Thanks for joining us for this weeks “Way Back Wednesday“, “A Special Report” edition. This week take a different road, than other weeks. Today we will look at news Special Reports, as they were broadcast, and how they shaped our lives.
I must note, that these clips may be emotionally charged. These clips are to remind us of how fragile our world truly is, and what our responsibility as citizens of the world are.
With that, we “Interrupt this Broadcast to bring you a Special Report.”
Assasination Of Martin Luther King Jr. (March 29, 1968)
This short clip is of Dan Rather informing the public of Dr. King’s assassination in Memphis Tennessee, on the evening of March 29, 1968. A grifter named James Earl Ray confessed to the crime, and later recanted. in 1997 the King family won a civil suit against Loyd Jowers, when a jury found sufficient proof that he was a conspirator in the assassination. Questions remain today into the death of Dr. King.
The Challenger Explosion (January 28, 1986)
The Space Shuttle Challengerexploded 73 seconds after launch, on the morning of January 28, 1986. The cause of the explosion was the failure of an “O” ring, and the oddly cold temperatures, that impacted the performance of the “O” rings. One of the crew killed, was New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe. The mission was STS-51. The other members of the crew were Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik.
The 2000 Presidential Election
Dubbed the “Election that Wouldn’t Die” the presidential election of 2000 was one of legend. A race between Texas Governor George W. Bush, and Vice President Al Gore, ended in a virtual tie. The outcome of the election hindering on the State of Florida. After multiple recounts, the vote difference was only about 300 votes. While Al Gore led in the popular vote, Governor Bush led in the Electoral College. On December 12, 2000 the United State Supreme Court voted 7-2 to stop the recounts, which effectively ended the race, and gave the presidency to Bush.
September 11, 2001
This date has gone down as the worst act of terrorism on US soil. Al-Qaeda a middle eastern terrorist organization staged attacks using commercial aircraft on both the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon, in Virginia, and and unverified target, that was never hit thanks to heroic passengers over Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Both of the Trade Towers were destroyed, and about 2,974 people lost their lives. This brought terrorism to the forefront, and showed the world that we must work together to defeat it.
That is Way Back Wednesday for this week. Please let me know if there is a topic you would like to see on Way Back Wednesday!
~Aslan
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! Or Have my feed delivered To your Email
on Jul 16th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
That was an interesting walk nback in history.
on Jul 16th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
I lived in Orlando when the Challenger blew up. I was working in a clothing store and we all went out in the parking lot to watch the launch because you could see the shuttle in the air from there. Right away we all just looked at each other and said “something’s wrong.” We raced back inside and turned on a TV in the back and found out what had happened. It was horrible, but so much more so because of it being the first time a civilian was aboard.
on Jul 16th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Pretty nice site you have here. I went ahead and added you to my blog roll. I remember the challenger explosion even though I was only 7 or 8 years old. The teacher aboard the challenger was supposed to visit our school so the explosion had a big impact on everyone.
on Jul 21st, 2008 at 8:19 am
Thanks Chris! I beleive you are already on my Blogroll, but it you aren’t please let me know So I can add you.
I was in 7th grade when the Challenger blew up. I remember it because I was home sick and watched it on TV.