Today marks the 45th anniversary of the day that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated John F. Kennedy as he traveled in the motorcade through Dealy Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Are there any Outsporters who remember that day? I was an infant, but whenever I asked any relative old enough to remember, they could recall it as if it were yesterday. And of course, the following days as the nation mourned, i.e. the return of Jackie Kennedy with the casket, the transferal from the White House to the Capitol for the Lying-in-State, the shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby, the funeral Mass at St. Matthew's Cathedral, and the burial in Arlington.

Other markers for people:

My parents and people of their generation recalled where they were when they heard about Pearl Harbor and the death of FDR.

Of course, there is 9/11.

I was 5, but I have a hazy memory of MLK's Jr. and RFK's assassinations. Of course, at that age you don't really understand the significance.

Other events which helped to shape a collective memory were the fall of Saigon, the resignation of Nixon, the Iranian Hostage Crisis and its ending, the Space Shuttle Tragedy, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Tiananmen Square.

But until 9/11, the Kennedy assassination was the event almost seared into people's memories. It's still shocking to think that he was only 46, his wife in her early 30s, and those two kids. And only Caroline is left.

Although I was only 4 years old, I remember it vividly. I was watching As the World Turns (done live at the time) with my Mom when Walter Cronkite broke the news. I don't remember much more about that day as my Mom distracted me away from the TV and I knew she was crying.

I do remember watching the funeral and feeling so sorry for those little kids (very close to my age) losing their Daddy and how stoic Jackie was during the whole day. I remember the grown-ups saying "she must be on tranquilizers" to hold up the way she did. Not a proud time in Texas that's for sure.

If you ever visit Dallas, the Sixth Floor Museum is an excellent place to revisit this sad day in history. It's very well done (especially if you get the audio tour).

I remember it vividly. I was 12 years old and in 7th grade, but was living in Germany.

Over there it occurred at about 7 o'clock at night. We didn't have a TV quite yet because we had only arrived in Germany five days earlier, but we had a radio, and heard about it there. My mom, dad and I went to the local gasthaus (pub) immediately, and watched the horror on television there. There were tons of neighbors at the pub some of whom were in tears. JFK was hugely popular with the Germans especially after his visit to Berlin.

JFK's assassination, MLK's assassination, RFK's assassination, the moon landing and 9/11. All are events I will never forget, and never forget where I was and what I was doing.

I was 9 in fourth grade at the time and recall our principal coming on over the intercom and announcing he had been shot and ask that we join him in silent prayer hoping for his recovery. He came back on a half hour later a saying he had died and that we would soon be dismissed from school. It was a scary time as we were old enough to feel sad and shocked by it and the grown ups in our lives often weren't able to put forward the aura of assurance that everything will be alright. I remember seeing men and women with teary eyes and that my mom wept a number of times over the next few days. I think we had the full week off from school, sometimes able to be kids but sometimes wrapped up in the permeating sadness of the time. I think there may have been near round the clock TV coverage from the shot to beyond the funeral. I was watching the TV when Oswald was shot by Ruby, another layer of weirdness added to the whole experience.

I remember the day as well. I was 4 and my mother was sewing a pair of curtains as she was watching As the World Turns. When Cronkite broke in with the bulletin, she jumped out of the chair, said "oh my god" and ran downstairs (where my grandmother lived) to tell her.