JFK Where were you?

I was playing a show with Tony Meehan, in Lowestoft. We came off after our act, and there was a radio in the kitchen where we changed (Oh yes, only the ritziest accommodation!) and the news was coming in... I wondered if this would lead us into another world war...

I was in bed listening to Radio Luxembourg on a very crackly transistor radio ,they were blacked out and I lay there stunned.
When Diana died we were in San Francisco at dinner with friends in their house. We hadn' t seen them for a few years, and we sat and watched television all night stunned and none of us believing it.

I was dancing to the Beatles at a friend's house when JFK was shot. Her brother came into the room to tell us. I really fancied her brother so it was doubly momentous for me, as he usually ignored me. I do remember the shock and feeling that the world was a darker place after he died. I remember his son standing saluting as his father's coffin passed.

When Elvis died we were on the beach in the south of France reading about it in an English paper. All of a sudden we were surrounded by Brits asking if the news was true.

When Diana died our eldest son was just about to start his first teaching job and that day was the day we moved him down to his flat in London. The roads were packed.

I'm ashamed to say that I have no memory of that day whatsoever and was gloriously unaware of the Bay of Pigs prior to that. I can only assume that my parents weren't interested in politics or world affairs. What I do remember vividly is the Aberfan disaster; maybe, as a school child I related to it more than other events. Diana's death is etched in my memory forever; my son shouted to me from his room that she was dead and my daughter came and sat at the end of my bed and we watched the news together. I guess a much younger generation will remember the day Michael Jackson died; I'll ask my son, who was a big fan of his. 9/11 was strange in that, as I watched it on the television I couldn't comprehend that it was real; somehow that unrealness has stayed with me.

I was 16 when JFK was assassinated and was playing my Beatles records in my bedroom when my mother shouted up the stairs to 'come down quickly' as there had been a news flash on the telly. I remember her saying that she hoped the assassin wasn't black as she thought the already volatile situation re civil rights might plunge America into something resembling their civil war.

When Elvis died my DH walked into the kitchen and announced, 'The King is dead!' I thought it was another one of his silly wind ups and said, 'Very funny. The king's been dead since 1952'

When John Lennon died I was helping organise a PTA fund raising dinner/dance. The band played lots of Beatles songs in tribute.

When Diana died, DD2 rang to see if we had the telly on. We didn't and I remember then sitting in front of it for most of the day trying to make sense of such an awful tragedy.

We hadn`t been married very long, I was 8 months pregnant, hubby was out at brass band practise, I was on my own doing some hand washing and putting it on the maiden in front of the fire, then the news came on about Kennedy, I just couldn`t believe it.
When the news about Elvis came through, we were living, temporarily, in a 12 foot touring caravan, us, 5 kids and a cat, we heard it on a 10" portable TV.
We were in the car on the way to work when we heard about John Lennon.

On 9/11, I had been teaching that morning and when I got home, something made me switch on to watch BBC News 24, even before I put the kettle on. At that precise moment, the second plane hit the second tower.

JFK: I was 15 and home from weekly boarding school and was at choir practice at the Church (so it must have been a friday evening). I remember it as if it were yesterday. It was the first 'tragedy' I had been aware of.
Diana: I had woken very early and had put on the tv at about 5 am and heard the news then.
Dunblane: I heard the news on the radio and immediately rang Mr.G at work as I knew one of his fellow-directors had a child at that school. They hadn't heard the news and all the Dunblane people rushed home. I think, being so close, that was one of the very worst days.
9/11. Heard the news on the radio, switched on the TV and saw the 'plane crash into the 2nd tower. DD2 was about 5 miles from where the 'plane went down in Pennsylvania and was unable to cross back over the border into Canada, where she and her then-fiance were staying with his parents, for 3 days. They had been in one of the towers the previous day

Crimson I know what you mean. I watched the news of 9/11 as it was broadcast, hoping that the next time I saw it (it was on a roll) the planes would miss the towers.
I was in an M&S Outlet when I got a text message from No. 1 son saying:
'There is no justice in the world, John Peel is dead, Cliff Richard is still alive.'
Apologies to Cliff Richard fans .

OGM; do you ever listen to John Peel's son, Tom on Radio6? His dad would be so proud of him. One of life's wonderful people was John Peel. Watching Glastonbury on the telly has never been the same since [John and Jo Wiley together; brill] but I'm rather hoping when it's back on next year Tom will be there too. When he's on the radio it's like a sort of comfort blanket. He's so dry and witty and self effacing.

I was 17 when JFK was shot, I was listening to radio Luxembourg with DH (boyfriend then) and two friends in our sitting room. Radio was silenced and then an announcement was made, I remember running into the kitchen to tell my Dad and that as there was no music to listen to we were going bowling.
9/11 I was sitting in the hairdressers having my hair dyed, hairdresser's DH rang her with the news and I remember her tearing a strip off him for disturbing her at work until he explained why he had rung.
London bombs DH was in the city centre and should have been on the tube but was running late and missed the one that was targeted. We were unable to reach him by phone all day.

JFK: I was eleven years old and remember it clearly. I was walking down our passage towards my bedroom and it stopped me in my tracks. I can't remember if someone called out that he was dead or it was on the radio or television. I knew even at that age it was a tragedy.

Elvis: We were driving home and I heard it on the radio. I was never a fan of Elvis but remember hearing the news.

Diana: It was Sunday morning here in Australia and I was on my way home from the shops where I had bought the Sunday paper and a magazine that usually wasn't sold until Monday in other shops. The magazine had a picture of Diana on the cover and a story with more pictures of her on a boat claiming she was pregnant to Dodi Fayed. The article was very critical of Diana. Then on the way home I heard the news about Diana. The magazine was immediately recalled because they claimed they wanted to put a tribute to Diana, but I knew why.

When King George VI died in February, 1952, we were taken by the school to the Town Hall Square in Salford to hear the mayor read the proclamation from the balcony - The King is dead, long live the Queen. I was unmoved by the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, but I was very saddened by Diana's death- she had two young sons who loved her very much. I will be rather sad when the Queen dies too - whether or not you support a monarchy, it has to be admitted that she has done the job , which she did not choose, admirably.

I was working in an electrical firm in Manchester when the Munich air crash happened. I had never seen grown men crying before. I was particularly sad about Duncan Edwards, who was only 17, about my own age.

I watched 9/11 with my daughter and her family and I agree that it was hard to accept that it was not some elaborate digitally-fixed stunt. I will never forget the sight of the poor people who waved desperately from the floors above the collision, or the ones who decided to jump. I was very struck by the stoicism and bravery of the Americans that day - so many who must have know they were going to die managed to contact their families and tell them how much they loved them. I didn't see any signs of panic and there were many acts of heroism. It altered my perception of Americans.

On 9/11 we were walking in a shopping mall when we passed a crowd of prople in front of a store selling TVs. The ones in the wndow were showing the loop of the planes hitting the towers - but we could hear no commentary. We asked what we were watching, and on being told I asked "Is it for real?"

While the suicide bombers hit London on 7/7, I was at the Edinburgh breast clinic being told that my one-year check-up was fine. It was our son's birthday and all was well with the world, until we went into a Pound Shop to find the Arab owner standing with his mobile phone in his hand, reassuring his wife that he was OK and there was nothing to worry about, and that no-one was blaming muslims in general. He spoke too soon! Then we went home to watch TV for more about what had happened.

King George VI - I came home from Infant School for lunch, it was dark and cold and raining. My Mum, who was recovering from what was loosely termed a 'nervous breakdown', sat by the fire crying. "What will we do without him?" she was saying to my Grandma. I was four, nearly five. What a different world it was.

When the King died - we were reminiscing about being sent home from school after the solemn announcement. The DS and DDiL were horrified that thousands of small children were simply let loose on the streets to go home during the day without checking to see if there was anyone in the house!

A different world, Lily. My nine year old sister would bring me home from school when I was five and she had to light the coal fire and peel the potatoes before my mother got home from work. We didn't feel we were hard done by - it was just the way things were. We knew we couldn't manage on my father's low wage - even with my mother's wage we seemed to be very poor.

We were waiting to leave our hotel in Portugal when we heard the news of Diana's death. When we finally boarded the 'plane the stewardess stood up to do the usual safety speech, but began by saying that before she started we'd have a minute's silence "for Princess Diana who died this morning" - I think we were the only people on board who had already heard. The reaction from some of the other passengers was so extreme that it frightened my young children, and gave me an idea of what we were to expect on our return to England and over the subsequent days.

JFK - I was 17 and living in Beirut with my parents. My father was working out there. We received a phone call from friends and I rushed into their bedroom to wake them to tell them. Our American friends were all crying. Sad but didn't make me cry.

Diana - I was getting ready to go to work and heard about it because my mother called me to tell me. Again sad, but didn't make me cry.

Elvis - can't remember what I was doing.

I never understood the hysteria that ensued after these deaths. As I said it was very sad, but these people weren't relatives or friends and I save my tears for people who are important to me.

JFK - It was a Friday night and I heard the news on the TV. I remember going out to a dance with my friends and us all partying like mad as we wondered what was going to happen to the world.

Diana - we were having a delayed 25th Wedding Anniversary Party on the Saturday night, so we were late to bed. We woke, though, at about sevenish and heard it on the bedside radio - I remember going into my sister in the next bedroom and telling her what I had heard.

Elvis - Can't remember what I was doing.

9/ll - I used to finish work at 1.00 and on this occasion I went straight home, made some sandwiches, sat down and put on Sky News. I couldn't believe the pictures and I remember ringing my husband and telling him. He wouldn't believe me that it was a huge aircraft which had hit the tower and, as I was talking to him, the second plane hit the other tower. The sense of shock was incredible. We were due to fly out to Washington DC at the end of that month (in fact it was the day before the Americans went into Afghanistan) and when we arrived in DC it was a city in paralysis. There were huge signs everywhere saying "Thank you for travelling". Security was high, but we still managed to visit the Senate using our British passports. We also went on a coach tour of various tourist sites which included going past the Pentagon and saw the damage that had been caused by that aircraft.

JFK - Watching TV at home with my parents.

Diana and 9/11 - At work listening to the radio on my walkman. On 9/11 we got told off for talking until we told the boss what it was about.

feetlebaum I used to love Tony Meehan and the Shadows! I was saddened to just google him and find that he died in 2005. What was your act? Didn't know you were famous!

I was in Texas about 5/6 years ago

JFK at home watching 'Emergency Ward 10' on tv when News Flash came on.

Diana I heard whilst at my Sunday morning 'step class' from one of the other girls.

9/11 I was working in my office at school when a parent came in to collect his son and asked if I had heard that a plane had flown into the World Trade centre. I went on the computer in time to see the second plane. I remember running round all the classes to tell the teachers.

JFK - I was a student nurse at the RSCH in Brighton, turned on the news before I went onto night duty,
Elvis - Living in North London with husband and 18 month old son.
John Lennon -I was living in NY then and my husband rang to say 'some bastard' had just shot him.
Diana - I got up on the Sunday after to go to work and found a tearful note from my daughter, she and her then boyfriend had heard it in the car and sat outside together to listen.
Twin Towers - daughter rang me at work in a panic as her father worked in the area - also had older son living there and younger son on honeymoon in Bali, I know it's other side of the world but it is a muslim country. We just stayed glued to the set, making phone calls and crying. It was the worst calamity I'd ever witnessed.