Can you remember where you were when you heard Princess Diana had been killed?...etc

[John in Covina]

I was at a party at my brothers house in Walnut and the TV was on. The Special Breaking News flashed and they announced it.

 

[TraditionalFrog]

Where was I...

(Note: This post is somewhat lengthy, so please bear with me.)

I wasn't alive for the Cuban Missile Crisis, or JFK's death. I was just around a year old when Elvis died.

I vaguely remember when President Reagan got shot. Dad had the news on and some politicos of some sort were talking about the incident.

I was alive when John Lennon was killed but didn't know who he was or anything about the incident until years later.

I vaguely remember hearing about Grenada.

Challenger: I was at school (I was 10 years old). I had just finished having lunch and returned to my classroom. The teacher came in late. She had gone home to get a video tape of the shuttle launch. She came back with the sad news. Instead of the video she turned on the radio and we spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the news. When I returned home that afternoon, I stayed glued to the telly until Mum came and turned it off.

Desert Storm: I was attending a boarding School (I was 14 years old). At the time I was taking a shower when one of my dorm mates banged on the door like the Gestapo. Irritated, I yelled "What? Who is it? Some one is in here!" My dorm mate said "Something is happening in Iraq!" I quickly rinsed off, dressed and as it was chilly I wrapped a towel around my damp hair. Shortly there after I went in to the lounge where everyone was watching telly. I clearly remeber it being Dan Rather. After watching it for about 30 minutes I decided to go see if the Administrator on Duty was aware of it. So I ran in to his office. He looked at me and started laughing. I couldn't figure what was so funny. He said "So, you're trying be be an Iraqi?" I forgot I had the towel still wrapped around my head!

Oaklahoma City: I was in my flat watching telly at the time when the story broke. I was severly depressed at that time so I can't really recall much more.

Princess Diana: I was visiting my parents when this happened. We had just returned from dinner shortly before. I went to their lounge and turned on the telly just a few seconds before the story broke. I was very happy when the local station switched to the BBC. We were all sad that evening.

9/11: I was asleep in bed when the attacks started. A friend woke me up yelling "Turn on CNN! We're under attack!" in to my answerphone. So, I lumbered out of bed, grabbed a fizzy drink and turned on the telly. I tuned in just seconds before the 2nd aeroplane hit. Still being half asleep and trying to focus, I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming or awake. Unfortunately, it wasn't a dream. That was weird to see the event unfold in that state.

Columbia: I had just turned on the telly when the story broke. Can't really recall what I was doing.

London Bombings: I was unable to sleep and heard the story break (power surge) on BBC Five Live (via the Internet). I usually listen to the Beeb when I fall asleep at night. Displayed a Union Flag in my window for a few days.

JPII: I was at home listening to the radio when the news broke. Shortly there after the church bells from the two near by Catholic churches started to toll (as is old Catholic custom).

Those are the main events I have memories of in my life.

 

[jazzzbaby]

I was getting ready to go out when I heard she had been
injured and was being taken to the hospital. By the time
I was ready to leave the house they announced that Diana had died.
My evening went on, but I had an inner sadness and ended
up calling it an early evening.

Just days before she died, I was at a party and we were
discussing Princess Diana. I recall making a comment
about how horrid the paparazzi was, hunting her down
while on vacation and such. Just didn't seem fair that
they would not let her just live her life with some sort
of privacy.

I can recall where I was when she got married also.
I was a little girl laying on my aunts floor watching it
with my cousins. In some strange way she had always
been around, so it felt personal when she died.

 

[Rockapin-up]

I remember exactly where I was. I was sitting in my living room watching tv with my dad when the breaking news of her death came on. I was very shocked and somewhat sad.

 

[Chanfan]

Interesting to think about what's burned in to that grey fuzzy memory of mine (or rather, mostly that the majority of things are not).

I recall the general events of Granada, the Challenger explosion, Princess Diana, and so on, but the only one I'd call a "flashbulb moment" is 9/11. It certainly wasn't helped out by the fact that I was out of work at the time (dot.bomb), at home, watching TV in bed. I ended up watching the news all day.

 

[Barbigirl]

My 2 cents

Princess Diana - I have alway been very fond of Princess Di, it really felt like a personal tragedy to me and I couldn't get the loss those boys were experiencing out of my head. I was at a BBQ and when I got home I had two messages from my BF (who knew I was crazy about her) saying she had been in an accident and then another that she had died. I turned on the news, watched for hours and cried.

9/11 I was on public transport on my way to work, people had just started talking about it and I was just overhearing bits and pieces of conversation but didn't put it all together til I got to work and started talking with folks.

 

[staggerwing]

JFK - I was about 6, watching cartoons when they interrupted the regular programming with the news. Now, I'd seen them do this before for other events, but in a moment they'ed go back to the regular programming. When they did not go back to the show I was watching (anyone remember "Super Car?") I remember getting quite annoyed.

Challenger - this affected me very personally. I was in the aerospace industry at the time, working for one of the companies that launched payloads on the shuttle. I knew some of the crewmembers personally, had trained with NASA, and actually stood a real chance of flying on a future mission. I was walking back into our office building after having lunch with a co-worker. They always set up a TV in the lobby when there was a shuttle launch, even though we weren't involved directly in this one. They were showing the replay when I walked in. All our future payloads would go on unmanned rockets and my days in the industry were numbered.

Columbia - I was at home in bed, sleeping in. I lived in the DFW area at the time. It exploded pretty much directly over my head, but I didn't know anything about it until that afternoon when my wife and I went to a local sports bar and saw it on TV. Neighbors said they heard it, but we didn't.

Princess Diana - Nope, don't have a clue. With all due respect to the dead, she wasn't a big factor in my life.

9/11 - I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be, with someone I wasn't supposed to be with, doing something I wasn't supposed to be doing. Ruined an otherwise perfect day. This one also affected me personally. My cousin was a NYC cop who narrowly escaped as the building collapsed. I also knew a number of people who worked in the buildings, but all fortunately escaped unharmed.

 

[Micawber]

My wife and I were decorating one of the bedrooms in our old house in preparation for the arrival of our child when the news of Diana's accident and subsequent death broke. I do remember it being virtually impossible to escape the subsequent media frenzy.

I recall most of the other events mentioned and what I was doing and where at the time. I also recall watching the funeral of Winston Churchill on television with my father and grandfather.