Today In History: Apollo 11 Lands
July 20th: Today in 1969 Apollo 11 sets down on the moon. Later that day Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon stepping forth with his now famous quote:
That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind thanks to Coca Cola and IBM Computers!
Ok, maybe that isn’t a direct quote, but it is close enough. Anyway, I remember where I was when the Challenger blew up and I certainly remember where I was on 9/11 but I was only six for this one and don’t remember it at all. What big history days can you recall clearly where you were when you heard the news?
July 20th, 2006 at 8:02 am
I remember this, I was seven. My dad kept us up in the family room and we stared at the lunar module on our black and white TV for hours waiting for something to happen. We fell asleep and missed the opening of the door, but Dad woke us up and we saw the first moon walk.
July 20th, 2006 at 9:14 am
I was six as well. I remember watching it and, being a kid, wanting to be an astronaut and being very excited. But I also remember, a day or two later, looking up in the sky and seeing the moon and thinking, “It’s just right there. When are they going to go someplace really cool, like on Star Trek”? I guess I had a little trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality back then. One other thing I remember, during the countdown for the launch I think, was Walter Cronkite playing with a laser about the size of a shoe box. I remember thinking “My God! He’s going to kill someone if he’s not more careful.” and then “Why is it so big? You can put a phaser in your pocket”.
July 20th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
I know where I was when I heard John Lennon was shot. It didn’t hit me at first, it was sort of like, ‘how sad, I hope he’ll be okay,’ but then they announced that Chapman was in custody for homicide and I was in shock. The Challenger explosion is another that I can recall with complete clarity. 9/11, of course. I remember hearing when Sadat was killed, but it didn’t effect me emotionally, I just have a good memory.