Mon Sep 17, 2012, 05:11 PM

What is your earliest memory of watching the news on t.v.? [View all]

The hubs and I were talking about the Middle East last night, and I was lamenting at how it's been a hotbed for so long, etc., etc.. It struck me, my first memory of the evening news is the Iran Hostage Crisis, way back in 1979. I just remember being scared, I was only 6.

What's your first memory of watching the news as a kid?

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198 replies	Author	Time	Post
What is your earliest memory of watching the news on t.v.? [View all]	Butterbean	Sep 2012	OP
Seeing the first person to walk on the moon	a geek named Bob	Sep 2012	#1
+1	tk2kewl	Sep 2012	#83
My mom wouldn't let me watch Vietnam footage, as a kid	a geek named Bob	Sep 2012	#150
understandable	tk2kewl	Sep 2012	#151
Thank you for the concern.	a geek named Bob	Sep 2012	#152
wow	tk2kewl	Sep 2012	#155
Thank you!	a geek named Bob	Sep 2012	#156
Huntley and Brinkley. Walter Cronkite. The Civil Rights Movement.	cbayer	Sep 2012	#2
hoses turned on blacks, same era	Hamlette	Sep 2012	#145
They left an indelible impression on me as well.	cbayer	Sep 2012	#148
Moon landing. I have a vague impression of Nixon winning in '68.	onehandle	Sep 2012	#3
me for the moonwalk too and Vietnam ending	DonRedwood	Sep 2012	#122
I remember the adults watching the Watergate hearings and trying to explain to me...	Ian David	Sep 2012	#4
Oh dear. I remember watching the Macneil/Lehrer report every night with my dad.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#16
Richard Nixon resigning from the Presidency.	Lex	Sep 2012	#5
Walter Cronkite on JFK assasination	pkz	Sep 2012	#6
Iranian Hostage Crisis	trailmonkee	Sep 2012	#7
Huntley Brinkley	elfin	Sep 2012	#8
Same here	Sherman A1	Sep 2012	#136
The Challenger space shuttle blowing up on launch.	Initech	Sep 2012	#9
Oh holy crap. My sister was home sick from school that day and watched it live.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#14
That's so wierd....so was I.	all american girl	Sep 2012	#66
My sister was 15 when it happened, she said she thought to herself	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#68
It was during takeoff; Columbia (2003) was the one that exploded on re-entry	Scootaloo	Sep 2012	#31
Yeah, I got his (her) gist though. I remember that so well. I also remember	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#50
I was only four	Scootaloo	Sep 2012	#117
Thank you. n/t	Egalitarian Thug	Sep 2012	#174
you are young!	Liberal_in_LA	Sep 2012	#91
I'm 32. I was six years old when that happened.	Initech	Sep 2012	#112
I remember the Challenger Shuttle blowing up on launch, back in 1986	a geek named Bob	Sep 2012	#159
Me too. The Challenger launch was on my birthday.	Zoeisright	Sep 2012	#179
sorry about the nasty birthday present...	a geek named Bob	Sep 2012	#180
Me too.	wickerwoman	Sep 2012	#198
Wow. I feel like a bean sprout when here I thought it was weird that I remembered	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#10
A vague memory of John Lennon's death on the CBS Evening News	Spider Jerusalem	Sep 2012	#11
Watching the McCarthy hearings as a wee pup	LiberalArkie	Sep 2012	#12
Army Mc cCarthy Hearings, too	mitchtv	Sep 2012	#109
Same here	alfredo	Sep 2012	#158
we also had the giant magnifier	mitchtv	Sep 2012	#175
Yeah, but they were a great source of fun for us kids.	alfredo	Sep 2012	#177
Hearings were early: McCarthy, organized crime, plane crashes , 54-55	unc70	Sep 2012	#163
Kennedy	edhopper	Sep 2012	#13
The Eisenhower VS Stevenson presidential campaign.	Speck Tater	Sep 2012	#15
Whoa, cool. I remember watching Mondale and Ferraro on the Dem convention and being	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#22
I was preschool and coached by my dad	Warpy	Sep 2012	#37
I do recall family being upset at the outcome,	elleng	Sep 2012	#96
I remember that	mainstreetonce	Sep 2012	#100
1952, when we got our first TV.	MineralMan	Sep 2012	#17
And then the preacher said a prayer, they played the national anthem, and	Speck Tater	Sep 2012	#108
I was too young to stay up for the Anthem and the prayer.	MineralMan	Sep 2012	#118
How about Captain Video?	Speck Tater	Sep 2012	#132
Yah. All of those things, plus Sheriff John and	MineralMan	Sep 2012	#138
Dont' forget Vena Ray (Rocky Jones) and Annette on Mickey Mouse Club.	Speck Tater	Sep 2012	#173
Hey Spec Tater: I do remember those shows	Vox Moi	Sep 2012	#154
I remember Crusader Rabbit, but not the others.	Speck Tater	Sep 2012	#171
and:	musette_sf	Sep 2012	#172
I had an old 45 record of Merry Mailman songs	Art_from_Ark	Sep 2012	#185
and others:	Vox Moi	Sep 2012	#186
That Conelrad was a helluva detective!!!	lastlib	Sep 2012	#193
President Eisenhower press conference or announcement in black and white...	PCIntern	Sep 2012	#18
My mom standing in front of the TV crying after JFK was killed	DJ13	Sep 2012	#19
Oh how awful. :(	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#25
I remember my mom crying ... I was gonna post that	kevinmc	Sep 2012	#162
Brinkley and the Munich Olympics?	X_Digger	Sep 2012	#20
The moon landing	nadinbrzezinski	Sep 2012	#21
"rabies"?	PCIntern	Sep 2012	#27
Freudian slip on her part, I hope. LOL.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#32
Something between labors strikes (heard Teamster a lot)	Skidmore	Sep 2012	#23
The nightly body counts from Vietnam on the Evening News with Walter Cronkite...	markpkessinger	Sep 2012	#24
Sweet Lord. I was talking to my mom about that the other day, when we were	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#29
And what we see now is a whole lot milder than what was shown during Vietnam...	markpkessinger	Sep 2012	#101
Agreed. Vietnam war coverage was BRUTAL. Nothing like the lily-ass coverage of the present	Nay	Sep 2012	#161
That's the idea. Control the content and control the people.	yardwork	Sep 2012	#168
"The Eastern world, it is explodin'..."	lastlib	Sep 2012	#195
+1 n/t	lumberjack_jeff	Sep 2012	#104
John Cameron Swayze and Douglas Edwards	lpbk2713	Sep 2012	#26
Douglas Edwards and the News on CBS early 50s.	immoderate	Sep 2012	#28
NBC vs CBS	Graybeard	Sep 2012	#64
Yeah! Swayze did the smoking.	immoderate	Sep 2012	#70
I'm pretty sure I saw tv news before 1963, but nothing sticks in my memory.	kestrel91316	Sep 2012	#30
The first satellite relay in Japan was of the Kennedy assassination news,	Art_from_Ark	Sep 2012	#129
Edward R. Murrow and his chainsmoking. Feh.	Warpy	Sep 2012	#33
Remember CBS News in the field during Vietnam War	Va Lefty	Sep 2012	#34
I had exactly the same experience as you	Art_from_Ark	Sep 2012	#131
Vietnam...I think Roger Mudd was talking about the DMZ	BeyondGeography	Sep 2012	#35
November 1963.	RagAss	Sep 2012	#36
Vietnam....Cronkite, Huntly and Brinkley..	AzSweet	Sep 2012	#38
I distinctly remember Nixon resigning. n/t	BeeBee	Sep 2012	#39
WOW.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#42
Yup, me too. The I am not a crook speech. n/t	RebelOne	Sep 2012	#79
JFK's death and the moon landing. n/t	RebelOne	Sep 2012	#82
That wasn't the same speech	truebluegreen	Sep 2012	#169
1957: Eisenhower's second inauguration (and the conventions that preceded)	frazzled	Sep 2012	#40
This message was self-deleted by its author	1GirlieGirl	Sep 2012	#41
Some guy saying Iran this and Iran that.	2ndAmForComputers	Sep 2012	#43
Korean War coverage is the first I recall, after we got a TV	1-Old-Man	Sep 2012	#44
I'm just a few months younger than President Obama. Definitely the moon landing.	Chiyo-chichi	Sep 2012	#45
Not my earliest, but the earliest that made a	COLGATE4	Sep 2012	#46
That's probably the first "adult" thing on TV I remember	Art_from_Ark	Sep 2012	#139
Huntley and Brinkley.	cordelia	Sep 2012	#47
the civil rights marches, JFK being killed, LBJ taking office, LBJ signing the acts	graham4anything	Sep 2012	#48
Army - McCarthy hearings...'54	annabanana	Sep 2012	#49
Holy crap. I just still can't even wrap my head around the fact that those hearings	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#54
February 20, 1962	slackmaster	Sep 2012	#51
That's so cool. It strikes me that most of my burned-in-my-brain memories from the news	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#59
Yes--the space program	Freddie	Sep 2012	#146
John Chancellor talking about "Watergate"...	tridim	Sep 2012	#52
Chet Huntley and David Brinkley with Sander van Oecher in Washington	HubertHeaver	Sep 2012	#53
September 1957	PlanetBev	Sep 2012	#55
We didn't yet have a TV until I was 5 in 1950.	Lugnut	Sep 2012	#56
John Cameron Swayze on NBC - his program was 15 minutes long	Glorfindel	Sep 2012	#57
1960. News was 15 minutes back then.	ChairmanAgnostic	Sep 2012	#58
Huntley Brinkley and Cronkite and the Vietnam War and the hippies.	MadrasT	Sep 2012	#60
The coranation of Queen Elizabeth II 1953	Tierra_y_Libertad	Sep 2012	#61
I believe you win.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#62
Kennedy/Nixon debates, 1960	maveric56	Sep 2012	#63
my first memory of tv news was the 1960 election	Douglas Carpenter	Sep 2012	#65
Walter Cronkite	Sienna86	Sep 2012	#67
Jerry Dunphy and "The Big News"	hunter	Sep 2012	#69
Walter Cronkite and Watergate n/t	DearHeart	Sep 2012	#71
Vietnam and Uncle Walt	LuckyStrykes	Sep 2012	#72
earliest I remember was the Cuban missile crisis...	mike_c	Sep 2012	#73
Pres. Ford pre-empting Horton Hears a Who. Something about Nixon, I think. n/t	porphyrian	Sep 2012	#74
I was five	Aerows	Sep 2012	#75
That is amazingly detailed. You have memories like me.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#81
I can remember where the Easter basket was	Aerows	Sep 2012	#90
Who always signed off with "And that's....the way it is." I cannot for the life of me remember.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#76
Paul Harvey	Aerows	Sep 2012	#78
Thanks! That was making me nuts. Ah, my dad listened to Paul Harvey too.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#85
He also once said	Aerows	Sep 2012	#105
It wasn't Paul Harvey who said that-- it was Walter Cronkite	Art_from_Ark	Sep 2012	#144
Watching Vietnam new reels...	nebenaube	Sep 2012	#77
I'm a youngling... either the Challenger or Iran/Contra.	moriah	Sep 2012	#80
1*56 political conventions - then blacks being firehosed	rurallib	Sep 2012	#84
1986 (I think) Reagen bombing Libya	Victor_c3	Sep 2012	#86
Earliest news I remember	mainstreetonce	Sep 2012	#93
An airliner crash	Cirque du So-What	Sep 2012	#87
Local channel in Wichita, Kansas, 1950's.	MissMarple	Sep 2012	#88
Army/McCarthy hearings, as a kid.	elleng	Sep 2012	#89
Me too.	mia	Sep 2012	#181
Cuban Missle Crisis	catbyte	Sep 2012	#92
walter cronkite annoucing	cindyperry2010	Sep 2012	#94
walter conkrite. no particular news event, just remember parents watching him everyday	Liberal_in_LA	Sep 2012	#95
Reagan being shot... I was very young, but I remember it on TV.. The one that	glowing	Sep 2012	#97
I was three when Apollo 11 landed.	Callmecrazy	Sep 2012	#98
Kennedy-Nixon election	Faygo Kid	Sep 2012	#99
Cuban Missile Crisis....	WCGreen	Sep 2012	#102
Yep.	blue neen	Sep 2012	#153
I think it is why, in the end, that I wanted to get involved...	WCGreen	Sep 2012	#190
Vietnam body counts. n/t	lumberjack_jeff	Sep 2012	#103
Huntley-Brinkley Report covering Nixon/Kennedy, 1960 (n/t)	William Seger	Sep 2012	#106
Must've been the assasination of Yitzhak Rabin (1995) or the reelection of Clinton (96)	sakabatou	Sep 2012	#107
John Charles Daley - first one on my evening news	riverbendviewgal	Sep 2012	#110
MLK funeral	Go Vols	Sep 2012	#111
"Who Will Win??"	CanisCrocinus	Sep 2012	#113
The moon landing. Later, I remember my grandfather watching the Watergate hearings. n/t	cynatnite	Sep 2012	#114
Martin Luther King's speech at the Washington Monument	mahina	Sep 2012	#115
Huntley and Brinkley - Vietnam	jberryhill	Sep 2012	#116
Kennedy assassination.	yardwork	Sep 2012	#119
Same here n/t	Glitterati	Sep 2012	#160
Sad introduction to TV news, wasn't it?	yardwork	Sep 2012	#166
I don't know if I watched this on TV, but I suppose I must have	ballabosh	Sep 2012	#120
That's not my first memory	cpwm17	Sep 2012	#137
The SALT negotiations in the early 70s.	Codeine	Sep 2012	#121
When my mom first told me about periods, I thought it was a little	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#134
Huntley, Brinkley and Walter	Irishonly	Sep 2012	#123
Cold war stuff in Latin America...	a la izquierda	Sep 2012	#124
I vaguely recall Huntley and Brinkley and Cronkite	treestar	Sep 2012	#125
JFk being shot.	robinlynne	Sep 2012	#126
When the Soviets shot down the 007 airplane	bluestateguy	Sep 2012	#127
The Vietnam War when I was 7 or so.	Louisiana1976	Sep 2012	#128
The 1952 election - Eisenhower vs Stevenson	aint_no_life_nowhere	Sep 2012	#130
President Kennedy's funeral. I was four.	notadmblnd	Sep 2012	#133
I remember watching when Reagan got elected.	LittlestStar	Sep 2012	#135
The space race, early '60s, President Kennedy	Still Sensible	Sep 2012	#140
Bobby Kennedy assisination	PD Turk	Sep 2012	#141
CNN - Desert Storm	ghurley	Sep 2012	#142
I remember that night very clearly, but don't remember the newscast.	Butterbean	Sep 2012	#149
5 yrs old. Vietnam on the news every night.	ncgrits	Sep 2012	#143
John Glenn Orbiting The Earth...	WillyT	Sep 2012	#147
The Mercury launches.	Vidar	Sep 2012	#157
I think I was 5 - my dad turned it off in a huff and shouted,	Lisa0825	Sep 2012	#164
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth.	tavernier	Sep 2012	#165
Staying up late to watch election returns	truebluegreen	Sep 2012	#167
The first news item I remember noticing	LadyHawkAZ	Sep 2012	#170
Cronkite and Vietnam, then it was the bussing issue, gas crisis, and watergate.	pepperbear	Sep 2012	#176
JFK funeral in 1963	Zoeisright	Sep 2012	#178
I'm a bit of a youngin	browntown	Sep 2012	#182
The overthrow of the Marcos regime in the Philippines in the mid-1980s	RFKHumphreyObama	Sep 2012	#183
I remember seeing one of the moon walks. I would have been about 4 I think.	applegrove	Sep 2012	#184
The Suez Canal crisis in 1956	murielm99	Sep 2012	#187
david garroway...original today show...	spanone	Sep 2012	#188
Oswald	CitizenLeft	Sep 2012	#189
John Glenn's Mercury flight--I was four.	lastlib	Sep 2012	#191
My history teacher, who was a diehard Democrat	Art_from_Ark	Sep 2012	#196
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster in 1986	IrishEyes	Sep 2012	#192
That was mine too.	Jennicut	Sep 2012	#194
Jonestown, Milk/Moscone muders and the White Night riot.	RexDart	Sep 2012	#197