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First major worldwide event you remember?

[Generation Y] 
11K views 98 replies 77 participants last post by  withrainfall 
#1 ·
What is the first major worldwide event you remember?

I got inspired by the same question in the Generation Z section.

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Apparently I didn't pay much attention to international events in my early childhood (no memories of the Croatian War of Independence). Here are the earliest I remember:

FIFA world cup 1994
Hail Bopp comet 1997
Kosovo war 1998
 
#33 ·
I paid zero attention to the news. I remember the Clinton scandal but I didn't really understand why everyone was getting so upset. I remember the OJ thing but I didn't understand what was going on with that either. I thought maybe it had something to do with Orange Juice lol (to be fair I was 6 at the time). I remember Princess Diana but I was mostly annoyed that they kept bringing her up everywhere all the time. My thought was "Okay she died. People die all the time so get over it already. It's not like any of you personally knew her." Similar thing with Jon Bonette Ramsey or however you spell her name.

The first thing that actually made me start paying attention to the news was 9/11 and was the first event that had any real impact on my life.
 
#35 ·
The spectacular sighting of the Hail-bopp comet. (1996-1997)
I didn't think about a comet as being a major event, but I guess it is! I vaguely remember being taken to an observatory to look at Haileys comet, and not understanding why it was such a big deal. I was like 3 at the time, so I'll probably be dead the next time it comes around. People older than me will be for sure, which I guess is why they were so excited.
 
#37 ·
-When i was in elementary
Golf War
AIDS Awareness & Aids Acceptance Campaigns
LG Activism
I remember when the first Real World aired being a huge deal because it was before it was entire markets and it was a genuine diversity social experiment and made awareness.
I remember Bush to Clinton transition
Tonya Harding having Nancy Kerrigan Stabbed was a huge headline
Jacob Wetterling I think is a US national deal but I live in the state which his kidnapping took place very close to the area of his senator mother. So maybe stranger danger became quite a big deal more so where I live but I think it was his case that first onset more awareness for that.
Oklahoma bombing

-Middle School
Monica Lewinsky Scandal
Columbine Shootings

-High School
9/11
 
#63 ·
Yeah I paid attention to world news really young because of my grandfather, and I remember all of those things too. Chernobyl and Berlin, the talks between Reagan and Gorbechev, I remember Ghadaffi declaring Holy War. I have had people tell me that it was probably child abuse that my grandparents exposed me to these things, but what sort of shitty person would I be if I didn't know they happened, what sort of empty shell of a bourgoisie trash person would I be if my grandparents didn't show me the world?
 
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#53 ·
Berlin Wall being taken down in 1989, followed immediately by the falls of USSR, Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait (because a lot of Kuwait refugees found their way into my home city), Bosnian War and the fall of the SA apartheid government.
I remember that. Remember when things like this used to be slippery slope arguments that would totally never gonna happen?
 
#58 ·
I have an inkling of a remembrance of Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan.

But I think the first event I really remember was the Clinton scandal. I didn't fully understand it, but I knew he could possibly be fired. As a child I thought he was in trouble for cheating on his wife. I didn't really understand the whole lying to congress thing. And of course, the ole "I did not have sex with that woman."
 
#64 ·
Is your family from Argentina? One of my exes, his mom and grandparents were from Argentina so I wonder why you remember this because as an American, being a child it is completely off the radar for me. I don't remember terrorist attacks at all other than airplane hijackings before 9/11.
 
#67 ·
1986ish- the Rocket ship launch failed. Our class of kids were horrified as we saw our astronauts die as the whole launch blew up in flames. Sad. Very, very sad. Our teacher Mrs. Benette shut off the tele almost instantly after that happened.

I still remember as a kid when Nelson Mandela arrived to the U.S. in Oakland, CA and we had a HUGE EXCITING live broadcast celebration (1990):

*Elating!!
 
#69 ·
Major world events are a little bit strange at times. For instance, I don't remember the South African elections in 1994, even though I was born in the country where it took place (born in 88), YET - I remember watching The Lion King the following year as well as the craze that came along with it. I faintly remember some sort of references to the Rugby World Cup - probably because of the 95 game. Though I suppose a big world event that I do remember is Princess Diana - probably because my mom is a huge royal family fan. There were also some family things that were also going on in 95, though I don't really remember a lot of it - most likely because I was probably shielded from some of it.
 
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