30 years ago, I was sitting in Mrs. Fain’s Algebra II class, fighting a terrible headache (that I would realize some years later was a migraine). When classes changed, I went into Mr. Griffin’s Advanced ChemStudy class to find the TV on, broadcasting the news that the Space Shuttle Challenger had exploded. The rest of the school day was a sad blur, but when we left for the day, even though we were on the other side of Florida, you could see the contrails from the exploding booster rockets still etched in the sky.
It was our generation’s JFK assassination moment.
At least until 9/11/2001.