There was no such thing as YouTube in 1969 . If you missed watching an important event on TV, you couldn’t Google it to catch up. For the most part, you just had to be there.

The Apollo 11 moon landing on July 20, 1969, was one of those important events. As Neil Armstrong descended the steps of the lunar module and became the first person to set foot on the moon, the world’s eyes seemed to be upon him.

As “First Man,” a new film from Damien Chazelle, tells the story of the landing from Armstrong’s perspective, we asked readers what they remembered of that day and what it meant to them.

Here is a selection of their responses, which have been edited and condensed for clarity. Please use the comments to share your own memories.