What major historical events do you remember?

1 – Collapse of the twin towers 2001. This was a big one and I was 17 at the time. I remember being in school and a student ran into our classroom to announce to every one that planes had crashed into the twin towers. I travelled home from school and remember watching it with my family on the news and being in total disbelief and feeling so sad about it.

2 – Death of Princess Diana 1997. I remember waking up and seeing my mum watching the news and being very upset. When she told my Princess Diana had died in a car crash, it was shocking as she was such a prominent person in the media at the time and I remember all the charity work she was doing. I felt so sad that she had died in such a tragic way and to die so young. I felt for the two boys who had lost their mother.

3 – The war in Afghanistan. I know people had to be held accountable for the many deaths caused from the twin towers falling and the other plane attacks. However, I felt uncomfortable that a war was waged and now when I see the atrocities happening in the Middle East, I just feel so sad for all the innocent people that die, all the mothers and children who have nothing to do with any wars. I feel like we don’t seem to learn from history sadly and we make the same mistakes again and again.

4 – The Good Friday Agreement 1998. This was an agreement to end the conflict in Northern Ireland that had lasted for over 30 years. I grew up at the tail end of the troubles thankfully but I still remember all the bomb scares, bombs that actually exploded, army check points every time you left your village, and the tit for tat fighting between Catholic Nationalists and Protestant Unionists. I remember Bill Clinton visiting Northern Ireland and that it was a big deal that he was backing the agreement.

5 – Brexit voting 2016. A more recent historical event but one that I remember clearly and I was devastated to be leaving the European Union. I feel that people were misinformed and didn’t actually know what they were voting for. I was completely floored when I heard we were leaving the EU, I thought it would be a no brainer to stay but alas I was proved wrong. We will be suffering from this for years to come I’m sure.

6 – Donald Trump becoming president in 2017. I actually could not believe this. I thought he would have no chance of becoming president as he was a TV personality and business man but I was wrong. I was again shocked when Boris Johnson became the UK prime minister two years later.

7 – The tsunami in Phi Phi island, Thailand. The earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean 2004 was huge and I had a friend living in Phi Phi island at the time, so I was able to hear what happened straight from the horses mouth. Luckily, she was one of the survivors but it was absolutely horrendous how many people died, over 227,000 in total in different countries within Asia. We visited Phi Phil island in 2009 and met with the locals and survivors to hear their stories and visit the memorial garden that they had created. Such a tragic environmental disaster.

8 – Marriage of William and Kate 2011. This was massive in the UK and I guess I feel a connection to William as we’re around the same age. I had just started working in a nursing home and I remember watching the ceremony with the residents and seeing how excited they were to see the royals getting married. It was a great day.

9 – Death of Queen Elizabeth 2022. This was big as I had only ever known the Queen to be the reigning monarch. When she passed away, it was like the whole country was in mourning. I feel like this was a huge milestone and that she has left such a legacy, whether you’re a royalist or not.

That’s my top nine that I can think of now from the top of my head but I’m sure there are heaps more. Do you have any other historical events that you remember? I found this prompt very interesting and jumped at the chance to answer. It’s funny that you always remember where you were when you heard the historical news for the first time and also strange that we are currently living through historical events.

Wayne