1969: Information
AstronomyAmerican astronauts land on the Moon. See also
.Thomas Gold and Franco Pacini [b. Florence, Italy, 1939] explain pulsars as rapidly rotating neutron stars th as these beams intersect Earth, they are detected as rapid on-and-off radio signals. See also
.In January William Cocke, Donald Taylor, and Michael Disney are the first to identify a visible star associated with a , the pulsar in the Crab Nebula. Previously, pulsars were known from radio signals only. See also
; .BiologyJonathan Beckwith and coworkers succeed in iso it is a
gene for a step in the
of sugar.Brooklyn College professor Robert Whittaker [b. 1920, d. 1980] proposes a fifth kingdom of organisms, Fungi, for all fungi. The previously identified kingdoms are monerans (bacteria and blue-green ), protists (more complex single-celled organisms), plants, and animals.R. Bruce Merrifield [b. Fort Worth, Texas, July 15, 1921] makes the first synthetic enzyme, a copy of . See also
; .The Murchison meteorite is observed to fall near the small town of Murchison, Victoria, Australia, on September 18. Fragments are collected by local residents. Since the fragments appear to contain organic matter, they are analyzed by the same laboratory that has been set up to study Moon rocks for signs of life. Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, are found, the first ever observed from any
origin. See also
.Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, and Salvador E. Luria of the United States win the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for their discoveries in the workings and reproduction of . See also
; .ChemistryDerek Barton of England and Odd Hassel of Norway win the Nobel Prize in chemistry for the determination of the three-dimensional shape of organic compounds. See also
; .CommunicationARPANET, the U.S. Defense Department precursor of the Internet, is born. See also
.Jazz pianist Paul Bley is the first person to perform with a music
in front of a live audience. Previous uses of synthesizers were only on records. See also
.The IBM Corporation improves the magnetic
by substituting a card instead of a tape. The new device is known as the Mag Card Selectric. See also
; .Don Wetzel, who works for a Texas manufacturer of automated
systems, develops the
(ATM). The first model is installed at a branch of Chemical Bank on Long Island in New York. The first models are not linked with other machines as later ones will be. See also
.ComputersThe RS-232-C standard for data exchange between computers and peripherals, such as a , is introduced for the serial transmission of data. See also
; ."Bubble memory" devices are created for use in computers. Unlike conventional memory devices, bubble memory continues to remember even when the computer is turned off.Earth scienceJohn H. Ostrom of Yale University [b. 1928] resurrects Thomas Henry Huxley's theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs.A fossil of Lystrosaurus, a 240,000,000-year-old therapsid (mammal-like reptile) is found at Coalsack Bluff in Antarctic, indicating that Antarctica was once connected by land to Africa, where Lystrosaurus was common hundreds of millions of years ago. See also
.Ecology & the environmentThe U.S. Congress creates the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).An offshore drilling
at Santa Barbara, California, spills 11,000,000
of oil, arousing public anger against oil pollution. See also
is built at Odeillo in the French Pyrenees. It uses a
mirror to concentrate sunlight to produces an output of 1000
of electricity. The furnace is also used to produce extremely high temperatures for various scientific experiments, also. See also
.MaterialsSoviet cosmonauts aboard the orbiting Soyuz 6 perform the first
experiments in space.MathematicsThe new U.S. military draft lottery gets off to a bad start when workers use a selection procedure that is not random. Men born in the later months of the year are much more likely to be drafted than those born in the early months.Medicine & healthBritish physiologist Robert Jeffrey Edwards and surgeon Patrick Steptoe [b. Oxford, England, June 9, 1913, d. Canterbury, England, March 21, 1988] perform the first successful fertil the first "test-tube baby" resulting from this technique is born in England in 1978. See also
.In Texas, Denton Cooley [b. Houston, Texas, August 22, 1920] and Domingo Liotta [b. , Argentina, 1924] replace the diseased heart of Haskell Karp with the first artificial heart to be u Karp lives for nearly three days. See also
; .Elisabeth Kübler-Ross [b. Zurich, Switzerland, July 8, 1926], in On Death and Dying, introduces five stages of dying that people go through in progression: denial, anger, , depression, acceptance.PhysicsRoger Penrose [b. England, August 8, 1931] shows that singularities predicted by Einstein's general relativity can be "clothed" (that is, restricted in their influence) by black holes. "Naked" singularities would destroy the universe, and since it has not been destroyed, do not exist.Murray Gell-Mann of the United States wins the Nobel Prize in physics for his classification of elementary particles. See also
.ToolsAn atomic clock built by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory based on the natural
molecules achieves a precision of 1 second in 1,700,000 years. See also
.TransportationOn March 3 the United States launches space vehicle Apollo 9 with astronauts David Scott, James McDivitt, and Russell Schweickart [b. Neptune, New Jersey, October 25, 1935] aboard. It is the first flight of all lunar hardware, including a lunar module (LM). It successfully lands on March 13. On May 18 Apollo 10 carries astronauts Thomas Stafford, Eugene Cernan, and John Young into space and into lunar orbit. The purpose of this flight is to evaluate LM performance in a lunar environment. The mission includes a descent of the LM piloted by Stafford and Cernan to within 14,326 m (47,000 ft) of the Moon's surface. The LM successfully rejoins the command module in orbit and all three astronauts return to Earth on May 26.American astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 20 becomes the first human being to stand on the Moon, part of the Apollo 11 mission launched on July 16. Crewmate Buzz Aldrin is right behind him, while the other member of the Apollo 11 crew, Michael Collins, orbits the Moon. Armstrong and Aldrin achieve the mission goals of limited inspection, photography, evaluation, and sampling of lunar soil. Apollo 11 returns to Earth July 24. A second lunar landing mission, Apollo 12, begins with a launch on November 14 and lands on the Moon on November 19. Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan L. Bean [b. Wheeler, Texas, March 15, 1932] travel to the Moon. Conrad and Bean spend over 15 hours exploring the surface of the Moon. The crew returns to Earth on November 24.The Soviet Soyuz 4 mission with cosmonaut Vladimir Shatolov aboard is launched on January 14; it docks with Soyuz 5 in first linkup of two space vehicles th it completes 48 orbits. Soyuz 5 is launched with Boris V. Volynov, Alexei S. Yeliseyev, and Yevgeni V. K they all temporarily leave the spacecraft for spacewalks and then are transferred to Soyuz 4 in rescue . The Soviet Soyuz 6 mission starts off on October 11 with Georgi S. Shonin and Valery N. K this is the first triple launch, as Soyuz 7 launches October 12 (with Anatoly V. Filipchenko, Vladislav N. Volkov, and Viksot V. Gorbatko as crew) and Soyuz 8 (with cosmonauts Vladimir A. Shatalov and Aleksei S. Yeliseyev) on October 13. Experiments in navigation and photography are conducted with Soyuz 6, 7, and 8.
On March 2 the Concorde supersonic passenger jet airplane, developed jointly by France and Britain, has its first test flight. See also
Drama and Theater
: Goin' a Buffalo. Written in 1966 but staged in New York in 1969, 's play is about a group of ex-convicts and hookers planning one final drug deal before jumping bail in Los Angeles and attempting to start over in Buffalo.
: Ceremonies in Dark Old Men. Elder's highly acclaimed drama concerns a Harlem barber and his family's efforts to cope with the impact of racism on their lives. Elder became the director of the 's Playwrights' Unit before moving to
to write screenplays, including Sounder (1972).
: Butterflies Are Free. Gershe's only successful play concerns a blind man's attempt to escape from his dominating mother and his relationship with an actress who fears commitment.
: No Place to Be Somebody. The first off-Broadway play to win the , and the first by a black playwright, concerns a black bar owner's losing struggle against the . The Cleveland-born Gordone had been a barroom waiter while struggling as a New York actor. His other works would include Gordone is a Mutha (1970) and The Last Chord (1976).
: To Be Young, Gifted, and Black. Robert Nemiroff, Hansberry's , assembles the late playwright's unfinished works, letters, and diary entries for the first of two dramatic collections. The other is Les Blancs (1970).
: A Rat's Mass. 's drama performed off-Broadway at La Mama concerns the relationship between a black brother and sister and the white girl next door. Also in 1969, the
produces Kennedy's The Owl's Answer, a symbolic drama in which a New York subway door opens into the Tower of London where Chaucer, Shakespeare, Anne Boleyn, and the Virgin Mary appear.
: Indians. One of the groundbreaking dramas of the decade is this depiction of American hypocrisy and violence during the nineteenth century, as scenes from the lives of Sitting Bull and
are juxtaposed in a scathing, symbolic attack on American genocide. The play had first been produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in London in 1968.
: 45 Mercy Street. 's only play is produced. Concerned with incest, the drama lends credence to Sexton's claims that she herself had been sexually molested by relatives when she was a young child.
: The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. 's comedy concerns a middle-aged married restaurant owner's bungled attempt to join the sexual revolution.
: Oh! Calcutta! The British drama critic assembles an erotic revue featuring contributions by Jules Feiffer, Bruce Jay Friedman, Sam Shepard, and others. Its extensive nudity and blatant sexual content prompt a national debate on censorship. After an initial run of 610 performances, the play would be revived in 1970. When it finally closed in 1989 after 5,959 performances, it was the second-longest-running musical in
: The Serpent. This Open Theatre production, first performed in Italy in 1968, is an amalgam of period t an ensemble cast mimes the
assassination and scenes set in the . The play wins the
and would be viewed as a kind of
for American experimental theater of the decade.
: In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel. One of Williams's most intensely personal plays concerns an artist facing the disintegration of his talent. The play manages only a short
run, with critics viewing the play as evidence of the playwright's own collapse.
: Naked Came the Stranger. Conceived by Newsday columnist Mike McGrady, this novel, written under a pseudonym, parodies the works of Harold Robbins and Jacqueline Susann. It is jointly produced by
and his colleagues, based on an "unremitting emphasis on sex." The hoax reaches number four on the New York Times bestseller list, the seventh-biggest-selling novel of 1969.
: The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo. The first of 's juvenile novels draws praise and criticism for treating adolescence realistically. Dealing with the traumas of a middle child who claims the attention of his parents when he is cast as a green kangaroo in the school play, the novel would be followed by Iggie's House (1970), treat Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret (1970), about a twelve-year-old whose father is
and mother is C It's Not the End of the World (1972), Deenie (1973), dealing with a girl suff and Blubber (1974), treating adolescent obesity.
: The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. The New York journalist and columnist's first novel is a comic depiction of inept New York underworld figures. World Without End, Amen (1973), Table Money (1987), and He Got Hungry and Forgot His Manners (1987) would follow, all dealing with various aspects of New York City from a working-class perspective.
: The New Yorkers. One of Calisher's major works gives the background of her recurring character Ruth Mannix. The book is praised for its knowing look at New York City life.
: Bullet Park. Cheever's third novel concerns a suburban family and a 's attempt to
their . Called by Wilfrid Sheed "a brutal
of American life," it is the least
of Cheever's books.
: Pricksongs and Descants. Coover's collection of short fiction is one of the major examples of innovative "metafictions," works ultimately about themselves. Included are intriguing works such as "The Babysitter,"
"The Elevator," and "The Sentient Lens."
: The Andromeda Strain. The first of 's best-selling thrillers (concerning a deadly microorganism from outer space that threatens life on earth) that would make him one of the most successful writers in America. Many of his novels--The Terminal Man (1972), Congo (1980), Jurassic Park (1990), and The Lost World (1995)--would be adapted into blockbuster films.
: Consider Sappho Burning. Following his first novel, The Martlet's Tale (1966), based on the biblical story of the prodigal son, Delbanco produces one of his
works, an experimental novel about a lesbian poet. Born in London and educated at
and , Delbanco has been a teacher of creative writing at the University of
and elsewhere.
: Lunar Landscapes. This collection includes short stories, the
Charivari, and two short novels, The Goose on the Grave and The Owl.
: The Left Hand of Darkness. Le Guin's much-admired, controversial science fiction novel is set on a distant, frozen planet populated by hermaphrodites. Widely considered her most significant book, it looks at gender relations from a unique
perspective.
: The Big Bounce. The first of 's crime novels had been rejected
times before being sold as a film story and appearing as a paperback original. It features the writer's characteristic offbeat realism and
prose style, reminiscent of the works of Ernest Hemingway and James M. Cain. It would be followed by a number of contemporary crime thrillers that solidified Leonard's reputation.
: Pictures of Fidelman: An Exhibition. This volume collects episodes in the career of a middle-aged man from the
who journeys to Italy to become an artist.
: The Chosen Place, the Timeless People. Marshall's most political novel concerns an American research group on a
and an exploration of identity shaped by history, race, class, and culture.
: The Sporting Club. 's well-received debut, a comedy set at a fashionable
gun club, shows the author's characteristic manic humor. McGuane would employ the same black comic style in his second novel, The Bushwacked Piano (1971), about a young man's break from his conventional lifestyle.
: Hue and Cry. 's first acclaimed story collection treats ordinary working-class characters, described by one reviewer as "mostly desperate, mostly black, and mostly lost figures in the urban nightmare of violence, rage, and bewilderment that is currently America." Ralph Ellison, in praising McPherson's achievement and potential, declares that as a writer McPherson will never be "an embarrassment to such people of excellence as Willie Mays, Duke Ellington, Leontyne Price--or, for that matter, Stephen Crane or F. Scott Fitzgerald."
: Going Places. Michaels's first story collection establishes his reputation as one of the masters of the short story. A second collection, I Would Have Saved Them If I Could, would follow in 1975. Michaels, the son of immigrant Polish Jews, grew up on New York's Lower East Side and spoke only
until he was six years old.
: House Made of Dawn. After publishing his first book, Journey of Tai-me (1968), a nonfiction recounting of
folktales and myths, Momaday produces his first novel. It traces the career of a young Native American unable to find a home in either white or Indian society. The book wins accolades--as well as a Pulitzer Prize--for Momaday, who is seen as the herald of a new generation of Native American writers that would include Leslie Marmon Silko, James Welch, and Louise Erdrich.
: Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle. The memoir of Van Veen, describing his lifelong love for his half-sister, is one of Nabokov's most ambitious works and his most exuberant celebration of language, , and love. While granting the novel's genius, critics are divided over whether this is Nabokov's masterpiece or a self-indulgent exercise in literary exhibitionism.
: them. Oates's chronicle of a blue-collar
family from the Depression through the Detroit race riots wins the National Book Award.
: The Godfather. After two previous critically acclaimed but unpopular novels,
produces what has been described as the fastest-selling novel in American history. The story of Don Vito Corleone's career as a
don remains number one on the bestseller list for
weeks and sells eight million paperback copies. Puzo would share the Academy Award with Francis Ford Coppola for their screenplays for The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather, Part II (1974), the first two films based on the novel. Puzo would follow up his success with other popular novels about organized crime: The Sicilian (1984), The Last Don (1996), and Omerta (2000).
: Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down. Reed's zany fantasy has been described as an African American
western. Set in a time warp, it portrays the Loop Garoo Kid, a black cowboy against an evil rancher, and introduces the concept of HooDoo, Reed's version of primitive forces of life pitted against the white Christian tradition.
: Portnoy's Complaint. Alexander Portnoy's autobiography--"as told to" his psychiatrist--records his "complaint" that he can find relief from the guilt inflicted by his archetypally possessive
only through compulsive masturbation. The comic style and, at the time, scandalous subject matter bring
a multitude of readers and a notorious reputation.
: A Day of Pleasure: Stories of a Boy Growing Up in Warsaw. Singer wins the second National Book Award ever given in children's literature (the first had been won by Meindert Dejong [] for Journey from Peppermint Street, 1968) for this collection of scenes of
in the 1930s.
: Collected Stories. Stafford's story collection wins the
and prompts a recognition of the writer as one of the modern masters of the short story form.
: Slaughterhouse-F or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death. Billy Pilgrim is a shell-shocked prisoner of war in
who witnesses the firebombing of
while also "time-tripping" to the distant planet of , where he is put in a zoo and mated with a movie star. Blending dark comedy, farce, and philosophical speculation, the novel is widely considered 's masterpiece.
: What I Am Going to Do, I Think. The North Dakota native's first novel, an intense character study of two newlyweds adjusting to
and an unwanted pregnancy, wins the William Faulkner Foundation Award. A sequel, Indian Affairs, would appear in 1992.
Literary Criticism and Scholarship
: The Decline of the New. Howe's harsh assessment of literary modernism and contemporary writing in America includes one of his most important essays, "The New York Intellectual."
: Mystery and Manners. This posthumously published collection of lectures and essays contains O'Connor's
explication of her works, creative process, and artistic vision.
: Literature and the Sixth Sense. This collection of critical and political essays is united by an awareness of the historical, which Rahv defines as the sixth sense.
Nonfiction
: Present at the Creation: My Years in the State Department.
covers his long political career and his role in U.S. foreign relations from 1941 to 1953. According to reviewer Wallace Carroll, "As autobiography, this book is enthralling, as history indispensable, as a manual for government and diplomacy invaluable."
: Die, Nigger, Die. The black militant and former chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee provides a polemical autobiography of his
childhood and the development of his racial and political ideas. As Jamil Addullah Al-Amin, he would be sentenced in 2002 to life in prison for killing a police officer in .
: American Power and the New Mandarins. The linguistic scholar enters the political arena with this scathing attack on the failure of liberal intellectuals to prevent America's war policies.
would continue his attack in At War with Asia (1970).
: Gandhi's Truth: On the Origin of Militant Nonviolence. The German-born psychoanalyst wins both the National Book Award and the
for his study of , noteworthy for its application of
to an understanding of Gandhi's ideas and development.
: I'm OK, You're OK. Harris, a psychiatrist and supporter of the methods of Dr. Eric Berne, supplies a popular practical guide to transactional analysis, a
method focused not on the past but on interactions among individuals.
: An Unfinished Woman. The first volume of 's memoirs appears and is instantly taken up by the women's movement. Later, many would question the
of Hellman's account.
: Revolution for the Hell of It. Written under the pseudonym "Free," this is the first of 's polemical works asserting his
philosophy of counterculture activism. It would be followed by Woodstock Nation (1970) and Steal This Book (1971). Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, a graduate of Brandeis, Hoffman was the cofounder in 1968 of the Youth International Party (Yippies) and described himself as "the super salesman of radical ideas."
: On Death and Dying.
interviews with dozens of dying hospital patients, Kübler-Ross's first book becomes a bestseller and a standard reference tool for physicians, patients, and families, outlining the five stages of dying: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. It would be followed by Questions and Answers About Death and Dying (1972), Death: The Final Stage (1974), Living with Death and Dying (1981), On Children and Death (1983), AIDS: The Ultimate Challenge (1987), and The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Death and Dying (1997).
: The Selling of the President, 1968. McGinniss's first book is a critically praised and best-selling analysis of the effort by the
team to recast the image of their candidate by using modern marketing techniques and television. McGinniss was a Philadelphia-based reporter and a freelance writer whose subsequent books would include Heroes (1976), Fatal Vision (1983), and Blind Faith (1988).
: The Way to Rainy Mountain. Momaday connects the
myths he learned from his grandmother and collected in his initial book, The Journey of Tai-me (1967), with autobiographical reflections, in an innovative blending of myth, history, and personal experience.
: Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask). Psychiatrist Reuben's folksy,
approach to human sexuality becomes one of the decade's most popular books, selling more than eight million copies in two years.
: The Making of a Counter Culture. Coining the term that described the youth movement of the late 1960s, , a professor of history, traces its sources among intellectuals such as Allen Ginsberg, Timothy Leary, and Paul Goodman, as well as its implications. One reviewer describes it as "the best guide yet published to the meaning... of youthful dissent."
: Charles Willson Peale. Sellers, a librarian at , wins the
for his biography of his great-great-grandfather, the early American painter and naturalist who established the first popular museum of natural history in America in 1786.
: Earth House Hold. 's essay collection contains comments on the environment, helping establish him as a cult figure of the ecology movement.
: Styles of Radical Will. 's provocative essay collection includes her account of a trip to , film reviews, and influential essays such as "The Aesthetic of Silence" and "The Pornographic Imagination," in which she argues for the legitimacy of pornography as a literary genre.
: The Kingdom and the Power. Talese's behind-the-scenes look at the New York Times, employing the novelistic techniques of the , is his first bestseller. Talese began at the Times as a copy boy and became a reporter.
: Reflections on a Sinking Ship. 's second essay collection considers pornography, the , Nixon, and the future of liberalism.
: Huey Long. Williams wins both the National Book Award and the
for his massive biography of the
politician, based on extensive interviews with Long's friends and associates. It has been frequently cited as one of the best justifications for the oral history method in biographical research.
: The Creation of the American Revolution. Wood's first book on the American Revolution wins the . Several respected volumes on the Revolution would follow, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Radicalism of the American Revolution (1992). Wood has been a history professor at the College of William and Mary, Harvard, the University of , and Brown University.
: The Dream Songs.
completes 385 eighteen-line poems that trace the progress of his protagonist, H his experiences provide a mirror on the era. Additional poems from the sequence would be published posthumously in Harry's Fate and Other Poems,
: Riot. The first in a series of small volumes intended to inspire black pride and activism. It would be followed by Family Pictures (1970), Aloneness (1971), and Beckonings (1975), all intended to reach a wide popular audience by using ordinary language, "story poems," and "loose rhythms."
: Untitled Subjects. This Pulitzer Prize-winning collection is made up of fifteen dramatic monologues of actual and imaginary nineteenth-century writers, artists, and composers, causing some to call
the successor to Robert Browning. It would be followed by additional collections featuring dramatic monologues, including Findings (1971), Two-Part Inventions (1974), Fellow Feelings (1976), and Misgivings (1979). Born in
and educated at
and the Sorbonne, Howard has been the poetry editor of the Paris Review.
: Notebook, . Combining personal and public concerns, this sequence of irregular and unrhymed sonnets is one of 's most ambitious attempts to treat a wide range of issues. An expanded edition would be issued in 1970. Lowell also publishes a prose "" of Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound.
: The Fire Screen. 's collection includes the long poem "The Summer People,"
"Matinees," and a sonnet sequence.
: Home from the Cemetery. Pack's fourth collection, following The Irony of Joy (1955), A Stranger's Privilege (1959), and Guarded by Women (1963), contains "The Last Will and Testament of Art Evergreen," called by Anne Sexton "one of the great American poems."
: Leaflets. Rich's collection shows her increasing concern for social issues, including the , student unrest, and racial violence. Her approach divides critics, some of whom see a decline in her art, others a powerful new forcefulness.
: Love Poems. Sexton's frank depiction of female sexuality in an
affair and a lesbian relationship proves to be her most popular work, selling more than fourteen thousand copies in eighteen months.
: Walking to Sleep: New Poems and Translations. Wilbur is awarded the
for this collection of thematically linked poems meditating on how to live. It includes "The Lilacs,"
"Playboy," and "Running," one of his most personal poems.
This article is about the year 1969. For the number see . For other uses, see .
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Year 1969 () was a
(link will display the full calendar) of the . The year is associated with the first manned landing on the Moon ().
: Explosion kills 27 on
Australian media baron
purchases the largest selling British Sunday newspaper, The .
begins a march from
in support of .
to win the national title for the 1968 season.
– The final passenger train traverses the , which subsequently closed to passengers.
Members of the
(RUC) damage property and assault occupants in the
in . In response, residents erect barricades and establish .
, the first
album, is released.
Martial law is declared in , the University is closed and over 300 students are arrested.
An explosion aboard the
kills 27 and injures 314.
The Soviet Union launches .
launches , which docked with Soyuz 4 for a transfer of crew.
– Student
sets himself on fire in 's
to protest the S 3 days later he dies.
– In , the
displays the art of
for 6 weeks.
as the 37th .
37th President Richard M. Nixon
After 147 years, the last issue of
is published.
steps into American Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, recording "Long Black Limousine" thus beginning the recording of what becomes his landmark comeback sessions for the albums
and Back in Memphis. The sessions yield the popular and critically acclaimed singles "Suspicious Minds," "In the Ghetto" and "Kentucky Rain."
Fourteen men, nine of them Jews, are executed in
for spying for .
Reverend , hardline
leader in , is jailed for 3 months for illegal assembly.
The present-day Hetch Hetchy
Powerhouse, rated at 100,000 KVA, is completed and placed in operation.
on 's Platform
80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil into a channel and onto the beaches of
to organize the first
give their last public performance,
several tracks on the roof of , London.
Two cosmonauts transfer from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4 via a spacewalk while the two craft are docked together, the first time such a transfer takes place. The two spacecraft undock. Soyuz 4 will reenter Earth's atmosphere and land February 17 while Soyuz 5 will have a hard landing February 18.
Ten paintings are defaced in New York's .
is elected
leader at the .
off the coast of
closes the city's harbor.
– The original Hetch Hetchy
Powerhouse is removed from service.
– The last issue of
hits magazine stands.
makes its maiden flight.
terrorists bomb the
deleting many names from the
(including , who was celebrated on that day).
while attempting to repair the
habitat off , .
Mars probe is launched.
rules that the First Amendment applies to public schools.
test flight is conducted.
forces clash at a border outpost on the .
admits that he killed presidential candidate .
(, , ) to test the .
The United States Navy establishes (also known as TOP GUN) at .
pleads guilty to assassinating
(he later retracts his guilty plea).
returns safely to
after testing the .
T the entire crew of 8 die.
becomes the first female prime minister of .
– , the secret bombing of Cambodia, begins.
British paratroopers and Marines land on the island of .
A 385 metres (1,263 ft) tall TV-mast at , UK, collapses due to ice build-up.
are married at , and proceed to their honeymoon "" for peace in .
– The landmark art exhibition When Attitudes become Form, curated by
opens at the
in Bern, Switzerland.
– Former United States General and
dies after a long illness in the , .
is held in Madrid, and results in four co-winners, with 18 votes each, from , the , the , and .
enters service with the .
implants the first temporary .
Administration Building is seized by close to 300 students, mostly members of the . Before the takeover ends, 45 will be injured and 184 arrested.
Fermín Monasterio Pérez is killed by the
in , , being the 4th victim in the name of
nationalism.
end service after 84 years of operation.
shoots down the aircraft over the , killing all 31 on board.
British troops arrive in
to reinforce the .
A grassroots movement of Berkeley community members seizes an empty lot owned by the
to begin the formation of "".
becomes the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping.
– Recently formed
launches their first new model, the
steps down as president of
after suffering defeat in a .
, a harbinger of the Woodstock Concert, ends with the dispersal and eviction of youths and young adults at
The Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as , begins during the .
occur in , .
– Colonel
visits Mecca, .
teenager known as '' dies in , of a baffling medical condition. In 1984 it will be identified as the first confirmed case of
spaceprobe, lands on .
– Venera program:
begins to descend into ' atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
(, , ) is launched, on the full dress-rehearsal for the
helicopters spray skin-stinging powder on anti-war protesters in .
– : Civil unrest breaks out in , following the death of a 15-year-old student.
– Apollo program: 's lunar module flies to within 15,400 m of the 's surface.
film, debuts.
(Andean Group) established.
Apollo program:
returns to , after a successful 8-day test of all the components needed for the upcoming first manned
conduct their second . The follow-up to the Amsterdam event is held at the
: A general strike and civil unrest break out in .
Guided tours begin at the
and other government sites in .
– Riots in
mark the start of an Afro-Caribbean
movement on the island.
– While operating at sea on SEATO maneuvers, the Australian aircraft carrier
accidentally rammed and sliced in two the American destroyer
in the South China Sea, killing 74 American seamen.
begins in .
– The rock supergroup
play its debut gig in front of 100,000 people in London's .
– U.S. President
meet at . Nixon announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September.
– After a 23 game match,
to become the World Chess Champion in Moscow.
– – The National Convention of the , held in , collapses, and the
faction seizes control of the SDS National Office. Thereafter, any activity run from the National Office or bearing the name of SDS is Weatherman-controlled.
is elected President of France.
fire helps spur an avalanche of
control activities resulting in the ,
and the creation of the federal .
dies of drug overdose in her London home.
is sworn in as
by retiring Chief Justice .
sever diplomatic ties.
mark the start of the modern
in the U.S.
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during
– , is invested with his title at .
– , musician and founder of , drowns in his swimming pool at his home in , .
– Michael Mageau and Darlene Ferrin are shot at
in California. They are the second (known) victims of the . Mageau survives the attack while Ferrin was pronounced dead-on-arrival at .
Minister of Development, is assassinated.
is made equal to
throughout the
national government.
– : The very first U.S. troop withdrawals are made.
Teignmouth Electron is found drifting and unoccupied. It is assumed that Crowhurst might have committed suicide.
loses a soccer game against , rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadoran workers in Honduras, tens of thousands are expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The
works out a cease-fire on , which takes effect on .
commenced in , .
(, , ) lifts off toward the first landing on the .
publicly takes back the ridicule of the rocket scientist
published in
is impossible.
drives off a bridge on his way home from a party on , . , a former campaign aide to his brother, dies in the early morning hours of July 19 in the submerged car.
Pageant, with the
receiving its first title.
and becomes the first person to row across an ocean solo, after 180 days spent at sea on board 25' ocean rowboat 'Britannia' (left Gran Canaria on January 20, 1969).
– : The lunar module Eagle lands on the lunar surface. An estimated 500 million people worldwide watch in awe as
takes his historic first steps on the
at 02:56 UTC, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at that time.
astronauts return from the first successful
landing, and are placed in biological isolation for several days, on the chance they may have brought back lunar germs. The airless lunar environment is later determined to preclude microscopic life.
in exchange for spies Peter and Helen Kroger ( and ).
– : U.S. President
declares the , stating that the
now expects its
allies to take care of their own military defense. This starts the "Vietnamization" of the war.
– The New York Chapter of the
was founded
– : U.S. President
makes an unscheduled visit to , meeting with President
and U.S. military commanders.
ceases to be
in the UK.
– Vietnam War: At the apartment of
intermediary Jean Sainteny in , U.S. representative
and North Vietnamese representative
begin secret peace negotiations. They eventually fail since both sides cannot agree to any terms.
makes its closest fly-by of
(3,524 kilometers).
at 11:30 have photographer
take their photo on a zebra crossing on .
A fire breaks most of the roof collapses and crashes down to the lower levels.
The Haunted Mansion attraction opens at Disneyland California. Later versions opened in Florida, Tokyo and Paris.
Followers of
murder , (who was eight months pregnant), and her friends:
coffee heiress , , and Hollywood hairstylist
at the home of Tate and her husband, , in . Also killed was , leaving from a visit to the Polanskis' caretaker. More than 100 stab wounds are found on the victims, except for Parent, who had been shot almost as soon as the Manson Family entered the property.
– The Manson Family kills , wealthy Los Angeles businesspeople.
– Violence erupts after the
march in , , resulting in a three-day communal riot known as the .
occur between the
troops are deployed in
following the 3-day Battle of the Bogside.
is held in upstate , featuring some of the top rock musicians of the era.
– Category 5 , the most powerful tropical cyclonic system at landfall in history, hits the
coast, killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars).
is established in Florissant, CO, USA
Strong violence on demonstration in
and , Czechoslovakia. Military force contra citizens.
finally beaten.
– A coup in
ousts King , and brings Colonel
in the United States is installed in .
– Lieutenant
is charged with 6 counts of premeditated murder, for the
deaths of 109
civilians in , .
– TV series
debuts on NBC
collides in flight with a , and crashes near ,
killing all 83 persons in both aircraft.
– The first-ever episode of
is broadcast on : "What a Night for a Knight".
– The very last Warner Bros. cartoon of the original theatrical
series is released: .
becomes the first player since
to hit 600 career .
– – An Islamic conference in , Morocco, following the al-Aqsa Mosque fire (August 21), condemns the Israeli claim of ownership of .
directed by
and starring
opens to limited release in the U.S.
trial begins in , .
The Beatles release their
album, receiving critical praise and enormous commercial success.
premieres on .
receive a majority of votes in the
parliamentary elections, and decide to form a common government.
is elected Labour Party leader, replacing
as prime minister on .
begins operation.
thermonuclear device is tested at , . This test is code-named Project Milrow, the 11th test of the
1969– underground nuclear test series. This test is known as a "calibration shot" to test if the island is fit for larger underground nuclear detonations.
first airs on .
– – : In , the
is called in to control demonstrations involving the radical , in connection with the "" Trial.
– : Hundreds of thousands of people take part in
demonstrations across the .
– The "miracle"
win the , beating the heavily favored
4 games to 1.
Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the
(30 years later, this technology is widely used in digital cameras).
Fourteen black athletes are kicked off the
football team for wearing black armbands into their coach's office.
becomes Chancellor of .
comes to power in
in a coup, 6 days after the assassination of President .
– The first message is sent over , the forerunner of the .
incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
: U.S. President
addresses the nation on
and , asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity with the
effort, and to support his policies. Vice President
denounces the President's critics as 'an effete corps of impudent snobs' and 'nattering nabobs of negativism'.
forms the new government of
(31st government)
– A group of Amerindians, led by , seizes
Island for 19 months, inspiring a wave of renewed Indian pride and government reform.
premieres on the
(NET) network.
– : Independent investigative journalist
breaks the
(, , ), the second manned mission to the .
collides with the American submarine
: In , 250,000–500,000 protesters stage a peaceful demonstration against the war, including a symbolic "March Against Death".
broadcasts begin on
opens his first restaurant in a former steakhouse on a cold, snowy Saturday in downtown . He names the chain
after his 8-year-old daughter Melinda Lou (nicknamed Wendy by her siblings).
– : Negotiators from the
meet in , to begin the
negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides.
astronauts
("Ocean of Storms"), becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the .
Soccer great
scores his 1,000th goal.
publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the
returns with 90 followers and offers to buy Alcatraz for $24 (he leaves the island January 1970).
U.S. President
to the return of
to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the U.S. retains rights to military bases on the island, but they must be nuclear-free.
link is established (the progenitor of the global ).
votes down the
nomination of , the first such rejection since 1930.
spacecraft splashes down safely in the , ending the second manned mission to the .
returns his
medal to protest the British government's involvement in the .
– : The first
is held since
(on January 4, 1970, the
will run a long article, "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random").
jumbo jet makes its debut. It carries 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from , to .
are shot dead in their sleep during a raid by 14
police officers.
is held at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. Hosted by the , it is an attempt at a "Woodstock West" and is best known for the uproar of violence that occurred. It is viewed by many as the "end of the sixties."
in Italy (Strage di Piazza Fontana) takes place. A U.S. Navy officer and
agent called David Carrett is later investigated for possible involvement.
took over the First Spanish Methodist Church in East .
leaves two police officers dead.
– The date you are commonly given when a computer's time is set to 0 in seconds. Start of the .
Organization (OCAMM) (Organisation Commune Africaine Malgache et Mauricienne).
store opens, in San Francisco.
Reported as being the year the first strain of the
() migrates to the United States via .
Summer sees the invention of
under the potential name "Unics" (after ).
publish their book The : why things always go wrong in New York.
Women are allowed membership into the Future Farmers of America (now the ).
restaurant chain opens first store in .
is written and published by .
, Hong Kong actress (d.1999)
, American fashion model
, American boxer
– , German race car driver
– , American rock musician
– , American rock musician ()
– , British snooker player
, American actor
, American rock drummer and composer (, )
– , German actress and musician
, American boxer
, Norwegian vocalist (d. )
, Swedish film director
, Dutch trance DJ
– , American professional wrestler
– , American NFL player (d. )
– , American writer, hacker
– , Japanese rock musician, singer and producer ()
– , American actress
– , Japanese rock musician, singer and guitarist
– , Argentine footballer
– , South African golfer
– , American singer
– , American sports announcer
– , American actress
, South Korean footballer
, Canadian ice-hockey player
– , Arabic singer
– , Italian cross-country skier
– , American rock vocalist/lyricist
– , Japanese professional wrestler
– , Austrian alpine skier
, New Zealand golfer
, Belgian cyclist
– , Hong Kong actress
, American actor
, American musician and singer-songwriter
, Spanish actor
, Native American actor
, Welsh rock drummer ()
, American actor and advocate of gay rights
, Canadian actor
, Taiwanese actress
– , American long-distance runner
– , American actress
, Colombian singer and multi-instrumentalist (d. )
, American actor
– , English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and painter
, Finnish musician
, Japanese jockey
– , British fashion designer (d. )
– , Ukrainian chess grandmaster
, Hong Kong actor
, American actor
– , American comedian (d. )
, Iranian football player
, Filipino pop singer
– , Austrian alpine skier
– , American actress
– , America country music singer-songwriter
– , American television host
– , Lebanese singer
– , Canadian professional wrestler
, American baseball player
, American actor
– , Political commentator & film critic
– , American actor
, Welsh singer
, Japanese singer
– , Peruvian actor
, Chinese-American actress
, Hungarian chess player
– , English footballer
, American baseball and football broadcaster
, Italian artist
, American actress
– , American director
– , West Indian cricketer
– , American author and actor
, Canadian ice hockey player
, American Musician
– , Northern Irish footballer
– , Swedish-born musician
– , Dutch musician
– , Dutch soccer player
– , American YouTube comedian
, French-born television host
(a.k.a. Buckethead), American guitarist
, Australian actress
, American singer ()
, Japanese baseball player (d. 2011)
, American football player
, Syrian singer
, American actor
, American actress
, American athlete
– , American singer
– , Ukrainian journalist (d. )
, American fashion consultant and media personality
, American actress
– , South African actress
, American comedian
, Korean-American Football Player
, Japanese musician, composer and writer
– , American actress
– , American actor
– , American rock drummer ()
– , Hungarian rock guitarist (d. )
– , Danish musician ()
, German tennis player
, American rapper ()
, German football goalkeeper
, American rapper and actor
, Kenyan cricketer
– , Kenyan athlete
, Albanian para-cyclist
, Norwegian rock guitarist and keyboardist ()
– , Portuguese football player and coach
– , Portuguese long-distance runner
– , Norwegian singer
, American television host
, American singer and actor
, American guitarist
, American actor
, Japanese local governor
– , Sri Lankan cricketer
– , American teacher and novelist
– , American hockey player
, German luger
, Canadian hockey player
– , American actor
– , Taiwanese singer-songwriter
– , Japanese professional wrestler
– , American actor
– , American comedian and actor
– , Greek singer
– , American actress and singer
– , British Paralympian
(aka Paul Levesque), American professional wrestler
(aka Yasmeen Joseph), Indian Bollywood actress
– , Italian football player and manager
, Portuguese footballer
, Norwegian drummer
– , Brazilian musician and singer ()
– , American comedian and game show host
– , American musician (d. )
, Hong Kong singer and actress
, Japanese professional wrestler
– , American baseball player
– , Canadian voice actor
, Brazilian long-distance runner
, British actress
– , Japanese figure skater
, Hong Kong television actor and singer
, British musician
– , American singer ()
, American actor
, American actor
, Canadian actor
, American rapper (d. )
, American singer
– , Canadian-born actor
– , American actor and musician
, Northern Irish snooker player
, Mexican singer and actress
, American singer
, American photographer
– , Swedish golfer
– , American actor and musician
, American actress
, singer for New York punk band .
, New Zealand model and actress
, American actress
– , Chinese singer
, Argentine golfer
, Japanese golfer
– , Australian cricketer
– , South Korean screenwriter and film director
– , Irish snooker player
– , American chef and television personality
, Turkish Internet celebrity
, American actress (d. )
, American music producer
, American rock percussionist (, )
, Québécois actor
, South African cricketer (d. )
, American actor and comedian
, British model
, Welsh actress
, Congolese author
, English football player
– , American model and actress
– , Russian hockey player
, American actor and television host
, Japanese professional wrestler
– , American rock singer ()
– , Honduran politician
, American wife of
, Turkish football player
, Hong Kong film director
, Hong Kong actor
– , American porn actress
– , British singer-songwriter
– , American football player
, American figure skater
, American country singer
– , American actor (d. )
, South African golfer
, Spanish race walker
, Haitian rapper
, American actress
, , American television producer
, American baseball player
, Australian rugby league player
, Australian rugby league footballer
, Australian actress
, Swedish musician
, Mexican actress
, Czech ice hockey player
, American bassist
, Russian football player
– , Korean actress
– , American photographer
(date unknown) – , American cartoonist
(aka Fieldy Snuts), American bassist
, American rapper
, American actor
, American actress
, French pianist
, American poet
– , American actress
– , American musician
, German football player
, American actress
, Colombian football player
– , American fashion expert
, Austrian politician
, American child kidnap victim
– , Scottish actor
, Belgian table tennis player
, Japanese voice actor
, American basketball player
, Belgian politician
, Egyptian actor
– , Turkish football coach and former player
– , Japanese composer
– , American baseball player
– , Filipino actor
– , Nauruan politician
– , American actor and film director
, American race car driver
, Dutch footballer
– , American rapper
– , American activist
– , American race car driver
, American basketball announcer
, Indian chess Grandmaster
– , Chinese-American film and television actor
– , American illustrator and producer
– , Irish swimmer
– , American
, Scottish rock keyboard player ()
, American
player and radio talk-show host
, German-Italian rock vocalist and guitarist ()
, American actress
, British TV presenter
, American news anchor
, Mexican wrestler
– , Japanese voice actress
, French actress
, Swedish bodybuilder and former
, American race car driver
, American actress and singer
, American sports agent
– , Finnish computer programmer
– , (aka "CorpseGrinder"), American musician
– , English singer ()
– , Scottish presenter and newspaper columnist
– , American actor (b. )
– (aka Gilbert Heron) American theatrical producer (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
and , English conjoined twin actresses (b. )
– , British athlete (b. )
– , Russian-American songwriter (b. )
– , Czech student protester (suicide) (b. )
– , English dancer (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , American director of the Central Intelligence Agency (b. )
– , Belgian monk, recipient of the
– , Indian spiritual master (b. )
– , English actor (b. )
– , Mozambican FRELIMO leader (assassinated) (b. )
– , American actress (b. )
– , American heir and socialite (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , Russian-born Israeli jurist (b. )
– , Australia's first female architect (b. )
– , American jazz musician (b. )
– , Swiss conductor (b. )
, German psychiatrist and philosopher (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , Russian-born film empresario (b. )
– , American novelist and screenwriter (b. )
– , British author (b. )
– , Lithuanian-born American artist (b. )
– , American actress (b. )
– , French politician (b. )
– , American baseball player and manager (b. )
, British entertainer & bandleader (b. )
, American writer (b. )
, English actor (b. )
, American author (b. )
, German writer
– , American television producer (b. )
– , French writer (b. )
– , Venezuelan president and writer (b. )
– , Estonian Nazi (b. )
– , Japanese martial artist and founder of
– , American actress (b. )
– , German cinematographer (b. )
– , English writer (b. )
, American actress (b. )
, Australian swimmer (b. )
– , American HIV/AIDS victim (b. )
– , American musician (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , American composer (b. )
– , American actress (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , Welsh actor (b. )
– , Norwegian Olympic speed skater (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , Mexican tennis champion (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , British actress (b. )
– , British WWII Field Marshal (b. )
– , American actress (b. )
– , American tennis player (b. )
– , American actress and singer (b. )
– , German science writer and space advocate (b. )
– , Congolese politician (b. )
– , British rock musician () (b. )
, American actor (b. )
, German architect (b. )
, American film director (b. )
, American film director (b. )
– , American opera singer (b. )
– , Japanese admiral (b. )
– , German-American actor (b. )
, American campaign aide to U.S. Senator
, American actress (b. )
– , pop entertainer, first Australian woman killed in Vietnam War (b. )
– , Polish novelist and dramatist (b. )
– , German painter (b. )
, American songwriter (b. )
, American actor (b. )
– , Cuban president (b. )
– , German sociologist and philosopher (b. )
, British physicist,
laureate (b. )
(murdered) (b. )
, American actress (murdered) (b. )
, American socialite,
Coffee heiress, and social worker (murdered) (b. )
– , English writer (b. )
, German physicist,
laureate (b. )
, German-American architect (b. )
– , American actress (b. )
– , Scottish illustrator for
Best known for , , , , and . (b. )
– , American geologist and
officer in World War II (b. )
, English novelist (b. )
, German writer (b. )
– , American boxer (b. )
– , American
– , Brazilian
– , Scottish naturalist and author (b. )
– , American radio and television personality (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , Italian singer (b. )
– , American golf champion (b. )
– , Swedish politician (b. )
– , Italian actor and singer (b. )
– , Norwegian figure skater (b. )
– , Estonian poet and literary translator (b. )
, President of , assassinated (b. )
, American actor (b. )
, American author (b. )
, Polish mathematician (b. )
– , American musician (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , American cryptanalyst (b. )
, American actor (b. )
– , American politician (b. )
– , American actor (b. )
– , Peruvian novelist, poet, and anthropologist (b. ).
– , American actress (b. )
, American Black Panther (b. )
, American Black Panther (b. )
, aviation pioneer & Short Brothers CEO (b. )
attendee, stabbed and kicked to death (b. )
– , English actor (b. )
– , American musician (b. )
, American admiral and ambassador (b. )
, American actor (b. )
– , Austrian film director (b. )
– , murdered American labor leader (b. )
Robert H. Goddard. The New York Times. /history/goddard/index.html
. spaceline.org.
from the original on 14 February 2008. .
from the original on 9 February 2008. .
by . Skyhorse Publishing, 2009. .
A report from Rich Lamb of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.
An Audiofile produced by Lou Zambrana of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.
– YouTube video
Houghton Mifflin Guide to Science & Technology
History of Science and Technology, edited by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans. Copyright & 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Houghton Mifflin Chronology of US Literature
The Chronology of American Literature, edited by Daniel S. Burt. Copyright & 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article 1969.
(Actor, Drama/Comedy)
(Actor, Music/Drama)
(Actor, Comedy/Drama)
(Actor, Music)
(1969 TV Episode)}