighbours on bbc1. Remember phoning my nana as I couldn't believe what I was seeing and I knew she'd be watching.

John Lennon's death
Diana's death
9/11
Bradford FC fire
Brighton bomb
Moon landing
Hillsborough

2004 Tsunami
9/11
Start of Arab Spring
John Lennon being killed
Diana
Chernobyl
Robin Williams, Prince, Bowie, Bourdain

Yes!

Kings Cross - I'd only just started dental treatment and was travelling to King's Cross on a monthly basis to the Dental Teaching Hospital on the Gray's Inn Road nearby.

Mum made me promise to take the bus after that.

Queen mothers death - i was in the car on the way back from chester zoo

9/11 again heard it on the radio at the time, i was 9 and remeber hearing manhatton and thinking it was hatton country world and being worried about the animals, but then we got home and my mum put the tv on and we watched the buildings collapse, my mum just stood there with tears streaming down her face.

Michael jackson dying - i was staying at my sisters and asleep in the living room with the tv on when my programme switched off and went to the news. Stayed up all night watching the coverage.

Bataclan - not seen this one mentioned? I was at home feeding the baby in the living room and there was live coverage while it was still ongoing and i just sat there in horror.

Also stayed up in horror watching donald trump get elected president

Like many:
Diana's death
9/11- probably the most significant day in terms of news that I've lived through, and mainly because it was televised. All those planes. The jumpers. The rolling footage of repeated interviews/clips. Just devastating
The 'shock and awe' opening strikes of the Iraq war
The Manchester bombings
The Peshawar school attack - could not believe that mentally sane adult human beings could walk into a school in order to deliberately massacre all the children there for a political point.

Diana,
9/11
7/7
Can I say Brexit? I’ll certainly never forget waking up to sheer disbelief thinking it was a joke initially which gave way to utter horror.

Oh and the Good Friday agreement.

9/11 won't forget that day, then a few days later as they sent the planes over to attack. Those planes flew over my flat, I was very unnerved as I had a young baby at the time.

Diana dying early Sunday morning my mum woke me to tell me I was only 16.

7/7 family were in America and I was alone didn't want to send my son to school that day. Mum phoned me from Florida to find out if I was ok.

Oh and the boxing day tsunami could not fathom the magnitude of it still cant

Ah yes, thank last poster- the Bataclan attacks and Charlie Hebdo.

Was coming back from a night out in Soho when news of the Charlie Hebdo attacks was breaking.

When I was being taught History in school, I remember being taught about witches being dunked in the Middle Ages (if they drowned they were innocent/if they didn't they were a witch and they'd be burnt alive). Murdering people for blasphemy gives me that same feeling of revulsion. The Charlie Hebdo case appalled me.

Earliest one I can remember was when I was about 20 - death of John Smith.

9/11 - I was at work, various people told me bits of the story as it unfolded
7/7 - I was at work , again various bits until I could see the TV

Elvis Presley - in DMums house , I was maybe 10-11yo

Princess Diana - I was on the way to a training course (it was a Sunday) the early papers said "Diana injured" but then the updated news was on the TV

Freddie Mercury- there was a headline on the Sunday paper that he had AIDS , then it was announced the following day of his death

The disappearance of the young girl in Portugal, (who we cannot mention ) I was at home feeling all meh because I'd been involved in a RTA the day before

I remember watching the antiques roadshow at my aunties when it got interrupted with news that Nelson Mandela had been released.

Prince dying - I was driving home with a take-away heard it on the radio
Micheal Jackson - dying
(these were both significant dates in our family - birthday/anniversary type)

Herald of Free Enterprise - working at directory enquiries when it appeared in our screens as an emergency number
9/11 I was at work and a colleague on maternity leave phoned in to say turn on the tv now
Diana's death I woke up because my baby was crying and there was nothing on tv with a fractious baby to soothe.
Freddy Mercury's death I had just fallen downstairs and broken 4 toes, laying on the stairs with my foot caught in the bannister crying and the news announced his death.