Several flashbulb moments

From the NASA history site:

The LM landed on the Moon at 20:17:39 GMT (16:17:39 EDT) on 20 July 1969 at 102:45:39.9. Engine shutdown occurred 1.5 seconds later. The LM landed in Mare Tranquilitatis (Sea of Tranquility) at latitude 0.67408° north and longitude 23.47297° east and 22,500 feet west of the center of the landing ellipse. Approximately 45 seconds of firing time remained at landing.

For the first two hours on the lunar surface, the crew performed a checkout of all systems, configured the controls for lunar stay, and ate their first post-landing meal. A rest period had been planned to precede the extravehicular activity of exploring the lunar surface but was not needed.

After donning the back-mounted portable life support and oxygen purge systems, the commander prepared to exit the LM. The forward hatch was opened at 109:07:33 and the commander exited at 109:19:16. While descending the LM ladder, he deployed the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly from the descent stage. A camera in the module provided live television coverage as he descended. The commander’s left foot made first contact with the lunar surface at 02:56:15 GMT on 21 July (22:56:15 EDT on 20 July) at 109:24:15. His first words on the lunar surface were, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

So it is exactly fifty years since a manned spacecraft landed on the moon. (One should not forget that the Soviet Union had landed - or crashed - at least half-a-dozen objects on the moon's surface starting in September 1959.). Most people of a certain age can remember exactly where they were when it happened. My own memory is reinforced by the fact that my first daughter had been born the day before. There was a visit or two to the maternity hospital at Barnehurst, which even then was far from overcrowded so that Yvonne and young Catherine received the sort of personal attention which would astonish users of the English NHS today.

The new granddad (grandmother must have wondered what the fuss was about and retired to bed) and I settled down to watch the lunar excursion through the early hours of the morning. Notwithstanding the remarkable background programming fronted by James Burke and Patrick Moore, and both our perhaps conservative preferences for BBC, my recollection of the respective programmes was that ITV was providing the better pictures, so we agreed to stick with the commercial channel. We did hear and puzzle over the immortal first words. The rest of the time between then and my departure with DVL for Swansea is all hazy, but I do recall the first clear night and looking up at the full moon and saying to myself: "We've been up there.".