1969
Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years: 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 - 1969 - 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974
Events
- January 10 - After 147 years, the last issue of the Saturday Evening Post is published.
- January 14 - An explosion aboard the USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 25.
- January 15 - The Soviet Union launches Soyuz 5
- January 19 - Student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviet Union in 1968.
- January 20 - Richard Nixon succeeds Lyndon Johnson as President of the United States of America
- "War of Attrition," between Egypt and Israel, which lasted until August 1970. This conflict was characterized by escalating artillery duels, air raids and commando missions.
- January 30 - The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.
- February 3 - In Cairo Yasser Arafat is appointed Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress and takes command the next day.
- February 8 - The last issue of the Saturday Evening Post hits magazine stands.
- February 13 - FLQ terorists bomb the Stock Exchange in Montreal, Quebec
- March 2 - In Toulouse, France the first Concorde test flight is conducted.
- March 2 - Soviet and Chinese forces clash at a border outpost on the Ussuri River
- March 3 - In a Los Angeles, California court, Sirhan Sirhan admits that he killed presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
- March 3 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
- March 10 - In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. Ray would later retract his guilty plea.
- March 13 - Apollo program: Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
- March 17 - Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, becomes Prime Minister of Israel.
- April 1 - The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the RAF.
- April 4 - Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
- June 27 - The Stonewall riots mark the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S.
- July 14 - Football War - after Honduras lost a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting broke out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadorean workers in Honduras, tens of thousands were expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The OAS worked out a cease-fire on July 18, taking effect on July 20.
- July 19 - Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge on his way home from a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. Mary Jo Kopechne, an aide who was in the car with him, dies in the incident.
- July 20 - The human race, represented by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, landed on the Moon. Apollo 11 lifted off for the moon on July 16 and returned safely on July 24.
- August 9 - Actress Sharon Tate and a group of friends are murdered by "The Family", a group acting on the prompting of Charles Manson. The next day The Family would murder Rosemary and Leno LaBianca.
- August 13 - Serious border clash between Soviet Union and China.
- August 14 - British troops deployed in Northern Ireland.
- September 22-25 Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco after al-Aqsa Mosque fire (Augusr 21) condemns Israeli occupation of Jerusalem.
- October 1 - In Sweden, Olof Palme is elected Labour party leader, replacing Tage Erlander as prime minister om October 14.
- October 21 Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany following gains by his Social Democratic Party in elections on September 28.
- November - Creation of ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet
- November 10 - Sesame Street premieres.
- November 19 - Apollo 12 lands on the Moon.
- November 21 - U.S. President Nixon and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington on the return of Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the US is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these are to be nuclear-free.
- December 12 - Piazza Fontana Slaughter in Italy (Strage di Piazza Fontana). A U.S. officer and C.I.A. agent called David Carrett involved.
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1969 in film
- Midnight Cowboy
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- True Grit starring John Wayne, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper and others
- 1969 in music
- The National Academy of Popular Music/Songwriters Hall of Fame founded.
- August 15 - August 17: The Woodstock Music and Art Festival was held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, near Woodstock. Although 10,000 or 20,000 people were expected, over 400,000 attended. Among the many artists who performed were Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Joe Cocker, The Who, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and the Grateful Dead. The weekend was rainy, the facilities were overcrowded, and attendees shared food, alcohol, and drugs, although no violence was reported. The Woodstock Festival represented the culmination of the counterculture of the 1960s and the high point of the "hippie era."
- The #1 Song was "Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In)"
- 1969 in sports
- January 12 - The New York Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III by a score of 16-7, after quarterback Joe Namath "guaranteed" a victory. It was the first Super Bowl victory by an American Football League team.
- March 1 - Major league baseballer Mickey Mantle announces his retirement.
- February 11 - Diana Crump becomes 1st US woman jockey to ride against men.
- February 22 - Barbara Jo Rubin wins a United States thoroughbred horse race making history as the first women to do so.
- September 8 - The New York Mets win the World Series
- For the second time, Rod Laver wins the Grand Slam in tennis. He is the only tennis player in history to have done so.
- 1969 in television
- Tiny Tim gets married on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show.
- A live transmission from the moon is viewed by 600 million people around the world when Neil Armstrong walks in the moon.
- The Brady Bunch premieres
Births
- January 3 - Michael Schumacher, Formula One driver
- January 5 - Marilyn Manson, singer
- January 14 - Jason Bateman, actor
- January 14 - David Grohl, drummer, composer
- January 16 - Roy Jones Jr., boxer
- January 20 - Skeet Ulrich, actor
- February 5 - Bobby Brown, singer
- February 9 - Gabby Hayes, actor
- February 11 - Shannon Long Gladstone, Australian, Playboy magazine's playmate for October 1988.
- February 11 - Bryan Eversgerd US baseball player.
- February 11 - Jennifer Aniston, American actress.
- March 1 - Javier Bardem, actor
- May 26 - Alain Knaff, programmer
- August 18 - Edward Norton, actor
- August 19 - Matthew Perry, American actor
- September 5 - Dweezil Zappa, actor, musician, eldest son of Frank Zappa
- December 21 - Julie Delpy, actress
- December 28 - Linus Torvalds, programmer
Deaths
- January 4 - Violet and Daisy Hilton, conjoined twins, actresses
- January 19 - Czech student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Wenceslas Square, Prague in protest at the communist regime and the USSR's occupation of the country.
- January 25 - Irene Castle, dancer
- January 29 - Allen Dulles, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
- February 4 - Thelma Ritter, actress
- February 11 - James Lanphier, actor.
- February 20 - Ernest Ansermet, conductor
- March 26 - John Kennedy Toole, author
- March 27 - B. Traven, writer
- March 28 - Dwight D. Eisenhower, US General of the Army, 34th president of the United States
- September 2 - Ho Chi Minh, President of North Vietnam
- October 12 - Sonja Henie, Olympic and World Champion figure skater
- October 21 - Jack Kerouac, US author
- October 21 - Waclaw Sierpinski, Polish mathematician
- November 12 - William F. Friedman, cryptanalyst