The Burning Tower(s).

If the Baby Boomers’ collective memory was rooted in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, September 11th, 2001 served the same purpose for Generation X. Though, in all likelihood, 9/11 displaced the Kennedy shooting in the minds of the Boomers. In terms of world-historical significance, there is no competition—you know the seminal event of a lifetime when you see it.

These historical singularities, if you’re unlucky enough to live through one, are not simply tragic: they are moments that color all the years that follow. They are occurrences that were in some way inconceivable until you watched them unfold—the kind of thing that would have sounded like the plot of some terrible movie until you witnessed them with your own eyes.

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