World events

On March 28 1977, a terrorist bomb exploded at Las Palmas airport in the Canary Islands, and as a result a number of planes were diverted to Los Rodeos airport on Tenerife. Several hours later, a KLM 747 jumbo jet attempted ...

On August 12 1985, Japan Airlines flight 123 took off from Tokyo, headed for Osaka. Twelve minutes into the flight, at 23,900 feet, part of the plane ruptured, damaging the plane's tail and destroying the hydraulic system. The pilots, despite ...

On July 23rd 1986 Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey and they became the Duke and Duchess of York. The wedding wasn't quite as fairytale or high profile as Charles and Diana's but it was still a wonderful ...

When I was at first school, our class topic in early 1986 had been to study space travel and we spent a lot of time discussing how the Space Shuttle worked. We even went so far as creating a model ...

Most people get married at the weekend so they can ensure that all their friends and relatives will be able to attend. If they choose a weekday to pledge their respective troths it’s usually for reasons of money, as venues ...

On Saturday, 26th April 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear power Plant in Ukraine began a systems test on reactor number four which recorded a sudden power output surge. An emergency shutdown was attempted but this was followed by an even larger ...

Christmas was great in the 80s. You'd leap out of your bed first thing in the morning dressed in your He-Man print pyjamas and run to the Christmas tree where the presents awaited. You might be hoping to get an Evel ...

Alongside the shooting of JFK in 1963 and the terrorist attack on New York’s twin towers in 2001, the death of Elvis Presley is probably one the most memorable of the ‘Do you remember where you were when…?’ moments. Anybody who ...

Princess Diana was, of course, the former wife of Prince Charles, and mother of Princes William and Harry. After the divorce, she was involved with Dodi Fayed, and on August 31 1997, while on vacation in Paris, the car they ...

I well remember the excitement generated when the remains of the iconic superliner were discovered by Dr.Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in May 1985.After several years of hunting, Ballard and his team located the 'Titanic' lying at ...

Dr Savundra was an Asian doctor who purchased the controlling interest in an insurance company called Fire, Auto & Marine Insurance Company. He systematically bled funds from it, lied about its assets and sold the company to three unsuspecting ...

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Argentine troops seized the Falkland Islands - which they call Islas Malvinas - on April 2 1982. Britain first imposed a blockade around the island, and launched a counterattack on May 1. By the time the war ended, ...

Back in November 1989, I remember being delighted when the John Craven's Newsround showed the first images of East and West German citizens joining forces to tear down the infamous Berlin Wall. Of course, as a twelve year old child ...

The first event I remember watching on T V Black and white of course! we didn't have T V saw it at my Grandparents house it was a Saturday morning ...

It was the storm that devastated many areas of both England and France. It was the storm that put the kybosh on Michael Fish’s illustrious meteorological career. It was the storm which left me devastated. Not because of any damage ...

The Gulf War came about after Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2 1990. The war itself started on January 16 1991. The Coalition forces included troops from 34 countries. The ground war started on February 24 1991, and the war ...

I remember standing in a line of people as far as the eye could see in both directions. We closed down a major road through town (rt 13) for about 20 minutes. It was a surreal experience, you ...

Oh, there we were - giving Agadoo death - and what happens? Only the guy in 3rd year that we all fancied was SNOGGING A GIRL! Weep? The bus home was awash! ...

I remember the Hillsborough Disaster on 15th April 1989 at the football stadium home of Sheffield Wednesday. I remember seeing it on the news on TV when it had just happened - they interrupted the programme with a newsflash. it ...

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What I remember (and will never forget) is what Thatcher did to the Mining Communities. I know it sounds dramatic but she actually ripped the heart out of them and what for - pure revenge on the miners?The Tory government ...

The Moorgate tube crash occurred on February 28 1975. At the height of morning rush hour, a crowded tube train slammed into a dead end at Moorgate station. It was over 12 hours before the final survivor was rescued. 43 ...

January 17, 1994, at 4:31 am, Southern California was hit with one of the most violent earthquakes. It registered 6.1 on the Richter scale. There was a lot of damage. 17 people were killed when their apartment building collapsed. A ...

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1977 saw the Queen's Silver Jubilee. I was a school child, just about to leave junior school. Two things stick in my mind some 27 years later: first all the school children were given a commemorative leather bookmark. Secondly, the ...

I wonder if they still do it? They don't at our local leisure centre for fear of breaking health and safety regulations. We used to go to our local swimming baths on a Saturday afternoon and the owners of the baths ...

'Use Water Sparingly' signs in the toilets at Junior School. Standpipes in the streets and the usual ban on using hose-pipes and car-washes. But the best memory of the summer of 1976 I have is being out in Derwent Valley, Derbyshire, ...

One of the British Isles' forgotten disasters, this horrific event took place on the Isle of Mann on the night of 2nd August 1973 and claimed the lives of 51 people, with 8,000 injured.Opened in the Manx capital Douglas in ...

It’s one of those ‘where were you when you heard?’ moments. John Lennon, music legend, was shot and killed on 8 December 1980 outside the building in New York City where he was living - and the world momentarily stood ...

Being only seven when the Mary Rose was lifted from the seabed, I didn’t understand the historical significance of this event – although I did obviously appreciate the time out from lessons to watch a special news programme about it. In ...

On June 17th 1972 five men were caught breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC. They were planting listening devices. The Nixon administration attempted a cover-up, but details eventually became public, ...

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Everyone remembers their first kiss but some people will remember it as something beautiful and others as something terrifying, embarrassing or disgusting. How was it for you? Tell us all about it and relive the moment! ...

I remember first learning to ride my 2 wheeler bike. As I was small, Dad put blocks on the peddles. My elder brother would support me while I was wobbling nervously on the saddle. When he became distracted I would ...

MS Herald of Free Enterprize was a roll-on roll-off car and passenger ferry owned by Townsend Thoresen, thought to carry more than 600 people at a time. On the night of 6 March 1987, just after it left the Belgian ...