Off Topic Historic moments you'll never forget

The Manchester Arena bombing is another that hit home. It was mostly kids and teens.

A mate of mine and his then pregnant wife went to that gig, and thank ****, left early as she needed the lav. They left through the foyer where, minutes later, the whole thing occurred.

That period of a couple of months in 2017 when we had the attacks at Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge happening so quickly after one another was such an awful time. I think Manchester and London Bridge might've even happened in successive weeks.

 

Lockerbie stands out for me. Each time I fly I think of it and I'm flying tomorrow.

 

I was working for one of the trawler owners, really was a terrible time. Also remember the subway disaster, when a calor gas lorry got stuck and leaked gas and someone smoking set off a fireball.

 

I imagine a few people from around this area back in the 1920s might mention the R38 Zeppelin that crashed into the Humber in 1921. It was one of the first air disasters and had a bigger death toll than the Hindenburg.

 

She was quite fit when she was younger. A lot more gravitas and someone who suffered for her beliefs than Lily Allen etc...

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I think the first one I recall was the Munich Disaster which devastated the Man U team. With the exception of the Humber Zeppelin incident, I remember all the others previously mentioned. The deaths of Buddy Holly and Elvis as well as other stars always generated media attention.

 

Anyone remember that awful moment back in 1988 or 89 when 2 off duty British soldiers accidentally drove into an lRA funeral and got beaten to death, l still think why didn't they just threaten to shoot then drive away.

 

Hillsborough semi final disaster.
Fall of Berlin Wall.
May 24th 2008.
Twin Towers.
Indian Ocean Tsumani.

 

The night John Lennon died.


We'd probably heard about it during the day but I can recall being sat in the back room of The Railway in Cott that night.

Pissed.

Looking at my half finished pint.

Thinking that he'd never have a drink again.

Or indeed do anything ever again.


And bursting into tears.




Probably says more about my realisation of mortality than anything else tbh.

 

I can remember a lot of the events named above taking place, but there is only one where I know where I was at the time. In the halls of residence Moldova Agricultural university Chisinau, watching on a old telly with a bad shaky picture, oddly enough no one else was interested in the event taking place live on TV. September 11th 2001

 

That Super Saturday was superb

 

A girl who was badly burned in the humbrol fire continued to go round town on a night out for many years afterwards
Far as I remember her boyfriend stayed with her and they married
Tough girl

 

The Iranian Embassy siege is another one .
Seemed big news at the time

 

Flixborough

 

Billy Bradshaw, 04/12/2007 21:36. After 10 years of work nights out the tight **** got a round in.

 

My eldest granddaughter was at the Manchester Arena concert. We couldn't contact her until the next morning, truly terrifying when they don't answer their phone ( which she'd lost in the panic). I trivialised this thread a bit earlier with a couple of City antidotes but two serious football tragedies stay with me. The Bradford City Fire and Hillsboro. I'd stood on the Leppings Lane several times, had experienced the arrogance of SY plod before and I'd been in situations when you felt trapped on a over crowded football terrace behind iron railings. So both tragedies were to close to home for me as a football supporter. Another more recent one which I found difficult to watch was those Russian thugs knocking tens bells of **** out of any unfortunate England fan who stood in their way at the Euro's in France. Not a tragedy by any stretch of the imagination but difficult to watch especially when the impression given in the media was one of 'they asked for it'.

 

Indeed. I was a student at that time, when a newsflash of her murder/assassination came through - totally ****ed our heads.

I can't remember exactly the events of the time at the minute, but it seemed to be on top of other strange events (or could have been just my state of mind) combined with end of millenium type paranoia.

Very weird.

For those too young to remember her, imagine if some MOR presenter type, like a Tess Daly or the one off the One show, was assassinated.

The power of a Newsflash is forgotten nowadays with 24 Hour News and numerous other news sources. When one came on, out of the blue, it was kind of exciting/ but very much pant brown time. What was coming?

As for September 11, can't recall much. Had a phone call early afternoon to turn on the TV, just as plane number 2 hit. Can't recall much else apart from playing a gig in Brum that night and speaking about it without much knowledge of the situation (nothing new there then).

I might be wrong but I'm sure this was at a similar time to riots in Oldham and some other places - really increased tensions.

 

Been through that twice. First time on 10th Dec 1967 when on the way back to work in Leeds at lunchtime saw a newspaper placard saying Pop star dies in plane crash. Bought a YEP and saw to my horror it was Otis Redding.
Went to Mecca that night and they played Otis songs nearly all night. Like everyone there struggled to keep a dry eye, second time was October 1970 when I heard Janis Joplin had died. It was late 1970 but that ended the 60s for me if you know what I mean.
Inconsequential in the greater scheme of things but seemed of world stopping importance at the time when you were young.

 

After the euphoria of England's world cup victory in the summer, the terrible tragedy of the loss of life at Aberfan in Wales a few months later.
I had just finished my first year studying mining and mineral sciences in Leeds.
One of the worst mining related disasters in history. Health & Safety controls were somewhat weak at the time.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/ukne...r-which-killed-144-people-in-wales/ar-AAJ7nGs

 

Kings Cross fire 1987.
Got off the train from Hull, down the escalator onto the tube and home to my flat - 40 minutes.
Turned on the tv - programmes stopped because of the coverage of the fire.
I was so close to being in it that night.