Top 50 Craziest Events of the Last 50 Years

The beauty about live sports is that anything can happen. Not only is the game’s outcome completely unpredictable, but so are the players’ behaviors. The so-called ‘Malice at the Palace’ occurred on November 19, 2004 during a game between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons. With just about 45 seconds left, Pacers player Ron Artest fouled Piston Ben Wallace, prompting Wallace to shove him violently. The result was complete pandemonium. The players got heated, and after a fan threw a cup at Artest, the fight spread into the stands. Nine players were suspended, ten people were charged with assault, and the NBA implemented many new reforms to prevent future incidents. In short, it’s one of the worst fights in sporting history.

Just a few short months after the Reagan assassination attempt, another shocking event occurred when Pope John Paul II was critically wounded by a bullet in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. The attempt on the Pope's life occurred in full view of thousands of people gathered in the square and millions more watching live on television. As the Pope rode through the crowd in his open vehicle, Mehmet Ali Ağca fired several shots, striking the Pope in the abdomen. The immediate aftermath, including the swift response by Vatican security and bystanders to aid the Pope, was broadcast live. Pope John Paul II was rushed to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, eventually making a full recovery.

JetBlue Flight 292, an airplane traveling from Burbank to New York, made headlines on September 21, 2005. Soon after departing, the pilots discovered a malfunction that stopped the plane’s landing gear from retracting. This prompted an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport. However, there was too much fuel in the plane, which posed a dangerous risk upon touchdown. As a result, they had to fly over Los Angeles for hours, drawing the attention of national news outlets. Many viewers - including those on the plane itself - tuned in to watch the developments. What could have been a fiery crash that cost lives ended up a safe, if rather sparky, landing. Luckily, no one was injured in the ordeal.

The Loma Prieta earthquake, striking on October 17, 1989 with a magnitude of 6.9, became one of the most memorable disasters of the 1980s, partially because it occurred just as the third game of the World Series was about to begin at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. The quake caused significant destruction across the Bay Area, particularly in San Francisco and Oakland. It was responsible for the collapse of the Cypress Street Viaduct in Oakland, where 42 people lost their lives, and the partial collapse of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. Live television broadcasts captured the chaos, including the swaying of the bridge and the dust clouds enveloping the collapsed structures, highlighting the quake's devastating impact. The event hastened the retrofitting of infrastructure across California.

We tell you to name a famous moment in boxing, and chances are you’ll quickly mention the Mike Tyson ear bite. The fight was between Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and they were battling for the WBA Heavyweight Championship. It took place in the MGM Grand Garden Arena and was broadcast live pay-per-view. However, the fight ended in a startlingly anticlimactic but legendary manner when Tyson bit off a piece of Holyfield’s hearing organ. Tyson was disqualified, ending the bout in less than three full rounds. But when the initial disappointment wore off, it left behind an iconic piece of pop culture history.

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington State, resulting in one of the most catastrophic volcanic events in the history of the United States. The eruption was preceded by a two-month series of earthquakes and steam-venting episodes, signaling imminent volcanic activity. The actual eruption began with a massive landslide on the volcano’s north face, triggered by a 5.1 magnitude earthquake, leading to the exposure of the volcano's magma chamber and a colossal lateral blast. This explosion flattened vegetation and buildings over 230 square miles and hurled ash up to 80,000 feet into the air. Broadcast live, this dramatic natural disaster caused 57 deaths and extensive damage to property and the surrounding landscape, with ash dispersing across 11 U.S. states.

It was the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and Brazilian runner Vanderlei de Lima was hoping to score big in the men’s marathon. De Lima was leading the race by around 25 seconds, when he was attacked by an Irish priest named Neil Horan. Horan, who is also referred to as the Armageddon Priest, had become infamous for disrupting sporting events to propagate his belief of a fast-approaching apocalypse. The Irishman shoved de Lima off the track and into the crowd, subduing him until he was pushed off by a spectator. As a result, de Lima lost his composure and the lead, eventually finishing in third place. Horan was later dismissed from the clergy.

On March 30, 1981, the United States was shocked when President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. outside the Washington Hilton Hotel. The assassination attempt also wounded Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and police officer Thomas Delahanty. Viewers watched as the chaotic scene unfolded, seeing Secret Service and law enforcement swiftly react to protect the president and subdue the assailant. Reagan was quickly rushed to George Washington University Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. This event significantly influenced the Secret Service's protective procedures and had a profound impact on national television audiences, who had never before seen an assassination attempt unfold in real time.

The Vancouver Canucks may have one of the most infamous fanbases in sports history. In 2011, following the professional ice hockey team’s loss to the Boston Bruins in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, fans took to the streets. They rioted - setting fire to cars and looting several businesses. An estimated 140 people were injured that night, with 112 local shops losing approximately $2.7 million to theft and damages. The berserk backlash played out on television screens across the nation, and around the world, causing many to ask themselves how and why the fervent fans were able to get so out of hand.

We all know how dangerous NASCAR can be, but that still doesn’t prepare you for what can happen when things really do go wrong. A titan of the sport, Dale Earnhardt - along with his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. - made sure the surname was synonymous with the sport of race car driving. Which is why his sudden death during the last lap of the Daytona 500 was so surreal for millions of viewers. As the footage shows, Earnhardt’s car made slight contact with another car, causing him to lose control and slam into the wall at around 160 mph. Sadly, emergency responders were unable to revive him, and suffice it to say, Earnhardt’s death prompted further safety measures to be enforced.

The Iraq War was extensively covered in the media, and much of it was captured on live television. The invasion began in March of 2003, and viewers were given an uncomfortable glimpse into the realities of war. Gunfire echoed and explosions rocked the air, sending plumes of black smoke drifting into the night sky. It was a nightmarish scene, like something out of “Apocalypse Now.” For many, this footage served as the end of an era - or maybe the beginning of one. The drama continued throughout the months, as audiences were soon shown a televised documentation of Iraq President Saddam Hussein’s statue being toppled on April 9th.

Have you ever heard the song “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega? Either way, you’ll never think of it the same way after this. It was that song used by scientist Karlheinz Brandenburg to build the algorithm behind the MP3 audio file due to its clarity and Vega’s voice. Introduced in 1995, this new digital format allowed songs to be compressed by as much as 12x times their original size. This triggered a tsunami sized change in the way consumers would acquire music. People immediately began ripping their CDs to MP3 files and sharing them online through apps like Napster. Eventually, more legal means were developed to acquire digital music, and the likes of iTunes and Spotify were born.

On July 29, 1981, Diana Spencer married heir apparent Charles, Prince of Wales at London’s St Paul’s Cathedral. And the event couldn’t have been more bombastic. It was made a national holiday in the UK, cost an estimated $100 million in today’s money, and saw two million spectators filling the streets of London. But that’s nothing compared to the 750 million that watched from home. The event was broadcast live in fifty different countries, and legend has it that hundreds of millions more listened on the radio, bringing the worldwide audience to well over a billion. If that’s true, then one in every four people on the planet either watched or listened to the wedding of Charles and Diana.

In 1964, South African revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment. For years, he had fought against apartheid, the system of racial segregation that privileged the country’s white population and disenfranchised people of color. Even from prison, he remained committed to this cause, communicating with political leaders and gaining worldwide attention. As civil unrest grew, Mandela was finally released from prison in 1990 - 27 years after he was sentenced. His release was broadcast around the world. In a historic speech, he affirmed his commitment to peace, but also to ongoing struggle against the violence of apartheid. Just four years later he would go on to become the country’s first Black President.

The European Union was designed to allow the free exchange of people and goods amongst its members. This made it much easier for say people in Germany to live and work in France. Yet despite being part of the same union, many of these countries still had their own currency. Enter: the Euro. Officially launched in 1999, the notes and coins for the new currency were introduced into circulation in 2002. Initially, 11 different currencies were replaced including the German Mark, the Italian Lira, and the French Franc. Today, the Euro has replaced 22 different currencies within the union.

It’s astounding how one evil act of violence can turn such a happy occasion into one of terror. In April 2009, the city of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands held a parade during the holiday Koninginnedag, or “Queen’s Day.” Queen Beatrix and other members of the royal family were in attendance, and were sadly the targets of an attack carried out by a man in a Suzuki Swift. None of them were harmed by the vehicle, but tragically seven spectators were killed in addition to the attacker himself. The motive behind the attack remains unclear, but what is clear is just how dark a day this was not only for live TV, but human decency.

The last few decades have seen an enormous shift in the attitudes towards both gender identity, and sexual orientation. For many years, anyone who saw themselves as being “different” from societal norms was considered to be mentally ill, or suffering from some other type of sickness. In fact, the World Health Organization once listed homosexuality under their “International Classification of Diseases”. In 1990, the 43rd World Health Assembly endorsed a decision to have homosexuality permanently removed from the list. The act of a single line removal was administrationally simple, but monumental in its effect. It told the world that such a large organization had switched its perspective on sexual orientation, and others should follow suit.

As far back as 1960, France had been conducting nuclear weapons experiments and testing in both the Algerian Sahara desert as well as in French Polynesia. These tests went on for several decades despite massive international protests. Eventually, the country opted to suspend their testing in 1992. However, in 1995, France elected a new president: Jacques Chirac. He resumed nuclear testing and more experiments were conducted before the country finally put a permanent end to the practice a year later.

It’s safe to say that John Lennon is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of all time. Even after leaving the Beatles in 1969, he enjoyed enormous popularity and success. He also became well known for his activism. However, on 8 December 1980, obsessive fan Mark David Chapman fatally shot him outside the Dakota Apartments in New York City. When news broke on ABC’s “Monday Night Football”, fans were shocked and horrified; for many, the world seemed to stop turning. Around the globe, fans were united in mourning for a man whose music meant so much to so many.

For months, the buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border had the world on edge. Would Russian President Vladimir Putin really give the order to invade? In 2014, Ukrainians had revolted against a pro-Moscow government, sick of corruption and abuse of power. Their success led Russia to annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. In February 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, furious at the country’s aspiration to join NATO. In response, the international community hit Russia with severe economic sanctions. Around the world, everyone’s eyes have been glued to their screens, watching the outgunned Ukrainians hold off the invading forces.

Also known as the BP oil spill, this unfortunately wasn’t the first industrial disaster to devastate our marine habitats, but it remains the largest on record. It began on April 20th, due to an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. The fallout from this disaster resulted in 205 million gallons of oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico, and effects were still being felt years after the initial disaster. In fact, reports from 2012 stated that the oil refineries from Deepwater Horizon were still leaking, despite an official statement from 2010 that claimed the well was sealed.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has been ongoing for three-quarters of a century, with the 2023 Israel-Hamas War adding another tragic and bloody chapter. This latest conflict began when the Palestinian political and militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on the 7th of October 2023, killing around 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians. They also took 250 Israelis hostage, demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners. In retaliation, Israel dropped 6,000 bombs on Gaza over six days and launched a ground invasion. Over 47,000 Palestinians have been reported as killed, half of them women and children. There have been widespread global protests, and Gaza has collapsed into a humanitarian crisis.

In the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the beginning of a “War on Terror”. The first stage of this war was the US invasion of Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group al-Qaeda. This manhunt continued for almost a decade as bin Laden evaded capture. However, in 2011, the CIA tracked him down to a compound in Pakistan. In a helicopter raid codenamed Operation Neptune Spear on May 2nd, bin Laden was killed. For those who vividly recalled the events of 9/11, President Obama’s announcement that the al-Qaeda leader was dead was a landmark event.

On February 28, 1993, federal agents and Texan law enforcers stormed Mount Carmel Center in Axtell, Texas. This was a compound belonging to a religious cult called The Branch Davidians. They were hoping to serve warrants stemming from the illegal stockpiling of weapons, but the raid instigated a deadly shootout. This in turn resulted in the Waco siege, which infamously culminated 51 days later when the compound burned to the ground. This fire was captured on live television, most notably by CNN, which broadcast some of the more famous visuals from that fateful day. It’s startling footage, depicting large explosions, a raging inferno, and thick black smoke towering into the air. 76 Branch Davidians, including leader David Koresh, died in the fire, igniting a ferocious controversy that continues to this day.

On May 17, 1995, an ex-Army soldier named Shawn Nelson took possession of an M60 tank from the California Army National Guard and drove it through the streets of San Diego. The incident lasted nearly half an hour, with Nelson destroying objects like utility poles, bus benches, and citizen vehicles. Luckily, no one was injured, and Nelson’s proved to be the only fatality when he was shot by responding police officers. The unique chase was captured by news cameras and televised, with viewers likely glued to the screen to witness this once-in-a-lifetime event.

For many years, Hurricane Andrew held some rather unfortunate records. At the time, it was the hurricane that caused the most financial loss in American history, causing $27 billion in property damage. It was also the first tropical cyclone in 23 years to make landfall as a Category 5, and it would be the last for another 26 years. Forming on August 16, 1992 and lasting nearly two weeks, Hurricane Andrew was extensively covered in the media, with many channels capturing the unbelievable and unprecedented destruction as it occurred. It all makes for very sobering footage, as water floods streets and human-made structures get battered, ripped away, and destroyed by the forces of nature.

Similarly to Vester Lee Flanagan, Rolando Mendoza was someone who took to horrendous tactics to try and rectify what he believed to be mistreatment. Mendoza was a former officer for the Philippine National Police who had been formally let go in 2009 due to charges of extortion. In 2010, Mendoza held an entire tour bus hostage in Manila, demanding he be reinstated. After an intense ten-hour standoff, negotiations broke down dramatically, resulting in gunfire. Mendoza took the lives of eight hostages before a SWAT team was able to deliver a fatal shot of their own. With news outlets covering the incident from start to finish, this was one horrifying event the world experienced in real time.

A three-time Formula One champion, Ayrton Senna was participating in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when he tragically lost his life. No one had died at a Formula One race in twelve years, with the last incident occurring at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix. During the live race, Senna left the track and struck a concrete barrier at 131 miles per hour. It was immediately obvious that something was wrong, as Senna wasn’t moving in the car. An overhead helicopter captured the immediate aftermath, with medical personnel pulling Senna from the car and giving him an emergency tracheotomy. He was rushed to the hospital but died later that night, having suffered severe head trauma.

On January 17, 1994, the San Fernando Valley was struck by an earthquake registering at around 6.7 in magnitude. It resulted in more than $20 billion dollars in damage, and saw roughly 90,000 buildings of various types either destroyed outright or severely battered. Even an unexpected outbreak of the Valley Fever hit the area as a result of the quake. Oddly enough, exactly one year later, another earthquake hit on the same day but across the globe in Kobe, Japan . Registering at a 6.9 magnitude, the quake damaged upwards of 400,000 buildings.

In a world where the vast majority of cultures subscribe to the idea of marriage, it’s not uncommon to hear that they don’t all work out. For better or worse, divorce is all too common. That is, unless you were living in Ireland prior to June of 1996. Before then, divorce in Ireland was actually illegal. Couples could legally separate but an actual divorce went against the Constitution of Ireland which was adopted in 1937. A referendum was held in November of 1995 and won by a nail-biting margin of 50.3 over 49.7 of votes.

The Live Aid concert, held on July 13, 1985, was a groundbreaking global music event designed to raise funds for the relief of famine-stricken Ethiopians. This dual-venue concert was held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, featuring a star-studded lineup including Queen, U2, Led Zeppelin, Madonna, and many others. Broadcast live to an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion people across 150 countries, the event raised over $125 million for famine relief. The concerts are particularly remembered for their iconic performances and the remarkable live broadcast technology that connected audiences around the world, making it one of the largest-scale television broadcasts of all time.

Now here’s a disaster story with an uplifting example of human resilience and teamwork. In August 2010, a cave-in occurred at a copper and gold mine in northern Chile, trapping thirty-three workers roughly 2,300 feet below the surface. Sixty-nine days passed, but through the combined efforts of the Chilean government and various organizations from around the world, all thirty-three men were winched up safely one-at-a-time, almost entirely unharmed. This being a major story for months, millions of people watched as the tireless efforts of those involved finally came to fruition. Hollywood wishes it could write endings this good.

Despite being built in the 1970s, the Hubble Space Telescope didn’t launch until 1990. The delay was attributed to multiple factors, including fiscal constraints, technical difficulties and the catastrophic Challenger disaster of 1986. But with much fanfare and news coverage, the Telescope was officially launched on April 24, 1990 via the Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission, titled STS-31, lasted five days and drew much public attention. It was also captured by various IMAX cameras, the footage of which appeared in the movie “Destiny in Space.” The successful mission helped re-establish faith in the Space Shuttle program, and the Telescope has gone on to make some of the most important astronomical discoveries of our time.

The Boston Marathon is an annual event that takes place in Massachusetts, often held on Patriot’s Day. It holds the distinction of being the world’s oldest annual marathon and, as such, is broadcast live on television each year. Unfortunately, the 2013 marathon was forever marred by an act of terror in which two brothers planted bombs near the race’s finish line. Hundreds of people who had attended the once-celebratory event were injured, with three critically injured. News stations who had been broadcasting the event quickly switched tones to cover the then-ongoing investigation. The highly publicized attack infamously led to a number of internet users playing detective and circulating photos of people they had falsely identified as the perpetrators.

In 1953, British and American intelligence agencies orchestrated a coup against democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had nationalized Iran’s oil industry. With US support, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became Iran’s true ruler. Fast forward to the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the Shah, seen as a Western puppet, was overthrown, replaced with the theocratic government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In the middle of this revolution, militarized college students took 52 Americans hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. For over a year, President Jimmy Carter sought to negotiate their return; but only after 444 days were they released, after a pledge from the US not to intervene in Iranian affairs.

You didn’t need to be in eastern Japan to feel the shockwaves of this disaster. On March 11, 2011, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake began roughly forty-five miles off the Japanese coast, causing a tsunami with a wave upwards of 130 feet that absolutely devastated the mainland. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the tsunami in turn caused the meltdowns of three nuclear reactors in Fukushima, prompting even further evacuations. All things considered, over 19,000 people lost their lives in what was easily one of the most appalling chain of disasters in recorded history.

In January 2015, France was left reeling from an Islamic terrorist attack on satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo”, in which 12 staff were killed. Several other, smaller attacks occurred throughout the year. On November 13, these culminated in by far the deadliest. That night, in a series of coordinated attacks, terrorists detonated explosive vests and opened fire in streets and public venues in Paris. Three gunmen stormed a concert at the Bataclan theatre, killing 90 people. In all, 130 lives were taken. The attacks sent shockwaves not only through France but also reverberated around the world.

This domestic terrorist attack shocked the nation. On April 19, 1995, anti-government white supremacists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated a truck full of explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The explosion killed 168 people and injured 680 others. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was left in ruins, and the force of the blast damaged cars and buildings over a dozen blocks away. McVeigh and Nichols had sought to spark a revolution. To this day, it’s the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in United States history.

On January 6th 2021, scenes of carnage in the US capital, Washington DC, shocked Americans watching the riot unfold on TV. At a rally before the attack, outgoing President Donald Trump told supporters the election had been stolen and urged them to march to the Capitol Building. Debunked by courts, state audits, and federal agencies, this claim was part of a campaign to overturn the election results and reinstall Trump as President. Within hours, 2,000 angry Trump supporters broke into the Capitol Building, assaulting police and searching for lawmakers gathered to formalize Joe Biden’s victory. Among them were members of far-right militias and neo-fascist groups, some of them armed. The insurrection failed, with lawmakers racing to safety before the mob reached them.

Years of racial tensions and police brutality finally exploded, literally, on the evening of April 29, 1992. It began when the four officers charged with the beating of Rodney King were acquitted, sparking civil unrest in South Central Los Angeles. The violence and outrage spread from there and covered much of the greater L.A. area, resulting in 63 deaths, over 2,000 injuries, and $1 billion in property damage. The immense looting and destruction of property was extensively covered by the media over the next week. Some of the riot’s most famous events, including the attack on truck driver Reginald Denny, were broadcast on live tv despite the horrific violence.

On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the Covid-19 outbreak had become a pandemic. At the time, few of us fully understood what it would mean for our lives in the years to come. Nonetheless, the news had people worldwide glued to their screens - or running to stock up on groceries, especially toilet paper. Through lockdowns, the world watched as the virus continued to dominate headlines and the death toll skyrocketed from the hundreds into the thousands and then millions. The WHO’s announcement was the beginning of a long, rocky road for all of us.

Although she was no longer “Her Royal Highness” in 1997, having lost the title after her divorce from Prince Charles, Diana remained a popular figure for the Commonwealth – and beyond. Her sudden death in a car accident as she fled paparazzi occurred in the early hours of August 31st, while the British public were still asleep. Diana’s driver, who had been intoxicated at the time, and Egyptian producer Dodi Fayed, also died in the crash. When people in the UK woke and learned the news, the country was left shocked and in mourning. The death of the People’s Princess was felt around the world.

In China, references to this event, also known as the June Fourth Incident, are heavily censored. In the spring of 1989, student-led demonstrations were held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, calling for democracy and greater civil liberties. The protests spread to hundreds of cities, with workers joining them, angry over inflation, corruption, and the erosion of welfare. Declaring martial law, the government sent soldiers and tanks into the square. The death toll is disputed, ranging from hundreds to thousands. Famously, at least outside of China, the photo of an unknown man facing off against a column of tanks has become an enduring symbol of the event. Today, public displays of mourning for the victims are banned, although commemorations still sometimes reportedly occur in secret.

It was the trial of the century … and the verdict left the public reeling. After Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death in June 1994, Brown’s ex-husband, former footballer and actor O. J. Simpson, became the prime suspect. Before her death, Brown had said that Simpson had abused and threatened to kill her. Every aspect of the case was highly publicized - from the car chase that saw him arrested, to the lengthy trial. The coverage hooked viewers, and everyone had an opinion. On October 3, 1995, the jury returned a verdict of “not guilty”. For some, it was a vindication, to others, a travesty of justice, in which a celebrity had gotten away with murder.

At first, the details of this disaster were shrouded in secrecy. But word soon got out. During a safety test on 26 April, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat in Soviet Ukraine went into meltdown, the fault of design flaws and negligent operators. The subsequent explosion threw radioactive particles into the atmosphere. It was Sweden who alerted the world two days later, when radiation hundreds of miles away set off alarms. As the truth was gradually revealed, the scale of the disaster became evident. The meltdown led directly to the deaths of 31 people, and to many more from radiation induced cancer in the years afterwards.

Seeing photos of the Fall of Saigon, you might be reminded of the more recent 2021 Kabul Airlift in Afghanistan. Both involved scenes of panic and powerful images of last-minute evacuation. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, marking the end of the deadly and divisive Vietnam War. The iconic photo of a helicopter evacuation from the roof of the U.S. Embassy symbolized the desperate and dramatic nature of the fall. In the aftermath, Vietnam was reunified under communist rule, and the U.S. began to significantly rethink its foreign policies.

There were a lot of eyes on Cape Canaveral, Florida, when Challenger finally launched on January 28, 1986. Due to technical issues and bad weather, the flight had been delayed multiple times. On launch day, CNN broadcast live, nationwide coverage. NASA had organized for children to watch from schools to promote their Teacher in Space Project, which had added teacher-turned-astronaut Christa McAuliffe to the crew. But viewers' hopes turned to horror as the shuttle disintegrated during its ascent, claiming the lives of all seven crew members. The Challenger’s final flight had lasted only 73 seconds.

This Category 5 Hurricane was devastating not only due to its intensity, but a failure of flood-control systems and slow government response. On August 29, 2005, the hurricane made landfall in Louisiana. The storm surge breached New Orleans’ levees and flooded the city. Tens of thousands of residents had not evacuated. It didn’t matter if you were from there: TV and radio audiences could feel the distress and panic in the air. Critics argued that race and class were factors in the slow local and federal response. The hurricane left an estimated 1,392 dead in its wake, making it one of the deadliest in US history.

After World War II, the Allies split Germany into East and West. The Soviet Union controlled the East, while the US, UK, and France controlled the West. Eventually, East and West became separate republics, but the flight of East Germans to the more affluent West prompted the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Dividing friends and families, the Wall became a symbol of the Iron Curtain separating Western Europe and the Soviet Bloc. In the 80s however, massive protests and waves of refugees leaving East Germany led the government to relax rules for immigration. On the evening of November 9th 1989, East Germans gathered at the Wall. Rather than open fire, border guards stood down – and the world watched as Germany became one again.

Just about everyone who’s old enough to remember it can tell you where they were when they heard about the September 11 attacks in 2001. For New York, it was mid-morning when two hijacked passenger jets crashed into – and ultimately demolished – the Twin Towers as part of a coordinated attack. Another plane hit the Pentagon. After news of a fourth crash came to light that day, it became apparent that the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 took back their flight and downed the weaponised aircraft before it reached Washington D.C.. The event claimed close to 3,000 lives, and the world was forever changed.




Are you old enough to remember when all of these events happened? How did they make you feel? Let us know down in the comments.