Top 10 Live TV Moments That Left Us Speechless

The 1960s were fraught with Cold War tension, and this is best exemplified through the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The public became aware of this crisis on the night of October 22, when President John F. Kennedy made a televised address explaining that Soviet missiles were found in Cuba. Said missiles were capable of flying to the mainland United States and destroying major cities. This caused understandable panic, as many citizens feared an impending nuclear war. Luckily, the panic lasted just six days, as Soviet forces began dismantling the missile sites on October 28. That was a very long week, and it all began with JFK’s historic address to the nation.

While it’s now a famous piece of history, we couldn’t imagine the confusion of seeing the Max Headroom hijacking the first time. The first incident occurred at 9:00 pm on Chicago’s WGN-TV, when a sports broadcast was interrupted by someone wearing a Max Headroom mask. The intrusion lasted just seventeen seconds, and the Max figure never spoke. The second incident was far more detailed, occurring at 11:20 and interrupting an episode of “Doctor Who.” The Max figure made various pop culture references and conducted troll-like behavior for a solid ninety seconds before the broadcast was intentionally ended by the hijackers. The pirate transmission understandably confused many viewers, and the culprits have never been identified.

We return to John F. Kennedy, who was tragically assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. Just two days later, Oswald himself was dead at the hands of nightclub owner Jack Ruby. At 11:21 am on November 24, Oswald was leaving the Dallas Police Headquarters for the nearby county jail. As this was a huge news story, Oswald’s transfer was being broadcast live on NBC. Therefore, viewers watched in real time as Ruby approached Oswald and shot him in the abdomen. Oswald was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead at 1:07 pm. While nothing graphic was seen, it’s still extraordinarily shocking to watch a shooting as it occurs.

When it comes to live TV moments from the ‘90s, the infamous O.J. Simpson Bronco chase is right up there. It occurred on June 17, 1994, shortly after the former football star was charged with the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. The police arrived at the home of Robert Kardashian to arrest Simpson, but he had fled with Al Cowlings in a white Ford Bronco. The resulting chase across the L.A. highway system was televised live, reaching nearly 100 million viewers. It was such a huge event that every major network interrupted their programming to air the chase. It was a Hollywood thriller playing out in real life, and no one could really believe it was happening.

A prominent Danish soccer player, Christian Eriksen was competing at Euro 2020 when a horrifying incident occurred. Shortly before halftime, Eriksen stumbled and collapsed onto the pitch after suffering a cardiac arrest. While he was immediately attended to, the medical process was incredibly difficult to watch. Players and fans watched in silent worry as the medical team desperately administered CPR. Even worse was seeing Eriksen’s partner, Sabrina Jensen, being comforted by teammates. The BBC received up to 6,000 complaints from distraught viewers who had grown upset over the visuals. Luckily, Eriksen would make a full recovery and returned to soccer just eight months later.

The advent of social media has allowed us to follow breaking news not just on TV, but on our phones and tablets. As such, the entire Tham Luang cave rescue was broadcast live for eighteen days between June 23 and July 10, 2018. A Thai soccer team and one of their coaches entered a cave in northern Thailand and became trapped after monsoon rain flooded the system. This prompted an enormous international response, as governments from all over the world sent aid and assistance in extracting the team. After weeks of planning, the rescue itself was conducted between July 8 and 10, and was extensively covered in the media. Everyone was rescued without injury, but two responders tragically died in the process.

September 11, 2001 is a date that will never be forgotten. The horror began at 8:46 in the morning and lasted all day, with most people forgoing work and school to follow the proceedings on live TV. Everyone alive at the time remembers where they were when they first learned of the attacks, and remembers being glued to the TV watching them unfold. The day was filled with some truly unforgettably terrifying imagery, like the South Tower being hit by United Airlines Flight 175 and both towers collapsing in a surreal shower of steel and dust. We knew we were watching a world-changing event, and as much as we wanted to, we just couldn’t look away.

For 51 days in 1993, Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas was the site of a siege involving the FBI. The building belonged to a cult known as the Branch Davidians, who were suspected of owning illegal weapons. A massive shootout occurred when the ATF attempted to take the guns, prompting the 51 day siege by the FBI. The story was extensively covered in the media, but nothing could have prepared viewers for the story’s dramatic conclusion. A fire destroyed the building and killed 76 people. The blaze was captured by various news networks, including CNN, and people could only watch in speechless agony as the compound burned to the ground.

The lead-up to the Challenger disaster made a tragic situation even more so. Ronald Reagan had created the Teacher in Space Project, which would bring everyday teachers beyond Earth’s atmosphere and hopefully inspire an interest in science and space exploration. Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire was the first teacher chosen for the project, and she was scheduled to fly on the Challenger in January of 1986. Her involvement spurned great national interest in the mission, and millions of children across the country watched the launch on live television. Unfortunately, they were subjected to a horrible sight when the Challenger exploded in midair, killing everyone on board.

On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human being to step foot on the moon. This was the end result of the very expensive, collaborative, brilliant and meticulous Apollo program, which had been conceived only nine years earlier. An estimated 650 million people watched Armstrong take the first step on live TV, and what an unbelievable experience it was. Not only had we landed on the moon, but we were watching images on TV that were being broadcast, live, from space. People who watched it never forgot. And people who didn’t wish that they had. Such is the power of a once-in-a-lifetime event.