Sydney Olympics opening ceremony in 2000 I think, was enthralled at the flag procession ceremony.

Though obviously some specific early memories with 9/11 too - think I've said before how I'd very recently received a book (that I loved) all about the tallest buildings in the world and the Twin Towers were literally building #1 in that book.

Don't really remember any news stories from the 1990s from the time, I've had a think but don't think anything happened in 1998 or 99 that would have made its way through to me and before then there's no hope.

My memory is pretty bad so Michael Jackson death is the earliest. I just remember being at a carnival with my friends when I found out he passed. I wasn't a fan at the time so I was just like 'oh' and moved on (till I got home and descended down a rabbit hole all about him, it was an obsession at the time)

As for the first news event I remember seeing on TV (as I rarely ever watched the news) was the Manchester Arena Bombing.

European cup 1984 half final - penalty shooting between Spain and Denmark, when Preben Elkjaer Larsen missed.

definitely Y2K. my family still lived in the Philippines at the time, and I distinctly remember our power going out a little bit after midnight and my family absolutely thought it was the power grid going down. they were correct but it was just regular rolling blackouts we would get from time to time first "spontaneous" event would probably be when the fmr. president Joseph Estrada of the Philippines resigned in early '01. it was the first real big shakeup (first of many since :')) in presidency since Marcos was overthrown so it was a really big deal. my dad even took pictures of the news lol. and of course 9/11 was the defining news event of my childhood. i was 7, and we'd only been in the US for 7 months, and we were in f***ing texas. our first year in this country was... bizarre and chaotic to say the least

Edited June 5Jun 5 by dhwe

Definitely Diana's death for me too, I don't remember being aware of the news before that to be honest but that one I remember really vividly. The next is probably Mother Teresa's death, so not long after.

I can remember in 1995 when I was 7 Gary Ablett kicking his 100th goal for the season (AFL)

I have memories of my family watching the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

I can remember being in the car with my mom when news of Princess Diana’s death came on the radio.

Charles and Di’s wedding in 1981. I was 5 but can remember the hype (my sister had a scrapbook).

I also recall the Falklands war in 1982 and the miners strike in 1984.

I remember seeing a lot of coverage about the Oklahoma bombing when I watched the news with my parents, but I was a bit too young to really make sense of it.

So I guess the big one is probably Princess Diana.

Diana was my first thought and it was definitely the most memorable, but then I realised I’d have been about 16 so clearly there must be earlier ones. After doing some thinking I’ve decided it’s probably the Berlin Wall coming down in the late 80s. I was definitely aware of that happening although to be honest I didn’t spend much time with news as a child.

I'm wondering if Diana was the first memory as I can recall newspaper articles about Spice Girls before the Diana death but I don't really count that as news. I think the other big news story's that are really memorable from being young are David Beckham's world cup fall from grace and Geri leaving the Spice Girls, but they came after Diana of course.

Probably Diana, but it would be the disappearance of Sarah Payne.

I vaguely remember the 1999 eclipse and the millenium happening - I was 5 for these.

Foot and mouth epidemic in 2001 was strongest for me as I grew up on a farm so it was very much a news event that was directly around me. I remember that better than 9/11 in the same year. I think I also remember the 2000 fuel price protests/queues/panic buying because again they were very strong in a rural area, whereas I don't remember Iraq war protests at all. I remember fox hunting getting banned and I remember the Fathers 4 Justice stunts too lol.

Also remember the Soham murders, England vs Australia 2003 Rugby World Cup final was my first sporting memory I think.

1 hour ago, Harve said:

I vaguely remember the 1999 eclipse and the millenium happening - I was 5 for these.

Foot and mouth epidemic in 2001 was strongest for me as I grew up on a farm so it was very much a news event that was directly around me. I remember that better than 9/11 in the same year. I think I also remember the 2000 fuel price protests/queues/panic buying because again they were very strong in a rural area, whereas I don't remember Iraq war protests at all. I remember fox hunting getting banned and I remember the Fathers 4 Justice stunts too lol.

Also remember the Soham murders, England vs Australia 2003 Rugby World Cup final was my first sporting memory I think.

Oh yes I remember the 1999 eclipse now you mention it, Cornwall was right in the path of totality so there were huge events going on, remember that, and that it ended up being a bit cloudy at the time so not the best view, but dark - wish I'd been a bit older to appreciate it more.

Also very much remember foot & mouth happening, my family had rented off our dairy farm a couple years prior but I recall at least being told that lots of the herds still visible from our house were getting culled.

The 1999 eclipse I can remember I think wasn't that shown on the BBC?

Mine was probably the BSE Mad Cow Disease crisis and my family avoided eating beef at that time!

Not the start of it though (was born in 1992) but it was an ongoing news story through most of the 90s.

Edited June 6Jun 6 by TheSnake

I remember the swine flu outbreak and Michael Jackson’s death pretty well, both were 2009.

I remember lots of other things before then, but no news events come to mind!

4 hours ago, Mack. said:

The 1999 eclipse I can remember I think wasn't that shown on the BBC?

It also happened in the sky 🤭

6 hours ago, Harve said:

I vaguely remember the 1999 eclipse and the millenium happening - I was 5 for these.

Foot and mouth epidemic in 2001 was strongest for me as I grew up on a farm so it was very much a news event that was directly around me. I remember that better than 9/11 in the same year. I think I also remember the 2000 fuel price protests/queues/panic buying because again they were very strong in a rural area, whereas I don't remember Iraq war protests at all. I remember fox hunting getting banned and I remember the Fathers 4 Justice stunts too lol.

Also remember the Soham murders, England vs Australia 2003 Rugby World Cup final was my first sporting memory I think.

That's a really interesting selection, with personal circumstances playing a bigger part than for most of us.

I think for me it was probably the Soham murders case! Even now I really remember those images of the girls and I was very close in age the time to what Holly and Jessica were too. I really think that’s the first news story I remember what stuck with me. It feels fresh lately with the recent death of Huntley and the case coming back into media attention (and that image I know the families no longer want it used if I remember righty but it always sticks out in my mind).

9/11 I’d have been 6 at the time and I think it was a tad later where I learned about that more in depth but within real time I do think the Soham case was one what had an impact on kids my age at the time of parents being way more cautious and not letting us out of their sights.

Mine is quite a surprising one as I have some very hazy memories of my Dad watching a Frankie Howerd TV special and telling me that they were airing it because he'd just died, which confused me as I couldn't understand how he was on TV if he wasn't alive anymore! So that would be back in 1992 when I was three years old.

I also remember seeing a report that the comedian Peter Cook had died in 1995 and confusing him with the reporter Roger Cook, not quite sure how I knew what The Cook Report was as a six year old though. Also in that same year, rather grimly, was the murder of a school headteacher called Phillip Lawrence that happened quite near our school, and we had a big speech about in assembly.

Earliest sporting memory is absolutely the opening ceremony of Euro 96 as it all happened a few minutes from my house in Wembley at the time, seeing the Red Arrows fly over our garden and the balloons flying everywhere was a really magical moment.