A couple days late since it’s 13 Sep but . . .
What is the first Big news event you recall? Pearl Harbor? The Beatles arriving in the US?
I don’t know if we need a definition of news event. I know I was excited at all the info Uncle Walt was sharing about his park he was building in Anaheim. Sure seemed like a fun place to go - as if I’d ever get the chance . . .
But then that might not have been a big national news event. 
The earliest ones I remember with clarity were the American hostages taken in Iran in the late 70s and the blizzard of ‘78.
Mine was in 6thgrade and it was the launch/explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. I remember I was sick at home and it was on every channel. I remember I was not sure what to think. I was home alone and not sure how to process the information.
Same. I was just in preschool as a 4 year old, but remember very clearly coming home after my half day and watching all the coverage with my mom, and later Reagan’s oval office address with my whole family. Of course I didn’t understand much of the detail, but have vivid memories of that day.
Mine was in 6th grade, the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
The Apollo 11 moon landing.
Reagan assassination attempt - 1981
I was sick at home that day too. Fifth grade though.
The falling of the Berlin Wall, 1989. I was 9.
I have vague memories of John Lennon’s murder, I was 6.
Also the space shuttle challenger explosion. We were watching it in school. I was 9.
The Nixon Watergate trials on TV and at the same time the first moon landing
Ok, since anything goes, one of my earliest memories (I was 2) was watching my mom watch Luke and Laura get married in General Hospital…but then, yep, Challenger explosion. Also We are the World and Fergie and Andrew’s royal wedding - all 4-5 years later. Apparently I like weddings.
Iran hostage crisis
First big news? Maria and Luis having a baby.
Also the moon landing
Oklahoma City Bombing. I was in 4th grade.
Oh, and the OJ Simpson trail which I remember watching in my elementary school library period. Why???
The wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana - I was six and it seemed like it was the only thing on TV.
John Glenn made the first US manned orbital flight. I was in kindergarten, and they had everyone at my elementary school sitting in the large hallway, watching/listening to the TV coverage.
