1969 - What happened in 1969 ?

January 1969

Friday 10:

After 147 years, the last issue of the Saturday Evening Post is published.

Sunday 12:

Hard rock band Led Zeppelin release their eponymous first album.

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.

Monday 20:

The first pulsar is discovered, in the Crab Nebula.

Tuesday 21:

An experimental underground nuclear reactor at Lucens Vad, Switzerland, released radiation into a cavern, which was then sealed.

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

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).

Thursday 27:

Mariner 7 is launched.

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

Tuesday 01:

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the RAF.

Thursday 03:

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

Friday 04:

1969 - The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is cancelled after the brothers failed to submit an episode before its broadcast date.

Thursday 17:

Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dub?ek is deposed.

Tuesday 29:

Jazz musician Duke Ellington receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

May 1969

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.

Friday 16:

Venera program: Venera 5, a Soviet spaceprobe, lands on Venus.

Tuesday 20:

The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.

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.

Tuesday 03:

Off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half.

Sunday 08:

After the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) cancels the program, the last Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour airs.

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

Monday 07:

The Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language is equal to English language throughout the Federal government.

Tuesday 08:

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

Friday 18:

1969 - Apollo 11 makes preparations for landing on the Moon.

Friday 25:

Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This was the start of the "Vietnamization" of the war.

Wednesday 30:

Vietnam War: US President Richard M. Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyen Van Thieu and with US military commanders.

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.

Sunday 10:

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

Thursday 14:

United Kingdom troops deploy in Northern Ireland

Monday 18:

Jimi Hendrix plays the unofficial last day of Woodstock.

Wednesday 27:

The first installment of the Otoko wa Tsurai yo (It's Tough Being a Man) movies is released in Japan. Director and screenplay writer Yoji Yamada went on to make 48 installments of the series, which is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running movie series.

September 1969

Monday 01:

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

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

Friday 26:

The Beatles album Abbey Road is released in the UK.

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.

Thursday 16:

The "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series.

Wednesday 29:

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

November 1969

Monday 10:

National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts the children's television program Sesame Street.

Thursday 13:

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

Sunday 16:

The first episode of The Clangers is broadcast by the BBC.

Thursday 20:

Vietnam War: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

Friday 28:

The Rolling Stones release the classic album Let It Bleed.

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.

Friday 12:

Strage di Piazza Fontana in Italy.

Wednesday 17:

1969 - SALT I talks begin

Wednesday 24:

Curt Flood writes to Bowie K. Kuhn, the Commissioner of Baseball, asking to be declared a free agent .