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Earliest Memory of Seminal News

(184 Posts)
Musicgirl Thu 13-Apr-23 19:36:43

Most of us here are interested in current affairs and it got me wondering about our earliest memories of the news that was so major that it could never be forgotten. My earliest such memory is of decimalisation in February, 1971. I was just six at the time and in my second year of primary school. We were very fortunate in that we never learnt the old system and went straight on to the new. I can remember our teacher telling us about it and teaching us how to use it. Prior to this, I can remember seeing the old prices in shops and thinking that 6d made no sense if it was six pence and that the new system of p for pence was much more logical. How about your earliest memories of seminal news events?

MiniMoon Thu 13-Apr-23 23:05:04

Watching Winston Churchill's funeral on tv. I was impressed that his coffin went by boat up the river.
On the radio (before we had tv) I remember sputnik being launched and listening to the beeps once it was in orbit. So exciting to a 6 year old.

Wyllow3 Thu 13-Apr-23 22:42:15

1956 the USSR invading Hungary.

eazybee Thu 13-Apr-23 22:30:46

The death of George V1,
We were sent home from school at lunchtime and there was no Listen with Mother, only sombre music.

CanadianGran Thu 13-Apr-23 22:16:06

I think it was Apollo 11 landing for me, I would have been 7.
The thing is it happened during the daytime for us, and I seem to remember being with my family in the living room. Maybe we watched the news in the evening together. I will have to check with my older sister since she remembers everything!

Casdon Thu 13-Apr-23 22:08:29

I vaguely remember JFK’s death and Churchill’s funeral, although I was very young. The event that sticks in my mind though is Martin Luther King being shot. I was on a school trip to Coventry cathedral, we were learning about WW2 in school and we were stood in the ruins when I heard - I think it had happened the day before but I hadn’t heard it until then. I was really upset for quite a while after, frightened of another war.

62Granny Thu 13-Apr-23 21:59:59

I remember the death of JFK, we had been taken to church by our school, it was an RC school and the priest saying something about his death.
Also Aberfan, a school friends dad went to help with the digging out, we lived about 30 miles away, for ages after I thought every mountain in the area was going to fall down on us.

Grannybags Thu 13-Apr-23 21:54:48

JFK for me too. I was ten. My older sister was living in America at the time and I remember the shock and worry of my parents

MrsNemo Thu 13-Apr-23 21:50:12

February 1952; asking my Mother why the radio had slow, sad music. She replied 'Because the King has died'.

Poppyjo Thu 13-Apr-23 21:40:28

My first memory of world news was hearing every morning about on the radio about captain Carlson and the Flying Enterprise. He would not leave his ship but all the passengers were landed safely I believe. I was about 5 years old. He died only a few years ago.

fiorentina51 Thu 13-Apr-23 21:39:03

The Suez Crisis. I hadn't a clue what a Suez was or who was Nasser but can recall it being on the radio and TV.
I was 5 at the time.

merlotgran Thu 13-Apr-23 21:34:56

boheminan

I remember King George V1 death being announced on the radio. I was 4 years old.

Same here. I was five.

ayse Thu 13-Apr-23 21:31:59

The first story I remember was at my Granny’s house. It was the Maumau in Kenya killing but it got all mixed up with nuns being killed in the Republic of Congo. Granny said that Ian Paisley was an evil man. It struck me that Granny rarely said anything about current events so this became rather important later on.

EkwaNimitee Thu 13-Apr-23 21:24:34

Another one for whom it was the conquest of Everest. Our newspaper split the front page that day, half for the coronation, half for Everest. The latter was the only thing that mattered to me.

Blossoming Thu 13-Apr-23 21:21:44

The death of Pope Pius XII in 1958. I was very young, we were not an RC family. I was sat on the floor playing when the news came on the radio and the grownups were talking about his actions, or lack thereof, in WW2. It just stuck in my memory.

nadateturbe Thu 13-Apr-23 21:20:00

Yuri Gagarin going into space 1961 I think.

Jaxjacky Thu 13-Apr-23 21:16:17

First moon landing here too Ziplok, although I didn’t realise how momentous it was.

Ziplok Thu 13-Apr-23 21:11:58

England winning the World cup in 1966 and the first moon landing with Neil Armstrong in 1969 are memories from the news that stick in my mind from childhood.

Deedaa Thu 13-Apr-23 21:00:30

I was six when the King died. I remember my mother crying and running up the road to telephone her mother's neighbour to say that we would come over. Why???? I'm sure it was very sad but hardly the Apocalypse.

TerriBull Thu 13-Apr-23 20:59:25

Yuri Gagarin, distant memories of hearing the name President Eisenhower, Stronger memories of JFK and the impact of his assassination on my parents, which was overwhelming, we were a Catholic family, my mother was distraught if I remember rightly. Hushed mutterings about a certain "Christine" who I mistook for tennis player Christine Truman at the time and wondered about the lowered tones, just what was going on in the tennis world to cause such consternation shock all over my head, I was completely wrapped up with The Bestles.

Salti Thu 13-Apr-23 20:58:43

I remember Winston Churchill's funeral on television just after we got our first T.V. The next thing I remember was the Aberfan disaster and then the awful pictures of oil covered birds after the spill from the Torrey Canyon tanker off Cornwall.

boheminan Thu 13-Apr-23 20:52:55

I remember King George V1 death being announced on the radio. I was 4 years old.

Callistemon21 Thu 13-Apr-23 20:51:21

Whitewavemark2

Sitting in the cinema and seeing Hillary and Tenzing standing on top of Mount Everest a dark blue sky behind them.

Yes, I remember seeing that in the newspapers and listening to it on the radio.

I remember hearing and reading about the Korean War too.

maddyone Thu 13-Apr-23 20:47:35

Like others I remember JFK’s assassination. I was about ten years old at the time. I remember how shocked my parents were and that’s probably why I remember it so well.

Hipsy Thu 13-Apr-23 20:45:59

The Great Train Robbery 1963
I was convinced Ronnie BIggs was hiding in our garden shed.
I was four years old.

aggie Thu 13-Apr-23 20:35:35

Being told the war was over and everyone glued to the radio , it meant my aunts husband coming home , he taught me to draw a Robin , I must have been 7