Where were you on July 20, 1969?

mEGG_My_Day

I really hadn’t thought about the 50th anniversary of this event prior to @lousubcap post in another thread.  Figured this deserves its own thread. 

This one is for the older folks.  I can’t remember where I was yesterday, but I’ll never forget that day.  It was my 7th birthday.  My family was on vacation in Ocean Isle, NC.  We were huddled around an old black and white TV in a rental house on the beach. Interestingly, I’ll be in NC this week for my 57th birthday. Other side of the state in Highlands.   Where were you on that historic day? 

erniemcclain

Our fam was on vacation in Ludington, Michigan.  We were eating ice cream at a drive-in listening to the radio. 

Gulfcoastguy

Watching it on my friends black and white tv also. We moved in November and never went back.

YukonRon

The Eagle has landed.

I watched it from the rec hall in the boys home. They woke us up to watch this historic event on an old admiral television that used a bow tie, in-door antenna.

I watched Walter Cronkite do the coverage.

Then I saw "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind".

I never heard the word "a" in his quote. But it is there.

Then we were all hearded back to bed.

mahenryak

Watching it at home on our BW TV.  (Nerd Alert: Decent reception given our location and since it was on a VHF channel, not UHF).  I was about 5.5 years old at the time.

nolaegghead

In the living room, age 5, at our home in Davenport Iowa.  Propped up by pillows in front of the house, the whole family watched. 

Carolina Q

At 16 years old, I know exactly where I was when I heard about JFK and I know I watched Armstrong's "step", but I have no recollection of the event. In July '69. I was nearly 22 years old but I really don't remember any big deal about this event.

womaus

Was 13yo, at a rented beach house in Barnstable MA. Was more interested in the 14yo female up the street if I remember correctly.

Zippylip

I was 3, so, probably running around the living room annoying the fvck out of my parents while they tried to focus on the 10 inch black & white tv we still had when I left for college 15 years later

thetrim

I was still a few years from lift off, so I missed out.  I do know that Mr. #2 on the Moon is a 1951 Army Grad. 

ColtsFan

About 10.5 years from existing 

OhioEgger

With about 10 of my friends, huddled around a TV. We had been glued to the radio that afternoon, listening to the landing, and were super excited to be able to see Armstrong climb down the ladder and take that first step. Really couldn't believe how lucky we were that NASA had made it possible to see the whole thing live.

I do believe he flubbed the quote, leaving out the "a" but given the circumstances who could fault him for that?

BigreenGreg

7 years old, at my uncle's & aunt's ranch. watching on tiny B&W as others described.

I knew how important it was from the focus of the older folks. Also first and last time on a horse.

johnmitchell

Living in South Africa no TV, I think SA only got TV around 1974.

SamIAm2

19 years old and 19 days away from completing boot camp at Recruit Naval Training Center, Great Lakes Illinois. Didn't get to see the landing or Armstrong's first step on the moon live, as I was a bit busy then. 

Cerebellum300

Easy to remember. I was just shy of 12yo, and we didn’t have church service that night. Instead, we met at one of the member’s homes to watch. I loved all the space stuff, and this was even more special with the rare time that church as “let out”. Even with the Apollo moon missions, the Gemini flights were my favorites. Ed White’s space walk. The Agena and then Gemini rendezvous and dockings. I ate up the coverage, especially the use of models, diagrams and crude animations. I thought the capsule was the coolest looking and was too young during Mercury to appreciate it. 

lousubcap

In Little Creek, VA, NROTC summer training with the USMC.  We rented a small B&W TV and since a Sunday most were watching.  I recall after the first walk was completed, stepping outside and looking at the moon in a totally different way.  Americans were up there!  What a feeling!!

frazzdaddy

On the farm in Vance county NC. Watching with my grandfather.

Fred19Flintstone

I remember watching it with my family in our old house.  I didn’t appreciate what an achievement it was because I was a youngster.

alaskanassasin

They had prime day way back then too?

HeavyG

In Japan, sleeping. Didn't see it live cuz time zones and parents didn't wake us up at oh-dark-thirty just to watch it happening in real time.

thetrim

Does everyone really think it really happened?

rodell

I was running Master Control at WSIU-TV in Carbondale, IL as we carried the CBS feed.  What an experience.

DoubleEgger

Pitiful that 50 years later, we have to Uber to space. 

TN_Egger

5 years old.  Grandma's house in Portland, OR.  Just welcomed dad home from Viet Nam.

SciAggie

I can’t tell you exactly where I was during the actual landing but as an 8 year old boy, I was all into the space program. I had the GI Joe Gemini capsule and the Snoopy Astronaut. I made a model and then a clay diorama of the lunar lander. I dreamed of space and those guys were (and still are) my heroes. 

fishlessman

5 years old in the living room eating my jiffy pop, salem  nh. 

johnkitchens

I was three months old so I probably slept through it. 

Battleborn

Nearly 15 years from existence. 

TEXASBGE2018

Battleborn said:

Nearly 15 years from existence. 

me2

JohnInCarolina

I was actually discussing this last night with a group of senior scientists from the NNSA and the DOE labs, and we all agreed that the moon landing remains the singular greatest engineering achievement in all of human history.  Some of the people I spoke with last night knew people at NASA when this was all going down, and they said that within the organization, the view of the lunar astronauts was that they were all insane.  No rational human being knows all the things that can go wrong with a mission like that and willingly agrees to saddle into the rocket.  

While I wasn't alive at the time of the actual event, I have seen the movie First Man, and it's really pretty well done in my opinion.  I also enjoyed watching The Right Stuff back in the day.