Challenger exploding, closely followed by Chernobyl exploding. I'm sure inbetween there were parts of London exploding. And after that, Pan Am 103 exploding. The 80s were a wild time.

Easy, JFK's assassination. I was 4, came in from the yard and found my mom and a neighbor were sitting at the kitchen table, crying. I asked what was wrong, and she said someone had shot the president.

After that, I remember being irritated that all my favorite TV shows were blocked by news coverage for days.

and then a few months later:

86 was a big year

Princess Diana's death, for sure. I remember my mother being absolutely distraught, and I didn't understand why. We're not British and I'd literally never hear of her (from my mother or otherwise) before her passing and funeral were news. The funeral took place in the middle of the night and I remember her being up super early to watch (and I eventually woke up and joined her).

I'm surprised it was 1997, I would have figured it was '95ish. Can't believe that's the first news story I can remember. But we definitely were NOT a news household. Nobody reading the newspaper, no local news on at night or cable TV news on TV all day.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Desert Storm, in small part because my dad was in the AF and deployed to Saudi Arabia. It was pretty much all the news for the short amount of time that actual hostilities were occurring.

The Collapse. All the news agencies were calling it the "Resentment" for some reason. They were arguing about if some of the lower order dimensions would survive or not when all the aerovets went dark.

I looked out to see it approaching our crecheworld.

Space collapsing in fifteen dimensions is terrifyingly beautiful in its own way.

The first moon landing

The assassination of prime minister Olof Palme.

Reagan being shot

Olof Palme getting killed or the USSR attack submarine getting stuck on a mititary beach whichever came first.

It was a weird childhood, I was 8 when Obama was installed as president. I remember people talking about George Bush Jr and the wars he started in Afghanistan and Al Qaeda. Big gap in between Obama's presidency and then 2012 shooting of Sandy Hook. And abt every school shooting of the 2010s after that sadly. Also I really want to vote for Mitt Romney but I was 12 and brainwashed by my parents. Now that I'm on a form of obamacare I don't remember any issues with him. I would re-elect for a third term

The inauguration of Barack Obama.

Watched the Challenger explosion live in kindergarten.

Sack of Rome by Alaric and the Visigoths. All over the news.

9-11 coverage and the second plane live on TV in elementary school

The destruction of the Berlin wall, and uniting of west- and east Germany.

9/11. I was in school and my teacher wheeled the TV cart in. She was an absolute wreck doing so because her husband left that morning for an interview in tower 1. Due to the phone traffic being so busy she couldnt reach him. Luckily he was running late because of traffic and had to drive far enough away before he could call her.

Mount St. Helens.

I actually remember seeing Haley's Comet. I want to live long enough to blah blah blah, but really I just wanna see that stupid thing again before I go. Feels like a decent bookend, ya know?

Middle East wars (which doesn’t really pin down a timeframe)

ERA (which does)

For myself that would be 9/11. I remember being confused when the teacher put it on the tv. Thought we were watching an action movie.

Although I lived through others I think I was to young to remember them or caring. So for me it was the OJ trial since they legit announced it overhead at our school which was weird thinking back on it. After that would be 911.

When the Berlin Wall came down

911

I remember OJ’s Bronco on the news. I would have been 6yo. I also remember OK City Bombing a year later. Mostly just the wanted poster sketch, honestly. Then I don’t remember much news until Princess Diana’s death.

After that I remember a lot of news stories.

Probably the Iranian Revolution.

The opening weeks of Star Wars, fans lined up around the block, many seeing it again and again and again. Some had seen it dozens of times. I was shocked.

Sister took me when I was 6. All I remember was eating lunch in the breakfast room, parents asking, "WELL? How was it?!" "OK I guess." LOL, was not impressed in the moment, turned into a fairly rabid fan for a couple of decades.

NYC blackout was a couple of months later. Not that I had a clue what was happening, but it was all over the news. My Silent Gen parents shielded me from their racism best they could, but I remember mom commenting on the rioting, "Oh, those BUH-LACKS!"

I dislike that my brain went with Milli Vanilli and not something like the berlin wall...

The beating of Rodney King. I was very young, maybe 6, and didn't understand why they had to beat that man.

Now I do understand. And it's pretty shitty.

I was born in 1991. For me, it's gotta be 9/11. I can't really specifically remember anything from before that, and I was only 9 when it happened, so I didn't really pay much attention to the news.

There was a time I was on the news because my grandfather got asked about something at the airport. I have no idea what it was or if it was before. But it certainly wasn't major and either way I don't remember the actual story that happened. If I had to guess it was something about asking people about airline delays, but that's genuinely just a guess.

Michael Jackson’s hair catching fire.