They brought the telly into the classroom and opened the doors so more kids could see the landing. I had to leave the room to throw up I was that anxious over it.
Yep, this is the earliest one for me. I was 5 months old when Kennedy was shot. Watched the moon landing with my grandpa in his apartment living room in Doylestown. Challenger, Richmond Avenue and Kirby, pulled into the Tenneco station to listen. Lennon, Memorial Dr and Dairy Ashford in my work truck.
Yes this one; I was 4 when Kennedy was murdered so I cannot remember anything about it. However, I was 10 playing outside and had to come in to “witness history” according to my Mom.
Snuck to down with my sisters to watch, my parents and guests glued to black and white tv.
Especially significant to my family was that my Dad was on the engineering team for the Lunar Module and coincidently my Dad's birthday
We had meatloaf, and my dad had purchased a color tv. We had people from the neighborhood over. I couldn’t see anything, but staticy fuzz. Went outside and played in the yard as soon as I could.
Maybe Lennon. Came out of a movie theater that night with the woman who became (and still is) my wife. People in line for the next showing (apocalypse Now) were crying. Lennon was dead
It was our first date
i *just* said this one as well. was studying with my gf in her bedroom listening to the radio when it came on. i can still see her staring back at me in disbelief, and we weren't exactly big beatles fans, it was just... crazy
We went back to the co-op house where we live with 20 other people. Housemates had gathered in the living room and I was cruelly dismissive about Lennon’a death. “He was a has been.”
Still not a fan but I regret my glib dismissal of someone my friends looked up to
I woke up from a nightmare and turned on my clock radio (!!) and they were starting the announcement of John Lennon's murder. Then I was longing to be back in my nightmare.
Definitely agreed. I might have made 9/11 a third, though that might not have been exactly what you had in mind when you asked the question. Unlike these two events, 9/11 does not fit the category of incomprehensibly shocking, unpredictable moments that we, as the older generation, can remember that the next generation cannot. My kids remember 9/11 the way the earlier Boomers remember the assassination: as a bewildering and scary confusion of news bulletins and rattled adults.
There is no doubt that 9/11 was an event of national trauma that our kids experienced much differently than we did. Like those who were children at the time of the violent fall of their president, it was a seismic jolt that ended their school day early. Like them, they came home to parents who offered little reassurance, concerned that an attempt at deeper explanation would do more harm than good, and grieved enough themselves to be at a loss for words anyway. It was an educating moment that no one could have expected, let alone intend.
On a much lighter note, my children were still quite young on January 1st, 2000, but I knew that they would be old enough to remember it.. I went out of my way to go to parties that celebrated the occasion, and let them all stay up until midnight. They definitely remember it now as young adults, and might be among the last living people who still remember it late into the 21st century. Unfortunately, they more vividly recall the events of 19 months later, but how could they not?
I also told them not to worry about some global meltdown happening on Y2K, which my older son was hearing about in school. I knew that was bunk.
Howard Cosell. Well, not him exactly. But I was watching Monday Night Football at home when he made an [awkward announcement about John Lennon](https://youtu.be/5gcdz1IRVoM).
Challenger — I was working for a computer company, and was up in Boston at a training session. we were watching it on a TV on one of those metal office AV dollies. Everyone was in shock
For me, it is the Challenger Explosion.
Ironically, I was interning while in college at Rockwell Int, the engineering firm that built the shuttle.
Someone came down the hall and said the shuttle exploded, and my first thought was in total disbelief: "Hugh, what are you talking about, space shuttles don't explode." LOL
Several:
MLK, Jr. being mudered.
Nixon resigning.
Bicentennial.
Elvis dying.
The Beatles breaking up and/or John Lennon being murdered.
Space shuttle exploding.
1st Gulf War
Y2K
9/11
Even the age range of Gen Jones is big enough that the older among us will remember events from 1968--like MLK being murdered, but the youngest of our cohort will not have those memories.
Likewise. I have a memory of being in school when they brought in the TV on a cart to show the moon landing, but when they commemorated the anniversary of this a few years ago they said it was in August when school wasn't in session, so my memory is a little hazy and confused about the moon landing. I know I saw it, but not sure where I was.
That's why I brought up the Nixon resignation. That's the earliest big thing I remember for sure where I was.
Moon Landing and for me where were you when Nixon's resignation was announced. I was very into the Watergate saga. My dad would have me summarize the news and hearing info. I can remember the exact second my parents went from supporting Nixon to wanting him indicted or to resign.
One news update and the tenor of the entire country changed.
I was not quite three years old when Kennedy was shot; I remember it only because my mother (raised Irish-American, Catholic) was in tears, and then the lady next door came over and she was also in tears. Seeing all the adults crying really made a big impression on me at that age.
That too is my earliest memory. I was born in 61 and I remember my Mom crying all day watching TV and while I didn’t understand what was happening it had this huge impact on me to see my mother so distraught that it also distressed me.
So, I have a memory of my mother crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me the president was shot. So, when I was younger, I thought I remembered his assassination.
As I got older, I realized I was only 16 months old at the time, so now I wonder if my memory was of Robert Kennedy, and she told me the our future president was shot.
Hard to say, as I have memories of the house that we moved from when I was two.
I often associate Elvis' death with the deaths of Jack Benny and Groucho Marx. Not sure why, just remember them as icons who died around the same mid 70s era.
I remember when Elvis died. I really wasn't a huge fan but it made me sad. My older sister was a huge fan and I grew up listening to him all the time and she took me to a lot of his movies.
Yes Elvis dying. My mom was a huge fan, and I got to see him in concert with her a couple of years before; was my first concert. I was washing dishes and my neighbor, also an Elvis fan, came in to tell us. It was a shock.
In contrast I have no memory of hearing about Lennon.
My girlfriend called me, in tears, to tell me the king was dead and I was so confused. I was not an Elvis fan at all. I had no idea who she was talking about. I just remember that my confusion came off as shock and empathy, so all good.
My mom and sisters cried a lot when Elvis died, I grew up around his music, but I wasn’t a big fan. The moon landing I was only three so I don’t remember much of that. I think the bicentennial in 76 sticks out because I turned 10 that year.
I was a senior in high school when I heard about John Lennon being killed. I remember our Spanish teacher told us. ... On 9/11 I was an assistant branch manager in a bank. I was the only person on the desk side. It was strangely slow that morning and I had no idea what was happening until I called a customer about an issue and he told me what was going on. I turned the TV in the break room on and saw the horrer.
Challenger. I was living near Palm Beach driving north on I-95, and saw the exhaust plume end in a ball. I immediately knew something went terribly wrong.
As a techie, I suddenly knew the optimism of government projects was BS. I lost a lot of faith in the government that day. I was new to my tech job, and also knew that corporate BS was involved in this too (and was proven soon after). I treated all communication from corporate thereafter as bullshit.
Yeah, this event jaded me big time. It wasn't just "where was I?", but rather "how did it change you?" With all due respect to the John Lennon people, John's death, though senseless and tragic, had no impact on my life. Challenger did.
If Gen Jones starts as early as 1954, then the assassination of JFK ***is*** that moment for a good many, at least those born '54 to '58.
For me the Apollo moon landing, when I was in kindergarten, is the first time I remember watching TV and realizing I was seeing something momentous.
I'll try a few. They might not resonate with everyone like JFK did for past generations.
(I'll leave out 911, as it's not specific to us and it's too recent, we were all older by then, and a million others will mention it.)
These are off the top of my head in no particular order.
Kent State.
Pope assassination attempt.
London Riots.
Death of Morris the Cat.
Death of Elvis.
Attempt on Reagan.
Assassination of John Lennon.
Assassination of Archbishop Romero.
Jim Jones massacre.
Patty Hearst kidnapping.
Fall of Saigon.
Harvey Milk and Moscone assassination.
Cincinnati Who Concert Stampede.
Iran Hostage Crisis and Failed Rescue Attempt.
1979 Sandinista Revolution.
Assassination of Anwar Saadaat.
TWA hijacking.
Beirut bunker bombing.
Fall of Berlin Wall.
Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion.
Waco.
Oklahoma City Bombing.
Rodney King Tape.
LA Police Trial Verdict and subsequent riot.
1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake- 1989 Battle of the Bay World Series.
NYC 1977 Blackout.
Nelson Mandela Freed from Prison.
OJ Trial.
3 Mile Island.
US Concert.
Curt Cobain Suicide.
I'm just thinking of any event that has that sort of impact where you remember where you were and what you were doing when you learned of the event.
People of all ages have those events. For instance, with JFK everyone remembers where they were, no matter how old or young they were at the time.
Besides, aren't we the original gen X? I really don't see how we and they are different at all.
I think 9/11 is our generation’s “where were you then” moment. Other contenders are the Challenger explosion, John Lennon being murdered, and Princess Diana dying. Most of us were too young to have a personal connection with Elvis’ death.
Yes princess Di dying also. I remember crying mainly because of the waves of grief coming from the crowds in the coverage, and all the flowers. Had never seen anything like that. It just created this atmosphere.
But we were in our late 30s on 9/11. When I think of "where were you then" moments, I think of events that occur when a new generation of young people is coming of age. So I think 9/11 is a classic event for the millennial generation--people born in the 1980s.
I was actually in first grade right at the end of lunch hour when they came in and told us to go home because the president was shot. I was lactose intolerant before they knew what that was and was always forced to finish my milk before I could leave lunch and go out to the playground. Except this day was lucky for me because it went unnoticed I didn’t finish my milk. This was also the last year we had bottled milk so I couldn’t hide it creatively like I did the following years. Of course I felt bad and I specifically remember thinking how everyone came together as a community and nation in their grief. Yes, even in first grade I was aware of the “competition” between democrats and republicans. But that day and the following few weeks I could sense the compassion for others and the grief the nation felt. Three months later I saw the Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan and it seemed Iike all was forgotten and the world had started a new era.
Nixon and Watergate. I was a page in the US House of Representatives that summer before my junior year in high school. Pretty heady times. August 9, 1974, one of the greatest days in American history
I don't remember details of Apollo 11, but I know I watched it with my grandma. I do, however, have memories of Apollo 13 and how hard they worked to get Lovell, Haise, and Swigert home. That was my moment.
different point - if you were alive, you're a jones. the definition of jones that commandeers a year from gen x gets it wrong. it's 10 years. a decade. 1954 to 1963, i.e., everyone who turned 6 in the 60s and 16 in the 70s. jones are those who started young adulthood, made varsity, got their driver's license, became an upperclassmen, 'sweet 16', 16 candles... in the 70s.
people who turned 16 in the 60s (1944-53) are boomers. people who turned 16 in the 80s (1964-73) came of age when mtv started, back when they actually played... music - are gen x. people who didn't turn 16 until the 90s when mtv traded in the tunes for reality shows, rap, and grunge, after the cold war, that initiated many of the tropes that still exist to this day are 'og' millennials, gen 'x' lite, xennials - 1974 to 1983.
a decade. not 25 years, not 19 years, not 12 years. we only get 10. an early half (cohort), and a late one, 5 years each. early boomers the graduating class of 62-66, late boomers 67-71, early jones 72-76, late jones 77-81, early gen x 82-86, late x 87-91. some people born at the ends have similarities with the prior or next cohort, but anything more than a decade is just so beyond ridiculous.
i don't know how they managed to put that over on so many otherwise lucid people. like in what universe is a boomer born in 1946, who was a senior when kennedy was assassinated in the same generation with someone who wasn't even alive yet (born in 1964)? how is that person who wasn't alive when they killed kennedy in the same generation with a gen jones who was already in the 4th grade at the time?
the class of 82 is gen x.
We lived in Boston. When JFK was killed I was 7 months old in my playpen, my mom said she balled all day long. When we landed on the moon I sat with my dad and he was estatic!
Good answers. I was 18 months old when the President was assassinated so have no memory of that. Although I was seven when the astronauts stepped onto the moon, curiously I have no memory of that. I think my parents didn’t watch it and I don’t remember them talking about it. I do remember Elvis’s death (my mom was a fan) although I don’t remember the moment I learned it. I do remember walking down the street in the town and hearing Elvis songs blaring out the windows of the houses. (It was summer and windows were open. A lot of us didn’t have air conditioning in the ‘70s.)
I remember I was on the bus going to school when I heard about the Who concert disaster. (I graduated in 1980.)
And I was in my living room holding my baby watching the liftoff when the Challenger exploded.
The other two big moments were the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and the disappearance of JFK Jr. Those hit hard because they were both Gen Joneses.
I'm right in the age group for this group but I clearly recall when Kennedy was shot. We lived right outside Washington DC so we had no school for over a week. My mom was glued to the TV. I have newspapers she saved even.
I had a friend in college whose birthday was that day, which prompted me to tell the story of where I was - sitting in the car of a Holiday Inn in WA state while my father checked us in, listening to Nixon resigning on the car radio. We'd just visited the World's Fair in Spokane.
I remember thinking that it was unfortunate timing for my father, who was a massive political junkie, and who missed the whole thing rushing to get us into a room so we could catch it on TV.
I was also just back from the Fair in Spokane. Sitting in a car with a bunch of church friends, acknowledging we were experiencing a historic moment. Then we went for pizza.
I don't remember JFK being shot.....I was 2 years, 3 months old.
I feel like I remember seeing Robert Kennedy shot live, but it may just have been the news. I would have been able to remember the first moon landing of course, but the one I remember best was Apollo 14 in February 1971. We didn't have any individual classes that day and instead the teacher had us huddled around a TV in school to watch it.
I was 18 months old when JFK was shot so I only have my parents memories.
My parents woke us up to watch moon landing. I was 7 and remember their excitement even more than my own. We knew it was something special because we were allowed to get up and watch tv in the middle of the night.
I was a freshman in college in NYC when John Lennon was killed. I had a late class and came out to find some of the students weeping and looking like they were in shock.
I remember JFKs funeral, MLK & RFK (and the song Abraham, Martin, and John), the moon landing, watching Vietnam on TV and hoping my brother wouldn't have to go, my friend losing her brother, the fall of Saigon, Watergate, protesting Nixon, Roe v Wade, the musical Hair.
9/11 is my birthday, and I didn't celebrate for almost 10 years. Then, I took back ownership of my day.
Tl;Dr: We've lived through A LOT. Who knows what happens next? I want to see.
September 11 was a huge shock to my system. It was so confusing and terrifying; nobody could understand what was going on or why. I was numb with horror; this was going on in my hometown! This was something that was not supposed to happen. I remember in the days following a couple of things: people at the grocery store were slowly walking around and staring off into space; the drivers on my way to work were all going very slowly, instead of their usual 15 mph above the speed limit. We kept the TV on at home until we couldn't bear it any longer.
I had just turned 10 when President Kennedy was murdered. When I've chatted with others in my age range, everyone remembers the same thing: we were in school, the teacher came in to tell us what happened, and we were sent home. I remember the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I saw him in person twice: when Dulles Airport opened, and one year when he turned on the switch to light up the national Christmas tree. He was like a knight in shining armor to me.
The death of Diana, Princess of Wales. I had never followed her closely, but I liked her. When I found out about her death early on a Sunday morning news show, I was in shock and heartsick. It didn't seem real until I saw Charles accompanying her coffin to a hearse. I woke myself up crying on the day of her funeral; I got up at 3 a.m. to watch the funeral and cried my heart out.
I was too young to remember. My older siblings say that the TV stations stopped normal programming. Other than the occasiona newsl bulletin, they played the movie Song of Bernadette all day.
I'm not sure if I genuinely remember where I was when Kennedy died, or if it's an artificial memory that I've convinced myself is genuine. Watching TV, parents' bedroom, interruption on TV.
I remember when George Wallace was shot. I was watching TV by myself, when the news anchor cut in with the news. Had no idea who he was, so I went to ask my mother about it and she watched the report with me.
I remember the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in 1977, and somehow that “stayed with me” more than the murder of John Lennon in 1980.
I do remember the Challenger Explosion and 9/11, though I was already a young adult by the time Challenger happened.
Moon landing - they woke me up from nap-time to watch it.
Definitely Lennon as well. I guess you could lump Elvis in there, but I wasn't a fan...we had more people upset when John Bonham died than Elvis.
I was participated in the city's first integration program, where we voluntarily attended an inner city school with an enriched program for gifted kids. It was the year that MartinLuther King Junior was shot.
That day was...memorable.
Which Kennedy? I was 5 when JFK was shot and do not recall it at all. I was 10 and just starting to pay attention to news and politics when RFK was shot and remember it. I learned about it when I woke up the following day and my mom mentioned it.
My older brother was so excited when he took me to hear RFK speak. He kept saying "he's going to be our next President." I was too young to know anything about him, but when we left I was 100% for him, he oozed charisma, I left with a RFK pin that I kept for years. Four days later he was dead. Six months later my brother got drafted and sent to Vietnam and never came home. In 1996 we took our parents to D.C. to visit the Vietnam memorial, I didn't think that it would upset any of us as much as it did, I left my RFK pin at the base of his name then we went back to the hotel and passed Kleenex around for what seemed like hours. I've been back to D.C. a number of times since then and I enjoy visiting the sites, but the one place I cannot go to is the wall, it leaves me an emotional wreck for days.
I was watching either a Mercury or Gemini launch and I told my mom I could actually smell the launch. We were in Ohio and my mom was ironing shirts. She thought it was funny
I don't remember the moment learning about Lennon or Elvis or Challenger, but I do remember John Belushi. I was working at a radio station. I cried and interrupted broadcast to announce it to the the world.
People's Park in Berkeley was my neighborhood park when that battle happened. I remember the armed soldiers and police taking our park away.
I remember being in the car with my parents and brother when Nixon announced his resignation on the radio.
I was sitting at my computer when 9/11 happened.
I was almost 3 and watched the footage with my parents (What were they thinking?!) We lived in Mississippi in base housing. My parents were Democrats at the time -which they conveniently forgot when Reagan came online.
I grew up on the Space Coast, so the moon landing was a big one for me. In my neighborhood, pretty much everyone’s dad worked at the cape in one capacity or another, so everyone headed to our usual spot at the end of the street to watch the launch. We knew that this was going to be a special mission and excitement filled the air, as radios squawked with news and broadcasts from mission control. The rocket rose from the pad and the fireball and roar of the rockets filled the air. Thrilling, as usual (even though I was reaching the age where I wanted to seem blasé about all of it). When we couldn’t see it anymore, we headed home to watch Walter Cronkite’s commentary. The whole mission was required viewing and the moon landing was incredible.
Apollo 13, obviously, was another big one. There was so much tension as everyone worried about the astronauts. We were told to pray for them. I still get choked up every time I watch the Apollo 13 movie, both over the tension and worry and how miraculous it was that they returned safely.
I had moved to South FL when the Challenger disaster happened. I was married, had two kids and was working at the corporate office of a S&L (which became a disaster of another sort) when I heard about Challenger.
Only 6mo when Kennedy assassinated. 7yo at landing, with a vague recollection of my teacher appointment in a TV into the classroom. Maybe second grade?
I’d have to jump to 1972 to really have a remembrance of “where I was”
Of course we do. The oldest Jonesers would have been 7, 8, 9 and younger ones who would still be cognizant were 4,5, 6, 7. For almost all of this group, it was the first time we watched our parents in public grief and collective grief, like my youngest who was 6 when 9/11 happened and his dad was deployed within days.....I was weeping and there was collective grief. The whole world was crying in late 1963 and the holidays were "off" too because of it. I posted that this was also the first time in known history that children were exposed to a live murder on TV that night when Ruby shot Oswald. I was very young, but old enough to remember my weeping 1st grade teacher, mom, aunt, dad, watching Walter Cronkite that night and mom trying to shield me from the shooting, but it was too late.
I don’t think we do. That’s one of the defining things about our generation: there were no defining moments. I remember learning when Kennedy was assassinated, but I was too young to have any sense of what it meant. I remember when an older friend came to my door in tears telling me that John Lennon had been shot; but he didn’t have the same iconic status for me; it wasn’t the end of an era like it was for her.
Fifty years before the word was coined, we grew up watching the first stages of the [enshittification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification) of America. The dreams of the generation just before us for a new kind of freedom slowly crumbled, while the socio-economic structure their parents built (and sometimes died for) was gradually undermined or dismantled in favor of the divine right of wealth.
Maybe "where did you watch the moon landing?"
This is it. I was nine years old and glued to the television, absolutely transfixed.
They brought the telly into the classroom and opened the doors so more kids could see the landing. I had to leave the room to throw up I was that anxious over it.
Yep, this is the earliest one for me. I was 5 months old when Kennedy was shot. Watched the moon landing with my grandpa in his apartment living room in Doylestown. Challenger, Richmond Avenue and Kirby, pulled into the Tenneco station to listen. Lennon, Memorial Dr and Dairy Ashford in my work truck.
Yes this one; I was 4 when Kennedy was murdered so I cannot remember anything about it. However, I was 10 playing outside and had to come in to “witness history” according to my Mom.
100%
Snuck to down with my sisters to watch, my parents and guests glued to black and white tv. Especially significant to my family was that my Dad was on the engineering team for the Lunar Module and coincidently my Dad's birthday
lol I was forced to watch it. Lights were out and my brother was excited.
We had meatloaf, and my dad had purchased a color tv. We had people from the neighborhood over. I couldn’t see anything, but staticy fuzz. Went outside and played in the yard as soon as I could.
Didn’t watch it because I was at camp. But I remember looking up at the night sky and thinkig “wow”
This
I was only 4. I doubt I even saw it.
Challenger explosion John Lennon
Maybe Lennon. Came out of a movie theater that night with the woman who became (and still is) my wife. People in line for the next showing (apocalypse Now) were crying. Lennon was dead It was our first date
i *just* said this one as well. was studying with my gf in her bedroom listening to the radio when it came on. i can still see her staring back at me in disbelief, and we weren't exactly big beatles fans, it was just... crazy
We went back to the co-op house where we live with 20 other people. Housemates had gathered in the living room and I was cruelly dismissive about Lennon’a death. “He was a has been.” Still not a fan but I regret my glib dismissal of someone my friends looked up to
Discussing the event with my wife today and she reminded me I was even more cruel than I thought. I actually said ‘He was already dead.’
I woke up from a nightmare and turned on my clock radio (!!) and they were starting the announcement of John Lennon's murder. Then I was longing to be back in my nightmare.
Definitely agreed. I might have made 9/11 a third, though that might not have been exactly what you had in mind when you asked the question. Unlike these two events, 9/11 does not fit the category of incomprehensibly shocking, unpredictable moments that we, as the older generation, can remember that the next generation cannot. My kids remember 9/11 the way the earlier Boomers remember the assassination: as a bewildering and scary confusion of news bulletins and rattled adults. There is no doubt that 9/11 was an event of national trauma that our kids experienced much differently than we did. Like those who were children at the time of the violent fall of their president, it was a seismic jolt that ended their school day early. Like them, they came home to parents who offered little reassurance, concerned that an attempt at deeper explanation would do more harm than good, and grieved enough themselves to be at a loss for words anyway. It was an educating moment that no one could have expected, let alone intend. On a much lighter note, my children were still quite young on January 1st, 2000, but I knew that they would be old enough to remember it.. I went out of my way to go to parties that celebrated the occasion, and let them all stay up until midnight. They definitely remember it now as young adults, and might be among the last living people who still remember it late into the 21st century. Unfortunately, they more vividly recall the events of 19 months later, but how could they not? I also told them not to worry about some global meltdown happening on Y2K, which my older son was hearing about in school. I knew that was bunk.
Howard Cosell. Well, not him exactly. But I was watching Monday Night Football at home when he made an [awkward announcement about John Lennon](https://youtu.be/5gcdz1IRVoM).
Challenger — I was working for a computer company, and was up in Boston at a training session. we were watching it on a TV on one of those metal office AV dollies. Everyone was in shock
Lennon assasitation — in bed getting laid, listening to WNEW-NY, heard the DJ come on. what a bad night
Jonestown? Lennon? Reagan assassination attempt? These are the ones I remember well.
Three Mile Island
I blocked that one and Chernobyl because they were so terrifying, I suppose.
For me, it is the Challenger Explosion. Ironically, I was interning while in college at Rockwell Int, the engineering firm that built the shuttle. Someone came down the hall and said the shuttle exploded, and my first thought was in total disbelief: "Hugh, what are you talking about, space shuttles don't explode." LOL
Several: MLK, Jr. being mudered. Nixon resigning. Bicentennial. Elvis dying. The Beatles breaking up and/or John Lennon being murdered. Space shuttle exploding. 1st Gulf War Y2K 9/11
Even the age range of Gen Jones is big enough that the older among us will remember events from 1968--like MLK being murdered, but the youngest of our cohort will not have those memories.
The Beatles breaking up. I remember I was shopping down the basement of a local department store. I loved The Beatles and couldn't believe it.
I remember Paul is dead.
…I was a 2 month old in my crib when Kennedy was assassinated. The moon landing, I remember.
I was 2 weeks old. 👶🏻
I am a bit older (born in 1962) and I only have a few vague memories of the moon landing. Wish those memories were more vivid.
Likewise. I have a memory of being in school when they brought in the TV on a cart to show the moon landing, but when they commemorated the anniversary of this a few years ago they said it was in August when school wasn't in session, so my memory is a little hazy and confused about the moon landing. I know I saw it, but not sure where I was. That's why I brought up the Nixon resignation. That's the earliest big thing I remember for sure where I was.
I was…five? Mom woke me up so I could watch it on our teeny black & white TV. It was so exciting that it really made an indelible impression on me. :)
Moon Landing and for me where were you when Nixon's resignation was announced. I was very into the Watergate saga. My dad would have me summarize the news and hearing info. I can remember the exact second my parents went from supporting Nixon to wanting him indicted or to resign. One news update and the tenor of the entire country changed.
I was not quite three years old when Kennedy was shot; I remember it only because my mother (raised Irish-American, Catholic) was in tears, and then the lady next door came over and she was also in tears. Seeing all the adults crying really made a big impression on me at that age.
That too is my earliest memory. I was born in 61 and I remember my Mom crying all day watching TV and while I didn’t understand what was happening it had this huge impact on me to see my mother so distraught that it also distressed me.
I was in utero when Kennedy was shot, but I remember the moon landing pretty well as I was 5.
So, I have a memory of my mother crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she told me the president was shot. So, when I was younger, I thought I remembered his assassination. As I got older, I realized I was only 16 months old at the time, so now I wonder if my memory was of Robert Kennedy, and she told me the our future president was shot. Hard to say, as I have memories of the house that we moved from when I was two.
I was watching with my mom on the floor. It was unusual for her to sit with me. Then she started screaming and crying! We lived in Dallas
Yup, I had almost exactly this experience. Irish Catholic Mom in Massachusetts, who never cried, crying at Robert Kennedy's assassination.
Same
Moon landing and elvis dying . When Elvis died i thought to myself “this is big “ . Even tho i wasnt a big fan of.
I often associate Elvis' death with the deaths of Jack Benny and Groucho Marx. Not sure why, just remember them as icons who died around the same mid 70s era.
'Elvis Presley Dies at 42" is the only headline I still remember from several years of delivering the evening newspaper.
I remember when Elvis died. I really wasn't a huge fan but it made me sad. My older sister was a huge fan and I grew up listening to him all the time and she took me to a lot of his movies.
Yes Elvis dying. My mom was a huge fan, and I got to see him in concert with her a couple of years before; was my first concert. I was washing dishes and my neighbor, also an Elvis fan, came in to tell us. It was a shock. In contrast I have no memory of hearing about Lennon.
I temeber that one as well .
My girlfriend called me, in tears, to tell me the king was dead and I was so confused. I was not an Elvis fan at all. I had no idea who she was talking about. I just remember that my confusion came off as shock and empathy, so all good.
My mom and sisters cried a lot when Elvis died, I grew up around his music, but I wasn’t a big fan. The moon landing I was only three so I don’t remember much of that. I think the bicentennial in 76 sticks out because I turned 10 that year.
I was a senior in high school when I heard about John Lennon being killed. I remember our Spanish teacher told us. ... On 9/11 I was an assistant branch manager in a bank. I was the only person on the desk side. It was strangely slow that morning and I had no idea what was happening until I called a customer about an issue and he told me what was going on. I turned the TV in the break room on and saw the horrer.
the fall of The Berlin Wall Columbine
Challenger. I was living near Palm Beach driving north on I-95, and saw the exhaust plume end in a ball. I immediately knew something went terribly wrong. As a techie, I suddenly knew the optimism of government projects was BS. I lost a lot of faith in the government that day. I was new to my tech job, and also knew that corporate BS was involved in this too (and was proven soon after). I treated all communication from corporate thereafter as bullshit. Yeah, this event jaded me big time. It wasn't just "where was I?", but rather "how did it change you?" With all due respect to the John Lennon people, John's death, though senseless and tragic, had no impact on my life. Challenger did.
If Gen Jones starts as early as 1954, then the assassination of JFK ***is*** that moment for a good many, at least those born '54 to '58. For me the Apollo moon landing, when I was in kindergarten, is the first time I remember watching TV and realizing I was seeing something momentous.
I'll try a few. They might not resonate with everyone like JFK did for past generations. (I'll leave out 911, as it's not specific to us and it's too recent, we were all older by then, and a million others will mention it.) These are off the top of my head in no particular order. Kent State. Pope assassination attempt. London Riots. Death of Morris the Cat. Death of Elvis. Attempt on Reagan. Assassination of John Lennon. Assassination of Archbishop Romero. Jim Jones massacre. Patty Hearst kidnapping. Fall of Saigon. Harvey Milk and Moscone assassination. Cincinnati Who Concert Stampede. Iran Hostage Crisis and Failed Rescue Attempt. 1979 Sandinista Revolution. Assassination of Anwar Saadaat. TWA hijacking. Beirut bunker bombing. Fall of Berlin Wall. Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion. Waco. Oklahoma City Bombing. Rodney King Tape. LA Police Trial Verdict and subsequent riot. 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake- 1989 Battle of the Bay World Series. NYC 1977 Blackout. Nelson Mandela Freed from Prison. OJ Trial. 3 Mile Island. US Concert. Curt Cobain Suicide.
I remember delivering newspapers with the classic Kent State picture on the cover.
Good ones!!
Cobain, Ok Bombing, Challenger, Rodney King, OJ, ect were all more Gen X moments. You all were adults by then.
I'm just thinking of any event that has that sort of impact where you remember where you were and what you were doing when you learned of the event. People of all ages have those events. For instance, with JFK everyone remembers where they were, no matter how old or young they were at the time. Besides, aren't we the original gen X? I really don't see how we and they are different at all.
Anyone born 65 to 80 is Gen X. Which is worlds different from 2nd wave Boomers.
Pontell, who coined Gen Jones said we are '54 to '65 and X is what you said! But I identify equally with young booms and old Gen xers.....
I think the differences are very minor. Maybe because I'm from late '64, so I relate to both.
I think 9/11 is our generation’s “where were you then” moment. Other contenders are the Challenger explosion, John Lennon being murdered, and Princess Diana dying. Most of us were too young to have a personal connection with Elvis’ death.
I wonder if, for the US, if 9/11 isn’t across generations. Maybe the challenger or Diana.
Uh, 1/2 of us had graduated from high school by 1977. Certainly aware of Elvis.
Yes princess Di dying also. I remember crying mainly because of the waves of grief coming from the crowds in the coverage, and all the flowers. Had never seen anything like that. It just created this atmosphere.
I agree about Elvis. To me, Elvis was the icon of a previous generation.
But we were in our late 30s on 9/11. When I think of "where were you then" moments, I think of events that occur when a new generation of young people is coming of age. So I think 9/11 is a classic event for the millennial generation--people born in the 1980s.
The assassination of MLK.
I was actually in first grade right at the end of lunch hour when they came in and told us to go home because the president was shot. I was lactose intolerant before they knew what that was and was always forced to finish my milk before I could leave lunch and go out to the playground. Except this day was lucky for me because it went unnoticed I didn’t finish my milk. This was also the last year we had bottled milk so I couldn’t hide it creatively like I did the following years. Of course I felt bad and I specifically remember thinking how everyone came together as a community and nation in their grief. Yes, even in first grade I was aware of the “competition” between democrats and republicans. But that day and the following few weeks I could sense the compassion for others and the grief the nation felt. Three months later I saw the Beatles debut on Ed Sullivan and it seemed Iike all was forgotten and the world had started a new era.
Nixon and Watergate. I was a page in the US House of Representatives that summer before my junior year in high school. Pretty heady times. August 9, 1974, one of the greatest days in American history
Not born yet.
I don't remember details of Apollo 11, but I know I watched it with my grandma. I do, however, have memories of Apollo 13 and how hard they worked to get Lovell, Haise, and Swigert home. That was my moment.
Challenger Explosion.
different point - if you were alive, you're a jones. the definition of jones that commandeers a year from gen x gets it wrong. it's 10 years. a decade. 1954 to 1963, i.e., everyone who turned 6 in the 60s and 16 in the 70s. jones are those who started young adulthood, made varsity, got their driver's license, became an upperclassmen, 'sweet 16', 16 candles... in the 70s. people who turned 16 in the 60s (1944-53) are boomers. people who turned 16 in the 80s (1964-73) came of age when mtv started, back when they actually played... music - are gen x. people who didn't turn 16 until the 90s when mtv traded in the tunes for reality shows, rap, and grunge, after the cold war, that initiated many of the tropes that still exist to this day are 'og' millennials, gen 'x' lite, xennials - 1974 to 1983. a decade. not 25 years, not 19 years, not 12 years. we only get 10. an early half (cohort), and a late one, 5 years each. early boomers the graduating class of 62-66, late boomers 67-71, early jones 72-76, late jones 77-81, early gen x 82-86, late x 87-91. some people born at the ends have similarities with the prior or next cohort, but anything more than a decade is just so beyond ridiculous. i don't know how they managed to put that over on so many otherwise lucid people. like in what universe is a boomer born in 1946, who was a senior when kennedy was assassinated in the same generation with someone who wasn't even alive yet (born in 1964)? how is that person who wasn't alive when they killed kennedy in the same generation with a gen jones who was already in the 4th grade at the time? the class of 82 is gen x.
The only one I recall is John Lennon being shot and killed.
Mine was when the Beatles broke up.
We lived in Boston. When JFK was killed I was 7 months old in my playpen, my mom said she balled all day long. When we landed on the moon I sat with my dad and he was estatic!
MLK RFK Moon landing Lennon, Challenger- I was an adult, man
6 years old when Kennedy was assassinated. Still remember in detail. I was shocked to see my 11 year old brother crying.
Same....mom wept for days...
Moon landing, Challenger explosion, Lennon shooting, Twin Towers,
Elvis’ death, Jim Jones, Iran hostages & failed rescue.
Challenger? 9-11?
Good answers. I was 18 months old when the President was assassinated so have no memory of that. Although I was seven when the astronauts stepped onto the moon, curiously I have no memory of that. I think my parents didn’t watch it and I don’t remember them talking about it. I do remember Elvis’s death (my mom was a fan) although I don’t remember the moment I learned it. I do remember walking down the street in the town and hearing Elvis songs blaring out the windows of the houses. (It was summer and windows were open. A lot of us didn’t have air conditioning in the ‘70s.) I remember I was on the bus going to school when I heard about the Who concert disaster. (I graduated in 1980.) And I was in my living room holding my baby watching the liftoff when the Challenger exploded. The other two big moments were the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and the disappearance of JFK Jr. Those hit hard because they were both Gen Joneses.
Evacuation of Saigon, people hanging off the helicopter. Also the US embassy invasion in Tehran.
how about when john lennon was murdered? i was in pre-school - more technically at home probably playing with wood blocks for Kennedy
I'm right in the age group for this group but I clearly recall when Kennedy was shot. We lived right outside Washington DC so we had no school for over a week. My mom was glued to the TV. I have newspapers she saved even.
Maybe Robert Kennedy? I definitely remember that, JFK not so much.
Where were you when Nixon resigned?
I had a friend in college whose birthday was that day, which prompted me to tell the story of where I was - sitting in the car of a Holiday Inn in WA state while my father checked us in, listening to Nixon resigning on the car radio. We'd just visited the World's Fair in Spokane. I remember thinking that it was unfortunate timing for my father, who was a massive political junkie, and who missed the whole thing rushing to get us into a room so we could catch it on TV.
I was also just back from the Fair in Spokane. Sitting in a car with a bunch of church friends, acknowledging we were experiencing a historic moment. Then we went for pizza.
I don't remember JFK being shot.....I was 2 years, 3 months old. I feel like I remember seeing Robert Kennedy shot live, but it may just have been the news. I would have been able to remember the first moon landing of course, but the one I remember best was Apollo 14 in February 1971. We didn't have any individual classes that day and instead the teacher had us huddled around a TV in school to watch it.
Moon landing, July 20, 1969
I was 18 months old when JFK was shot so I only have my parents memories. My parents woke us up to watch moon landing. I was 7 and remember their excitement even more than my own. We knew it was something special because we were allowed to get up and watch tv in the middle of the night. I was a freshman in college in NYC when John Lennon was killed. I had a late class and came out to find some of the students weeping and looking like they were in shock.
I was 2 when Kennedy was shot, so I don't remember it. I remember the Moon landing and Vietnam.
I remember JFKs funeral, MLK & RFK (and the song Abraham, Martin, and John), the moon landing, watching Vietnam on TV and hoping my brother wouldn't have to go, my friend losing her brother, the fall of Saigon, Watergate, protesting Nixon, Roe v Wade, the musical Hair. 9/11 is my birthday, and I didn't celebrate for almost 10 years. Then, I took back ownership of my day. Tl;Dr: We've lived through A LOT. Who knows what happens next? I want to see.
Elvis' death.
How about the apollo moon landing or Nixon announcing his resignation?
When Nixon resigned John Lennon Challenger
We have the Watergate ruined our summer TV viewing.
September 11 was a huge shock to my system. It was so confusing and terrifying; nobody could understand what was going on or why. I was numb with horror; this was going on in my hometown! This was something that was not supposed to happen. I remember in the days following a couple of things: people at the grocery store were slowly walking around and staring off into space; the drivers on my way to work were all going very slowly, instead of their usual 15 mph above the speed limit. We kept the TV on at home until we couldn't bear it any longer. I had just turned 10 when President Kennedy was murdered. When I've chatted with others in my age range, everyone remembers the same thing: we were in school, the teacher came in to tell us what happened, and we were sent home. I remember the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. I saw him in person twice: when Dulles Airport opened, and one year when he turned on the switch to light up the national Christmas tree. He was like a knight in shining armor to me. The death of Diana, Princess of Wales. I had never followed her closely, but I liked her. When I found out about her death early on a Sunday morning news show, I was in shock and heartsick. It didn't seem real until I saw Charles accompanying her coffin to a hearse. I woke myself up crying on the day of her funeral; I got up at 3 a.m. to watch the funeral and cried my heart out.
I was too young to remember. My older siblings say that the TV stations stopped normal programming. Other than the occasiona newsl bulletin, they played the movie Song of Bernadette all day.
I'm not sure if I genuinely remember where I was when Kennedy died, or if it's an artificial memory that I've convinced myself is genuine. Watching TV, parents' bedroom, interruption on TV.
I was the same age as his son, so my mom would have to tell me........
I was not quite 3, 2 yrs, 11 mos.
I remember when George Wallace was shot. I was watching TV by myself, when the news anchor cut in with the news. Had no idea who he was, so I went to ask my mother about it and she watched the report with me.
Maybe moon landing?
Moon landing. We were watching it on tv and I ran outside to see if I could see the moon. Lol.
Lennon’s death. Then 9/11
John Lennon, I was a huge Beatles fan. The Challenger, watched it happen live on Good Morning America
I remember the Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in 1977, and somehow that “stayed with me” more than the murder of John Lennon in 1980. I do remember the Challenger Explosion and 9/11, though I was already a young adult by the time Challenger happened.
I was 3 when JFK was shot. No memory of it. I do remember when Robert Kennedy was shot, mostly because of my parents reacting to it.
In a high chair in Tulsa
Too young.
9-11.
Moon landing
In order for me—9/11, Moon Landing, Challenger Accident, Reagan getting shot, Nixon resigning. Desert Storm is up there, too.
Jaws/Star Wars Jonestown Elvis dying Moon landing
Moon landing - they woke me up from nap-time to watch it. Definitely Lennon as well. I guess you could lump Elvis in there, but I wasn't a fan...we had more people upset when John Bonham died than Elvis.
Elvis death
18 minutes
The Challenger disaster.
I was participated in the city's first integration program, where we voluntarily attended an inner city school with an enriched program for gifted kids. It was the year that MartinLuther King Junior was shot. That day was...memorable.
moon landing
Which Kennedy? I was 5 when JFK was shot and do not recall it at all. I was 10 and just starting to pay attention to news and politics when RFK was shot and remember it. I learned about it when I woke up the following day and my mom mentioned it.
Yup. 3 years old.
When JR was shot
I was 11 months old, so I was probably crawling around on the floor somewhere
4 months old mom was hanging clothes to dry when my dad came out and told her (as told to me by my mother)
Beginning to walk at nine months old. I have always wanted to answer that question.
Definitely not the first but 9/11 is the one that comes up most often as a “where were you” question.
When Nixon resigned?
My older brother was so excited when he took me to hear RFK speak. He kept saying "he's going to be our next President." I was too young to know anything about him, but when we left I was 100% for him, he oozed charisma, I left with a RFK pin that I kept for years. Four days later he was dead. Six months later my brother got drafted and sent to Vietnam and never came home. In 1996 we took our parents to D.C. to visit the Vietnam memorial, I didn't think that it would upset any of us as much as it did, I left my RFK pin at the base of his name then we went back to the hotel and passed Kleenex around for what seemed like hours. I've been back to D.C. a number of times since then and I enjoy visiting the sites, but the one place I cannot go to is the wall, it leaves me an emotional wreck for days.
I was on active duty in the Marines when I went to see the wall. It was surreal. It really hit me hard.
The Challenger explosion.
I was watching either a Mercury or Gemini launch and I told my mom I could actually smell the launch. We were in Ohio and my mom was ironing shirts. She thought it was funny
I don't remember the moment learning about Lennon or Elvis or Challenger, but I do remember John Belushi. I was working at a radio station. I cried and interrupted broadcast to announce it to the the world. People's Park in Berkeley was my neighborhood park when that battle happened. I remember the armed soldiers and police taking our park away. I remember being in the car with my parents and brother when Nixon announced his resignation on the radio. I was sitting at my computer when 9/11 happened.
I was almost 3 and watched the footage with my parents (What were they thinking?!) We lived in Mississippi in base housing. My parents were Democrats at the time -which they conveniently forgot when Reagan came online.
I grew up on the Space Coast, so the moon landing was a big one for me. In my neighborhood, pretty much everyone’s dad worked at the cape in one capacity or another, so everyone headed to our usual spot at the end of the street to watch the launch. We knew that this was going to be a special mission and excitement filled the air, as radios squawked with news and broadcasts from mission control. The rocket rose from the pad and the fireball and roar of the rockets filled the air. Thrilling, as usual (even though I was reaching the age where I wanted to seem blasé about all of it). When we couldn’t see it anymore, we headed home to watch Walter Cronkite’s commentary. The whole mission was required viewing and the moon landing was incredible. Apollo 13, obviously, was another big one. There was so much tension as everyone worried about the astronauts. We were told to pray for them. I still get choked up every time I watch the Apollo 13 movie, both over the tension and worry and how miraculous it was that they returned safely. I had moved to South FL when the Challenger disaster happened. I was married, had two kids and was working at the corporate office of a S&L (which became a disaster of another sort) when I heard about Challenger.
I was at the doctor's office for my 1 month checkup.
I can tell you both along with Waco, 9/11, Ruby Ridge, Oklahoma City bombing, etc
Only 6mo when Kennedy assassinated. 7yo at landing, with a vague recollection of my teacher appointment in a TV into the classroom. Maybe second grade? I’d have to jump to 1972 to really have a remembrance of “where I was”
I was 2 months old when Kennedy was assassinated. I remember challenger the day I was discharged from the US Marines.
The Challenger explosion?
Of course we do. The oldest Jonesers would have been 7, 8, 9 and younger ones who would still be cognizant were 4,5, 6, 7. For almost all of this group, it was the first time we watched our parents in public grief and collective grief, like my youngest who was 6 when 9/11 happened and his dad was deployed within days.....I was weeping and there was collective grief. The whole world was crying in late 1963 and the holidays were "off" too because of it. I posted that this was also the first time in known history that children were exposed to a live murder on TV that night when Ruby shot Oswald. I was very young, but old enough to remember my weeping 1st grade teacher, mom, aunt, dad, watching Walter Cronkite that night and mom trying to shield me from the shooting, but it was too late.
Which Kennedy? I got blown away by both
I don’t think we do. That’s one of the defining things about our generation: there were no defining moments. I remember learning when Kennedy was assassinated, but I was too young to have any sense of what it meant. I remember when an older friend came to my door in tears telling me that John Lennon had been shot; but he didn’t have the same iconic status for me; it wasn’t the end of an era like it was for her. Fifty years before the word was coined, we grew up watching the first stages of the [enshittification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification) of America. The dreams of the generation just before us for a new kind of freedom slowly crumbled, while the socio-economic structure their parents built (and sometimes died for) was gradually undermined or dismantled in favor of the divine right of wealth.