The 3 most memorable events in your country in your lifetime

[Xanikk999]

9/11

President Obama being elected (I didn't think a black guy would get elected that soon. I mean we have barely had any non protestent christian presidents. We have a very big lack of diversity in presidential backgrounds).

The washington nationals coming to D.C! Finally could stop going to Orioles games.

 

[Dumanios]

In my 15 years, I've seen:

9/11

Obama's Election

The stupid panicking about the Bird Flu and Swine Flu.

 

[Karalysia]

Swine flu? What the hell is that?

 

[sophie]

The washington nationals coming to D.C! Finally could stop going to Orioles games.

Dude! Camden Yards is one of the prettiest ball parks in baseball, and you were eager to stop going there? fail.

 

[Xanikk999]

Dude! Camden Yards is one of the prettiest ball parks in baseball, and you were eager to stop going there? fail.

I didn't like the drive sorry.

Even though the nationals are a crappy team (All D.C sports teams are except for the capitals but who cares about hockey?) I disliked going all the way to Baltimore.

 

[sophie]

I didn't like the drive sorry.

Even though the nationals are a crappy team (All D.C sports teams are except for the capitals but who cares about hockey?) I disliked going all the way to Baltimore.

Meh, I'd rather take the extra drive to go to the absolutely gorgeous Camden Yards than have to go watch the Nationals at the good but rather unspectacular Nationals Stadium (although that would change next year if they bring up Harper and if Strasburg stays healthy.)

Fear not Xanikk, the Nats have a very bright future ahead of them.

 

[Formaldehyde]

The Cuban Missile Crisis: The world as we know it almost ended by trying to stop the Soviet Union from doing in Cuba what the US was already doing in Turkey.

The Vietnam War: Getting involved in a civil war on the wrong side based on the absurd premise that there was an international communist conspiracy which threatened us all. Over 3,000,000 dead...

The second invasion of Iraq: Different absurd conspiracy theory based on lies that shouldn't have fooled anybody. Well over 100,000 dead so far. May be twice that number and perhaps even more, but the US didn't even bother to count during the first few years.

Honorable mentions in no particular order:

The assassinations of JFK, MLK, and RFK: Showed that a few nuts could wield immense political power if they didn't care what happened to themselves as a result. And that public figures were no longer safe ... in public.

The 1968 DNC: The event which caused the Democratic Party to deliberately neuter itself for ethical reasons. Obviously the Republican party has yet to follow suit.

Watergate: How far would a standing president go to become reelected when there were really no contest in the first place? And how small would the punishment be after he was caught?

The election of Ronald Reagan: Showed that literally anybody can become president no matter how unqualified they were. (Actually, Gerald Ford gave him a head start in that regard but he wasn't elected.)

9/11: Only 3,000 civilans dead (not many at all when compared to the Vietnam or Iraq War.) But the aftermath still haunts us, and likely always will, since it showed the world that there was a way to get retribution with a superpower if you don't care about your own life and killing civilians instead of military personnel.

The second election of GWB: Showed that the American public would prefer to have an elite reactionary idiot who ducked Vietnam War service under dubious circumstances in the White House instead of an elite liberal war hero with a strong sense of ethics.

The election of Barack Obama. I never thought I'd see a black president in the White House.

 

[downtown]

I like Nationals Park a lot (but you're right, it isn't Camden, which is a top 6 ballpark)

 

[amadeus]

The Vietnam War: Getting involved in a civil war on the wrong side ...

¿Que?

 

[GoodGame]

FIRST MENTION OF 9/11 FTW

Frankly, I can't think of anything that comes close to that for the US in my lifetime.

D'oh.


1. 9/11/01

2. Ronald Reagan had a mental disease. Probably tied with Timothy McVeigh events and also Columbine HS shooting.

3. Shooting war actually broke out in Operation Desert Storm. The news footage from CNN of tracer fire especially from the reporter Bernard Shaw. Especially him like hiding under his hotel room bed. Though not really an event in "our country". So I guess the general epidemic of HIV/AIDS would be more appropriate, especially pre-suicide inhibitor treatments.


OJ Simpson gets a runner-up.

A distant runner up to John Wayne Bobbit.

EDIT: also Yahoo/Amazon/Google/Facebook taking turns taking over the world.

 

[Martacus]

Let's see, in chronological order:

1) Challenger explosion, January 28, 1986. It was bad enough seeing what happened live on TV; it was entirely something else to be able to see what looked like the Death Star exploding over my back yard when I was six years old.

2) San Franciso Eathquake, October 17, 1989. The eathquake made the feed cut out for the World Series game in progress; when it came back on, it loked like the Bay Area was in ruins.

3) World Trade Center/Pentagon Attacks, September 11, 2001. Goes without saying. Angry Saudis kill 3000 people, then sit back and laugh as the U.S. descends into madness over the next decade.

Some honorable mentions, and why I didn't include them:

Mt. St. Helens Eruption, May 18, 1980: It happened two weeks or so before I was born, so not technically during my lifetime. Perhaps it was an omen.

Gulf War/Desert Storm, 1990-1991: Heavy U. S. involvement, but technically happened somewhere else.

Ongoing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, 2001-present: Again, technically it's going on somewhere else.

O.J. Simpson Trial, 1995: Nothing really important in the grand scheme of things, but it was memorable that we in the U.S. had absolutely nothing better to do with our time in 1995 than watch a sports legend go to court.

Oklahoma City Bombing, April 19, 1995: Shh, I'm busy watching the O.J. Simpson trial!

 

[dosed150]

¿Que?

south vietnam was a tyrannical dictatorship, north vietnam was slightly better and at least some what legitimate

the usa wouldnt let planned elections go ahead because ho chi minh would have won, so would have been a legitimately elected leader of a unified vietnam

 

[Tee Kay]

south vietnam was a tyrannical dictatorship, north vietnam was slightly better and at least some what legitimate

Slightly better how? It was also a tyrannical dictatorship.

 

[Karalysia]

Slightly better how? It was also a tyrannical dictatorship.

At least it had Uncle Ho.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

1 Murder of Pim Fortuyn (preceded by the rise of political populism which continues to this day)
2 European Football Champions '88
3 Ajax wins Champions League in '95

 

[Heretic_Cata]

Communism
Fall of Communism
Rise of Communism

In that order

 

[Luckymoose]

9/11, Iraq Invasion, Pokemon

 

[dosed150]

Slightly better how? It was also a tyrannical dictatorship.

the people supported it a little bit more, so a slightly more legitimate tyrannical dictatorship

splitting hairs i know, really they were both terrible and no one should have supported either

 

[Tani Coyote]

9/11 first and foremost, of course; it's the modern Pearl Harbor in terms of tragedy, but even worse due to the fact most killed were civilians.

Bush's election, as it was not only close, but he's also one of the rare examples of somebody winning despite losing the popular vote. His term also made Iraq and Afghanistan possible, significant events in themselves.

Obama's election as the first African American. His term also gave birth to a red tide, an attempt to end the wars Bush had started, and finally an attempt at universal healthcare.

 

[metatron]

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