1969 - What happened in 1969 ?

January 1969

Tuesday 14:

An explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 25 people.

Thursday 16:

Czech student Jan Palach commits suicide by self-immolation in Prague, in protest against the Soviets' crushing of the Prague Spring the year before. The Metroliner train begins service between New York and Washington with one round trip per day.

Sunday 19:

Student Jan Palach died after setting himself on fire 3 days ago in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968. His funeral turned into another major protest.

Monday 20:

The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.

Thursday 30:

The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.

February 1969

Monday 03:

In Cairo, Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress.

Tuesday 04:

Yasser Arafat takes over as chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Saturday 08:

The last weekly issue of the Saturday Evening Post hits magazine stands.

Saturday 22:

Barbara Jo Rubin wins a United States thoroughbred horse race making history as the first woman to do so.

Tuesday 25:

George Jones marries Tammy Wynette

March 1969

Monday 10:

In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. Ray would later retract his guilty plea.

Thursday 13:

Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.

Sunday 16:

A Venezuelan Airlines DC-9 crashes shortly after takeoff in Maracaibo, Venezuela killing 155

Tuesday 25:

During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold their first Bed-In for Peace in the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel (until March 31).

Saturday 29:

In Madrid, Spain, four different performers tie for first place at the fourteenth Eurovision Song Contest. The medals are shared by Spain's Salomé singing "Vivo cantando" (I live singing), United Kingdom's Lulu singing "Boom Bang-a-bang", Netherlands' Lenny Kuhr singing "De troubadour" (The troubadour), and France's Frida Boccara singing "Un jour, un enfant" (One day, a child...)

April 1969

Thursday 03:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort.

Monday 07:

The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1.

Wednesday 09:

The "Chicago Eight" plead not guilty on federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Monday 28:

Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.

Tuesday 29:

Jazz musician Duke Ellington receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

May 1969

Friday 02:

The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City.

Saturday 10:

The first "Zip to Zap" rural outdoor rock concert at Zap, North Dakota, is ended prematurely as North Dakota National Guard is ordered to disperse the unruly crowd.

Tuesday 13:

Race riots in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, later known as the 13 May Incident.

Saturday 17:

Venera program: Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.

Friday 23:

Rock band The Who release Tommy, the first rock opera.

June 1969

Monday 02:

In Ottawa, Canada the National Arts Center opens its doors to the public for the first time.

Sunday 15:

Hee Haw debuts on CBS television, quickly becoming an institution.

Friday 20:

Jacques Chaban-Delmas becomes Prime Minister of France

Monday 23:

Warren E. Burger is sworn in as chief justice of the United States Supreme Court by retiring chief Earl Warren.

Saturday 28:

Stonewall riots in New York city mark the beginning of the modern gay rights era.

July 1969

Tuesday 01:

Rock group The Band release their influential debut Music From Big Pink.

Thursday 03:

Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones drowns in his swimming pool. The band plays a concert at Hyde Park, London two days later in his honor.

Tuesday 08:

IBM CICS is made generally available for the 360 mainframe computer.

Sunday 20:

Project Apollo: Apollo 11 lands on the Moon and Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first humans to walk on its surface.

Thursday 24:

Apollo program: Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.

August 1969

Monday 04:

Vietnam War: At the apartment of French intermediary Jean Sainteny in Paris, US representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese representative Xuan Thuy begin secret peace negotiations. The negotiations will eventually fail.

Saturday 09:

Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murder five people,Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Parent, and Abigail Folger.

Sunday 10:

A day after murdering Sharon Tate and four others, members of Charles Manson's cult kill Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Friday 15:

The Woodstock Music and Art Festival opens.

Sunday 17:

Category 5 Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast, killing 248 people and causing $1.5 billion in damage.

September 1969

Monday 01:

A coup in Libya brings Col. Moammar Qaddafi to power, ousting King Idris I.

Tuesday 02:

1984 - Seven Die + Fifteen wounded in a clash between rival bikie gangs the Bandidos + the Comancheros @ the Millpera Tavern Millpera, Sydney.

Friday 05:

My Lai Massacre: U.S. Army Lt. William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder for the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai.

Monday 15:

Baseball: St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Steve Carlton sets a record by striking out 19 New York Mets in a single game.

Tuesday 23:

The Chicago 8 trial opens in Chicago, Illinois

October 1969

Wednesday 01:

The Concorde supersonic transport plane breaks the sound barrier for the first time.

Sunday 05:

The first broadcast of Monty Python's Flying Circus

Tuesday 14:

A race riot occurs in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Saturday 18:

Jefferson Airplane member Paul Kantner is charged with possession of marijuana on Hawaii.

Wednesday 29:

The first computer-to-computer link is established on ARPANET.

November 1969

Monday 03:

Vietnam War: US President Richard M. Nixon addresses the nation on television and radio, asking the "silent majority" to join him in solidarity on the Vietnam War effort and to support his policies.

Tuesday 11:

Jim Morrison (The Doors) is arrested by the FBI after repeatedly prodding a stewardess.

Wednesday 12:

Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.

Thursday 13:

Vietnam War: Anti-war protesters in Washington, DC stage a symbolic "March Against Death."

Wednesday 19:

Apollo program: Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") and become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.

December 1969

Monday 01:

Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.

Saturday 06:

The Rolling Stoness concert at Altamont leads to the stabbing death of a concert-goer by Hell's Angels providing security.

Monday 08:

An Olympic Airways DC-6B crashes near Athens during a storm killing 93 people.

Wednesday 17:

1969 - SALT I talks begin

Thursday 18:

Capital punishment is ended in the United Kingdom