Most Shocking Events Ever Caught on Film

History is full of shocking events. Unfortunately, not all of them were captured on film. It wasn't until the invention of film during the 20th century that it was used to capture and record events, preserving some of the most shocking moments in human history for future generations. Now, with the internet and, especially youtube, providing users with the opportunity to upload streaming videos, these events are easily accessible to history buffs. Here is a list of some of the most shocking moments in history, recorded on film or for television, and available for viewing on youtube.

The Hindenburg Disaster

Like the Titanic decades before, the LZ 129 Hindenburg was considered a master of design and engineering. Created by the Nazis during the 1930s, it was also meant to reveal the power and mastery of Nazi engineering and prowess. Named after Paul von Hindenburg, the former president of Germany, this zeppelin however proved to have an achilles' heel when, after a flight to the United States, the airship, frilled with hydrogen, caught fire as it was about to land at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey on May 6, 1937. The Hindenburg Disaster was captured on newsreels, shocking audiences as they watched the zeppelin catch fire and crash to the ground, killing 13 passengers and 22 crew members. Amazingly, there were survivors as passengers and crew members either jumped from the zeppelin before it crashed to the ground or were pulled from the burning wreckage.

Lee Harvey Oswald Shot by Jack Ruby

Coming on the heels of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, America was still reeling from the violence when his alleged assassin was cut down in the basement of a Dallas police station that Sunday afternoon. Jack Ruby, a local mob affiliate, appeared out of a crowd of reporters as Oswald was being escorted by police to a waiting armored car, approached the accused assassin and fired the fatal shot. Oswald's shooting was the first time Americans witnessed a live killing on their television screens. His death, along with the president's, set in motion a slide toward the violence and mayham in America that followed during the decade.

Robert F. Kennedy Assassinated

In 1968, Robert Kennedy followed in his brother's footsteps and announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. But sadly, his road to the White House ended June 5 when an assassin's bullet cut down the young senator in the kitchen passageway at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Kennedy had just completed his acceptance speech after winning the California primaries. The entire speech and the aftermath of Kennedy's assassination was captured live on television, shocking a nation already numbed by violence, war, and civil unrest.

Kennedy's Speech

The Shooting and Its Aftermath

The Challenger Explosion

A public relations boon for NASA, which was looking for further funding from Congress, the Challenger flight, carrying along with it schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian hoping to make it into outer space, was meant to symbolize the scientific challenges of the NASA space shuttle program. Unfortunately, after the Challenger's liftoff at the Kennedy Space Center on January 28, 1986 became a symbol of tragedy when, after 17 seconds in flight, the shuttle exploded. Caught live on television, the explosion was also witnessed by the family and friends of the Challenger crew to their confusion, shock and horror. Along with McAuliffe, crew members Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onazuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik lost their lives.

The Gulf War

The Vietnam War was the first war brought to American living rooms. But the Persian Gulf War was the first war broadcast live. CNN, the first cable news network, distinguished itself during the early hours of the U.S. attack in the Persian Gulf when reporters John Holliman, Bernie Shaw and Peter Arnett broke the news live from their hotel room in Baghdad, Iraq. While live pictures of the attacks were not immediately available for broadcast, those early reports by the shaky journalists (done mostly over the phone) were riveting as the sounds of missile explosions were heard in the background.

O.J. Bronco Chase

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScDSZWCevhc

One of the more absurd events ever captured live on television, former football champ O.J. Simpson, after being charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and friend Ron Goldman, went on a low-speed car chase with the L.A. police after Simpson failed to turn himself in. Along with his friend, Simpson led the police and America on the now infamous chase in his white Ford Bronco SUV, ending when the Bronco pulled up into the driveway of Simpson's estate. Americans were literally riveted to the television screen, though nothing really happened. The Bronco Chase served to reveal the nature of 24 hour cable news networks, such as CNN, to capture live events in all their raw glory.

9/11

The first shocking moment in American history occurred when the millenium, which began so jubilantly over a year before, was still new. Nine terrorists hijacked four airplanes and flew two of them into the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, while the fourth was commandeered by flight passengers and forced into a Pennsylvania field before it could reach its target. News cameras caught the shocking and sickening image of those two planes flying into the WTC, stunning and paralyzing the nation with its horror, and with minute detail brought live footage of the aftermath. But the technology of cell phones and digital cameras and their availability to average Americans also widened the scope of coverage as these sad events were recorded in every way imaginable. Never before has technology been at the very center of capturing history in its palm.