Continuation from yesterday's post concerning History in the making: Space Shuttle Endeavour's final flight over California

How does an event become a historical moment or historical event?

Every event must first begin in the present.

We can also frame (outlook, approach) the event based on previous events, our own personal experiences, previous knowledge, research, books/articles we have read on the subject, the media.

By creating a frame of reference we can judge, critique, assess, compare/contrast, look at cause and effect of an event.

This event than can be judged (criteria can vary from person to person- subjective).

We can also look at the event in terms of other similar events? How does this event compare to previous events? Look at scale, possible effects, etc.

For example, forest fires have been a major issue in much of the United States in 2012. We can compare these events to previous forest fires. We can also look at the scale (how much forest burnt?) We can also look at where and when these fires took place.We can look at the loss of land, buildings, and unfortunately lives. We can look at cost. But we can also look at it with a historical theme/thought process.
Comparing to previous years or previous forest fires for comparison purposes.
Will this fire be remembered in 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years? What would people say?
We can look at long-term effects (environmental, etc).
We could study how the media covered the fire coverage.

We need to think of present-day events in terms of their historical implications.

As a society we also need to think and criticize/analyse the world around us not just take everything at face value.