What was a big news story when you were growing up that young people today wouldn't have heard of?

[Titanium]

And Fawn Hall smuggling out some secret documents out of the pentagon in her boots.

OMG Fawn Hall!

That reminded of the infamous "Rose Marie Woods Stretch"

 

[fab1976]

As a Canadian, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homelka. Really disturbing serial killers. She got off very easily, he committes many more crimes than she did and was also known as the Scarborough rapist. I was a teen at the time, and we weren’t allowed to go anywhere alone and we all kept our eyes open for a beige car that was connected to one of the abductions.

 

[barkley]

As a Canadian, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homelka. Really disturbing serial killers. She got off very easily, he committes many more crimes than she did and was also known as the Scarborough rapist. I was a teen at the time, and we weren’t allowed to go anywhere alone and we all kept our eyes open for a beige car that was connected to one of the abductions.

horrible, horrible pair. i recall that karla's father was was estranged from her when karla was released but it was rumored her mother might not have been. i can't fathom it-offering your own young sister up as a sacrifice and participating in the rape/murder. i don't blame the parents who discovered karla interacting with kids at an elementary school in recent years to having been horrified.

 

[Dznypal]

Wasn’t it in the John Lennon assisnation the name John hinckly was the name of the hero on greatest American hero tv show Because of what happened they changed the hero’s name. What are the odds though

 

[sheilafri]

In 1968, 10 year old Pamela Powers was abducted from the downtown Des Moines, IA YMCA a couple days before Christmas. Her body was later recovered. The state of Iowa was totally absorbed by these events. There was an influential Supreme Court decision to flow from the case. I can remember Pamela’s name all these years later.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think the big news story that young people wouldn't have heard of would be the story of Knut that adorable polar bear cub that made huge headlines everywhere and I had never figured out why Knut the polar bear became such a big celebrity and why he made huge headlines in the news. Another big news story was Dolly the sheep and that story was very popular but I bet young people probably never even heard of Dolly the sheep. I do remember hearing about The Queen Mother's death and when I heard about it at first I thought it was Queen Elizabeth II who died but then it was actually was the Queen Mother who died because I always got them confused because they were both named Elizabeth

 

[RangerPooh]

I had to look that one up, did not recall it at all.

for me it (Yosemite) was practically in my backyard.

 

[RangerPooh]

I had to look that one up, did not recall it at all.

For me it (Yosemite) was practically in my backyard. I was working for the Forest service when the fourth woman was killed. Actually drive through Foresta on my way into the valley to camp two days after her body was found.

 

[Lumpy1106]

My first thought was the Challenger explosion - that's the first one I could tell you where I was when I heard it. Sr year in HS, I was in a math class and there was a group of students in an interior hallway watching it on TV. One of the kids burst in our room to tell us. It makes me mad that kids today DON'T know about this one - that was the point of having a teacher on-board. I ask my kids each year when the anniversary comes up and it's not even mentioned in classes. What a waste.

Some other more vague ones that have not been mentioned:

• The PSA flight 182 plane crash where the small private plane clipped the wing of the 727 and took both planes down in San Diego.
• American Flight 191 where the engine fell off the DC-10 in Chicago
• The Chowchilla kidnapping where the guy kidnapped all the kids on the school bus and hid them underground.
• How about Gary Hart and Donna Rice on the Monkey Business? Crazy how close that guy was to being President when that story came out, then - POOF! Just googled it - He just passed away last year and I don't even remember that being a story.

 

[Communicore1991]

It makes me mad that kids today DON'T know about this one - that was the point of having a teacher on-board. I ask my kids each year when the anniversary comes up and it's not even mentioned in classes. What a waste.

Agreed. I know there is a lot to cover in history classes, even an American History one, but it is still important that educators mention semi recent items in America's history, even if it is not yet published in textbooks -- Challenger explosion, Berlin Wall coming down, end of Cold War, Clinton impeachment (this can be used to talk about how political divisiveness has become so strong in today's world and brings up the ethical debate of should a president's personal life be put on trial.), 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, Economic Collapse of 2008.

 

[Moliphino]

Agreed. I know there is a lot to cover in history classes, even an American History one, but it is still important that educators mention semi recent items in America's history, even if it is not yet published in textbooks -- Challenger explosion, Berlin Wall coming down, end of Cold War, Clinton impeachment (this can be used to talk about how political divisiveness has become so strong in today's world and brings up the ethical debate of should a president's personal life be put on trial.), 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, Economic Collapse of 2008.

I don't remember getting much past WWII in any history class through high school.

We did do a section on the Challenger explosion in my college ethics class (engineering school, so the focus was on the decision to go ahead with the launch).

 

[DodgerGirl]

Do you remember when Space Shuttle Columbia crashed? That was also a big news story and almost every station had preempted shows when it happened and it got more attention than the Challenger explosion happened and it is shocking that these types of stories aren't mentioned in schools because like 9/11 and Hurricane Andrew they are considered history for kids

 

[Communicore1991]

Do you remember when Space Shuttle Columbia crashed? That was also a big news story and almost every station had preempted shows when it happened and it got more attention than the Challenger explosion happened and it is shocking that these types of stories aren't mentioned in schools because like 9/11 and Hurricane Andrew they are considered history for kids

I think part of the reason it got so much coverage was that happened on a Saturday morning so there really wasn't anything normally going on. I'm not saying it would have gotten zero coverage if it happened during the weekday, but I don't know if they would have had round the clock coverage like they did.

 

[ronandannette]

The Challenger exploding. I was a junior in high school.

I remember this news like it was yesterday. And I remember being completely disoriented when the Columbia blew up in the same way. I couldn't get my head around it - I was sure they were recounting news from the Challenger tragedy many years before.

 

[Skywalker3]

One of the first I really remember from the new was the Iranian hostages, the Shah, takeover of the embassy, etc.
The Tylenol tampering was a big story, and really concerned my mom, as did the toxic shock syndrome deaths, related to tampons.
the plane crash on into the Potomac, and the rescue of the few survivors from the ice.
test tube baby
the attempted Reagan assassination
the gas shortages, when gas stations would put out flags to indicate if they had gas or not
lots of local, Louisiana news. Much of it involving the governor, Edwin Edwards.
the Louisiana world's fair, and ALL of the issues related to it, from inception, to completion, all the controversy about the mermaid statues, etc
Plane crash into a suburb of New Orleans, killed everyone on board, but also many on the ground, in their homes
I was an adult when the OK city bombing happened, but had the news on, and watched coverage from the start, Same with the OJ Simpson white bronco chase. (and trial) and Waco

 

[Aladora]

Another one that was a huge deal for me was when Nelson Mandela was released from prison in early 1990.

So, backstory, my parents are both from South Africa and I remember watching Mandela being released with my mother. She looked at me and said "I have been waiting for this day since I was younger than you are now."

She was 15 when he went to jail and he was released when I was 17.

 

[bbak30]

Baby Jessica getting stuck in the well
Challenger explosion
Bill and Monica

 

[PezRuth]

A very regional one but I remember being a kid in Cincinnati and the huge uproar over the Contemporary Arts Museum having a Mapplethorpe exhibit.

 

[MINILvr]

One of the first I really remember from the new was the Iranian hostages, the Shah, takeover of the embassy, etc.
The Tylenol tampering was a big story, and really concerned my mom, as did the toxic shock syndrome deaths, related to tampons.
the plane crash on into the Potomac, and the rescue of the few survivors from the ice.
test tube baby
the attempted Reagan assassination
the gas shortages, when gas stations would put out flags to indicate if they had gas or not
lots of local, Louisiana news. Much of it involving the governor, Edwin Edwards.
the Louisiana world's fair, and ALL of the issues related to it, from inception, to completion, all the controversy about the mermaid statues, etc
Plane crash into a suburb of New Orleans, killed everyone on board, but also many on the ground, in their homes
I was an adult when the OK city bombing happened, but had the news on, and watched coverage from the start, Same with the OJ Simpson white bronco chase. (and trial) and Waco

Skywalker3, being a NOLA native I remember all of what you mentioned.
Do you remember when the grain elevator in Westwego exploded?

 

[Tink3815]

watergate. huge.

Me also, our social studies teacher had us watch the hearings in class and explained what was going on. It was everywhere. I remember the day Ford pardoned Nixon.