1969 On July 20th one of mans crowning achievements occurred when American Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the Moon and uttered the immortal words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." . The opposition to the war continued to increase with more and more attending anti war demonstrations and demanding that the US withdrew from Vietnam. The music came from groups including the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin and the Beatles and the most famous music festival of modern times "WOODSTOCK" took place on a New York Farm on August 15th to August 17th with more than 400,000 avid music fans attending to see the Who, Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash and Young and others perform live. fashions reflected the anti war sentiment with military jackets adorned with peace signs, and other trends including long unkempt wild hair and headbands showed the feelings of anti establishment felt by the youth.

Cost of Living 1969

How Much things cost in 1969
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 5.46 %
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 5.6%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 800 Average Cost of new house $15,550.00 Average Income per year $8,550.00 Average Monthly Rent $135.00 Average Cost New Car $3,270.00 Toyota Corona $1,950.00 Gas per Gallon 35 cents Alarm Clock from Westclox $9.98
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling
Average House Price 4,640 Gallon of Petrol 6 shillings 2 pence or 31 new pence
From Our 1969 Page Part of our 1960s Toys Selection of 250 Sixties Toys
Price: From $8.99
1960s Barbie Fashion Clothes



What Events Happened in 1969

U.S.
  • Richard Nixon becomes President of the United States
Moon Landing
  • The first man is landed on the moon on the Apollo 11 mission by the United States and Neil Armstrong and Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. and the famous words "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." will become part of our history
More Information and Timeline For The First Man On The Moon
1. 1961 May 25th President Kennedy asks Congress for $531 million to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade
2. 1963 June 16th Russians put the first woman in space on the Vostok 6
3. 1965 March 18th First space walk by the Russian cosmonaut Alexey Leonov from the Voskhod 2
4. 1966 March 16th first docking of two spacecraft Gemini 8 Commanded by Neil Armstrong docks with unmanned Agena Target Vehicle
5. 1968 December 24th Apollo 8, was the first human space flight to leave Earth orbit and enter a different orbit around the moon.
6. 1969 July 16th Apollo 11 Launched from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 in Merritt Island, Florida carrying Neil A. Armstrong ( Commander ) Michael Collins ( Command Module Pilot ) and Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin, Jr. ( Lunar Module Pilot )
7. July 19th Apollo 11 passed behind the Moon and fired its service propulsion engine to enter lunar orbit.
8. July 20th Lunar module (LM) Eagle ( Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" E. Aldrin, Jr. ) separated from the command module Columbia ( Michael Collins ) .
9. July 20th Lunar module (LM) Eagle lands on the moons surface in the Sea of Tranquillity
10. july 21st Neil Armstrong stepped off Eagle's footpad and uttered his famous line "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind " Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin joined him, describing the view as "Magnificent desolation."
11. July 21st Lunar module (LM) Eagle leaves the moons surface to rendezvous with Columbia
12. July 24th The command module Columbia carrying the 3 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean
Estimates put the number who watched or listened to the Moon landing between 1/2 and 1 billion people around the world ( From Webmaster I consider myself privileged to have watched and listened to Neil A. Armstrong's famous words "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind " ) . For Information for the Space Race 1957 to 1961 Space Race Timeline,


Space
  • Charles "Pete" Conrad and Alan Bean of Apollo 12 land on the Moon to become the second set of American astronauts to walk on the moons surface.
Significant Live Music Events in 1969
  • Woodstock attracts more than 350,000 rock-n-roll fans, Atlanta International Pop Festival on 4th July attracts 100,000 fans, Isle of Wight Festival attracted an audience of approximately 150,000
More Information and Timeline For Significant Music Events in 1969
1. January 30th The Beatles, with Billy Preston, gave their final live performance on the roof of the Apple building in London, England, the live performance was an impromptu event that ran for 42 minutes featuring Get Back, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Don't Let Me Down, I've Got A Feeling, One After 909, Danny Boy, Dig A Pony, God Save The Queen and A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody later featured as the climax of their Let It Be film
2. March 25th to March 31st Following The Marriage of John Lennon and Yoko Ono on March 20th in Gibralta they hold a week-long Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel inviting the world's press into their hotel room every day between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m
3. July 4th Atlanta International Pop Festival attracted an audience of approximately 100,000 to watch 16 performers including Janis Joplin, Johnny Rivers, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sweetwater and Led Zeppelin
4. August 15th to 18th The Woodstock Festival attracted an audience of approximately 500,000 to watch 35 performers including Ravi Shankar, Joan Baez, Santana, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin with The Kozmic Blues Band, Sly & the Family Stone, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Cocker, The Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Jimi Hendrix at White Lake, New York, U.S.A.
5. August 30th and 31st Isle of Wight Festival attracted an audience of approximately 150,000 to watch 26 performers including Bob Dylan, The Who, Blonde On Blonde, Joe Cocker, The Moody Blues and Free at Wootton, Isle Of Wight, England
6. September 13th Toronto Rock and Roll Revival attracted an audience of approximately 20,000 to watch 20 performers including Chicago, Alice Cooper, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Little Richard, Doug Kershaw and The Doors, Screaming Lord Sutch and John Lennon, Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band at at Varsity Stadium, of the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
7. December 6th Altamont Speedway Free Festival attracted an audience of approximately 300,000 to watch 10 performers including The Rolling Stones, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at Altamont Speedway, California, U.S.A. The concert is best known for having been marred by considerable violence caused by alcahol and drugs including by the Hells Angels motorcycle club who were used for security round the stage.
1969 provided so many significant live music events that I thought they should be included in a Music Timeline for the year, I hope you enjoyed taking the trip in time and memories that the timeline provides


U.S.
  • 250,000 march on Washington in protest at the Vietnam War
UK
  • RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 entered service
Israel
  • Golda Meir of Milwaukee,   Wisconsin  , USA, becomes Prime Minister of Israel
UK
  • Robin Knox-Johnston becomes the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping
U.S.
  • The US institutes the draft lottery to determine draft into US Forces for Vietnam War
U.S.
  • The very first U.S. troop withdrawals are made from Vietnam
U.S.
  • Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Established
U.S.
  • Police raid Stonewall Inn on June 28th a gay club located in New York City ending The Stonewall Riot.
U.S.
  • Chappaquiddick Affair Senator Edward Kennedy driving a car plunges into a pond on July 25th and a body of a woman passenger is later found in the car
Biafra
  • Civil war in Biafra leaves 3 million starving and needing international aid.
U.S.
  • Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murder five people August 9th
U.S.
  • Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast killing 248 people
Northern Ireland
  • Britain deploys troops in Northern Ireland following increasing violence
Libya
  • Bloodless Coup in Libya deposing King Idris
Australia
  • Australian light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne slices the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half killing 82 of her crew
U.S.
  • Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc
U.S.
  • The trial begins of "Chicago Seven" accused of inciting riot at 1968 Democratic National Convention
France
  • Charles de Gaulle Resigns as French President
Italy
  • A bomb is exploded in a bank in Milan, Italy
World
  • Rising Inflation is a worldwide problem
UK
  • The Death Penalty is Abolished in the UK
U.S.
  • Atlanta International Pop Festival on 4th July attracts 100,000 fans
U.S.
  • Woodstock attracts more than 350,000 rock-n-roll fans
U.S.
  • The US Supreme Court rules on Stanley v. Georgia declaring "The State may not prohibit mere possession of obscene materials for personal use".
U.S.
  • Militant black students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York use force to take over Willard Straight Hall demanding a black studies program.
U.S.
  • Police forces in the United States crack down on student protests
U.S.
  • The U.S. Air Force closed its Project ( Blue Book ) concluding there was no evidence of UFO's



Technology

  • First Concorde test flight is conducted In France
  • First transplant of human eye
  • Seiko sells the first Quartz Watch
  • The Harrier Jump Jet enters service with the RAF
  • The Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ) is founded
  • The first automatic teller machine ATM or Cash Machine is installed in the United States
  • Creation of ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet
  • The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut. It carried 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York City.
  • UNIX is developed by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs
  • The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the epitome of the American muscle car is introduced.
  • The Microprocessor ( a miniature set of integrated circuits ) is invented opening the way for the computer revolution that followed

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
Internet USA US military
Manned Moon Landing USA Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walk on Moon
CCDs USA Charge Coupled Device - to capture image
Cash Dispenser Turkey by Luther Simjian
Battery Powered Smoke Detector USA

Popular Culture 1969

  • A free concert organized by the Rolling Stones is held at Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif with problems caused by the use of Hells Angels as Bouncers resulting in a number of deaths
  • The Groundbreaking TV programme Monty Python's Flying Circus is shown for the first time and the catch phrase "And now for something completely different," becomes their trade mark
  • Sesame Street known for its Muppet characters, makes it's debut on PBS
  • Bell Bottom Jeans and tie-dye shirts become part of the teenage fashion scene.
  • The John Lennon Album "Two Virgins" featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono in the nude are confiscated at Newark Airport
  • The Beatles' last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records.
  • The Beatles release their album Abbey Road.
  • Sesame Street debuts on Public Television
  • Brian Jones Former Rolling Stones Guitarist drowns after drinking and drugs binge.

Popular Films

  • The Love Bug
  • Funny Girl
  • Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
  • True Grit
  • Midnight Cowboy
  • Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
  • Easy Rider
  • Where Eagles Dare

Popular Musicians

  • The Rolling Stones " Honky Tonk Woman "
  • James Brown
  • The Beatles with " Get Back and Come Together "
  • Johnny Cash " Daddy Sang Bass "
  • Bob Dylan
  • Crosby, Stills and Nash
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • John Denver
  • Simon and Garfunkel
  • Fleetwood Mac
  • Marvin Gaye
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  • Cream
  • Pink Floyd
  • " In The Year 2525 " by Zager and Evans
  • " Sugar Sugar " by The Archies
  • Elton John
  • David Bowie

Check out our TV Shows From The 60s whenever possible we have included a trailer to jog your memory. Series trailers and more information are found on the decade they started.


Born This Year 1969

Catherine Zeta-Jones September 25th
Brett Favre October 10th
Renee Zellweger April 25th
Jennifer Aniston February 11th



Major World Political Leaders 1969

Australia Prime Minister John Gorton Brazil President Costa e Silva Till 31 August
Brazil President Military Joint Tri From 31 August
Brazil President Military Joint Tri Till 30 October
Brazil President Emilio Medici From 30 October
Canada Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Song Qingling

France President Charles de Gaulle Till 28 April
France President Georges Pompidou From 20 June
Germany Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger Till 21 October
Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt From 21 October
India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

Italy Prime Minister Mariano Rumor

Japan Prime Minister Eisaku Sato Mexico President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz Russia / Soviet Union
First Secretary of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev South Africa Prime Minister Balthazar Johannes Vorster United States President Lyndon B. Johnson Till January 20,
United States President Richard Nixon From January 20,

United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Wilson