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b_b · 3226 days ago · link · · parent · post: TIH: January 28, 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes just after lift off.
I was only 3, so I missed it, but I remember watching in the library for the next launch in 1988. I didn't have a good grasp of why the adults thought it was so important to watch, but it seemed significant even as a six year old. It's a shame that there's nothing so important scientifically anymore that school could be stopped just to observe it. Can you imagine these days dropping everything to watch whatever the equivalent of a space shuttle launch is in today's world? I can't. Then again, they also interrupted school to watch the OJ verdict live, so maybe in the 80s and 90s we were just more collectively focused on the big events, regardless of what they were.