NORTH CAROLINA- Do you remember exactly where you were during 9/11? What about the assassination of JFK or when you found out Kobe Bryant had died?

The ability to remember a memory like one of these events, in detail, is due to a phenomenon called Flashbulb Memory. Professor of Psychology, Jennifer Tallorica says these are memories "for events that are remote, distant, don't have much direct or immediate consequences for us."

She says these memories are collected during events that are important to your social group, such as your nationality, profession, or even something like a sports team. Professor Tallorica says even if we remember them vividly, they're not always accurate. "Even though we feel like we remember these events really clearly, they do last a long time, literally a lifetime, there is an interesting phenomenon that we tend to be less wiling to believe that were making memory errors, forgetting details or adding in some details, maybe mistaken".

Regardless, your brain holds on to these memories to connect with others, and a way to remember.