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Biggest news stories of your lifetime

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Dec 19, 2012.

  1. micropolitan guy

    micropolitan guy Well-Known Member

    1A. JFK assassination. Fourth grader struggles to understand

    1B: 9/11. Inconceivable.

    3. Martin Luther King assassination, and the ensuing riots.

    4. RFK assassination, and the death of hope for a 14-year-old kid.

    5. Murder of four Kent State students. Ohio National Guardsmen shooting US citizens engaged in relatively peaceful protest.

    6. Nixon resigns. Corruption at the highest level of government.

    7. Man lands on the moon, and returns safely. Triumph of science and technology.

    8. Fall of the Berlin Wall. Triumph of the spirit over Soviet tyranny.

    9. Chicago 1968 Democratic Convention. Legalized mayhem and brutality by the Chicago police.

    10. Obama elected. A black man becomes president less than 50 years after the Freedom Summer.

    The fall of Saigon would probably be No. 11.

    There were a lot of very important national/world events before my 25th birthday.
     
  2. printit

    printit Member

    Unless you are old enough to remember the moon landing, the fall of communism seems like a clear no.1. Defeat of the only foe that ever had a prayer of challenging us (as opposed to terrorizing us), ended any real threat of nuke war (again, not necessarily nuke terrorism), freed millions, etc. We won't see anything that big again in our lifetime. (I acknowledge and respect the point being made by one poster that we should be looking at Rwanda genocide, etc. I acknowledge this is being written completely from U.s. mindset).
    I would put 9/11 2nd.

    Put me in the camp that thinks Newton will have a much more profound impact on the culture than Columbine. I think the concept of teenage kids killing other teenage kids scares us less than the concept of an adult killing little kids. And, for better or for worse, this one will have a greater impact on gun policy in America.
     
  3. Armchair_QB

    Armchair_QB Well-Known Member

    Not old enough to truly remember No. 1 but it did happen in my lifetime.

    Holy Shit, Man Walks On The Fucking Moon
    9/11
    Fall of the Berlin Wall
    Challenger
    Nixon Resignation

    Sports-wise:

    USA 4 USSR 3
    Pete Rose Suspended
    Magic Johnson
    Ben Johnson
    McGwire/Sosa & Bonds home run races


    From a long-term sports implications standpoint:
    Curt Flood/Andy Messersmith
    Penn State joining the Big 10
    Roy Kramer discovering the conference championship game loophole
    SMU Death Penalty
     
  4. zagoshe

    zagoshe Well-Known Member

    9/11 and response
    Katrina
    Oklahoma City
    Nine Miners being Rescued
    Space Shuttle blowing up
    Berlin Wall falling down
    Black guy becomes President
    Florida election debacle
    Watergate and fallout from it
    Tainted Home Run Kings and fallout from it
    OJ Simpson/Ronald Goldman/Nicole Brown Simpson Murder Case
    Columbine
    World Trade Center bombed the first time
     
  5. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    Very nice list, RS. Well done.

    Although surely we can find a bigger story for 88 than Wayne Gretzky getting traded, right? Especially considering that 88 was a presidential election year, an Olympic year (how bout Ben Johnson's drug scandal?), and around when the AIDS epidemic really began to scare the holy living hell out of mainstream America.

    And I think Iran/Contra would trump well girl for 87. And Waco certainly trumps John Bobbit's dismembered dick for 93.

    Might also mention our fun little quickie wars in Panama and Grenada for 89 and 83.
     
  6. RubberSoul1979

    RubberSoul1979 Active Member

    Ahh yes, Waco. Quote Will Ferrell as Janet Reno on SNL, "Dance Party takes away Waco!"

    I digress, but 1993 was also the year of the rap anthem: Whoomp! (There it is), Hip Hop Hooray, Shoop.
     
  7. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    Without reading anyone else lists:

    9/11
    Fall of the Berlin Wall
    Katrina
    Oklahoma City
    Columbine
    Princess Diana
    Tsunami
    Obama election
    Challenger explosion
    OJ
     
  8. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    A few things blunt Katrina, slightly, for me:

    (1) It wasn't a bolt-from-the-blue news story. It built up over days and days. Others might, I recognize, see this as a factor that actually favors Katrina's inclusion;

    (2) The initial death projections dwarfed the actual death total. Oddly, by the time Katrina had ended, and the fog of war lifted, the actual damage was almost a relief when compared against the anticipated damage;

    (3) For me, in general at least, human-driven events trump weather-driven events. I recognize that the Katrina story was at least partially driven by human decisions by men like George W. Bush and Michael Brown. But, at its core, it was a story initially driven by nature.

    Oh, and if we are talking about stories that build over years, even decades, like DoctorQuant did, I might put climate change as No. 1. Perhaps even competing with 9/11. It's that big.

    Also, the Columbine/Newtown divide on the board is interesting. It seems some rank Columbine higher - it was, obviously, first. And I still think the fact that there were multiple shooters imbues it with a little something extra as a news story as well as a sociological/psychological case study. But Newtown, at least to me, felt bigger because small children were targeted. This might be a stage-of-life thing. I wasn't in high school when Columbine occurred. I wasn't in college when Virginia Tech occurred. But I had children when Newtown occurred.
     
  9. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    2006: George Mason 86, UConn 84
     
  10. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I'm surprised at how high Princess Diana ranks for many people.

    I remember it well. But just seemed like another celebrity death to me, that happened to occur on a Friday night at the frat house. The Royal Family is not something that resonates. Michael Jackson, Tupac, and Kurt Cobain were all bigger touchstones in my life. Pat Tillman, too.
     
  11. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    I'd argue that the bigger news story is Dec. 19, 2012: Alyssa Milano turns 40.
     
  12. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    1. Kennedy assassination
    2. 9-11
    3. RFK/MLK assassinations
    4. Civil Rights movement
    5. Nixon Resignation
    6. Moon Landing
    7. Mandela-End of apartheid government in S. Africa
    8. Lech Walesa-Polish uprising
    9. First African-American President
    10. Great Recession

    Like others have mentioned, the Rwanda and Cambodian genocides were so under-reported in the United States at the time that I sadly know them more as history lessons than news events.
     
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