Where were you in January 1986? Can you think back in time that far? I was ten years old and halfway through the school year and I had become ill during the last few days of January. Laying on my black couch and wrapped up in my Bobbs-Merrill, yellow, Raggedy Ann and Andy blanket along with my stuffed cat, I was battling a severe cold and watching what I could find on the television.
No, I didn't live with Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach), but that TV is the exact model we had in my childhood home along Dorey Street.
Rather, I believe that I was watching The Price is Right and either a news alert or a notice, perhaps the local WTAJ-TV 10 station cut over to the Space Shuttle Challenger preparing to launch into space. Anticipating the launch, I can remember simply being mesmerized by this large, four-piece vehicle. Honestly, I doubt that I can recall every moment but I faintly recall the countdown as the cameras would cut from the shuttle to the crowd, perhaps even a separate inset had the timer as the seconds ticked.
In replays, I have seen the ignitor sparks spewing under the rocket engines, yet my ten year old memory cannot seem to recall that moment. Nonetheless, ignition happened, and I do recall that as it ascended feet away from the launch platform, the shuttle apparatus did not just go straight up but moved slightly off center. In replays, I still see all of the shuttles never launched directly straight up but a slight diagonal shift. Perhaps this was the angle of the main shuttle engines to ensure it cleared away from the tower, but this was a memory that did stick out as I watched this man-made marvel. Then, the fateful words that were standard protocol, "go for throttle up." Then, the confirmation from the shuttle crew and within what appeared to be two seconds, that fateful explosion.
Jason and I recounted this in Memory Jogger episode 13 (Game Shows) where he was at school, watching on our lone school television. If I remember, it was not a 19 inch but maybe a 22 inch television on top of a three shelf cart with a VCR on the middle shelf. We used this often for Spanish class with Mrs. McLamb and the end of year movies...again, mentioned in Memory Jogger episode 7 (School Stories). Inevitably, Jason recalled that parents were notified to come pick up their children as this could be a traumatic event for the students. I, however, was at home and simply dumbfounded at what transpired. Then, it sank in as the news reporter uttered the words that the Challenger had exploded.
Well, with that event etched in my mind, what do you recall about January 1986? Other major events occurred such as the following:
January 1: Becoming independent from the nearby island Curacao, Aruba is its own.
January 7: Economic sanctions are imposed on Libya (wonder if this was the backdrop of Airwolf) by President Ronald Reagan.
January 11: The first African American Lieutenant Governor, Douglas Wilder, is sworn in.
January 20: Martin Luther King, Jr is honored with his own federal holiday.
January 23: Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Fats Domino, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Ray Charles, and Sam Cooke are the first musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
January 24: Best Film winner Out of America, Best Performance winners Whoopi Goldberg for her roll in The Color Purple, alongside Jon Voight in Runaway Train occurred at the 43rd Golden Globes.
January 26: European skating champion Hein Vergeer is named.
January 27: Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, and Tina Turner win awards in the Pop/Rock category at the 13th annual American Music Awards
January 28: Space Shuttle Challenger explodes after 73 seconds from lift off killing all seven astronauts.
January 31: The first female recipient of an artificial heart is implanted into Mary Lund of Minneapolis, MN
(Events courtesy: https://www.historic-newspapers.com/blogs/article/1986-timeline?srsltid=AfmBOopuxknzNHBrUqV7xJDvHa3RQfp0BjRssKbgnTz4sTB4WYcsIM-J#January)
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