1. Definitely the Challenger explosion. I was home sick that day and heard it first on the radio. Also, when the movie The Day After, about nuclear war, debuted on TV.
2. Trying to stick with the library! But I have a rule that pre-orders for my favorite authors don't count...
3. The Prydain Cycle and anything else by Lloyd Alexander. I always loved to read but those books were magic.
@Eggs