Living through significant and sometimes shocking historical events can burn memories into our brains like a cattle brand. And occasionally we roll up our sleeves and compare those brands with one another by telling the stories of where we were and what we were doing at those times. There are many other significant events in the past 50 years that might create such searing memories.
Slate.com has a bracket — www.slate.com/features/bracketologist/wherewere/index.html — like a tournament bracket, of 32 events from JFK's assassination in Dallas to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Readers can click on their “favorites” to advance them through the “tourney.”
Slate co-editor Mark Reiter explains his bracket, saying: “'Where Were You When' moments tend to involve death — via natural disasters, hostile acts, the unexpected passing of very famous people, or bad things happening at NASA. Seldom happy events … they tend to be memorable because you witnessed or heard about them on television. Our criterion is simple: How deeply has the event singed itself on your memory?”
What are your 'Where Were You When" moments?
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