I was in a coffee shop in St Kilda on a very clear sunny winter afternoon, during my first trip to Australia, having a break during my look around Melbourne. The television cut away from whatever they were covering to tell the sad story. The whole place went quiet as the customers glued themselves to the unfortunate story

Margaret Thatcher’s resignation – 22 November 1990

She resigned? I was very oblivious to UK politics, living in Washington DC. I have no real memory of the event other than she was no longer PM. Many Americans couldn’t quite believe it. I mean Britain was not Britain without Mrs T in their minds.

Attack on the Twin Towers – 11 September 2001

We were living in Sacramento California and did not have a television. It was early in the morning and our neighbour knocked on our door, realising that we did not have a television to invite us to come and watch the reruns at their house. The last time that I went anywhere to watch a rerun of a news event was the Moon landing, when my dad drove around to the local farm to watch it. I had no idea at the time the impact of flying planes into large buildings would have such a big effect on our lives. It directly led to us not being able to live in america and luckily for us to end up in Australia. We had the television on in the office, crap reception and all, all day. The sense of shock and bewilderment amongst my american colleagues was palpable. Talk about a life/ world changing moment. I went to the top of the Twin Towers with my brother and his wife when they visited in the early 1990s. One of my American relatives worked in the building. The logistics of getting up were complicated by all the different lifts that you needed to catch to get to different floors.

England’s World Cup Semi Final v Germany in – 4 July 1990

No idea. Likely on the mall in Washington DC celebrating the national birthday. They had very spectacular fireworks, which were very good to watch from the Virginia side, based on my years living there.

President Kennedy’s Assassination – 22 November 1963

Althouth I was alive, four year olds don’t really care about that stuff. I have been to his grave at Arlington Cemetary. The never ending flame is Very moving. His influence on us life and politics lives on. I lived next door to a retired journalist in Washington DC. He told me it was the most significant story during his long journalistic career. He had been in the room when Bobby Kennedy was shot and called his story in from a pay phone. They held the press until his story had been filed. The other interesting story that he was part of was being part of the press group that went with Nixon to China.

Pardon my cynicism. Actually I really like this thread idea, here’s mine:

Diana – It happened overnight and I was asleep. I remember I was the first person in the house to get up that morning, saw it on the news, and turned it off because I wasn’t interested…

Thatcher – I was at primary school in Dunfermline. They mentioned it in assembly that morning but I can’t remember what they said.

Twin towers – I was working at a cheese factory in between university and it was a total news blackout in there. I found out what happened when I got back in the afternoon. That evening I went to see Moulin Rouge with my girlfriend – we could see all the planes flying back to Manchester Airport because they were being grounded.

Football thing – Uh? No idea. If it was July 1990 I was probably still sobbing over Nigel Mansell’s ‘retirement’ at the British Grand Prix.

Kennedy – Not born.