First big news story as a kid?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by GGG

Wasn't challanger in January because that is why the O rings froze and caused the leak.

It was at the end of January, but it launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. I don't believe the weather played a role.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

It was at the end of January, but it launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. I don't believe the weather played a role.

From Wiki - weather was definitely a factor:

Forecasts for January 28 predicted an unusually cold morning, with temperatures close to −1 °C (30 °F), the minimum temperature permitted for launch. The Shuttle was never certified to operate in temperatures that low. The O-rings, as well as many other critical components, had no test data to support any expectation of a successful launch in such conditions.

Link

[browna]

Totally random, but pretty sure it was the assassination attempt on the Pope in 1981. CBC or CTV broke into programming to cover it middle of the day, and of course with only 3 channels (Access Ch 13 didn't count), that was big news and was on our parents TV all evening, and their TV was rarely on all evening.

It was that or on Reagan a few months earlier...either way I would've just turned 5.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

It was at the end of January, but it launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida. I don't believe the weather played a role.

Weather was the cause. The O rings didn't have any test data below 10C. And there was some indications that at 10C they were bordering on unacceptable operation. It's either they became too stiff to seal or contracted thermally to become to small to seal.

They didn't scrub the launch because the president was coming to watch and they had the teacher on board and there was poltical pressure for this to be a sucess. So they ignored the data and lack of data and launched anyway.

[Ironhorse]

The street murder of John Lennon. I heard about it on the car radio when I was driving back from a store with my dad.

[Dogbert]

The first one I was vaguely aware of would have been the Quebec provincial election in 1994. I knew my parents and grandparents were very worried what would happen if the PQ won, but wasn't entirely sure why.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I don't seem to recall specifically the fall of the USSR but I do have memories of the Berlin Wall coming down. I even remember wondering why it was a big deal. I honestly couldn't fathom the idea that there was a physical wall in a city. East/West politics and the Cold War were too complex for my 6 year old brain.

[MolsonInBothHands]

Death of Elvis - I was 7. My Mom bawled for days.
Iran Hostage Crisis
Reagan getting shot.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Delgar

You might be mis-remembering this in part. It blew up at 9:39 Mountain time. I was in junior high science class and a teacher came in to tell my teacher what had happened, quietly, but we heard him quite clearly even though he whispered, "Did you hear, the shuttle blew up."

All I remember about St. Helens is, next day, a film of ash on every car (Medicine Hat).

I must have that detail wrong, it was likely the next day and I was just watching the morning news.

[Flash Walken]

Calgary Olympics. Opening ceremonies, the ski jump, the torch relay. Vivid memories as a little tyke.

[FlamesAddiction]

Sarajevo Olympics
The Tylenol Tampering
The Oliver North Scandal
The Falkland War
The Unibomber
The birth of Prince William
E.T.
Israeli invasion of Lebanon
Ethnic fighting in Kosovo in the early 80s.