How many "oh s***" moments have we had in the last 100 years?

[XemaSab]

I am seeking the wisdom of my elders in an attempt to put the last 10 years in perspective.

It seems like the last 10 years offered three real "oh s***" moments that changed our country: September 11th, Hurricane Katrina, and this oil spill.

What are some of the other moments in the last 100 years?

Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, the assassinations of the '60's, and Chernobyl are the only four that are coming to my mind. (Yes, the Great Depression, World War II, and Vietnam sucked, but from my young perspective, those seem more like ongoing catastrophes than single, defining moments.)

Is it just me, or has the last decade had more crisis moments for the US than just about any other decade since the founding?

Talk me down, please.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. The '60s were pretty bad.

That was my "oh s***" decade.

[izquierdista]

2. FDR's death

Everyone stopped in their tracks for that. To a similar extent, when Reagan got shot, it was an "oh shit, what are we in for now?" until he came out of surgery ok.

(edited to add For me, when Reagan was elected it was "oh shit, what are we in for now?" and Dubya's appointment by the Supremes, but that was more an Oh fuck!)

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. Well, you mention Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima, but then mention WWII seperately.

But it was Pearl Harbor that started WWII (at least from the US perspective) and Hiroshima that effectively ended it (whatever your feelings on the act of using a nuclear bomb itself)

So there's your ongoing catastrophe sandwiched between two slices of Oh Shit, I guess.

Makes me kinda nervous about what sort of fucked up event will end this bullshit called "the war on terra". :scared:

[XemaSab]

10. Would that make WWII a shit sandwich?

:P

[lpbk2713]

4. Three Mile Island, Love Canal

The Y2K Florida Selection.

The Truman / Dewey election.

[customerserviceguy]

5. We've had space exploration disasters

The Columbia and Challenger space shuttles should come to mind, and Apollo's 1 and 13 are there, too. No, they didn't make a movie about Apollo 1, but we lost three astronauts in a fire at the top of a rocket in 1967 that was a crushing blow to the soaring space program that was to take us to the moon.

[XemaSab]

11. I remember where I was when Challenger blew up

and while on the small level it was certainly good for an "oh shit," I'm talking about moments where the future of the country as it has been seems gravely in doubt.

For example, in the aftermath of September 11th, a lot of people were wondering if we were going to get into a World War II-type war; in the aftermath of Katrina, a lot of people were wondering if New Orleans was going to be a viable community; and now a lot of people are wondering if the Gulf will EVER recover or if it will be dead.

[customerserviceguy]

18. OK, maybe Challenger was not on that level

but Apollo 1 was. The space race was a proxy war with the Russians, and they had only launched Sputnik a decade before. President Kennedy had committed us to landing men on the moon, and he had only been assassinated barely more than three years before the Apollo 1 tragedy.

It was America's first loss of life in the space program, and it challenged us to our core, that maybe we couldn't accomplish everything we set out to do. Vietnam seemed quite winnable to the country at that point in time, and it shook the US to see national failure, where one had not been seen within living memory.

[XemaSab]

19. I hear ya on that

It's still amazing to me that the Soviet Union is done for.

Gorbachev going on vacation to the Crimea might be such a game changer, and one that I remember well.

[madamesilverspurs]

6. The 2000 election aftermath

that lasted for eight years and will impact negatively for generations.

-

[sandnsea]

7. Mt St Helens, The Tsunami, Loma Prieta, Exxon Valdez

Other oil spills. The Kuyahoga River Fire has always been one for me. A river can get so polluted it fucking burns???!!!??? I was around 12, holy shit.

There was a special a few years ago on an underground radioactive waste tunnel. Massive fucking thing on a reservation in New Mexico. Another Holy Shit for me and why I am opposed to nuclear power.

Egads, the rivers in China that don't flow because of computer parts.

Oh man, don't get me started.

[Uzybone]

8. too many to list

are you speaking of America only or world wide?

The burning of the Reichstag and the assassination of the Austrian Duke were more of an oh shit moment than Pearl Harbor.

[XemaSab]

12. World wide is good

Were those "oh shit" at the moment, or was it only later that they were seen as pivotal moments in history?

[Uzybone]

13. The assassination of the Duke was "oh shit" at the time

but the Reichstag's burning was probably not. Good point.

[dana_b]

9. politically, Watergate

seemed to really open up the eyes of a lot of people outside of the anti-war/"hippie" movement. Even every day housewives were pissed off.

[XemaSab]

14. Good call

Definitely changed the landscape, and not for the better. :(

[foxfeet]

15. The Cuban Missile Crisis.

[pinboy3niner]

17. Excellent example that also demonstrated the possibilities of leadership nt

[customerserviceguy]

22. Yes, that was a big one

The whole world nearly disappeared in WW III at that time. It really does make the current Gulf of Mexico crisis seem small by comparison.

[Itchinjim]

16. The assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.

The grand daddy of "Oh shit!" moments of the last hundred years. WW1 set the stage for practically every "Oh shit!" moment that came after it.

[Odin2005]

26. LOL, I was gonna say the same thing.

Though I was gonna call it the MOTHER of all Oh-Shits. :P

[SemiCharmedQuark]

20. Well my grandma was very afraid during Sputnik

They thought the Russians were going to use space weapons or something.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

21. How about the civil rights struggle? People being killed, attacked with dogs, unrest across the

nation...

[XemaSab]

23. That unfolded over a period of time

but for many people, it was a protracted "oh shit" moment. Good call.

[lpbk2713]

24. The Palomares incident.

That caused a lot of tense moments in the early 60's. And there are still effects to this day.

[XemaSab]

25. Oh shit!

I was not previously aware of this, but thanks for educating me.

[XemaSab]

27. I should also qualify

and say that there have been several earthquakes in my lifetime that were shocking.

Oklahoma City was also awful.