Significant Events
- Feb 4 The Palestine National Congress appoints Yasser Arafat chairman of the PLO
- Feb 5 US population reaches 200 million
- Feb 17 Golda Meir sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Israel
- Apr 7 The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1
- Jul 20 1st Moon Landing: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step out from Apollo spacecraft 11, 530 million watch live global broadcast
- Jul 21 Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to step on the Moon at 2:56:15 AM (GMT)
- Aug 14 British Army deploys on the streets of Northern Ireland, marking the beginning of Operation Banner
- Sep 1 Colonel Muammar Gaddafi deposes King Idris in the Libyan revolution
- Oct 15 Vietnam Moratorium Day; millions nationwide protest the war
- Nov 15 An estimated 2 million people take part in the Vietnam War Moratorium demonstration across the United States
1969 in Film & TV
- Feb 24 "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" film based on novel by Muriel Spark directed by Ronald Neame, starring Maggie Smith (Academy Award Best Actress) premieres in London
- Mar 28 Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece
- May 11 British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin
- Jun 18 "The Wild Bunch", directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine, is released
- Jul 14 "Easy Rider", directed by Dennis Hopper, starring himself, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson, is released
1969 in Music
- Jan 12 Debut album of Led Zeppelin released first in the US
- Jun 20 200,000 attend Newport '69', then largest-ever pop concert in Northridge, California. Jimi Hendrix gets $120,000 to appear.
- Jul 11 David Bowie releases the single "Space Oddity" 9 days before Apollo 11 lands on the moon
- Aug 15 Woodstock Music & Art Fair opens in New York State on Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm
- Sep 20 Virtual band Archies' single "Sugar Sugar" hits #1
1969 in Sport
- Mar 1 NY Yankees' Mickey Mantle retires
- Apr 2 Milwaukee Bucks sign (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor)
- Jun 8 MLB ledgend Mickey Mantle gives his farewell retirement speech during "Mickey Mantle Day" at Yankee Stadium, 60,096 see #7 retired
Did You Know?
The first automatic teller machine in the United States is installed in Rockville Center, New York.
On September 2, 1969
World Leaders in 1969
Leonid Brezhnev
Soviet General Secretary
Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Richard Nixon
37th US President
Famous People in 1969
Glen Campbell
Grammy for Album of the Year
John Wayne
Oscar for Best Actor
Maggie Smith
Oscar for Best Actress
Cate Blanchett
Jay-Z
Jenni Rivera
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Lopez
Steffi GrafFamous Weddings
- Jan 18 Actress Audrey Hepburn marries 2nd husband Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti
- Feb 16 Country singer Tammy Wynette (26) weds musician George Jones (37)
- Mar 8 Marriage of 12 year old Marcella Rosciglione in Palermo
- Mar 8 CEO of McDonald's Ray Kroc (66) weds philanthropist Joan Mansfield (40)
- Mar 12 Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman in London
Famous Divorces
- Sep 18 Actor Rod Taylor (39) divorces model Mary Hilem after 5 years of marriage
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ho Chi Minh
Judy Garland
Rocky Marciano
Sharon Tate
Walter Hagen