1969 News and Interesting Tidbits From History

Woodstock Music Festival
The Woodstock Music Festival opens with 500,000 rock music fans going to this Peace and Harmony Music Festival ( there are a couple of memories left by our visitors about this festival on our memories section )
Thirty Two of the world's best known musicians appear during the festival including The Who, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix. Many believe it was the greatest gathering of 60's musicians and is still thought to be the greatest live concert ever staged.

Hurricane Camille
Hurricane Camille a Category 5 hurricane makes landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi with winds estimated between 150 and 205 mile per hour. The hurricane was responsible for the death of nearly 300 people and the destruction of thousands of homes in Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia and Louisiana.

Britain Deploys Troops Northern Ireland
Following a number of days of violence in Londonderry, Belfast and other cities in Northern Ireland, the British Home Secretary James Callaghan announces troops will be deployed in Northern Ireland to restore law and order.

Sharon Tate Found Murdered
Five people, including actress Sharon Tate, were found murdered in the wealthy Bel Air suburb of the city Los Angeles, California, Cult leader Charles Manson and several of his followers were later convicted of the killings.

Man Lands On The Moon
Apollo 11 takes off for the Moon
Second Apollo mission lands on Moon and Neil Armstrong makes Famous quote "That's one small step for man but one giant leap for mankind."

Anti Vietnam Demonstrations
One of the greatest co-ordinated demonstrations in modern times starts on this weekend against US involvement in Vietnam with demonstrations in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other major cities. Just in Washington alone were believed to be over 250,000 in protest at the Vietnam War

Biafra fight for independence
Food aid and medical supplies from the International Committee of the Red Cross to war torn Biafra have been banned by Nigeria. It is estimated as many as three million people who are going to starve to death in the next few weeks unless something is done.
Two weeks later due to International Pressure Nigerian leader, General Gowon, allowed the Red Cross to airlift urgent medical supplies and food to Biafra.

Biafra is forced to give up it's fight for independence shortly afterwards.

Student Protests
Police forces in the United States crack down on student protests on campuses across the US using a number of means at their disposal including warrants and an increased police presence. The universities include some of the most well known institutions including Columbia, Harvard, Cornell and Stanford Universities.

Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick Affair
A car driven by Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy plunged off a narrow wooden bridge into a tidal pond after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island , Kennedy escaped the submerged car but his passenger a pretty blonde secretary ( Mary Jo Kopechne )who was riding with him drowned in the accident. Kennedy was later convicted of leaving the scene of an accident.

Underground Nuclear Test
An underground nuclear test is carried out at the Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada test site.

Concorde Maiden Flight
The supersonic airliner a British / French joint project, Concorde, has it's maiden flight reaching 10,000ft and 300mph . It would be 7 years before Concorde started commercial flights on 21 January 1976 and flew commercial Trans-Atlantic flights until 23 October 2003 when it was retired from service

U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book Closed
The U.S. Air Force closed its Project ''Blue Book'' which was started in 1952 to determine if Unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were a threat to national security, and to scientifically analyze UFO related data, concluding there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind 12,618 UFO sightings it had collected.

The Stonewall Riot
A police raid of the Stonewall Inn a gay club located on New York City's Christopher Street turns violent as patrons and local sympathizers begin rioting against the police this was known as The Stonewall Riot.

Altamont Rolling Stones Concert
A free concert organised by the Rolling Stones featuring Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and The Rolling Stones at the disused Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., is marred by the deaths of four people, including a man who was stabbed by a Hell's Angel, The stage, which was only four feet high, was surrounded by the Hells Angels, who acted as security for the concert.

Brian Jones Former Rolling Stones Guitarist Drowns
The inquest into the death of rock and roll star Brian Jones the former Rolling Stones Guitarist has recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, after he had drowned when taking a cocktail of drink and drugs.

Jim Morrison Arrested
Jim Morrison was arrested by Dade County a few days after his performance in Miami. He was charged of one felony and three misdemeanors related to indecent behavior he displayed on stage.

Race Relations In Great Britain Worsen
As race relations continue to worsen in Britain a group of Conductors and drivers on Wolverhampton buses who are practicing Sikhs have won the right to wear turbans on duty after the leader of a Sikh group, Sohan Singh Jolly, had threatened to burn himself to death in protest.

The Love Bug
The Love Bug, a popular Disney movie, was released for the first time. It was a movie that featured the Volkswagen Beetle, a very popular German car.

Bernadette Devlin
Bernadette Devlin, becomes Britain's youngest ever female MP and the third youngest MP ever.

Charles de Gaulle Resigns
The French President, Charles de Gaulle, resigns from President of France after 11 years, following his defeat in a referendum on governmental reforms.

James Earl Ray Verdict
The verdict had been decided. James Earl Ray pleaded guilty of the crime of assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. a major civil rights leader of the times. King was killed in Memphis Tennessee on April 4, 1968. Ray was sentenced 99 years in prison.

John Lennon Marries Yoko Ono
John Lennon of the Beatles marries Yoko Ono a Japanese avant-garde artist and musician in Gibraltar.

Israel elects Golda Meir
Golda Meir becomes first female Prime Minister of Israel, she had been born in Russia but the family had emigrated to the United States and she had gone to school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was one of twenty-four signatories (two of them women) of the Israeli declaration of independence on May 14, 1948 .

George Harrison
The police search former Beatles George Harrison’s home for illegal drugs. This was a year after John Lennon had been searched for hash (substance derived from marijuana).

The Kray Twins Found Guilty
The Kray twins, Ronald and Reginald, are found guilty of the murder of Jack McVitie at the Old Bailey in London , and face life imprisonment.

Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the epitome of the American muscle car is introduced.

First ATV Race
January 1969-First All-Terrain Vehicle Race

For the first time ever, an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) race took place in the Ossippee Mountains of New Hampshire. The ATV was considered the next step in the advancement of recreational vehicle technology.

Milan Bank Bombing
A bomb is exploded in a bank in Milan, Italy 13 people have been killed and more than 100 injured .

UK Death Penalty Abolished
The British Parliament votes to abolish the death penalty in Great Britain, there had been a temporary ban on the death penalty since 1965.

Boeing 747 gets its FAA airworthiness certificate
The Boeing 747 ( Often Known as Jumbo Jet ) a long-haul, wide body commercial airliner receives its FAA airworthiness certificate paving the way for its introduction into commercial service in 1970

US Institutes Draft Lottery
The U.S. government holds its first draft lottery since World War II when the Selective Service System of the United States held a lottery to determine the order of draft (induction) into the U.S. Army for the Vietnam War.

PLO Formed
The Palestine Liberation Organization was founded on this day. It was an organization that was established to represent the Palestinian people while Yasir Arafat was in office.

Apollo 12
The astronauts Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean of Apollo 12 land on the Moon with their lunar lander, Intrepid, and become the second set of American astronauts to walk on the moons surface.

Sesame Street and the Muppets
Sesame Street known for its Muppet characters, created by the late Jim Henson makes it's debut on PBS. It is one of the longest-running U.S. television shows in history, and is syndicated worldwide because of it's mix of education and entertainment.

All Guns Banned From US Colleges
Following a number of protests and armed students involving guns and weapons in colleges and universities across the US new laws are being sought to ban all guns from college compasses.

Beatles Last Public Performance
The Beatles make their last public performance giving an impromptu concert on the roof of the London recording studio. In April of the following year Paul McCartney formally announced the group's breakup.

News of the World
Rupert Murdoch, takes over the News of the World group.

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