We've lived through a lot of history, haven't we?

Question

What historical events stand out most in your mind?

For me:
9/11
When JFK was shot
The Cuban Missle Crises
Parts of the Vietman War

The more y'all list, the older I seem to be. LOL!

Answer 1

We sure have. In fact, I was thinking today I would like to produce a musical from about 1945 to now. I'm serious.

For me:
Hitchhiking around Europe for 8 months without being raped or hurt in any way:
JFK's murder:
Definitely Vietnam:
The formation of the United Nations:
The computer:
The Cuban Missile Crisis as well:
Drastic climate changes:
Afghanistan and Iraq
The Six Day War
Entebbe.
The Invasion of Kuwait
Landing man on the moon.
Satellites and space stations
Flower Power and Woodstock:
Rock n Roll, which changed the music of the world:
Nuclear Power
The X-Box and Cell phones.
9/11
Yes. Princess Dianna's death?!
The Falklands

The list is endless. Do you think any other generation has seen such changes and historical events?

Answer 2

I would say the most impressive thing that has happened in my life is, by estimation, the world has gained in knowledge about 1,000,000 time that it had when I was born. (1941). Histerical events are more prominent in my mind...after all, there was little I could do about the historical part. IF I had to make a guess, I would say the most significant thing that has happened in my lifetime is the Internet and the World Wide Web (different things). Computers were bound to happen, wars are inevitbably, research always plugs along...but the Web and Internet have tied the entire world together as if we all lived next door to each other...now that is really something...truly terrific..and truly scary at the same time. And I disagree with those who say "any generation" can say the same thing. Not so. This has been the age of true miracles, make no mistake about it. And the next age will see artificial intelligence surpassing ours.

Answer 3

I rented a movie last night called Thirteen Days which was a docu-drama about the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1962. I never really knew what that was about at the time, but this film did an excellent job of portraying the history of the event. I recommend it highly if you haven't already seen it.

Answer 4

Starting school in 1949 in a classroom converted from a WWII POW camp Quonsot hut.

Nickle a bottle for a Coca Cola and a dime for a movie.

Listening to radio drama, seeing television for the first time and wondering what the appeal was.

My mom trying to explain what the Korean War was all about the day after it started.

Being lectured in a school auditorium by two teachers arguing about where 'under God' should go in the Pledge of Allegience.

Listening to Joe McCarthy on the radio every day grandstanding about the Commies and questioning Private Shine.

Gathered outside a school house for a UN flag raising ceremony ... don't know what that was all about.

Practicing 'Duck and Cover' in case of nuclear blast.

Flying saucers

Fallout shelters

Cowboy shows on television

Hot rods

Ducktail haircuts

The Bop

"Mary had a little horse
It's face was white and human
But when it raised its little tail
It looked like Harry Truman"

"We've got to get that general out of the White House!"

Sputnik 1, 2

........................
Q: "What's the Russian national anthem?"

A: "You'll wonder where your father went when he talks about the president"

..............

The Kingston Trio hanging down its head for Tom Dooley

Peter Paul and Mary explaining what they'd do with a hammer.

Brook Benton asking sinner men where they're gonna run to.

Frankie Laine whupping his mule train and explaining why.

Gentleman Jim Reeves hoping she'll put her sweet lips closer to the phone.

Brenda Lee telling all about her sweet nuthuns

...........................
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans jokes.

Lyndon Johnson's gall bladder scar

"What's with that weird English singing group with the long hair?"

"If you're going to San Francisco
You'd better wear some flowers in your hair"

"If Barry Goldwater wins the election he'll get us into a war, for certain!"

Watergate hearings

"Can't go back to Constantanople"

Doctor Strangelove

and so on.

I created a reading list on the subject for Amazon a few years ago:

Answer 5

Trying not to repeat others' comments...;-)

We've seen a lot of technological changes too...and things invented that make our lives easier [?]...

The PC
Cell Phones
VCR
DVR
CD's
DVD's
Cordless Phones
The 'stereo' vs the 'hifi' vs the tube radio
TV's without tubes!
automatic transmission in cars
power steering
power brakes
turn indicators
dishwashers
garbage disposals
vertical blinds
fitted sheets
foam [pillows, cushions etc]
shower piks
jacuzzi/jetted tubs - indoor and outdoor hot tubs
ice makers; water/ice dispensers in fridges
Space travel
astronauts
Dolby Sound
wide movie screens
cruise travel [other than the QE or the Titanic]
paper shredders
electronic calculators
food processors
blenders
barbeque grills [portable like Webers] - folk used to build them out of bricks or stone
plastic

The list goes on and on but FYI none of the things listed above were in the home etc when I was growing up as a child...born: 1942

And to think my mom is still with us and she saw even more! inclusive of being in the Empire State Building in the 40's when the plane hit!

Answer 6

When JFK was shot, the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam
war, when the astronauts walked on the moon, yes:
black and white tv, 25-cent movies, Bonanza, I Love Lucy.
The Kingston Trio, The Beatles, Elvis, The big hair of the 80s. Princess Diana's wedding.
Little Lulu and Tubby, 3 cent stamps, penny loafers, Howdy Doody, Hopalong Cassidy, air raid drills in school, wearing my hair in braids, 5 cent chewing gum.
Some of it wasn't all bad. I could go on and on.

Answer 7

And there was Clara Belle, Uncle Miltie, Mickey Mouse, Shary Lewis, The Three Stooges, new cars coming out only once a year, the Cuban missile crisisfive and dime stores where things were a nickle and 10 cents, hot dogs and root beer that you could eat at the drug store, ice cream shops with marble table tops, penny candy, bikes with only "pedal power, the "hula", Hawaii becoming a state, then Alaska, "I Like Ike", assasinations, hippies, "Woodstock", hurricane Betsy, Cleo, Alma, Vietnam War (Conflict), protests, sit ins, thinking we could change the world, power to the people, social service.....ahhh, feel like Forest Gump.........

Answer 8

I remember air-raid warnings on the radio and having to pull down those dark green blinds, then I remember the plans making a roaring sound going over head, where? in Delaware, then I remember people coming to our home asking my Mother to help fold parachutes for ":the war effort", dang I'm really old!

Answer 9

All of the above plus the first rocket launch, the end of the Berlin wall, tent city in Wash. DC, the assasinations of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, its a long list and yes I do remember a lot of our historical era.

Answer 10

Having air raid drills in grade school, where we had to go into the hallway, put hands over the back of our necks. Wear ID tags with our blood types on them.

My husband remembers when electicity finally made it out to the family farm, with a single light bulb over the kitchen table.

I remember when TV came to our house. I was in 7th grade. B&W, one channel. Indian test pattern at midnight.

Dial phones instead of having to give your number to an operator. Party lines, so you could listen to all the gossip when neighbors made calls. (Hey, I was a kid, didn't know that was rude!)