[AndrewNCarr]

If you were in school, it is very possible you did watch it live:

"With Christa McAuliffe set to be the first teacher in space, NASA had arranged a satellite broadcast of the full mission into television sets in many schools, but the general public did not have access to this unless they were one of the then-few people with satellite dishes. What most people recall as a "live broadcast" was actually the taped replay broadcast soon after the event." http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11031097/

[poulsbohemian]

I definitely remember that day - Commander Dick Scobee was from my hometown of Auburn, WA, so every tv was on. Likewise, ask anyone from the Pacific Northwest who was alive on May 18, 1980 what they were doing that day... I was maybe 3, but even I recall vividly.

[JoshMnem]

I have a memory of watching it live in elementary school in the US. I remember wondering why everyone was saying "what happened?" when it had clearly exploded. I don't think it's a false memory.

[mixmastamyk]

Was (too) early in the morning on the east coast, the cold contributed to the failure. By the time we arrived in school in California, it was hours-old news.

[mentat]

"The time had come, at 11:38 AM Eastern Standard Time" - at least look it up.