Where was I when…

…these history-worth events happened?

These are some of the events where I have a specific memory that I thought I’d share. (I write this while watching Barack Obama’s inauguration.)

Space Shuttle Challenger (April 4, 1986): I remember being herded into a classroom at Pinecrest Van Nuys watching the news coverage of the explosion. Fast forward to college where I was able (in 1992 or 1993) to hear Roger Boisjoly talk about the management failure (to recognize an engineering problem) that lead to the Challenger disaster. (See Wikipedia: Space Shuttle Challenger and Roger Boisjoly).

Loma Prieta Earthquake (October 17, 1989): It was a beautiful fall day and I was in my dorm room at UC Berkeley on the 5th floor of Ehrman Hall. I had the Bay Bridge World Series on the TV as I was sitting at my desk doing some homework, when the room began to shake. Now, growing up in California, I’ve been through my fair share of earthquakes including 7.0+ earthquakes in Southern California. So no big deal. Well, ok maybe it was. What struck me at the time was, “Wow, this is really going on for a long time.” And, “It’s probably not a good idea to keep sitting at my desk, basically trapped in.” So I got up, turned off my TV (the TV stations had stopped broadcasting) and deliberately put the TV on my bed. You may think this is weird, but if you know me you’ll understand when I say, “There’s no good point in having the TV break!” After the shaking stopped, and it seemed to go on for a very long time, what should I do now? Hrm, TV stations aren’t broadcasting, I guess I might as well go down to dinner. Afterwards, I thought, boy that was really smart, go down to the dining commons surrounded by plate glass windows. (See Wikipedia: Loma Prieta Earthquake)

9/11 (September 11, 2001): I remember lying in bed listening to my alarm go off and hearing “a plane hit the World Trade Center” and thinking, well I guess I’m not gonna be able to go back to sleep. For the next hour or two, I sat watching the news wondering if I should call our staff to cancel work for the day. But then deciding, some sort of normalcy might be good (and clearly not holding it against them if they didn’t come in to work). (As an aside that was the beginning of the now ubiquitous “bugs” or “crawling text” across the bottom of the screen on TV.) (See Wikipedia: 9/11)

Death of Princess Diana (August 31, 1997): I remember sitting at my step-mom’s computer reading the news (CNN I think) while on a visit to Southern California when I read the story about Princess Diana’s death. As the evening and days and weeks went on it was interesting to watch the media spectacle and see and witness much of what’s wrong with the world with its focus on celebrity and fluff (ok I am an engineer after all). (See Wikipedia: Princess Diana)

Election of Barack Obama (November 4, 2008 and January 20, 2009): On election night, I remember sitting playing Warcraft listening to the election results just as the news stations were predicting that Barack Obama would win. And continuing to watch when John McCain gave his concession speech–and thinking, wow, that’s a great speech. The man that gave that heartfelt speech is the man that should have been running for President–not the one that his advisors turned him into, and ultimately lost the election for him. It’s still too early to understand many of the ramifications of his election a President, I’ll have to revisit this topic in the years to come. (See Wikipedia: Barack Obama)

What local, national or international events did you witness/experience that are strong memories?