Memorable events in your lifetime.

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 12:38pm #1

Okay so, I'm not talking about personal events. I'm talking about sports, wars, politics, weather, Irish and international etc. Memorable events that you were old enough to actually witness live or reported on TV/Media and understand. Here's my list in no particular order, though its probably far from complete.

Popes visit to Ireland 1979.
Ireland qualifying for Euro 88.
Ireland qualifying for Italia 90.
Gulf wars.
John Lennon assassination.
Assassination attempts on Ronald Reagan and the Pope.
Band Aid.
Live Aid.
Self Aid
and AIDS itself.
Invention of the CD/DVD.
Mad electrical storms in Ireland in 1985/6.
Hurricane Charlie 1986.
The big snow of 1982.
Mobile phone.
Laptop.
The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster.
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
The breakup of the Soviet Union.
Hillsborough disaster.
Hysel stadium disaster.
The start of the Simpsons.
Launch of the Space Shuttle.
The internet.
911
Channel tunnel.

bear1 · 16-08-2016 12:41pm

Iraqi invasion by Bush Jr.
Rise of ISIS
Brexit
11/9
Malaysian Airlines (both of them).
The birth of my little girl

kfallon · 16-08-2016 12:44pm

The shíte I had during half time of Brazil v Holland, USA '94! Took 20 minutes to get out, boy was it a biggy. Took 3 flushes to get rid of. Really was a 'King Kongs finger'. Say I was beetroot after it....at both ends

Jimbob1977 · 16-08-2016 12:44pm

Here goes. Born in 1977, so I would only remember from 1985 onwards.

o Famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid concerts
o Challenger space shuttle disaster
o Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster (Zeebrugge, Belgium)
o Chernobyl Nuclear accident
o Fall of the Berlin Wall
o Hillsborough Stadium disaster
o Mandela freed. Apartheid collapses.
o Iraq invades Kuwait. Gulf Storm liberation
o Collapse of Soviet Union
o David Koresh and the Waco siege
o Rwanda genocide and pathetic UN/Western response
o Yugoslav disintegration and ethnic cleansing
o Oklahoma City bombing
o Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
o The Monica Lewinsky scandal
o Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
o Omagh bombing
o Bill Clinton authorises bombing of Bin Laden bases after US embassies bombed in Kenya and Tanzania
o September 11th 2001 attacks
o Invasion of Iraq
o Madrid bombed by Al Qaeda
o Indian Ocean tsunami
o London bombed by Al Qaeda
o Election of Barack Obama
o Celtic Tiger crashes. Global economy crashes
o Haitian earthquake
o Japanese tsunami and Fukashima nuclear reactor
o Regular terrorist attacks on European and North African soil. France, Belgium, Germany, Tunisia, Egypt
o Syrian War and associated migrant crisis
o Brexit. Britain opts out

kfallon · 16-08-2016 12:47pm

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Here goes. Born in 1977, so I would only remember from 1985 onwards.

o Famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid concerts
o Challenger space shuttle disaster
o Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster (Zeebrugge, Belgium)
o Chernobyl Nuclear accident
o Fall of the Berlin Wall
o Hillsborough Stadium disaster
o Mandela freed. Apartheid collapses.
o Iraq invades Kuwait. Gulf Storm liberation
o Collapse of Soviet Union
o David Koresh and the Waco siege
o Rwanda genocide and pathetic UN/Western response
o Yugoslav disintegration and ethnic cleansing
o Oklahoma City bombing
o Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
o The Monica Lewinsky scandal
o Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
o Omagh bombing
o Bill Clinton authorises bombing of Bin Laden bases after US embassies bombed in Kenya and Tanzania
o September 11th 2001 attacks
o Invasion of Iraq
o Madrid bombed by Al Qaeda
o Indian Ocean tsunami
o London bombed by Al Qaeda
o Election of Barack Obama
o Celtic Tiger crashes. Global economy crashes
o Haitian earthquake
o Japanese tsunami and Fukashima nuclear reactor
o Regular terrorist attacks on European and North African soil. France, Belgium, Germany, Tunisia, Egypt
o Syrian War and associated migrant crisis
o Brexit. Britain opts out

So you only remember the good things then...... :pac:

Sam Kade · 16-08-2016 1:00pm

Grandeeod wrote: »

Okay so, I'm not talking about personal events. I'm talking about sports, wars, politics, weather, Irish and international etc. Memorable events that you were old enough to actually witness live or reported on TV/Media and understand. Here's my list in no particular order, though its probably far from complete.

Popes visit to Ireland 1979.
Ireland qualifying for Euro 88.
Ireland qualifying for Italia 90.
Gulf wars.
John Lennon assassination.
Assassination attempts on Ronald Reagan and the Pope.
Band Aid.
Live Aid.
Self Aid
and AIDS itself.
Invention of the CD/DVD.
Mad electrical storms in Ireland in 1985/6.
Hurricane Charlie 1986.
The big snow of 1982.
Mobile phone.
Laptop.
The Herald of Free Enterprise disaster.
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
The breakup of the Soviet Union.
Hillsborough disaster.
Hysel stadium disaster.
The start of the Simpsons.
Launch of the Space Shuttle.
The internet.
911
Channel tunnel.

1986 you were also around for Halley's comet surely a bigger event than hurricane Charlie. It only comes round every 75 years.

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 1:10pm

Sam Kade wrote: »

1986 you were also around for Halley's comet surely a bigger event than hurricane Charlie. It only comes round every 75 years.

I remember Halley's comet alright. As I said the list isnt complete. Hurricane Charlie had, lets say, a more direct impact on my memory.

16-08-2016 1:14pm

First kiss.

Nerdlingr · 16-08-2016 1:14pm

Jimbob1977 wrote: »

Here goes. Born in 1977, so I would only remember from 1985 onwards.

o Famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid concerts
o Challenger space shuttle disaster
o Herald of Free Enterprise ferry disaster (Zeebrugge, Belgium)
o Chernobyl Nuclear accident
o Fall of the Berlin Wall
o Hillsborough Stadium disaster
o Mandela freed. Apartheid collapses.
o Iraq invades Kuwait. Gulf Storm liberation
o Collapse of Soviet Union
o David Koresh and the Waco siege
o Rwanda genocide and pathetic UN/Western response
o Yugoslav disintegration and ethnic cleansing
o Oklahoma City bombing
o Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
o The Monica Lewinsky scandal
o Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland
o Omagh bombing
o Bill Clinton authorises bombing of Bin Laden bases after US embassies bombed in Kenya and Tanzania
o September 11th 2001 attacks
o Invasion of Iraq
o Madrid bombed by Al Qaeda
o Indian Ocean tsunami
o London bombed by Al Qaeda
o Election of Barack Obama
o Celtic Tiger crashes. Global economy crashes
o Haitian earthquake
o Japanese tsunami and Fukashima nuclear reactor
o Regular terrorist attacks on European and North African soil. France, Belgium, Germany, Tunisia, Egypt
o Syrian War and associated migrant crisis
o Brexit. Britain opts out

Good list...I'd add to it
The release of Brian Keenan, Guldiford 4, Birmingham 6
Lockerbie bombing
Boxing day Tsunami

Dyr · 16-08-2016 1:16pm

Nerdlingr wrote: »

Boxing day Tsunami

Your cover is blown

ScumLord · 16-08-2016 1:19pm

I was alive at the same time as previous posters. So ditto on what they said.

valoren · 16-08-2016 1:54pm

From a Sports perspective;

Michael Johnson breaking the 200m world record at Atlanta 20 years ago.
Stayed up until after 2am for 19.32 seconds. The silence before the gun and after thousands of camera's flashing as they went around the bend.

Also in Golf. The Miracle at Medinah Ryder Cup in 2012.
One of the best comebacks in all of Sport for me.

Winterlong · 16-08-2016 2:54pm

J.R. got shot by Kristen (she was Sue Ellen's sister).

Alf Stewart. · 16-08-2016 3:00pm

The evening Packie Bonner saved that penalty in 1990.

Alf Stewart. · 16-08-2016 3:02pm

Winterlong wrote: »

J.R. got shot by Kristen (she was Sue Ellen's sister).

eh

Sam Kade · 16-08-2016 3:04pm

My grandfater was 3 years old when Custer was killed at the battle of the little big horn.

dslamjack · 16-08-2016 3:05pm

Don't forget Bobby Ewing getting out of the shower and saying to Pam she must have been dreaming,cause she saw him on Tv as ''The Man from Atlantis'' ,me world was never the same after that.

Wibbs · 16-08-2016 3:35pm

Sam Kade wrote: »

My grandfater was 3 years old when Custer was killed at the battle of the little big horn.

:eek:

I remember the last moon landing. Elvis dying. Later on John Lennon.

dslamjack · 16-08-2016 3:39pm

Being backstage and in the wing's at the first Slane Castle gig - Thin Lizzy and U2 head lining ,meeting Philo off the helicopter.

whiskeyman · 16-08-2016 3:50pm

My gold medal in the 1989 school sports day egg and spoon race.

Some things will never be beaten...

dslamjack · 16-08-2016 3:55pm

Sally O'Brien and the way she might look at ye,met her in Gibney's of Malahide ,and NO I did't try to fry an egg ,cause it's impossible with 2 pint's of Harp in yere hands.

spurious · 16-08-2016 3:56pm

Moon landing
Bloody Sunday
The assassination of Aldo Moro - for some reason that sticks in my head
The Monasterevin Siege
Abba in Concert in Dublin
Almost everything else mentioned

16-08-2016 3:57pm

Watching my odometer changing to 100,000km AND 200,000km

Several toots of the horn were made to announce that triumph.

Only 70,000 to go till the next memorable moment.

Galwayguy35 · 16-08-2016 4:22pm

Shergar stolen by the Ra
Ronald Regan visit
Band Aid song being played to death xmas 1984
Aids dominating the news
New car number plates coming out in 1987
Galway winning hurling in 1987/88 (and nothing since)
Barry McGuigan becoming world champion
World Cup 1990

pawrick · 16-08-2016 4:52pm

Some of the things which stick out in my mind rather than things I just happened to be alive for

Fall of the Berlin Wall - this sticks out more than anything else as something I watched with my parents on TV
Tiananmen Square Massacre
Break up of the Soviet Union and attempted coup v Yeltsin
Overthrowing of the Communist/dictator led states in Europe
Nicolae Ceausescu being executed
German unification
Nelson Mandela being freed
End of apartheid
Balken War / Break up of Yugoslavia
The Mir station decommissioned eventually and International Space station coming together
Changeover to the Euro
Gulf War Part 1
Gulf War Part Deux
9/11 attacks
US led invasion of Afghanistan
Princess Dianna getting killed
Italia 90 & Euro 88
Croke Park being opened to rugby
The cult in Wako
Mad Cow Disease and Foot and Mouth Disease
Cheap travel to Europe

A Little Pony · 16-08-2016 4:57pm

Brexit is at the top politically.

9/11

16-08-2016 5:12pm

Sam Kade wrote: »

My grandfater was 3 years old when Custer was killed at the battle of the little big horn.

About six years ago, I had the privilege of attending a talk by this man on the battle of LBH. His step-grandfather was a scout for Custer, and he was one of - perhaps the - last living people/person to have heard first hand testimony of it until his death earlier this year.

He was an incredible character in his own right, if you read that page. I tell a lot of people about him, I was lucky to have been there.

Widdershins · 16-08-2016 5:16pm

Hurricane Darwin, the only hurricane I have seen, and the big freeze of..2010?

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 5:35pm

I'll add Michael Conlon being robbed at Rio Olympics.:D

wakka12 · 16-08-2016 5:46pm

Why is everyone just naming big news stories? Surely your first kiss, your first date, first day in secondary school , graduation , etc etc would be bigger events in your lifetime than some terrorist attack or natural disaster??

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 5:48pm

wakka12 wrote: »

Why is everyone just naming big news stories? Surely your first kiss, your first date, first day in secondary school , graduation , etc etc would be bigger events in your lifetime than some terrorist attack or natural disaster??

Because if you read the first post, it says the following.

I'm not talking about personal events. I'm talking about sports, wars, politics, weather, Irish and international etc. Memorable events that you were old enough to actually witness live or reported on TV/Media and understand.

ToddyDoody · 16-08-2016 6:12pm

The Iverk Show August 2005 and then again in 2015.

Realt Dearg Sec · 16-08-2016 6:16pm

Winterlong wrote: »

J.R. got shot by Kristen (she was Sue Ellen's sister).

SPOILERS!!!

dslamjack · 16-08-2016 7:01pm

The Dandelion Market closed and Hector Gray's and Rice's pub on the Green got pulled down,not too mention the Green Cinema(that was pure vandalism) for a pxxy shopping arcade.

osarusan · 16-08-2016 7:04pm

Don't know if it has been mentioned already, but watching the Chilean miners get rescued with that shuttle up and down the pipe, I really had a feeling that much of the world was watching the same thing at the same time.

maudgonner · 16-08-2016 7:22pm

Great lists. A few to add for me, off the top of my head and in no particular order:

The Landsdowne road rioting.
Rugby in Croke Park.
Election of Mary Robinson.
Her trip to Somalia, and the TV pictures of her crying and appealing to the world to take action.
Rwanda and the absolute horror of the genocide there.
Queen Elizabeth's visit to Ireland.
The run on the Northern Rock bank in the UK, and the sense that this could be the start of very, very serious economic trouble (I know it wasn't the start, but it felt like the beginning of it reaching ordinary people on this side of the Atlantic).
Colin McStay and the appeal to find him a liver.
The many Eurovision wins of Ireland

Dawn Run winning in Cheltenham. Desert Orchid too - I was obsessed with that horse for a while, read his biography (yes, it exists. No, it's not an autobiography) over and over again. Lovely Dessie

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 7:28pm

Some great lists folks. Thanks for sharing them. Some gems in them that I forgot to include.

cml387 · 16-08-2016 7:33pm

Aberfan. I was in England then and quite young and the fact it was children in a classroom.

The BBC news starting without music, just live pictures of arclights on a slagheap and men digging.

Realt Dearg Sec · 16-08-2016 7:41pm

I was in 6th class when Nelson Mandela was freed. The teachers brought the two 6th classes in the school into one big room for the afternoon to watch. Our teacher had played us a movie about Mandela the previous week, which we all were shocked by. But I remember the actual homecoming being a case of about 70 kids sitting in a room watching footage of an empty road for three hours.

I also remember when Ireland beat Romania in Italia 90, watching with two school friends, one of whom was a Pakistani kid. Then my parents came home later on, pretty drunk (I hadn't seen my parents drunk before), and my Dad playing Ole Ole Ole on the piano while my Mam and another friend were dancing. We were told many times what good boys we were... Undignified, maybe, but the whole country had lost its mind!

Sept 11th I was working a summer job in a hospital after my first year in college, bored off my skull doing the most mundane paperwork you could possibly imagine. When the planes hit people were talking about it (no smart phones so it was just rumours). First chance I got I was into the A and E to look at the TV, stayed there the rest of the working day (nobody noticed at all from what I could gather). Met a mate of mine for a pint that evening, remember the pub was completely silent, just people watching the footage, over and over again.

PopePalpatine · 16-08-2016 7:41pm

valoren wrote: »

From a Sports perspective;

Michael Johnson breaking the 200m world record at Atlanta 20 years ago.
Stayed up until after 2am for 19.32 seconds. The silence before the gun and after thousands of camera's flashing as they went around the bend.

Also in Golf. The Miracle at Medinah Ryder Cup in 2012.
One of the best comebacks in all of Sport for me.

I vaguely remember Bolt's record-breaking 100m run in 2012, and also Oscar Pistorius becoming the first Paralympian to qualify for the Olympics.

Of the top of my head, here's some other

Arsenal's "Invincibles" going undefeated in the 2003-4 season
Michael Schumacher breaking Fangio's record of 5 F1 drivers' titles in 2003, winning that title race by just 2 points
Max Verstappen making me feel very inadequate back in May when he won a Grand Prix aged 18
Germany thumping Brazil 7-1
Toyota suffering a terminal engine problem with 4 minutes left in this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans
Jules Bianchi's eventually-fatal accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix - I got up early despite a hangover to watch that race live

rainbowtrout · 16-08-2016 8:05pm

Pretty much everything already listed from 84 onwards (born in 78).

Also sportswise

Zola Budd v Mary Decker at 84 Olympics
Ben Johnson being stripped of gold medal in 100m at Seoul Olympics. Probably my first awareness of athletes taking drugs in sport. It was high profile at the time.

Sonia O'Sullivan's dominance of middle distance running the mid to late 90s. Losing out on a medal in 93 to the Chinese runners and taking silver in Sydney in 2000. Watched that in the Stables bar in UL.

wexandproud · 16-08-2016 8:19pm

earliest thing i remember is my father calling my mother in to watch something on telly ,he was shouting '' those men are down, those men are down'' . we ran it to the room to watch apollo [13 , i presume ] splashing down on the news

Del.Monte · 16-08-2016 8:37pm

JFK assassination - Nov. 1963.

Moon Landing - July 1969 - Yawn, Dr.Who was more exciting - seriously!

Dana winning the Eurovision in 1970.

Fall of Saigon during final stages of Vietnam War - April 1975

Ending of Iranian Embassy Siege London - May 1980 - watched it live.

Wedding of Prince of Wales & Lady Diana Spencer - July 1981

Botham's (+ Bob Willis') Ashes - Epic Cricket Test Series - June/August 1981

Falklands War - 1982

Hurricane Charlie - 1986 - out on Bray seafront with aluminium light poles bending in the wind.

Death of Rory Gallagher - June 1995

Death of Princess Diana - August 1997

9/11

Since 9/11 the only notable events (for me) have been rugby matches as I try to blank out reality.

ROG's drop goal against Wales to win the Grand Slam in 2009

ROG's match winning drop goal after 41 phases of possession in the game against Northampton - Nov.2011

Back to back World Cup wins for the All Blacks - 2011/15

and Jonny Wilkinson leading Toulon to Heineken Cup & Top 14 victory in 2014

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 8:48pm

Del.Monte wrote: »

JFK assassination - Nov. 1963.

Moon Landing - July 1969 - Yawn, Dr.Who was more exciting - seriously!

Dana winning the Eurovision in 1970.

Fall of Saigon during final stages of Vietnam War - April 1975

Ending of Iranian Embassy Siege London - May 1980 - watched it live.

Wedding of Prince of Wales & Lady Diana Spencer - July 1981

Botham's (+ Bob Willis') Ashes - Epic Cricket Test Series - June/August 1981

Falklands War - 1982

Hurricane Charlie - 1986 - out on Bray seafront with aluminium light poles bending in the wind.

Death of Rory Gallagher - June 1995

Death of Princess Diana - August 1997

9/11

Since 9/11 the only notable events (for me) have been rugby matches as I try to blank out reality.

ROG's drop goal against Wales to win the Grand Slam in 2009

ROG's match winning drop goal after 41 phases of possession in the game against Northampton - Nov.2011

Back to back World Cup wins for the All Blacks - 2011/15

and Jonny Wilkinson leading Toulon to Heineken Cup & Top 14 victory in 2014

I remember everything from the Iranian embassy onwards. The rest means you are an older fart than me.:D

16-08-2016 8:53pm

Earliest newsworthy memory was the Gulf War
The Downing Street Declaration
1994 IRA mortar attacks on Heathrow as the Queen was being flown through.
Death of Mother Teresa (and the Lady Di carnival)
Creation of the Eurozone
The Millenium
World Trade Centre Attacks
War in Iraq
Asian Tsunami and Haiti Earthquake
Brexit

ednwireland · 16-08-2016 8:55pm

Anything I've seen on reeling in the years that day !

tuisginideach · 16-08-2016 8:58pm

Assassination of Robert kennedy - I was home from school sick

Yes, I remember Aberfan - my brother cut some of the Evening Press coverage out and stuck it in a scrapbook.

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 9:02pm

tuisginideach wrote: »

Assassination of Robert kennedy - I was home from school sick

Yes, I remember Aberfan - my brother cut some of the Evening Press coverage out and stuck it in a scrapbook.

I've only ever heard about Aberfan from a Welsh aunt. It was before my time/birth. I've since read a lot about it. Second mention here. Nice to see the memories going back beyond my OP.

mikeymouse · 16-08-2016 9:20pm

Cuban missile crisis,
The schoolmaster brought us all around
the map of the world and and gave us a very up to date history lesson,
frightened the ****e of us (me anyway)

16-08-2016 9:27pm

I see lots of stuff that pre-and-post-dates it, but nobody has mentioned the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I would have thought that would have been a huge one at the time. It was a year or so before I was born, and I feel like I remember it because I heard so much about it.

Grandeeod · 16-08-2016 9:46pm

Candie wrote: »

I see lots of stuff that pre-and-post-dates it, but nobody has mentioned the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I would have thought that would have been a huge one at the time. It was a year or so before I was born, and I feel like I remember it because I heard so much about it.

Yes it has been mentioned on the thread. A huge disaster that at the time made no real sense to us in Ireland, despite a failed attempt to build a nuclear plant at Carnsore point in Wexford and the danger from Sellafield/Windscale across the sea in England.

Memorable events in your lifetime.

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