What was a big news story when you were growing up that young people today wouldn't have heard of?

[Brettthepei]

the queens mother passing

Chernobyl
The Zeebrugge sinking
Apollo mission when it exploded
Jonestown (though DS once mentioned "the Kool aid guy" so it seems his generation know of Jim Jones)

I can remember 9/11, just about. I was 7 and just remember the scene on a 90's tiny box telly in my parents bedroom, my mum on the bed with her hands on her face, staring at the screen.

I also have a very strange memory of David Beckham breaking his foot and being asked to touch a picture of it to pray for it to get better? I think it was a widespread thing and not just my school...

I very nearly got caught up in that. The tube driver chose not to stop.

Acid rain.
Ozone layer.

The murder of Wendy Sewell in Bakewell and the appalling way that the press minimised and dehumanised her, because of rumours that she was promiscuous/a prostitute.

The introduction of Channel 4 and then Channel 5.

Nowadays, nobody thinks anything of it when another channel appears; but back then, these were big exciting times! Many people had to retune their tellies, as they already had their VCRs on one of those 'unused' buttons on the telly

I worked in a travel agency at that time. We used to use that company and route a lot. They had to change their name after that. I've been thinking about it again, with the current horrific situation.

Swampy and all the environmental protests - I lived near Twyford Down and there was a huge ruckus about that when they built the bypass

The assassination of JFKennedy

Vietnam war

Death of JFK

John Major and Edwina Currie's affair.

Two Jags Prescott.

Two Jabs Prescott.

The hijacking of the Lufthansa jetliner Landshut
The Jeremy Thorpe scandal
Power cuts and BBC strikes

We need to get together and compose a new British-centric MN version of 'We Didn't Start The Fire'!

MiL lived very near here and got her son to take her to see the crash site then was very angry when they were described as ghouls in the papers.

I was there at the opening. I love that bridge

MiL lived very near here and got her son to take her to see the crash site then was very angry when they were described as ghouls in the papers.

How did she classify herself, then? Unofficial lay-reporter?!

When I was a kid - Lockerbie. My grandparents lived nearby so we had often got a train to Lockerbie so it really hit home.

As an adult - the “sexed up” dossier, the death of David Kelly and the Hutton inquiry.

Battle of Crecy

I think nosey old cow would be a fair description 😅

Leah Betts

I know kids now know about nuclear weapons etc but when I was a child in the 1980s I genuinely believed there was a 50:50 chance we would all be atomised or - worse - survive the blast and die slowly from radiation or starvation. It didn't interfere with my enjoyment of life but, looking back, maybe we were given too much information without having the experience to keep it in perspective.

I don't think my DS (8) has given a moment's thought to nuclear annihilation, it doesn't seem to be in the news these days.

I don't understand this thread. What does 'people today mean'? Anyone the same age or older as the poster have a good chance of remembering whatever they say unless it's very obscure.

And so many people have posted major historical events that are literally on the history syllabus (Bay of Pigs, Berlin Wall).

Yorkshire Ripper late 1970s
Death of Elvis Presley 1977
Miners’ strike 1984
Hillsborough 1989

They are the events that stick out in my memory from my teenage years.

You think people haven't heard of the Cold War?

Yeah, sure, no one else is aware of these things happening.