A really morbid topic, forgive me, but which are they and do you remember them? I'd list the worst in my life time (1983-present) as being these:

- Chernobyl explosion in Russia (1986)
- The Challenger tragedy (1986)
- Herald of Free Enterprise Car Ferry Disaster (1987 English Channel ferry that capsized because one of the crew left the door open after falling alseep)
- Oklahoma Bombing (1995)
- Omagh bombing, Ireland (1998)

And of course the big one, the Twin Towers, September 11th 2001. That will be I think the worst disaster and biggest tragedy that we've witnessed so far. :(

The ones I remember:
Chernobyl, The Challenger, Sept 11, The Columbia, Oklahoma City, The Pan Am flight that was hijacked and the one taken down by a bomb

Let's turn this into a "what were you doing while this disaster happened" thread...

I was watching SportsCenter on 9/11, finishing up packing my lunch for school. My sister called me and said,

"Are you watching the news? A plane crashed into the World Trade Center."

I hung up and changed to an ABC affiliate. When she said a "plane," I thought she ment a small, maybe 4 passenger type plane..so anyway, I see one of the towers up in smoke, cause by an airplane obviously much larger.

About 3 minutes later, I saw the 2nd plane come in out of no where, and hit the other tower. "Holy ****!" I was in shock. It then became obvious that it was terrorism.

I went to school, and in first hour shop class, we watched TV. When I went home, I sat on the couch and watched coverage of it until I went to bed...crazy stuff.

Loma Prieta Quake in 1989(the one that hit San Francisco during the World Series). I was only 15 months old... don't remember it, but we were in Maine visiting my uncle at the time(it was a 2 week trip where we would later go to Canada).

Hurricane Andrew in August 1992. Slammed into South Florida as a Category 4.

Northridge Earthquake in January 1994 that hit the Los Angeles area.

Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995

2000 Election mess(LOL)

September 11th. The days that followed would be the worst days of my life. That really started my interest in World events. I was at school that day, they didn't tell us anything at school. My dad checked me out a couple of hours later(about 9:30am) and I was just in shock for the next few days.

Columbia explosion in February 2003. Was at my grandparent's house that morning, had just gotten there(9:00am). I had the TV on CNN because I knew it was going to land. At 9:15am, they came on and said they had lost contact with it. Immediately I could tell something was wrong. When it didn't land, I knew something had happened because shuttles that land aren't late, they are always on time unless something happens. I watched TV the rest of the weekend not believing that either.

I was just five months old when the Challenger explosion occurred, so I don't remember anything about it.

I was in 4th grade in the spring of 1995 when the OK City bombing occurred. I remember we had a Current News class, and we went into another teacher's classroom to watch the footage on the TV there. I was almost 10 when it happened, and I just couldn't believe it. Immediately, I thought of all the people trapped in the bathrooms (I don't know why I thought about that) 'n' stuff and couldn't get out...=/

Princess Di's death in August 1997. I'd just turned 12 two weeks earlier and just started 7th grade a week earlier...I remember being in shock when I heard about it...I also remember watching her funeral on TV and bawling my eyes out, because it was so sad. :(

The Columbine HS shooting on April 20, 1999. I was 13 (almost 14) and just finishing up 8th grade. When the first shots rang out, I was at lunch and didn't hear anything about it until last period. I remember going home after school and it being all over CNN...OMG..the footage. I will NEVER forget that. NEVER. It was so scary. :eek: Immediately, I thought of one of my uncles who lived 5 minutes from Columbine, and then I wondered if some of the kids had seeked safety at his house. My uncle never did say anything about it, so I don't think it ever happened. But, wow. :(

9/11/01...Wow, I'll remember that for the rest of my life (You forgot the planes also flew into the Pentagon and into a field in Pennsylvania). I had just turned 16 less than a month earlier and just started my junior year in high school three weeks earlier. We always started school after August 20th every year, and because August 20th was on a Monday in 2001, we started on the 20th that year, hence my being in school for three weeks already. OK, um. I was already on my way to school when the first plane struck the WTC (but I didn't know). I was already out on the tennis court for my PE class when the 2nd one struck (but I didn't know). I had just arrived to my next class, World Studies, when the first tower collapsed, but I still didn't know. My interpreter came in to class a few minutes late, and told me that two planes had struck the WTC...but I still knew nothing. We had to watch some stupid movie about the Egyptians in class, because my teacher wouldn't let us watch CNN. :rolleyes: And we were still watching that stupid movie when the 2nd tower collapsed and when the plane struck the Pentagon. Finally, World Studies ended and I went to my next class, Accounting. From therein for the rest of the day in all my classes (and lunch), everybody did nothing but watch CNN. No homework was assigned that day. (Yes, I still remember that...and I have an excuse slip from 9/11/01, because I'd missed PE on 9/10/01)

It's too painful to bring it back but here it goes. The first thing I do after waking up, is to turn the tv on. Instead of cartoons; that morning I turned on Diane Sawyer's show; which I NEVER watch.
I started making breakfast for my kids and heard the reporter saying that there was 'a fire' in one of the towers but it wasnt the 'wastebasket' type. They were just sitting there, not knowing what to expect when all the sudden the camera man takes the shot to an approaching airplane,I just stood there in awe watching as the plane just had entered the building (I thought of the fx's this days in the movies) and the red fire bomb that came out. The reporters faces were in awe too; I guess they couldn't believe their eyes either. I just took a deep breath and kept on. The most shocking part was when the towers started collapsing; all the firemen still going upstairs saving lives came to mind. Then, I tuned to MSN and Ashleigh Banfield was interviewing this lady with a baby in her arms; at the same time I was holding my little one the same way; when the tower started collapsing behind them and I went to hysterics. Then the Pentagon and the PA flight were happening at the same time. I thought this world was going to come to an end soon.:(

When Lady Di had the accident, I was sleeping and was woken up with the news at midnite. The next morning, I was terribly sad and I couldn't believe it. The day of her funeral; I bawled my eyes out. I admired and liked her a lot and still miss her.
The day the Challenger exploded, I was in 6th grade and didnt learned the news until I went home from school that day. My dad just said it and I was like huh?:confused: . The tv played it all day/night; it still gives me the chills
When the Columbia exploded over TX; I had the tv on and was doing the laundry. The local news were broadcasting the passing over our skies, when all the sudden you could see that the white line in the sky had a break in it. I came back inside and the reporter was saying that they had received phone calls saying that they had heard a 'boom' . The reporter kept saying and even brought an 'expert' to tell everyone that the noise was 'normal' because the rocket was re entering blah, blah. They were expecting the landing within 5 minutes and it never happened; instead they started finding pieces and parts in empty fields and backyards.:(

When Colombia exploded. I actually heard it! I live in the Dallas/Ft Worth metro area, and we were watching the news, and they said it should be over our area. Next thing we heard was this explosion.

Obviously I remember 9/11. I was in history class and we watched the last of the towers fall. Worst day ever.

When Princess Di died. I was watching SNL at the time and I honestly thought it was a really bad skit.

9/11. Had I not gone to vote in the primaries I would have been traveling in that part of town.

Last summer's East coast blackout. I almost got into the subway, but stopped to get a bite. Inside the shop, all the lights went out. Had I been on the train as usual I would have been stranded.

Girls/Women thinking tattoos look good :barf:

Originally posted by jamesanthony
9/11. Had I not gone to vote in the primaries I would have been traveling in that part of town.

Last summer's East coast blackout. I almost got into the subway, but stopped to get a bite. Inside the shop, all the lights went out. Had I been on the train as usual I would have been stranded.

I remember the blackout too. I had MSNBC on(as I always do) and they started reporting power outages. I didn't think much of it at first until every 30 seconds they were adding another city or state to the list. :eek:

Fortunately, that wasn't *too* bad, no deaths that I know of. It could have been a lot worse because it was very hot that day.

I vaguely remember Princess Diana's death and the JFK Jr. Plane Crash. I also remember the day Payne Stewart's plane went missing and eventually crashed(1999) and I remember Senator Wellstone's Plane crash just a week before the 2002 Midterm elections(that was the day after the DC sniper was caught, wild week).

The death of my father, step-father,grand-monther,It's been 3 years of my step faather he died of cancer(long) and mr dad 10 or more years ago,it's still long,but still miss him. Grand-,a 1985. she always said I was her favorite out of all the grand kids she had.

Originally posted by Brent88
I remember the blackout too. I had MSNBC on(as I always do) and they started reporting power outages. I didn't think much of it at first until every 30 seconds they were adding another city or state to the list. :eek:

Fortunately, that wasn't *too* bad, no deaths that I know of. It could have been a lot worse because it was very hot that day.

I vaguely remember Princess Diana's death and the JFK Jr. Plane Crash. I also remember the day Payne Stewart's plane went missing and eventually crashed(1999) and I remember Senator Wellstone's Plane crash just a week before the 2002 Midterm elections(that was the day after the DC sniper was caught, wild week).

Thank God there were no real tragedies from the blackouts. People actually behaved better than usual, drving slower, being helpful. No looting. Much different than the 65 or 77 blackouts.

Originally posted by Simon_C45
The death of my father, step-father,grand-monther,It's been 3 years of my step faather he died of cancer(long) and mr dad 10 or more years ago,it's still long,but still miss him. Grand-,a 1985. she always said I was her favorite out of all the grand kids she had.

Sorry to hear this Simon. Personal tragedies are worse than the big disasters because it's like people around you don't empathize and just go on with their day to day lives while you have to deal with your losses.

One that i know of that hasn't been mentioned yet is the thing with David Koresh, and the Branch Davidian cult from Waco, Texas, I remember this story was on Tv all the time for like weeks

Hey was anyone alive in New York during the "Son of Sam" murders in the 1970s? My cousin lived there during that time and she said it was completely terrifying.

Ah yes, personal disasters (tradgedies) are a MUCH different story...

I remember Son of Sam but I was only in grade school at the time. I guess people who lived in DC/Maryland would remember being freaked out by the snipers 2 years ago.

Is anyone on here old enough to have lived through the Stock Market crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, the Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis, or A-bomb testings in the 1950s?

Originally posted by jamesanthony
I remember Son of Sam but I was only in grade school at the time. I guess people who lived in DC/Maryland would remember being freaked out by the snipers 2 years ago.

Is anyone on here old enough to have lived through the Stock Market crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, the Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis, or A-bomb testings in the 1950s?

or the Kennedy assassination?

Since 1985

Chernobyl

The 1989 San Francisco Bay Area earthquake that was over 7 on the Richter scale and postponed Game 3 of the World Series. I have the ABC pre-game broadcast on CD

The Pan Am terrorist bombing over Scotland

The Challenger explosion

The Columbine school shootings

September 11. I will never forget that morning when I turned on my radio and the first thing I heard was that a plane crashed into the World Trade Center. I thought I was dreaming but I wasn't.

ill remember 9/11 all my life. It was when i was in... 10th grade i think. I was in 2nd period, and then it was on the news. I didnt know how serious it was until they showed the actual twin towers burning up and then collapsing :( It was soooo sad, and later on that evening, i couldnt bare watching it over and over. I just cant imagine what it would be like if i were on those higher floors.. there was no escape for them :( Sad. Die terrorists.

Originally posted by jamesanthony
I remember Son of Sam but I was only in grade school at the time. I guess people who lived in DC/Maryland would remember being freaked out by the snipers 2 years ago.

Is anyone on here old enough to have lived through the Stock Market crash of 1929, Pearl Harbor, the Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis, or A-bomb testings in the 1950s?

I strongly doubt there's anybody that was born around this time posting here...There might be a few 1930's-ers here, but they would have been too little to remember the stock market crash. However...Somebody like Penny Lane would have been old enough to remember when JFK was shot.

the only one i remember when it happened was 9/11.

The Kennedy assassination. The Vietnam conflict(I refuse to call that a war). The election of Richard Nixon. Well, every disaster since I was born in 1950!;)

I'll never be able to forget 9/11. When it happened it was early afternoon UK time. I'd just logged onto the internet and on AOL's little news box it was saying a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers. I raced into the living room and switched onto the news channel and seconds later I watched live as the second plane hit. I sat and watched coverage as people were shown jumping out of the windows of the buildings and then later when the towers crumbled and everyone ran from their paths...it was like a ****ing movie, it felt so unreal.

But even now almost three years on it's still really painful to remember even though I don't know anyone affected, it's easily the worst non-personal tragedy that's happened during my life so far. I don't think any of us will ever be able to forget it.

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
I strongly doubt there's anybody that was born around this time posting here...There might be a few 1930's-ers here, but they would have been too little to remember the stock market crash. However...Somebody like Penny Lane would have been old enough to remember when JFK was shot.

My husband( who is several years older than I) was in the Army during the Cuban Missle Crisis. He said that it was very scary! They didn't know what was going to happen! I was only about 10 or 11 so I don't really remember.:)

Originally posted by Penny Lane
My husband( who is several years older than I) was in the Army during the Cuban Missle Crisis. He said that it was very scary! They didn't know what was going to happen! I was only about 10 or 11 so I don't really remember.:)

He was shot in '63, so you would've been 13 and in 8th grade :)

But if you were referring to the Missile Crisis, then carry on....

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
I strongly doubt there's anybody that was born around this time posting here...There might be a few 1930's-ers here, but they would have been too little to remember the stock market crash. However...Somebody like Penny Lane would have been old enough to remember when JFK was shot.

Yup, I was 13 and in the 8th grade .:eek:

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
He was shot in '63, so you would've been 13 and in 8th grade :)

But if you were referring to the Missile Crisis, then carry on....

You know too much about me Allison! Now knock it off!:lol:

Originally posted by Penny Lane
You know too much about me Allison! Now knock it off!:lol:

:mrt:

This was not a disaster per se but I remember the Manson murders of 1969. That really scared me!:eek:

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
:mrt:

:p

Originally posted by Penny Lane
You know too much about me Allison! Now knock it off!:lol:

:rofl: :rotflmao:

I would think all one would have to do in this thread is supply the year of their birth. A disaster is a disaster no matter when it happens. And unless a person is directly involved, (as in losing a loved one, etc..) the point is being SPARED being involved in a world or national disaster. I was born in 1960. So I've run the gamut from Cuban Missle Crisis, to space disasters, to major earthquakes, to 911. Take your pick...it's all lousy and horrible but thankfully due to fate I am still here and so are my family.

Originally posted by Dutabi84
Let's turn this into a "what were you doing while this disaster happened" thread...




Okay, then with 9/11 I was getting ready for school. Then I drove to school listening to it on the radio and looking up for airplanes. I was sort of freaked.

Originally posted by Penny Lane
You know too much about me Allison! Now knock it off!:lol:

She knows everything about everyone. Especially me....considering I was born just three days before her. :p

Originally posted by Jen1989
Space Shuttle Challenger Explodes 1986- I was in first grade and the teacher had everyone in class watching it. It was so sad. She had to send the class home, because it upset us so much.
Hurraine Andrew- I watched it on tv at home.
Branch Davidian- I was at school, but when I got home I heard all about it.
OJ Simpson Trail- I was at school. The ruling that set OJ free divided the black students and the white students. The black students were so happy while the white students were very upset that he was set free.
Oklahoma City Bombing- I was at school, I heard about it when I got home.
Flight 800 Crash- I was at camp, and saw the footage on tv, it was sad. It was the only tv I saw during camp, was that particular day, for a few minutes.
Tropical Storm Allision 2001- Very devastating. I was at home. It hit Texas big time. We had over 26 feet of water. The water was higher than our freeways were.
9/11 Disaster- I was on my way to my 9:25 AM class when I heard that a place had crashed into one of the twin towers.
Space Shuttle Columbia 2/1/2003- I was here at the Univ. My mother called and told me about it. I was in one of the areas where the debrie fell.

Tropical Storm Allison.. tell me about it. I was almost 9 years old when Hurricane Alicia hit us, but that storm is something I'll never forget. A Friday night and I'd just gotten home. Wound up staying up the rest of the night to watch the news coverage. I've never seen Houston covered in so much water in all of my life.

9/11 without question

My wife and I were watching PBS with our kids. Our niece called and told us to turn on TV (why PBS wasn't interrupted I have no idea) We turned on one of the networks in time to see the second tower get hit. I'll never forget how I felt- I don't think anybody who witnessed this will ever forget

If I had to choose, 911 would be the worst. I was actually reading one of my other message boards. The header read "THEY ARE BOMBING US!" and I didn't know what was going on until I opened the thread. I then went to the TV and sat....dumbstruck and disbelieving. The message board I was looking at was a fan board for a 70's rockstar due to perform at Rockefeller Plaza in a few days. The threads were "Is she still going to perform???? She has to!! I have made PLANS!!" Again...I sat in wonder at these children who were just clueless as to what had HAPPENED. It wasn't about rock and freakin' ROLL. It was about the WORLD dying....the world forever changed. While bodies rotted at Ground Zero...they still expected their rock show. :( Then the idiots cried out "We have to go on or the terrorists WIN!" And I wonder what goes through people's heads when they make such claims? We have to guard every move we make. That's the sad, revolting truth.

9/11 was the biggest one. I also remember the assasination attempt on President Reagan and the hostage crises in Iran. I also had a lot of hurricane scares and their was even a flood that occured in the town I was at on my 7th birthday. That's something you don't forget. I'm sure there are more but they just seem to come to mind.

A quick scan down the line reveals not even I recalled the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. That was another heart stopping moment. A young mother taken in a freak accident. A huge gasp of...WHY???? Cried for DAYS...:(


Ah yes....Miss Vickie mentioned it....just saw it. ;) It was sure a major event....:(

Originally posted by Czas na Zywiec
She knows everything about everyone. Especially me....considering I was born just three days before her. :p

I can't help it. I'm REALLY good with dates. :crazy: (Sorry, I'm not going to help you on your history test, you're on your own on this one ;))

I will ALWAYS remember EXACTLY what I was doing on Sept 11th. I can even remember the same clothes I was wearing that day, and I still have both the T-shirt and jeans...:eek:

I have to say the -

JFK assasination
RFK assasination
MLK assasination
shuttle disasters
Son of Sam
Chicago murders of the nurses
WTC disaster
Princess Diana's death
JFK Jr. & Carolyn Besette

The worse for me I have to say was the JFK assasination and the World Trade Center disaster. :(

The day that John Lennon was shot it was on my 1st birthday.

The Vietnam War :(
911:(

Originally posted by Jen1989
Oh I know. It's never flooded that bad ever in Houston. It was awful. I remember news footage of people getting on top of semi's to avoid drowning. They say that even though it wasn't considered a hurriane that the intensity of it/damage it caused was like a hurriane. Something I hope I never see ever happen again in Houston, or anywhere else for that matter.

Exactly, we've seen our fair share of both before, but nothing quite like that. It was awful watching the news coverage, hearing about people who'd gone into their homes only to be electricuted because the power hadn't been shut off. Animals drowning, people on semi's (like you said). I also remember seeing footage of video tapes floating along I-10 and the news anchors telling us they'd be right back.. because the water was coming into the Ch 11 studios. And the water covering our freeways for crying out loud. :eek: I hope and pray we don't see that ever again, that noone else does, either. Now that it's already hurricane season, sure hope we're lucky this year.

Originally posted by Jen1989
Oh I know. It's never flooded that bad ever in Houston. It was awful. I remember news footage of people getting on top of semi's to avoid drowning. They say that even though it wasn't considered a hurriane that the intensity of it/damage it caused was like a hurriane. Something I hope I never see ever happen again in Houston, or anywhere else for that matter.

Allison was so bad that the National Hurricane Center RETIRED it's name. They only retire hurricane/tropical storm names if it's a really deadly, devastating storm(only a couple of tropical storms have had their names retired). So when the 2001 list comes back around in 2007, it won't be on there.