Today, in the journaling app Day One, the daily prompt was to write about the historical events you remember. I used to be a big news and politics junkie as an older child and teen, so I remember quite a few events.
I was born in 1986, so technically might’ve remembered the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, but I didn’t. In fact, the first important historical event I remember was the Gulf War of 1991. At the time, I listened to the radio and heard about it, but erroneously thought that Iran, Iraq and Kuwait made up Ukraine. I don’t know what news event there was about Ukraine at the time, possibly the fifth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
When I was nearly eight, I remember my parents taking me to the polling station for the national election in 1994. I remember both of the names of the candidates my parents voted for. I also clearly remember learning about the “purple” government, which meant that the Labor Party and the conservative party VVD were for the first time forming a coalition. Another party, D66, was joining them too and I asked what color they were and why that party’s color wasn’t represented in the mix. My parents explained that mixing too many party colors would make brown and that’d be a Nazi color.
When I became a teen, I got involved even more into politics. I obviously remember 9/11 when I was fifteen and the murder of Pim Fortuyn eight months later. That year’s election, nine days after Fortuyn was killed, was the most memorable election of my life. I remember kind of aggressively persuading my father to vote for the Socialist Party rather than GroenLinks, the leftist party he normally votes for.
During the fall of 2002, I myself joined the Socialist Party. I was a semi-active member in my local affiliate for a while. Still, I gradually lost my interest in politics and important news events. I left the political party in September of 2007, half because I didn’t like its rather undemocratic treatment of its members and half because I was tired of politics.
Since then, I haven’t really been following the news or politics much at all. I do find it intriguing to be a witness to the coronavirus crisis even though I’d rather have gone on like old normal.
As a teen, I wasn’t affected by the impact of important historical events. Like, I always wanted the stock prices on the AEX to be low for some reason I still don’t comprehend. Now, I understand the impact of economic crises more than I did before and it scares me. That’s why I’d rather put my head in the sand and not watch the news.
What historical events do you remember most?
A Multitude of Musings 
I remember The Berlin Wall coming down but I didn’t take much notice as I was still young. I remember the royal weddings – Prince Charles marrying Diana and Sarah Ferguson marrying Prince Andrew.
#MMBC
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Oh yes, I understand you remember those weddings. I remember the royal wedding here in the Netherlands too. Thank you for commenting.
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I remember the Iranian hostage crisis, which propelled Ronald Reagan to the presidency here (1979). I was 18 when it began. Before that, things are kind of a blur. I wasn’t really paying attention…
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Oh, that’s totally understandable. I don’t think most kids or even some teens pay much attention to politics.
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I remember watching the first Gulf War coverage on CNN. I would’ve been 11 at the time, and it was the first time that war registered as something that could happen in the present and not just in the past.
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Oh, I get that. That’d be one of the Balkan wars of the 1990s for me, probably the one on Kosova.
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I remember the assassination of our President John F. Kennedy, it was very traumatic.
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Yes, that makes sense, it having been really traumatic.
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I remember when Princess Diana died in 1997, and before that when Tony Blair became prime minister, that was a big deal. I remember the moment I heard about 9/11, I was in the kitchen of my student house, second year of uni, and it was on the radio.
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Yes, I too remember where I was when I heard about 9/11. I was in my room writing in my diary about being filmed with a hidden camera while on the taxi drive home from school for a reality TV show here in the Netherlands.
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Wow that sounds exciting!
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Honestly, though it was memorable, it certainly wasn’t exciting. I was only 15 and wasn’t informed in advance that I’d be filmed. I was pretty paranoid afterwards.
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Oh that’s a bit different if they didn’t get your consent beforehand 😕
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Yes, it is. They did ask for my consent for broadcasting afterwards of course, which I refused.
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I find it fascinating how much my children take in. They’ll half remember events from years ago and ask for explanations and more details. Sometimes it’s more difficult to figure out the event they are remembering! #mmbc
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Yes, I get that, children’s memory and understanding can be pretty fragmented. Thank you for commenting.
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Born in 1992.
was only 3 when the OKC bombing happened
7 years old when Columbine happened
was 9 when 9/11 happened
I remember the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan
I remember 2004 election chaos(hanging chads/ contested results)
Hurricane Katrina
Obama’s first election
Obama’s second election(2012) was my first time voting as I had turned 18 in 2010
Sandy Hook
Trump election.
I find it annoying how some people in my family don’t think I remember 9/11, even though I was 9 years old and distinctly remember coming home from school and watching the towers fall on the news.
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I totally understand that you are annoyed by the assumption that you wouldn’t remember 9/11. Nine is not too young to remember such significant events at all.
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I remember the gulf war too and 9 11.
Those were huge!
❤
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They definitely were. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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