Anyone remember where they were 40 years ago today?

[Alaric]

I watched it on TV from the living room floor of my Grandmother's house in Arizona.

Those were heady days. It inspired the imagination of a whole generation of young people. It led me and millions others into engineering and the sciences. There was hardly a kid in America who did not dream of being an astronaut.

[snagswolf]

I was at my aunt's cottage up on the Allegheny River, without a TV, so I missed the whole thing! :(

[snagswolf]

There was hardly a kid in America who did not dream of being an astronaut.
My GI Joe had the silver space suit and the space capsule. Yeah, it was a cool time to live through.

http://home.att.net/~g.ruboyianes/gijoe.jpg

[sgdp]

I wasn't born yet.

[ressurectedUltraSaiyanUSA]

i was somewhere in space and time waiting for my time....

[PredFan]

I watched it with my parents in our living room in Oxnard, California. I was 12.

[Wild Bill03]

I watched it with my parents in our living room in Oxnard, California. I was 12.

I watched it from my living room with my parents in next door Camarillo.

My mom let me stay home from school and she told me it was the biggest moment in history and I shouldnt miss it.
I stayed home from the day of launch until they got home, my Mom is the greatest Mom in history!!!!

[King Cantona]

I was at home, I was just a kid so I didn't do a lot of boozing and womanising back then...

Come to think of it I drank when I gew up but still didn't do any womanising....

Too ugly I guess but I digress, the "one small step for man" moment was in the middle of the night over here so I didn't see it live but they were great days. All the kids in the playground could talk about was the moon landing, I can't remember if it was on live but maybe, TV closed at night back in those days...

[grapabeaux]

I wasn't born until 1971, so this week I will be reminiscing about the 10-year anniversary of Woodstock '99 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock_1999).

Ah, I can almost smell the aroma of the burning stage set and overturned port a potties.

[JenyEliza]

I was right here in Atlanta watching the lunar landing/moonwalk on my parents Black and White TV (color was still a couple of years away in our house). :D

I remember clearly my mother *made* us go in the living room to watch, and I can still clearly recall in my head her telling us "you'll be glad I made you watch this--this is HISTORY that you will read about in school books when you're older" (I was 6 and a half at the time).

[JenyEliza]

My GI Joe had the silver space suit and the space capsule. Yeah, it was a cool time to live through.

http://home.att.net/~g.ruboyianes/gijoe.jpg

My brother had that GI Joe set....complete with the lunar module! :D

[RickRhetoric]

I wasn't born until 1971, so this week I will be reminiscing about the 10-year anniversary of Woodstock '99 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodstock_1999).

Ah, I can almost smell the aroma of the burning stage set and overturned port a potties.

If you can remember Woodstock -- you weren't there. :))

[Samm]

I was sitting in the Officer's departure lounge at Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage awaiting my flight back to Fairbanks. They delayed the departure (the flight crew refused to leave) until the live broadcast was over; that was the first live TV broadcast I ever saw in Alaska. Up to that point all broadcasts here were tape/delayed.

Broadcasts were still tape/delayed in Fairbanks... I watched the whole thing over again a couple hours later when I got home after the tape was finally delivered to the local TV stations and shown for the first time here. That was as close to live as they had ever had to date... even the Network News shows used to be a day late and TV programing was 3-4 weeks late.

[Samm]

If you can remember Woodstock -- you weren't there. :))

I was almost at Woodstock... I was in a car on the I-87 outside Kingston when the rains came. Like being in a freaking waterfall. ;)

[alexz2317]

Hmmm, not alive :whistle:

[CID_0687]

40 years ago today? My parents didn't even meet for 8 more years...so conception discussions hadn't begun yet.

[BillBrown]

I was stationed right outside of Tokyo.
I went into town that night and the local people were fighting to see who would buy my drinks.
"Congraturation Aporro Ereben"

[djdudley]

I was working at Loews Theatre and watching it on a small tv set we had at the theatre. We interrupted the movie to announce that the landing took place. The audience reaction ranged from, happiness to, - put the movie back on!!!!!!!

[JenyEliza]

I was stationed right outside of Tokyo.
I went into town that night and the local people were fighting to see who would buy my drinks.
"Congraturation Aporro Ereben"

For those who don't speak Japlish, here's the translation:

Congraturation Aporro Ereben = Congratulations Apollo Eleven :mrgreen:

(My Dad was a VP of a major Japanese corporation here stateside. I lived with Papasan until I went to University--we hosted his 1st year proteges from Japan. I learned 1) Japlish, 2) Japanese customs and manners and 3) to love japanese rice crackers and Wasabi :mrgreen: )

[JenyEliza]

All these babies "not alive" at the time makes me feel.....old. :(( :(( :((

[PredFan]

I watched it from my living room with my parents in next door Camarillo.

My mom let me stay home from school and she told me it was the biggest moment in history and I shouldnt miss it.
I stayed home from the day of launch until they got home, my Mom is the greatest Mom in history!!!!

Yeah Camarillo. How old were you?

[Wild Bill03]

Yeah Camarillo. How old were you?


Seven, I dont know how long its been since you have seen Oxnard but the gang problem is pretty bad.

Edit; Oh ya, the pic in my avatar was taken at the Ventura County Fair Grounds at the Speedway track back in the early 80's.

[2Parties1GlobalistGoal]

My parents were in elementary and middle school...

[super cool ski instructor]

Not alive yet...but I sure wish I could have seen it.

[notluzn]

I was kicking back with God.

[Celtic Pax]

Just got married, home on leave before going to RefTra at Camp Pendelton and then to 'Nam.

[Samm]

All these babies "not alive" at the time makes me feel.....old. :(( :(( :((

Not old Jeny... experienced. ;)

[ConstitutionHugger]

I was kicking back with God.

Same here, My parents hadn't even met by then. But I imagine that the responses will be very entertaining to read

[EmmanuelGoldstein]

I was 8. My best friend/next door neighbor and I watched the whole thing. I still have the front page of the next day's Tallahassee Democrat and a record (one of those vinyl thingys lol) of the broadcast and landing. Mint condition in the original sleeve and jacket.

For those who are interested (or were not around at the time), History is replaying the original broadcast at 8:30 pm (eastern) tonight :)

http://www.history.com/

[dbs944]

I was a bus boy / dishwasher at the Fort Story Officer's Club in Va Beach -- watched it all on the TV on the bar.

[ressurectedUltraSaiyanUSA]

i wish we can have this kind of magical moment in our generation :( aside from the mapping of the human genome, the explosion of cyberspace which enabled to connect the planet closer, i could not think of any other greater endeavor than finally humans, Americans, finally setting out and do what they do best: pioneer and explore.

i remember when the Sojourner rover landed in 1996, i got mesmerized when the first images from the rover of the Martian landscape came down. it would have been more magical had it been the first Americans on Mars finally walking the surface of the Red Planet. my excitement level would have hit through the roof.

i really wish Americans would finally land and settle on Mars.

if i had the money, means and resources and at least $1 trillion to spare, i'd do that project in a heartbeat on behalf of the United States :(

[Army Wife]

I was in Panama but do not remember any of it as I was 2.

[Mimiheart]

I wasn't born yet.
this...

[Clamp]

I was conceived about 2 weeks prior...allegedly on the 4th of July. :)

[wayoverthehill]

Hubby and I were in our apartment in Irving, Texas. We had just moved here in March. We had an old reel-to-reel tape recorder so we taped a message about being in Texas, watching the moon landing on TV, and then sent the tape to relatives back in Chicago.

Quite the adventure, it was.

Looking back, I guess I've lived through some pretty news-worthy events.

WWII, Korea, MacArthur's return to the U. S. after being fired by Truman and getting a big parade, the forced integration of the Little Rock, Ark. schools - complete with National Guard, the launch of Sputnik by the Soviets, the entire U. S. space program from the first Mercury orbit by John Glenn to all the moon-shots, the first Presidential debates between Nixon and Kennedy, the Cuban Missile crisis (you have no idea how close we came to nuclear war) Kennedy's assassination, MLK's assassination, and Bobby Kennedy, VietNam and the student "sit-ins", bra-burnings, and various riots, the Arab oil embargo - well, now I'm rambling so I'll stop.

[BasicGreatGuy]

I was at home. Watched it with mom and dad. I was a big person wannabe at the time.

[BillBrown]

Hubby and I were in our apartment in Irving, Texas. We had just moved here in March. We had an old reel-to-reel tape recorder so we taped a message about being in Texas, watching the moon landing on TV, and then sent the tape to relatives back in Chicago.

Quite the adventure, it was.

Looking back, I guess I've lived through some pretty news-worthy events.

WWII, Korea, MacArthur's return to the U. S. after being fired by Truman and getting a big parade, the forced integration of the Little Rock, Ark. schools - complete with National Guard, the launch of Sputnik by the Soviets, the entire U. S. space program from the first Mercury orbit by John Glenn to all the moon-shots, the first Presidential debates between Nixon and Kennedy, the Cuban Missile crisis (you have no idea how close we came to nuclear war) Kennedy's assassination, MLK's assassination, and Bobby Kennedy, VietNam and the student "sit-ins", bra-burnings, and various riots, the Arab oil embargo - well, now I'm rambling so I'll stop.

I remember all of that except WWII. I was born 1945.

You left out the McCarthy hearings.
I also watched the convention that first nominated Ike.

[grapabeaux]

Wasn't Armstrong's line supposed to be "It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"? I say that because while I'm watching the broadcast on the History Channel, the news people were kinda confused over the statement.

[BasicGreatGuy]

Seeing this again on the History Channel brings back memories. Even though I was young, it is still vivid in my mind. Very cool to see this again.

[gb2004]

I was home in Evergreen, Colorado. Sitting on our living room floor (gold shag carpet) watching it on our old black and white t.v. I was 10.

[CID_0687]

I was conceived about 2 weeks prior...allegedly on the 4th of July. :)
Conceived on the 4th of July...almost sounds like a movie...almost.

[EmmanuelGoldstein]

Wasn't Armstrong's line supposed to be "It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"? I say that because while I'm watching the broadcast on the History Channel, the news people were kinda confused over the statement.

109:24:48 Armstrong: That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind. (Long Pause)
[At the time of the mission, the world heard Neil say "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind". As Andrew Chaikin details in A Man on the Moon, after the mission, Neil said that he had intended to say 'one small step for a man' and believed that he had done so. However, he also agreed that the 'a' didn't seem to be audible in the recordings. The important point is that the world had no problem understanding his meaning. However, over the decades, people interested in details of the mission - including your editor - have listened repeatedly to the recordings, without hearing any convincing evidence of the 'a'. In 2006, with a great deal of attendant media attention, journalist/ entrepreneur Peter Shann Ford claimed to have located the 'a' in the waveform of Neil's transmission. Subsequently, more rigorous analyses of the transmission were undertaken by a number of people, including some with professional experience with audio waveforms and, most importantly, audio spectrograms. As of October 2006, none of these analyses support Ford's conclusion. The transcription used above honors Neil's intent.]


http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.step.html#1092413

[BillBrown]

Wasn't Armstrong's line supposed to be "It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"? I say that because while I'm watching the broadcast on the History Channel, the news people were kinda confused over the statement.

At the time, everyone was trying to guess what Armstrong would say when he stepped on the Moon. He wrote the line, himself and kept it a secret.

My newspaper ran a contest to see if anyone could guess what he would say.
The prize was a carton of Moon Pies- no joke:)

[gb2004]

It was a great line.

[Alaric]

...the Cuban Missile crisis (you have no idea how close we came to nuclear war)

We came closer in October 1973, much closer - the difference was the media coverage, the media didn't report how close we were.

[Gabby]

I was on the grassy knoll in down town Dallas with a bunch of friends. We were laying on the grass, looking up at the moon listening to the broadcast on the radio. We were all a bit tipsy....

[hatman]

I was on the grassy knoll in down town Dallas with a bunch of friends. We were laying on the grass, looking up at the moon listening to the broadcast on the radio. We were all a bit tipsy....

That's really very interesting.
Tipsy or not, that was very historically poignant.

[Gabby]

That's really very interesting.
Tipsy or not, that was very historically poignant.

Yea, it sort of mixed two of the most significant historical events in my life. I've thought about that before...even on that night we discussed it.

[wayoverthehill]

I remember all of that except WWII. I was born 1945.

You left out the McCarthy hearings.
I also watched the convention that first nominated Ike.Oh yeah, forgot about those. The Kefauver hearings too. I used to watch all the conventions because they were interesting back then. Now they are too scripted and glitzy. No more floor demonstrations and the roll call of the states never seems to get shown either.

I don't remember a bunch about WWII but I was almost 5 when it ended. I remember some rationing, I had my own book. We didn't have a car so gasoline coupons didn't matter. I remember listening to Gabriel Heatter on the radio every night at suppertime with the evening news. And since I lived in Chicago, there were servicemen everywhere. I had an aunt who was a WAVE.

[wayoverthehill]

We came closer in October 1973, much closer - the difference was the media coverage, the media didn't report how close we were.Color me shocked. And it gives me no pleasure to say that.

[NascarGirl2448]

I wasn't born yet.

Me neither. In fact, my parents hadn't even met, much less gotten married when we walked on the moon. It was, however, my dad's birthday :)

[sgdp]

i wish we can have this kind of magical moment in our generation :( aside from the mapping of the human genome, the explosion of cyberspace which enabled to connect the planet closer, i could not think of any other greater endeavor than finally humans, Americans, finally setting out and do what they do best: pioneer and explore.

i remember when the Sojourner rover landed in 1996, i got mesmerized when the first images from the rover of the Martian landscape came down. it would have been more magical had it been the first Americans on Mars finally walking the surface of the Red Planet. my excitement level would have hit through the roof.

i really wish Americans would finally land and settle on Mars.

if i had the money, means and resources and at least $1 trillion to spare, i'd do that project in a heartbeat on behalf of the United States :(

The shame is I can name three events that I remember pretty vividly as a kid:

OJ
Lewinksy
9-11

I wish something fascinating had happened. Some moment as enthralling as the moon landing.

[hatman]

The shame is I can name three events that I remember pretty vividly as a kid:

OJ
Lewinksy
9-11

I wish something fascinating had happened. Some moment as enthralling as the moon landing.

9/11 is arguably at the top of the list.
But unless you experienced 1968/69 you can't imagine what it really felt like.
Of course, this is coming from my own life perspective.

[sgdp]

9/11 is arguably at the top of the list.
But unless you experienced 1968/69 you can't imagine what it really felt like.
Of course, this is coming from my own life perspective.

Sure.

There's something about that happening when you're young. You don't understand what's going on, not to mention that nobody will tell you. There's just a LOT of tension...fear...

As a kid, those emotions are transferred. But it's almost scarier not knowing what you're afraid of.

[hatman]

Sure.

There's something about that happening when you're young. You don't understand what's going on, not to mention that nobody will tell you. There's just a LOT of tension...fear...

As a kid, those emotions are transferred. But it's almost scarier not knowing what you're afraid of.

I think you're right.
I was a teenager during the late 60's. It had a lasting effect on my life, in so many ways.
I've thought similarly about music; the music of our youth stays with us forever.

[sgdp]

I think you're right.
I was a teenager during the late 60's. It had a lasting effect on my life, in so many ways.
I've thought similarly about music; the music of our youth stays with us forever.

I was 11 on 9-11. I will never forget walking into class. I was the first one there (rare for me...) and the teacher was cradling the phone while pointing the remote at the TV. Her mouth was just dropped open.

The TV just showed two buildings burning. It was terribly confusing trying to figure out why it was such a big deal. I don't think any other kids throughout the day knew something big was happening, because none of them were there early enough.

It seems the school put a lockdown on TVs, and the teachers were not allowed to say anything. But all the adults were...different...

[Wookinstien]

I was 4 1/2. It was one of my first memories. I was sitting before the TV on my Mr. Ed plush pillow horse watching and I remember those famous words.

"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."


Yes forty years later I remember that sight so clearly.

[jeepers]

I was 8 years old, at a Brownie meeting. All of us sitting in front of the television, watching a black and white television.

I know that I was young but I knew that this was HUGE. I spent a lot of time wondering what it would be like to walk like that that, there. Almost like flying?

Sometimes, I still wonder. :)

Got a lot of us to try freeze dried food. Those eggs were nasty then, and they're nasty now. LOL :lol: The ice cream was cool. Sort of like petrified cotton candy...

I once walked in the astronaut's 'footsteps' on the ship that picked them up. It's now a museum and the footprints are painted on the deck. They've got the trailer where the guys were quarantined. The technology of the world sure has changed since then.

[GA_LP]

I was 3 1/2, and I clearly remember sitting on my dad's lap watching the landing on TV.

[hatman]

I was 11 on 9-11. I will never forget walking into class. I was the first one there (rare for me...) and the teacher was cradling the phone while pointing the remote at the TV. Her mouth was just dropped open.

The TV just showed two buildings burning. It was terribly confusing trying to figure out why it was such a big deal. I don't think any other kids throughout the day knew something big was happening, because none of them were there early enough.

It seems the school put a lockdown on TVs, and the teachers were not allowed to say anything. But all the adults were...different...

You won't ever forget.
I was about your age when JFK was killed.
I won't ever forget that.

On 9/11/01 I was in a motel in Tofino BC, getting ready for a day's salmon fishing when I turned on the motel TV just before 7am. I was mesmorized by what I saw on the Today Show. Minutes later I saw the 2nd plane hit. That moment will stay with me forever.

[sgdp]

You won't ever forget.
I was about your age when JFK was killed.
I won't ever forget that.

On 9/11/01 I was in a motel in Tofino BC, getting ready for a day's salmon fishing when I turned on the motel TV just before 7am. I was mesmorized by what I saw on the Today Show. Minutes later I saw the 2nd plane hit. That moment will stay with me forever.

I can't imagine how I would see something like that now as an adult. I hope I don't ever have to find out.

[JenyEliza]

Spoke with my Uncle about this some time ago. He was working in US government at the time in DC (shan't name the agency, as he is still there now). He recalls watching the lunar landing/moonwalk in an official capacity, as he was one of the folks who planned and took part in the subsequent world tour of the US Astronauts, along with moon rocks in tow. In other words, Uncle was working (color me not surprised).

After I got off the phone with him, I googled the world tour--and voila, his name is mentioned in several cites. He is part of history. :D

[King Cantona]

I was on the grassy knoll in down town Dallas with a bunch of friends. We were laying on the grass, looking up at the moon listening to the broadcast on the radio. We were all a bit tipsy....

I was on that same grassy knoll in 1987 but no one talks about that.......

Just because there were no crowds, I was quite surprised actually that the whole area looked EXACTLY the same as it did in 1963 on TV.....

[King Cantona]

One thing I learned from watching telly this week was that Buzz Aldrin had to be very careful not to close the door of the lunar module as NASA had forgot to put a handle on the outside....

Or else they could have been standed......

[curtis123]

I was six years old and at a friends house, where our parents gathered to watch it.

They called us in to watch it, so we stopped playing and gathered around the tv.

My dad explained the significance of it to me. I don't recall exactly what he said, but I understood the monumental achievement it really was.

I wanted to be an Astronaut from that moment on. We spent the rest of our summer vacation playing on a lunar landing module we made from an old table and plywood.

It's too bad kids don't have heroes like those these days.

[CountryGirl]

I was babysitting two little girls in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. We watched and I was convinced it was even BETTER than Star Trek!

But not quite as exciting as The Monkees.

Edit to add: When John Glenn circled the earth, I was in first grade. The teacher put us on a school bus - her husband was the driver as well as the local mortician - and took us to her home. The entire class planted itself on her living room floor in front of her TV and she handed out fireball candy, which I'd never had before. We watched Glenn circle the earth as those sticky red balls kept dropping and rolling over her floor.

That would never happen today, a teacher being allowed to take kids to her house. I'm thankful that she went the extra mile for us as I've never forgotten it.

[jeepers]

I can't imagine how I would see something like that now as an adult. I hope I don't ever have to find out.

You will absolutely be a witness to history, you just don't know what it is, right now.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

I was about 7 years from being a twinkle in my parents' eyes.

[twinheart]

I was in an airport on the way to Ireland with my family - you know how noisy an airport is? Well when they descended down those steps and placed their feet on the surface of the moon, you could have heard a pin drop - it was really amazing to see everyone, united in awe and inspiration and true hope - those famous words were uttered, and the place went absolutely nuts - people cheering and shouting, hugging each other, some crying - it is something that I will never forget, and I'm really glad that I got to witness history in that way -

[BasicGreatGuy]

I was babysitting two little girls in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. We watched and I was convinced it was even BETTER than Star Trek!

But not quite as exciting as The Monkees.

Edit to add: When John Glenn circled the earth, I was in first grade. The teacher put us on a school bus - her husband was the driver as well as the local mortician - and took us to her home. The entire class planted itself on her living room floor in front of her TV and she handed out fireball candy, which I'd never had before. We watched Glenn circle the earth as those sticky red balls kept dropping and rolling over her floor.

That would never happen today, a teacher being allowed to take kids to her house. I'm thankful that she went the extra mile for us as I've never forgotten it.

Good story. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Samm]

Wasn't Armstrong's line supposed to be "It's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind"? I say that because while I'm watching the broadcast on the History Channel, the news people were kinda confused over the statement.

Yes... that is what Armstrong said, but the transmission was not particularly clear and many in the media started repeating it without the "a" and that became the immortalized statement.

[Samm]

I was on the grassy knoll in down town Dallas with a bunch of friends. We were laying on the grass, looking up at the moon listening to the broadcast on the radio. We were all a bit tipsy....

Did y'all find any empty shell casings? ;)

[Samm]

One thing I learned from watching telly this week was that Buzz Aldrin had to be very careful not to close the door of the lunar module as NASA had forgot to put a handle on the outside....

Or else they could have been standed......

Clearly a cost cutting measure... Was McNamara in charge of NASA's budget too? :think:

[SabercatPuck]

My fingers were just getting developed good about then. life was much simpler as a fetus.

[PredFan]

Seven, I dont know how long its been since you have seen Oxnard but the gang problem is pretty bad.

Edit; Oh ya, the pic in my avatar was taken at the Ventura County Fair Grounds at the Speedway track back in the early 80's.

I heard. It was beginning to get that way when I was there in 67-70

[ThrowCop]

My Dad told me he had me in his lap while he/I watched the entire broadcast. :D

[LouC]

I watched it on TV from the living room floor of my Grandmother's house in Arizona.

I was twelve, and watched it from the floor of my grandparents house, on a big black and white Zenith TV in the corner of the living room.

My grandmother was intrigued with science and enjoyed Science Fiction.

Those were heady days. It inspired the imagination of a whole generation of young people. It led me and millions others into engineering and the sciences. There was hardly a kid in America who did not dream of being an astronaut.

Actually I was more fascinated with the rockets, the machines, more than being the astronaut.

Sadly though in my small town there was not much push for kids to go onto higher education.

I have absolutely no memories of my mother ever mentioning college to me.

[JohnRandolph]

Watching it live on the new RCA console TV