In 1969, a human being stood on the Moon’s surface and spoke into a radio. The signal traveled 240,000 miles to Earth in 1.3 seconds and was heard by an estimated 600 million people. Four months later, half a million people gathered in a field in upstate New York for three days of music in the mud. The Beatles played their last public concert on a rooftop in London. Sesame Street premiered. The internet was born as four characters typed between two computers before the system crashed. Joe Namath guaranteed a Super Bowl victory and delivered it. Woodstock happened. So did Chappaquiddick, the Manson murders, and the first message ever sent on the ARPANET. It was, by any reasonable assessment, a year.
Quick Facts from 1969
World-Changing Events: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969; the ARPANET — the precursor to the internet — transmitted its first message on October 29, connecting computers at UCLA and Stanford
Top Song:Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by the 5th Dimension, the best-performing single of the year on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100
Must-See Movies:Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Once Upon a Time in the West, Midnight Cowboy, Easy Rider, The Love Bug, and Paint Your Wagon
Most Famous Person in America: Steve McQueen, whose Bullitt was still in theaters from 1968 and whose persona had become the defining image of American cool
Notable Books:The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, The Godfather by Mario Puzo, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Price of an Aladdin Lunch Box with Thermos: 99 cents
Price of a Wendy’s Frosty: 35 cents
Price of a Hasbro Lite-Brite: $5.66
The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
The Funny Guy: Don Rickles
The Funny Lady: Phyllis Diller
The Crazy Conspiracy: The moon landing was faked, filmed in a studio by Stanley Kubrick — a theory so thoroughly debunked by physics, retroreflectors still bouncing laser beams from the lunar surface, and the Soviet Union’s own tracking data that it has survived entirely on its own momentum
Chinese Zodiac: Year of the Rooster, associated with confidence, punctuality, and a willingness to crow about accomplishments — all of which applied to 1969
Doomsday Clock: 10 minutes to midnight
The Habits: Watching the moon landing on television, talking about Woodstock, and everything Monty Python
The Conversation: Did you watch the moon landing? Were you at Woodstock?
Lisa had climbed to the top of the girls’ list, displacing Mary for the first time in decades. Jennifer was climbing steadily and would reach number one by the mid-1970s. Michael remained dominant among boys.
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols of 1969
Dyan Cannon, Julie Christie, Catherine Deneuve, Barbara Eden, Barbara Feldon, Jane Fonda, Goldie Hawn, Peggy Lipton, Ann-Margret, Elizabeth Montgomery, Caroline Munro, Ingrid Pitt, Diana Rigg, Elke Sommer, Tina Turner, Twiggy, Raquel Welch, Natalie Wood
Twiggy had defined the visual aesthetic of the late 1960s with a combination of androgynous thinness and enormous eyes that was unlike anything fashion had previously produced. Jane Fonda was moving from film stardom toward the political activism that would consume much of the early 1970s. Goldie Hawn had just won an Academy Award for Cactus Flower and was beginning the film career that would make her one of the decade’s most recognizable faces.
Leading Men, Sex Symbols, and Hollywood Hunks of 1969
Jim Morrison, Paul Newman, Robert Redford
Paul Newman and Robert Redford had Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in October 1969 and the combination of their chemistry and the film’s revisionist take on Western mythology was immediately and permanently influential. Jim Morrison was in the process of becoming the archetype for a specific kind of self-destructive rock stardom.
The Quotes
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” — Neil Armstrong, upon stepping onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. Armstrong intended to say “one small step for a man” — the article that would have made the grammatical sense clear — and maintains he said it. The transmission quality makes the question unresolved. The phrase entered the permanent record either as intended or as a fortunate accident
“I’m walking here! I’m walking here!” — Dustin Hoffman as Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy, a line delivered to an actual New York City taxi cab that had driven into the shot during filming. The cab was not supposed to be there; Hoffman stayed in character and improvised. It is now one of the most quoted lines in American cinema history
Time Magazine’s People of the Year
Middle Americans — the working and middle class citizens whose cultural and political attitudes had not been visible in the year’s dominant narratives about protest, counterculture, and generational conflict. Time’s selection was a recognition that the majority of Americans were watching rather than participating in the events that dominated press coverage, and that their patience had limits.
Miss America and Miss USA
Miss America: Judith Ford, Belvidere, Illinois — a competitive trampoline performer who incorporated her athletic abilities into her talent competition Miss USA: Wendy Dascomb, Virginia
We Lost in 1969
Brian Jones, the founder of the Rolling Stones and the musical talent most responsible for the band’s early sonic direction, was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool at Cotchford Farm in East Sussex on July 3, 1969, at age 27. He had purchased the property from the estate of A.A. Milne; the Hundred Acre Wood of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories was based on the surrounding land. Jones had been fired from the band he had founded five weeks earlier. His death was ruled accidental drowning with severe liver and heart damage attributed to drug and alcohol use. He was the first member of what would become known as the 27 Club — the group of musicians who died at that age.
Judy Garland, the actress and singer whose portrayal of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz had made her one of the most beloved figures in American entertainment and whose subsequent career had been a combination of extraordinary performances and personal difficulty, died June 22, 1969, at age 47, of an accidental barbiturate overdose in her London home. She had been working on a new cabaret engagement. Her death prompted one of the largest public gatherings in New York City history at the funeral home where she lay in state — an outpouring that has been linked to the Stonewall Inn riots that occurred the night of her funeral, June 27-28.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th President of the United States, died March 28, 1969, at age 78, of congestive heart failure. He had served two terms as president from 1953 to 1961, during which he oversaw the Interstate Highway System, the creation of NASA, and the integration of Little Rock’s Central High School, among other achievements. He famously warned against the military-industrial complex in his farewell address.
Ho Chi Minh, the revolutionary leader and President of North Vietnam, died on September 2, 1969, at age 79. His death had no immediate effect on the Vietnam War, which was by then operating largely on its own momentum.
America in 1969 — The Context
Richard Nixon was inaugurated as the 37th President on January 20, 1969, inheriting a country divided by the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the generational conflict that the late 1960s had produced. His strategy for Vietnam — Vietnamization, the gradual transfer of fighting responsibility to South Vietnamese forces as American troops withdrew — began reducing American troop numbers while the war continued. Secret bombing campaigns in Cambodia and Laos expanded the conflict’s geographic scope without public acknowledgment.
The Apollo program was, by any measure, the most ambitious achievement of the decade. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed the Lunar Module Eagle in the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Armstrong stepped onto the surface at 10:56 p.m. EDT. Aldrin followed. They spent two hours and 31 minutes on the surface, deployed scientific instruments, planted an American flag, and collected 47.5 pounds of lunar material. Command Module pilot Michael Collins orbited above, alone, in what may be the most solitary position any human being has occupied. They splashed down on July 24. The program had cost approximately $25 billion and had required the work of 400,000 engineers, scientists, and technicians.
The ARPANET sent its first message on October 29, 1969, between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. The intended message was “login.” The system crashed after the first two letters. The first message successfully transmitted on what would eventually become the internet was “lo.” Whether this was an accidental abbreviation for “hello” or simply the truncated result of a technical failure has not been entirely settled.
Woodstock
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened August 15, 1969, on a dairy farm near Bethel, New York, not Woodstock, which had been the original intended location. Max Yasgur, the farmer, had agreed to let the promoters use his land. An estimated 400,000 to 500,000 people attended over three days, against a capacity design of perhaps 50,000. Half paid; the gates were overwhelmed and eventually abandoned. Tickets were $18 in advance and $24 at the gate.
Thirty-two acts performed over three days and one morning. The lineup included Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young — among many others. Jimi Hendrix, who had insisted on closing the festival, performed the morning of August 18 to a crowd significantly smaller than the peak attendance, playing for two hours, including a version of The Star-Spangled Banner that became one of the most discussed musical performances of the decade. There were three deaths — one from an accidental drug overdose, one from a ruptured appendix, and one when a sleeping attendee was run over by a tractor — and two births. It rained significantly. It was described, from the day it ended, as a generational statement.
Chappaquiddick
On the night of July 18-19, 1969, Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. His passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, a campaign worker, drowned. Kennedy swam free and did not report the accident to the police until the following morning. The delay — approximately nine hours — was never fully explained. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence. Kopechne’s family never received what they considered an adequate accounting of events. The incident ended whatever presidential ambitions Kennedy had and followed him throughout his subsequent career.
The Manson Murders
On the nights of August 8-10, 1969, members of Charles Manson’s commune — the “Family” — murdered seven people in two nights. On August 9, Sharon Tate, the actress and wife of director Roman Polanski, was killed along with four others at her home in Benedict Canyon. Tate was eight months pregnant. On August 10, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were killed at their home. Manson directed the murders but did not personally commit them. His philosophy drew on the Beatles’ Helter Skelter and apocalyptic racial predictions. He and three followers were convicted in January 1971.
Pop Culture Facts and History
Midnight Cowboy, directed by John Schlesinger and starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, opened May 25, 1969, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture — the only X-rated film to do so. The rating was subsequently changed to R. The film’s portrait of poverty, desperation, and an unlikely friendship in New York City was unlike anything that had previously won the industry’s top award.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill and starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, opened October 24, 1969, and grossed $102 million, the highest-grossing film of the year. The film’s chemistry between its two leads was so apparent and commercially effective that it established a template for buddy films and definitively launched Robert Redford’s career.
Sesame Street premiered on November 10, 1969, on the National Educational Television network, the predecessor to PBS. The show, created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, used the production techniques of commercial television — including animation, catchy songs, and celebrity cameos — to teach early literacy and numeracy to preschool children, with particular attention to children from disadvantaged backgrounds who had less access to educational preparation. It became the most studied children’s television program in history and has been broadcast in over 150 countries.
Monty Python’s Flying Circus premiered on BBC One on October 5, 1969. The show’s combination of surreal humor, intellectual reference, and physical comedy was unlike anything British television had produced. The six members — John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin — had met at Oxford and Cambridge. Their first film, And Now for Something Completely Different, was released in 1971.
Led Zeppelin’s debut album, released January 12, 1969, announced the arrival of heavy rock as a distinct commercial and artistic category. Recorded in 36 hours at a cost of approximately £1,782, it reached number ten in the United States and number six in the United Kingdom, and established the template for what would become hard rock and heavy metal.
Dave Thomas opened the first Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, on November 15, 1969. He named it after his daughter, Melinda, whose nickname was Wendy. He had previously helped establish the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. The square hamburger patty was a deliberate marketing signal that the burger extended to the edge of the bun, hiding nothing.
The Gap was founded by Donald and Doris Fisher in San Francisco on August 21, 1969, after Donald Fisher had difficulty returning a pair of jeans. The first store sold Levi’s jeans and LPs. The name came from “the generation gap,” a phrase in constant circulation in 1969.
On May 1, 1969, Fred Rogers testified before the United States Senate Commerce Committee in support of $20 million in funding for PBS. Senator John Pastore of Rhode Island had been openly skeptical of public television funding before Rogers spoke. By the time Rogers had explained, quietly and directly, the value of helping children manage their emotions through television, Pastore told him he felt “like crying.” The funding was approved. The testimony has been viewed tens of millions of times online.
The Beatles gave their last public performance on January 30, 1969, on the rooftop of the Apple Records headquarters at 3 Savile Row in London. The impromptu concert was filmed for the documentary Let It Be. London police eventually persuaded them to stop. The performance included Get Back, Don’t Let Me Down, I’ve Got a Feeling, One After 909, and Dig a Pony. The four of them would never perform together in public again.
The original ARPANET transmission on October 29, 1969, connecting computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute, was intended to send the word “login.” The system crashed after the letters “l” and “o.” The first two-letter message transmitted over what became the internet was therefore, accidentally, “lo” — which functions as a greeting in archaic English, a coincidence that subsequent commentators have found difficult to resist noting.
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane was invited to a White House event in 1969 as a Finch College alumna, the same college that Tricia Nixon attended. Slick reportedly planned to bring Abbie Hoffman as her escort and to spike President Nixon’s tea with 600 micrograms of LSD. White House security recognized Hoffman and turned them away at the gate. The plan was not implemented.
Gaylord Perry had been one of the most accomplished pitchers in the National League without having hit a major league home run. San Francisco Giants manager Alvin Dark had said in 1963 that they would land a man on the moon before Perry hit one. On July 20, 1969, less than an hour after Neil Armstrong’s moonwalk, Perry hit his first and only career home run. Dark’s prediction had been meant as a statement about the impossibility of lunar travel.
The American side of Niagara Falls — the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls — was dewatered between June 12 and November 25, 1969, when the Army Corps of Engineers diverted the Niagara River’s flow entirely to the Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side to study and potentially remove the rock debris at the base of the American Falls. The exposed rock face revealed two bodies that had been concealed for years. The Corps ultimately recommended leaving the falls as they were rather than removing the talus.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut was published on March 31, 1969. The novel, about the firebombing of Dresden as experienced by an American POW who has become unstuck in time, was immediately recognized as one of the most significant American novels of the postwar era. It was also immediately banned in several school districts, a distinction Vonnegut found more amusing than troubling.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was published in 1969. The autobiographical account of Angelou’s childhood and adolescence in the American South was a groundbreaking work of African American literature and one of the first widely-read memoirs to address sexual abuse directly. It has been a target of book-banning efforts ever since, yet it has sold millions of copies.
Nobel Prize Winners in 1969
Physics was awarded to Murray Gell-Mann for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions, specifically for his development of the quark model, which proposed that hadrons were made of smaller constituent particles. Gell-Mann invented the word “quark,” taking it from James Joyce’s Finnegans Wake.
Chemistry went to Derek Harold Richard Barton of Britain and Odd Hassel of Norway for their contributions to the development of the concept of conformation and its application in chemistry — work that showed how the three-dimensional shape of molecules affects their chemical behavior.
Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Max Delbrück, Alfred Hershey, and Salvador Luria for their discoveries concerning the replication mechanism and the genetic structure of viruses — foundational work in molecular biology that established many of the tools and concepts used in modern genetic research.
Literature went to Samuel Beckett of Ireland, for his writing, which — in new forms for the novel and drama — in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation. Beckett was living in Paris and declined to attend the ceremony, sending his publisher instead. Waiting for Godot is his best-known work.
Peace was awarded to the International Labor Organization for its efforts to improve peace and justice for workers and working people everywhere.
Economics recognized Ragnar Frisch of Norway and Jan Tinbergen of the Netherlands for developing and applying dynamic models to analyze economic processes — the founders of econometrics as a formal discipline.
1969 Toys and Christmas Gifts
Silly String, Big Wheels, Nerf Balls, Toss Across, Upsy Downsys, and Tog’l round out a holiday season in which the year’s dominant toy was arguably the Apollo mission itself — models, kits, and space-related merchandise were everywhere. The Nerf Ball, a 4-inch foam ball designed for indoor play, was introduced by Reyn Guyer and Parker Brothers, beginning a product line that has never stopped expanding.
Broadway in 1969
1776, the musical dramatizing the deliberations of the Continental Congress over the Declaration of Independence, opened March 16, 1969, and ran until February 13, 1972. It won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The show’s central argument — that the founders were fallible, politically calculating humans rather than marble monuments — was both historically accurate and dramatically effective.
Oh! Calcutta!, a revue created by theater critic Kenneth Tynan and featuring nude performers, opened June 17, 1969, off-Broadway. It transferred to Broadway in 1976, ran for 1,314 additional performances, and became the longest-running erotic revue in Broadway history. Its opening generated protests and considerable press coverage, which may or may not have been among the intended effects.
Butterflies Are Free, a play about a blind young man seeking independence from an overprotective mother, opened on October 21, 1969, and ran for 1,128 performances. Keir Dullea and Eileen Heckart starred; Heckart won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1972 film adaptation.
Best Film Oscar Winner
Oliver!, the British musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, won Best Picture at the 41st Academy Awards on April 14, 1969, for the 1968 film year. Carol Reed won Best Director. The film was the last musical to win Best Picture for 34 years, until Chicago in 2002. It was also the second film adaptation of a Dickens novel to win Best Picture, after Great Expectations lost in 1947.
Top Movies of 1969
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Love Bug
Midnight Cowboy
Easy Rider
Hello, Dolly!
Paint Your Wagon
Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice
Once Upon a Time in the West
True Grit
Funny Girl
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was the highest-grossing film of the year. Midnight Cowboy won Best Picture while being rated X. Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Hopper and Peter Fonda, was made for $360,000 and grossed $60 million, demonstrating a commercial audience for counterculture film. True Grit gave John Wayne his only Academy Award for Best Actor and introduced a new generation to a performer who had been making Westerns since the 1930s. Once Upon a Time in the West, Sergio Leone’s elegiac Western, was not well received upon its American release and has been progressively re-evaluated upward ever since.
Most Popular TV Shows of 1969
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In (NBC)
Gunsmoke (CBS)
Bonanza (NBC)
Mayberry R.F.D. (CBS)
Family Affair (CBS)
Here’s Lucy (CBS)
The Red Skelton Hour (CBS)
Marcus Welby, M.D. (ABC)
Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (ABC)
The Doris Day Show (CBS)
Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In was in its second season and at the absolute peak of its ratings dominance. Gunsmoke, which had been on the air since 1955, remained in the top five. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered September 13, 1969, on CBS, beginning a franchise that has produced animated series in every decade since. Sesame Street launched in November and was not yet reflected in ratings, but it would become one of the most significant television debuts in American history.
1969 Billboard Number One Hits
December 14, 1968 – January 31, 1969: I Heard It Through the Grapevine — Marvin Gaye (carryover from late 1968, 7 weeks total) February 1 – February 14: Crimson and Clover — Tommy James and the Shondells February 15 – March 14: Everyday People — Sly and the Family Stone (4 weeks) March 15 – April 11: Dizzy — Tommy Roe (4 weeks) April 12 – May 23: Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In — The 5th Dimension (6 weeks) May 24 – June 27: Get Back — The Beatles with Billy Preston (5 weeks)June 28 – July 11: Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet — Henry Mancini July 12 – August 22: In the Year 2525 — Zager and Evans (6 weeks) August 23 – September 19: Honky Tonk Women — The Rolling Stones (4 weeks) September 20 – October 17: Sugar, Sugar — The Archies (4 weeks) October 18 – October 31: I Can’t Get Next to You — The Temptations November 1 – November 7: Suspicious Minds — Elvis Presley November 8 – November 28: Wedding Bell Blues — The 5th Dimension (3 weeks) November 29 – December 5: Come Together — The Beatles December 6 – December 19: Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye — Steam December 20 – December 26: Leaving on a Jet Plane — Peter, Paul and Mary December 27, 1969 – January 2, 1970: Someday We’ll Be Together — Diana Ross and the Supremes (carrying into 1970)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Marvin Gaye debuted in 1969, having been number one since mid-December 1968, and eventually spent seven weeks at the top. Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In by the 5th Dimension — a medley from the musical Hair — spent six weeks at number one and was the best-performing single of the year. In the Year 2525 by Zager and Evans, a dystopian novelty record recorded by a Nebraska duo who essentially never charted again, spent six weeks at number one in the summer. Get Back was the Beatles’ last number one during the group’s lifetime. Sugar, Sugar by the Archies — a fictional animated band — spent four weeks at number one. Suspicious Minds was Elvis Presley’s first number one in seven years and his last. Honky Tonk Women was the Rolling Stones at the peak of their commercial power. The breadth and variety of 1969’s charts make it one of the more interesting single years in the history of American popular music.
Sports Champions of 1969
World Series: The New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles four games to one, completing one of the greatest upsets in baseball history. The Mets had been the most consistently terrible team in baseball since their founding in 1962, losing more games than any team in modern baseball history in their first season. Under manager Gil Hodges they had improved steadily and finished the 1969 season 100-62. The Orioles, with 109 regular-season wins, were heavy favorites. The Mets won anyway, in what New York immediately and permanently labeled The Miracle. Donn Clendenon was named Series MVP.
Super Bowl III: The New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 on January 12, 1969, in Miami. Quarterback Joe Namath had guaranteed a Jets victory three days before the game in an era when such a thing was simply not done — the Jets were 18-point underdogs, and the AFL was considered inferior to the NFL. The guarantee was delivered. Namath completed 17 of 28 passes, managed the game expertly, and was named MVP without throwing a touchdown pass. The victory is considered the moment that established the AFL as a legitimate peer of the NFL and accelerated the merger that created the modern conference structure.
NBA Champions: The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to three, winning their 11th championship in 13 years. Bill Russell, who was both player and head coach, won his final championship in what was also his final season. He retired immediately afterward. The Celtics dynasty he had led was over. The Lakers’ continued failure to beat the Celtics in the Finals had become the defining frustration of the franchise’s otherwise successful decade.
Stanley Cup: The Montreal Canadiens defeated the St. Louis Blues four games to none, their second consecutive championship. Jean Béliveau, Yvan Cournoyer, and the supporting cast were dominant throughout the playoffs.
U.S. Open Golf: Orville Moody, a former Army sergeant who had spent 14 years in military service before joining the professional tour and who had won only one previous professional event, won the U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston. It was the only major championship of his career and one of the more unexpected victories in recent Open history.
U.S. Open Tennis: Rod Laver of Australia won the men’s title and Margaret Smith Court won the women’s. Laver completed the Grand Slam that year — winning all four major championships — the only player in the Open Era to achieve this, and the second time in his career he had done it.
Wimbledon: Rod Laver won the men’s title and Ann Jones of Britain won the women’s, defeating Billie Jean King in the final. Jones was the first British woman to win Wimbledon since Angela Mortimer in 1961.
NCAA Football: Texas, under Darrell Royal, won the national championship with a perfect 11-0 record, defeating Notre Dame 21-17 in the Cotton Bowl. President Nixon attended the regular-season game against Arkansas and presented Texas with a plaque declaring them national champions before the bowl season — a gesture that generated immediate controversy and a pointed letter from Bear Bryant of Alabama, who thought his undefeated team had a reasonable claim.
NCAA Basketball: UCLA, under John Wooden, won its third national championship in five years. Lew Alcindor — who would change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the following year — played his final college game. UCLA finished 29-1. Wooden’s dynasty was fully operational.
Kentucky Derby: Majestic Prince won the Derby and the Preakness, setting up a potential Triple Crown at the Belmont. His trainer, Johnny Longden — himself a Hall of Fame jockey — recommended against running in the Belmont due to the horse’s physical condition. The owner insisted. Majestic Prince finished second to Arts and Crafts. He never ran again.
Frequently Asked Questions About 1969
Q: What did Neil Armstrong say when he stepped on the Moon? A: Armstrong said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” He intended to say “one small step for a man,” which would have been grammatically parallel to “one giant leap for mankind.” Whether the article was spoken and lost in transmission or simply not said has been debated since 1969. Armstrong maintained he said it. The historical record contains what was transmitted.
Q: What was the ARPANET? A: The ARPANET was a US Defense Department research network connecting computers at universities and research institutions, the direct predecessor of the Internet. Its first message, sent October 29, 1969, between UCLA and Stanford, was intended to be “login.” The system crashed after “lo.” Regular communication between nodes was established in the months that followed.
Q: What happened at Woodstock? A: The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened August 15, 1969, near Bethel, New York, and drew an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 people over three days. Thirty-two acts performed. The site was overwhelmed, and the gates abandoned. It rained significantly. There were three deaths and two births. Jimi Hendrix closed the festival the morning of August 18. It became the defining cultural symbol of its generation within weeks of ending.
Q: What was Joe Namath’s guarantee? A: Three days before Super Bowl III, New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath publicly guaranteed a Jets victory over the Baltimore Colts, who were 18-point favorites. The guarantee was unprecedented for its era and was widely ridiculed. The Jets won 16-7. Namath was named MVP.
Q: Why is Midnight Cowboy significant? A: Midnight Cowboy, directed by John Schlesinger and starring Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1970 for the 1969 film year — the only X-rated film to receive the award. The rating was subsequently changed to R, but the film remains the only Best Picture winner to have carried an X rating at any point. It is considered one of the finest American films of its era.
Q: What was Chappaquiddick? A: On the night of July 18-19, 1969, Senator Edward Kennedy drove off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. Kennedy escaped and did not report the accident to authorities until the following morning. He pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence. The approximately nine-hour delay in reporting was never satisfactorily explained. The incident effectively ended his presidential ambitions.
In a year when human beings walked on the Moon, half a million people assembled in a field for three days of music, the internet sent its first two-letter message, Sesame Street premiered, and the Beatles played their last public concert on a rooftop in London, 1969 managed to contain more genuinely significant events than most decades. The 5th Dimension was at number one when it started. Diana Ross was at number one when it ended. In between, everything changed.
