Do you have memories of real 'history'?

I was born in 1944 so my memories start from late forties .I can remember the Festival of Britain in 1951 and having a hair ribbon with that logo on it.The next year was George VI death, I remember seeing photos of his coffin in the newspapers. It was then I heard of death for the first time. The coronation of Elizabeth II, watching it on my grandmother's brand new television with a tiny screen.My great grandmother called it a ''wireless with pictures''. Also, a few days before the conquest of Mount Everest, my brother was born on the same day.
The assassination of Kennedy, I was doing my first spell of night duty as a student nurse and everyone was talking about it on the ward, including the patients.
I watched the moon landing on TV, while 5 months pregnant with my first child.
My parents young days were spent in the Depression, my mother remembers barefooted children in the streets, she herself was forced to squeeze her feet into shoes she had outgrown as her parents refused herself and her brother to be seen barefooted.She later suffered foot problems and lays the blame on being forced to wear too small shoes.
My grandparents were born in the 1890s, both of them left school aged 13 to start work.They could remember WW1, and all the tragic losses in families of young men. Both of them loosing close relatives. My MIL lost a brother aged 22. My FIL had lied about his age when volunteering to join the Army.His real age was discovered just before he was posted abroad, and he was sent home.He did serve in WW2, and went missing in Dunkirk, returning blind in one eye.
I am beginning to feel that I must write this down as I am now a great grandmother.

What an interesting thread.

I was born in in 1959, so I haven't lived through as much history as some on here, but when my children look askance at things I say I realise that there are things from my life that they see as 'in the past'.

I remember Churchill's funeral, although I must have been tiny. My mum was very upset. I don't remember Kennedy's assassination - I think I was protected from that as my mum was very scared. I do remember the Moor Murders, and realising that my parents couldn't protect me from harm, however much they tried to persuade me that they could.

The moon landings were shown at school, and I wasn't very impressed . I was too young to understand the importance, although to be fair, they haven't had much of an impact really.

Aberfan - I was very young. Maybe the same age as the children? I remember my mum crying and hugging my sister and I close, and saying that Harold Wilson should have done something, although I didn't know what.

Later, I remember the 3 day week, the NF marches and Rock Against Racism. I'll try to think of more.

I remember the death of the King and then, of course, the coronation. I also remember my father burning a guy of the Archbishop of Canterbury because he wouldn't let Princess Margaret marry Peter Townsend - although I wasn't sure what it was all about.

In the late 50s we got our first fridge, a gas one. I was always afraid that the pilot light would blow out and we'd all be gassed in our beds!

I remember sitting up till the small hours watching the moon landing with my father - and then joining a crowd of half asleep zombies on the way to work next day. And I remember sitting watching the raising of the Mary Rose with my own children, the day everyone was late for school!

I sat up with my brothers and watched the moon landing.
The assassination of JFK
I watched most of the Royal weddings.
The Aberfan disaster.
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
The miners strike. I was a sewing machinist and us young ones loved it when the electric went off.

My first memory of real history was the death of the king and the accession of Elizabeth II. I was 9 years old and can remember solumn music on the radio all day and wanting to put on "pop" music. When I moaned about it my mother snapped at me "Have some respect. The king's dead".

My parents rented a TV for the coronation and we had about 12 people in the house watching it. Of course we children got very bored sitting on the floor. But we enjoyed the street parties. My grandmother helped me to make a coronation scrap book and was delighted when I won a class prize. She bought magazines specially for me to cut up for pictures.

I was born in 1946.

I was born before the NHS - so my Mother gave birth in a private nursing home, and was then attended by Nurse Andrew McCampbell at home who was the nurse for both my sister and cousins in subsequent years.

The NHS came into being when I was 1.

The earliest historical events I can remember

Not really an event but I remember all the navy boats moored on the river Tamar postwar. Side by side 3 or 4 in a row. No doubt then mothballed and broken up.

The end of sweet rationing of course - what child didn’t!

The Queens coronation which I watched from Hyde park corner

The world maps on the school wall showing masses of land coloured pink - The British Empire.

The ending of Empire Day
Y
The Suez crises

End of military service.

The end of British empire. Particularly African countries gaining independence.

The beginning of teenagers and rock snd roll

Churchills death and funeral

Perry Como, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra,

Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Jazz

CND marches

The Lady Chatterly trials - and the outdated comment by the judge, “would you let your servants read this book”!!

60s fashion - The Kings Road - Mary Quant -Twiggy - the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan the Beach Boys - recreational drugs LSD, blue pills etc.

Tights to accommodate the mini-skirt

The Profumo scandal

The pill

Cold War

Cuban Crises

Vietnam

The assasinstion of Martin Luther King, JFK and his brother.

Nixon scandal

Moon landings

That takes me to the early 70s

My grandmother remembered Queen Victoria coming to Phoenix Park, Dublin in 1900. She was one of the school children at Phoenix Park welcoming her.

She also remembered going to New York in 1896 and seeing the Statue of Liberty. She was four at the time.

I was born in 1946 so have memories of most historical events commencing with the death of George VI and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

I was born a few days before the NHS started in July 1948 .... my dad wasn't best pleased because he had to pay!
When I heard that JFK had been shot my first words to my mum were "Oh No! Does that mean there is going to be a war?"
Clearly I was always a worrier
I love this thread BTW!!

I was a little girl in a greengrocers shop getting a pound of 'carrot and onion' when it came on the radio that the king had died, I ran straight home to tell my mother.

I was born in Plymouth in 1937 so don't really remember the start of the war, but do have hazy memories of bombs and explosions and noise and chaos. I clearly remember the American soldiers who lived with us for several weeks while they were rehearsing for the D-day landings in France. They gave us chocolate and soap and nylon stockings (for Mum) and many goods which lasted us for years after the war.
I went to a huge party in a park to celebrate the end of the war in Europe and then again the end of war in the far east.
Rationing continued for some years after that and I remember the day sweet rationing ended in 1953 and queueing outside the sweet shop with half-a-crown which my uncle gave me.

harrigran

I was born in 1946 so have memories of most historical events commencing with the death of George VI and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.

Same here. I recall seeing the Coronation on b&w TV. We lived in Hull then and the young Queen visited our council estate later. The Council painted the outsides of the garden fences she might pass (but not the insides) and BR took down the 'Gentlemen' sign at the railway station for the duration.

henetha my MIL told me of the time she was going into Plymouth to the dentist; she couldn't go into the city because it had been flattened. FIL was coming home on leave and saw the glow in the sky from Haldon Hill.

Memories from the death of George VI onwards, but for real experience of history I would say being sprayed by water cannon in the Paris riots of 1968.

Born 1942 in South Wales

Remember the 1950 general Election , in school we wrote out
ballot papers, two candidates- Labour Party and Churchill.
Death of King George and Queens coronation.

Death of JFK Kennedy was so distressed, same when Bobby
Kennedy was killed.

The flooding of Capel Celyn which roused anger come the investiture of Charles and selling of holiday homes.

Aberfan my home , I thought the happiest place in the world until 1966when 116 children and 28 adults were murdered by the National Coal Board, no loss of jobs or charges , protected by the unions and Wilson.

Murder of Martin Luther King,, JFKKennedy .Bobby Kennedy in a decade. Didn’t like the sixties.

Nelson Mandela freed 1990

What a fascinating thread! The first real news item i can clearly remember would be the moon landing - I would be six at the time, and it seemed so exciting. I think we genuinely thought there would be people living on the moon in no time! As a young reporter, I remember interviewing a woman who was celebrating her 100th birthday, and she could clearly recall watching the men go off to fight the Boer War. That seemed like ancient history to me then - I suppose today's youngsters will view some of our memories in a similar light.

My first memory of something momentous happening was the Egyptian revolution of 1952. Dad was posted there with the RAF but when things became really dangerous we were taken by launch to the SS Orcades which was anchored off shore to pick up women and children. I remember we only just made it because my brother was evacuated from his boarding school in Heliopolis but the coach was fired on and they had to take an alternative route. My parents must have been frantic with worry but thankfully he turned up in the nick of time.

Rather than being treated like refugees we sailed back first class. I never did find out how that happened but it was very exciting for a five year old!

The next momentous occasion was standing in my grandmother’s sitting room listening to the announcement of George VI’s death and being told I had to remember it was now, God save the Queen!

The Suez crisis was next and once again we were caught up in the chaos.

I remember my father stopping for petrol on the way to the beach in Aden and being upset by the news flash on the car radio that some of the Manchester football team had been killed in the Munich air crash.

After that it was all the usuals but the event that really stuck in my mind was the Cuban missile crisis. At fourteen I was old enough to know how serious it was and I remember feeling really scared unlike the other political happenings in my life where I felt sure I could trust my elders and betters to sort it all out. I cried with relief when a compromise was reached.

I remember VE day as I was born in 1941. We were visiting relatives in Sheffield and there were street parties, bonfires in the evening and free entry to Theaters for impromtu performances.
When George V1 died his body was transported by train to London. The whole of our village school were marched to stand with respect as the train passed on the local railway bridge.

I remember the Concorde test flights over our school. The sonic boom made us all jump! There were hovercrafts tested on the beach - so loud. We had an aircraft carrier visit USS Wasp or Hornet - little tenders took us out and we were guided all over the ship. I pestered my Mum to find me a loo and the US Naval Officers took me into the bowels of the ship - the loos had no doors, so Mum stood guard. Once a seaplane landed on the river and I got to climb the big ladder up into the cockpit. We used to have lots of paddle steamers visit, but now only one exists - such a shame.

I was born in 1941. I remember the air raid shelter in the street. The sound of sirens, food rationing.
I remember as I got older my Mum telling everyone I was born when Glasgow was being bombed and was in the Air raid shelter 15 times before I was 3 weeks old.

My uncle was in Bomber Command in the RAF and promised my Mother (his sister) that he would fly over the house to say Goodbye when they were going back to their base in Scotland. On the day, she heard the plane, and lifted me and rushed outside - then an ENORMOUS plane came really low over the garden, everything went dark, it waggled its wings and rose into the air again and left. The noise was so awful, I was terrified and burst into tears. So did she.

Even though was born in the early 50's I remember vividly seeing the ruined and abandoned farmhouses in northern France where we had a family holiday in 1959 and also exploring with my brother an empty villa in the town we stayed in. On the coast there was the the concrete bunkers on the headlands. The effects of war even tho long over by then felt close. I shudder still at memories of reading the booklet of what to do in the event of a nuclear attack that was sent to all households in the 1960's.

Thanks for those memories. Born between VE and VJ days, I have the usual memories of post-war Britain.
My DH, his 10th birthday was on VE day.
Much later, he wrote a terrific account of his National Service, an excerpt of which was read by his friend at his funeral. That was vivid history.
My mum also wrote about her time in the WAAF in WW2.
It's comforting having their accounts to read. Perhaps we should all write something for our families to have.

I remember most of those things although strangely enough not the Cuban missile crisis. I can remember the lights going off and managing by candlelight in the fifties and seventies; rationing; the old king dying and watching the queen's coronation on my grandparents' TV; the Suez canal crisis; the assassinations of JFK and Bobby Kennedy; the moon landings .... but for some reason I don't remember the Cuban missile crisis although I must have been about 16 at the time.

Perhaps we should all write something for our families to have.
That's a really good idea, Romola

The local newspaper from where I grew up published a photo of a street party which they said was on VE Day 1945 but I knew it must have been a later VE Day celebration because I'm in it, and I hadn't been born on VE Day. I'm being held in the arms of a teenage girl, a neighbour. I do remember her.
I doubt they'd had had time to organise a street party on 8th May 1945.