Top 20 Moments That Made The World Stand Still
#20: Nelson Mandela Released
In 1964, South African revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment. For years, he had fought against apartheid, the system of racial segregation that privileged the country’s white population and disenfranchised people of color. Even from prison, he remained committed to this cause, communicating with political leaders and gaining worldwide attention. As civil unrest grew, Mandela was finally released from prison in 1990 - 27 years after he was sentenced. His release was broadcast around the world. In a historic speech, he affirmed his commitment to peace, but also to ongoing struggle against the violence of apartheid. Just four years later he would go on to become the country’s first black President.
#19: 2021 United States Capitol Attack
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On January 6th 2021, scenes of carnage in the US capital, Washington DC, shocked Americans watching the riot unfold on TV. At a rally before the attack, outgoing President Donald Trump told supporters the election had been stolen and urged them to march to the Capitol Building. Debunked by courts, state audits, and federal agencies, this claim was part of a campaign to overturn the election results and reinstall Trump as President. Within hours, 2,000 angry Trump supporters broke into the Capitol Building, assaulting police and searching for lawmakers gathered to formalize Joe Biden’s victory. Among them were members of far-right militias and neo-fascist groups, some of them armed. The insurrection failed, with lawmakers racing to safety before the mob reached them.
#18: Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
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There were a lot of eyes on Cape Canaveral, Florida, when Challenger finally launched on January 28, 1986. Due to technical issues and bad weather, the flight had been delayed multiple times. On launch day, CNN broadcast live, nationwide coverage. NASA had organized for children to watch from schools to promote their Teacher in Space Project, which had added teacher-turned-astronaut Christa McAuliffe to the crew. But viewers' hopes turned to horror as the shuttle disintegrated during its ascent, claiming the lives of all seven crew members. The Challenger’s final flight had lasted only 73 seconds.
#17: 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Olympic Games in West Germany were the first to be held in the region since Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler used the event as a platform for propaganda in 1936. Sadly, the September games would become even more infamous, etching out their own bleak mark in history. After infiltrating the Olympic Village, eight armed men from the Palestinian terrorist group “Black September” killed two Isreali Olympic team members, and took nine more hostage. After two grueling days of negotiation, the hostage crisis was brought to a violent end. The rescue attempt was botched – claiming the lives of all hostages and a policeman.
#16: O. J. Simpson Murder Trial Verdict
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It was the trial of the century … and the verdict left the public reeling. After Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death in June 1994, Brown’s ex-husband, former footballer and actor O. J. Simpson, became the prime suspect. Before her death, Brown had said that Simpson had abused and threatened to kill her. Every aspect of the case was highly publicized - from the car chase that saw him arrested, to the lengthy trial. The coverage hooked viewers, and everyone had an opinion. On October 3, 1995, the jury returned a verdict of “not guilty”. For some, it was a vindication, to others, a travesty of justice, in which a celebrity had gotten away with murder.
#15: Death of Osama bin Laden
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In the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the beginning of a “War on Terror”. The first stage of this war was the US invasion of Afghanistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his terrorist group al-Qaeda. This manhunt continued for almost a decade as bin Laden evaded capture. However, in 2011, the CIA tracked him down to a compound in Pakistan. In a helicopter raid codenamed Operation Neptune Spear on May 2nd, bin Laden was killed. For those who vividly recalled the events of 9/11, President Obama’s announcement that the al-Qaeda leader was dead was a landmark event.
#14: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
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For months, the buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border had the world on edge. Would Russian President Vladimir Putin really give the order to invade? In 2014, Ukrainians had revolted against a pro-Moscow government, sick of corruption and abuse of power. Their success led Russia to annex Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. In February 2022, Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, furious at the country’s aspiration to join NATO. In response, the international community hit Russia with severe economic sanctions. Around the world, everyone’s eyes have been glued to their screens, watching the outgunned Ukrainians hold off the invading forces.
#13: Martin Luther King's “I Have a Dream” Speech
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's speech may be remembered for just four words, but they are arguably among the most powerful ever spoken. The Baptist Minister had chosen his profession because he felt sermons were "a respectful force for ideas, even social protest.” King oversaw the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and became the leader of civil rights organization SCLC. In August, 1963, he helped organize a march of 250,000 people to Washington D.C. to peacefully protest equal rights for African Americans. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he told listeners that he dreamt of a world free of racism and oppression. His impassioned words were heard far and wide, becoming a defining moment in the civil rights movement. They remain iconic today.
#12: Death of Diana, Princess of Wales
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Although she was no longer “Her Royal Highness” in 1997, having lost the title after her divorce from Prince Charles, Diana remained a popular figure for the Commonwealth – and beyond. Her sudden death in a car accident as she fled paparazzi occurred in the early hours of August 31st, while the British public were still asleep. Diana’s driver, who had been intoxicated at the time, and Egyptian producer Dodi Fayed, also died in the crash. When people in the UK woke and learned the news, the country was left shocked and in mourning. The death of the People’s Princess was felt around the world.
#11: The Fall of the Berlin Wall
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After World War II, the Allies split Germany into East and West. The Soviet Union controlled the East, while the US, UK, and France controlled the West. Eventually, East and West became separate republics, but the flight of East Germans to the more affluent West prompted the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961. Dividing friends and families, the Wall became a symbol of the Iron Curtain separating Western Europe and the Soviet Bloc. In the 80s however, massive protests and waves of refugees leaving East Germany led the government to relax rules for immigration. On the evening of November 9th 1989, East Germans gathered at the Wall. Rather than open fire, border guards stood down – and the world watched as Germany became one again.
#10: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
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JFK holds a unique place in political history. The WWII veteran was the President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the commencement of the Space Race. He was also the first Catholic President and was elected off the back of the first televised presidential debates. Yet, despite all of this, his time in office lasted less than three years before he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Although the moment itself was caught on camera, the footage was not broadcast live. However, the breaking news was delivered to the American people as events transpired. The country went into mourning, and millions watched his funeral on television.
#9: Chernobyl Disaster
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At first, the details of this disaster were shrouded in secrecy. But word soon got out. During a safety test on 26 April, 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat in Soviet Ukraine went into meltdown, the fault of design flaws and negligent operators. The subsequent explosion threw radioactive particles into the atmosphere. It was Sweden who alerted the world two days later, when radiation hundreds of miles away set off alarms. As the truth was gradually revealed, the scale of the disaster became evident. The meltdown led directly to the deaths of 31 people, and to many more from radiation induced cancer in the years afterwards.
#8: The Attack on Pearl Harbor
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It might be known as the Second “World” War, but for the first few years, the US waited out the conflict raging across Europe. That all changed on December 7, 1941, when Japan launched a surprise strike on the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Several ships were sunk, and 188 aircraft destroyed. Over 2,000 sailors were killed. It was a devastating blow to the United States Pacific Fleet. The following day, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his famous Day of Infamy speech, and Congress declared war on Japan. The Allies’ call for the US to join the war had been answered.
#7: The Hindenburg Disaster
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The first major disaster caught on camera, this airship accident transfixed and horrified audiences in the late 1930s. On May 6, 1937, the German airship LZ 129 Hindenburg was docking in New Jersey when it caught fire, resulting in 36 fatalities. Watching the airship crash to the ground, radio journalist Herb Morrison summed it up best with his iconic exclamation “oh, the humanity”. Despite the carnage, there were survivors, but they couldn’t help establish the cause of the fire, which continues to be debated. Whatever the truth, the effect was the end of zeppelins as a popular form of air travel.
#6: Victory in Europe Day
After six bloody years of battle, the Second World War was finally over in Europe. Berlin had fallen to the Soviet Union’s Red Army, and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had taken his own life. His successor, Admiral Karl Dönitz (DOO-nits), authorized Germany’s surrender. On May 8th, 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced Victory Over Fascism – leading to parties on the streets in celebration. Though the effects of the war were still being felt, the jubilation on that day is historic, and several countries still commemorate the date as a public holiday.
#5: Cuban Missile Crisis
Just 17 years after the Second World War ended, Cold War tensions between the US and Soviet Union almost triggered another one - this time nuclear. In response to the US deploying nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey, the Soviet Union did the same in Cuba in 1962. Cuba was keen for Soviet help, after the US had backed a failed invasion the previous year. Despite being advised to launch an airstrike and invasion, President John F. Kennedy opted for a more diplomatic approach – a naval “quarantine” preventing delivery of more missiles. After tense talks, Kennedy and Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev agreed to scale back their nuclear missiles. But for just over one month, the world stood on the brink of nuclear catastrophe.
#4: Apollo 11 Moon Landing
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It really was one giant leap for mankind. Back in the 1960s, the idea of sending people to the moon still seemed like science fiction. But spurred on by the Space Race between the US and Soviet Union, NASA’s Apollo Lunar Module Eagle touched down on the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969. Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, and Buzz Aldrin the second. An estimated 650 million Earthlings tuned in to witness the event on TV. Despite all our divisions, in that moment, the world watched together in awe as we achieved something never thought possible.
#3: Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki
While World War II ended in Europe on May 8, 1945, the Allies continued to fight against Japan. On August 6th, after the Japanese refused to surrender, the United States dropped an atomic bomb, known as “Fat Man”, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, they dropped a second, known as “Little Boy”, on Nagasaki. The bombs vaporized many in the blast radius, and inflicted radiation burns and sickness on others, killing an estimated 129,000–226,000 people, mostly civilians. Japan surrendered on August 15. Initially, the horrors of the attacks were little reported. But slowly, images and footage began to reveal the hellish consequences of atomic warfare.
#2: 9/11
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Just about everyone who’s old enough to remember it can tell you where they were when they heard about the September 11 attacks in 2011. For New York, it was mid-morning when two hijacked passenger jets crashed into – and ultimately demolished – the Twin Towers as part of a coordinated attack. Another plane hit the Pentagon. After news of a fourth crash came to light that day, it became apparent that the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 took back their flight and downed the weaponised aircraft before it reached Washington D.C.. The event claimed close to 3,000 lives, and the world was forever changed.
#1: The COVID-19 Pandemic
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On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that the Covid-19 outbreak had become a pandemic. At the time, few of us fully understood what it would mean for our lives in the years to come. Nonetheless, the news had people worldwide glued to their screens - or running to stock up on groceries, especially toilet paper. Through lockdowns, the world watched as the virus continued to dominate headlines and the death toll skyrocketed from the hundreds into the thousands and then millions. The WHO’s announcement was the beginning of a long, rocky road for all of us.
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