Events of 1969
1969 Events, Music, Trivia and other Useless Information
Updated 03-10-2010
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US GDP (1998 dollars): $982.2 billion
Federal spending: $183.64 billion
Federal debt: $365.8 billion
Median Household Income (current dollars): $8,389
Consumer Price Index: 36.7
Unemployment: 3.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.06
Sports
Super Bowl
NY Jets d. Baltimore (16-7)
World Series
NY Mets d. Baltimore (4-1)
NBA Championship
Boston d. LA Lakers (4-3)
Stanley Cup
Montreal d. St. Louis (4-0)
Wimbledon
Women: Ann Jones d. B.J. King (3-6 6-3 6-2)
Men: Rod Laver d. J. Newcombe (6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Majestic Prince
NCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. Purdue (92-72)
NCAA Football Champions
Texas (11-0-0
World Events
- As President Nixon took office, the American death toll in the Viet Nam war reached 34,000.
- CBS canceled one of its most popular shows, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, because a copy of the show hadn't reached the censors in time. The network was under pressure to dump the politically potent variety show, which Vice President Spiro Agnew had claimed was "subversive."
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Millions of Americans participated in a Viet Nam Moratorium Day, with candelight vigils and prayers for peace. President Nixon ignored the event, but Vice President Spiro Agnew called the participants "an effete corps of impudent snobs."
- Veterans' Day ceremonies around the country consisted of pro-America demonstrations. Vice President Agnew called U.S. patriots "the silent majority." Three days later, 250,000 people marched on Washington to protest the war. Simultaneously, 100,000 demonstrated in San Francisco.
- 340 Harvard students took over the university's administration building. 400 state troopers and police officers cleared them out with tear gas and beatings from nightsticks.
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At Cornell University, a 36-hour sit-in was held in the student union building by black militants brandishing automatic weapons. At Berkeley, a National Guard helicopter dropped caustic chemicals on a protesters' area called People's Park. 19 University of California faculty members were among those burned by the substance.
- Max Yasgur's farm near Bethel, New York became the second-largest city in New York, when nearly 400,000 converged on the area for the Woodstock Music And Art Fair. Police looked the other way as the counterculture celebrated its largest gathering with peace, music, sex, drugs and rock and roll. Heavy press coverage makes the event seem larger than it was and shows the passing of baby boomers from young children to adult children.
- Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman William Fullbright disclosed that the Pentagon and the Nixon administration had been waging an illegal war in Laos, without the required knowledge of the Congress. Meanwhile, Lt. William Calley, Jr. was under investigation on charges that his infantry unit had massacred 450 women, children and other villagers at My Lai, South Viet Nam.
Leonard Bernstein stepped down as director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
- Judy Garland died of a drug overdose at age 47.
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The counterculture-gone-commercial was evident in many of the year's hit songs, including Everyday People, Age Of Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In, Come Together, Crimson & Clover and In The Year 2525.
- Charmin Bathroom Tissue went from obscurity to America's best-seller, due to an ad campaign featuring grocer Mr. Whipple, portrayed by character actor Dick Wilson.
- Boeing 747 and Concorde first flight
- In time for perhaps the very last of the boomers, Sesame Street debuts on television.
- But also, Penthouse begins publication... in plenty of time for the boomers.
- President Nixon announces his "Vietnamization" designed to help the Vietnamese deal with their own problems, and extricate the U.S. from southeast Asia.
- July 18: Senator Ted Kennedy drives his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island off Martha's Vineyard, killing his young passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. This major story was partially drowned out (sorry) by the moon landing that took place just days later. A week after the accident, Kennedy received a suspended sentence, and that was the end of it. But many Americans would never look at Kennedy the same way
- July 21: The U.S. wins the space race convincingly by landing a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins fly on board Apollo 11. "Houston... Tranquility Base, here; the Eagle has landed." Event of the century? Possibly; we all thought so at the time. We met the late president's challenge and conquered outer space. This gave Americans confidence that we could beat the Russians in anything... if put to the test.
- August 10: Charles Manson and other members of his cult murder actress Sharon Tate and six others in a horrible event that was referred to as "Helter Skelter."
- The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) claims that marijuana is harmless to both the user and society in general.
- The U.S. spends no more money than it takes in. That won't happen again till the boomers hit 50.
- Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi gulf coast killing 248; damage is set at $1.5 billion.
- An oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara spreads over 30 miles of the shoreline. This is the first major of dozens to follow in the next 25 years.
- Dr. Laurence Peter introduces the world to his "Peter Principle," which states that workers rise to their level of incompetence.
- President Nixon bans the production of chemical weapons.
- As the first of the boomers reach their 20's, the cost of medical care begins to rise sharply.
- October: "I will say confidently that looking ahead just three years the war will be over." - President Nixon.
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The "Chicago 7" (even though there were actually 8) have their day on court. Attorney William Kunstler, defends David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Tom Hayden, Abbie Hoffman, Black Panther leader Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Lee Weiner, and chemistry professor John R. Froins. Bobby Seale is gagged and chained to his chair because of his courtroom outbursts and sentences him in November to 4 years in prison for contempt of court. The others get off with relatively light sentences.
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Defying all conventional wisdom, the New York Mets win their first World Series. Meanwhile, the New York Jets win the Super Bowl, defying all logic... except that of Joe Namath.
- November: President Nixon appeals to the "great silent majority" to support his Vietnam policy.
- "Marcus Welby" and "Monthy Python's Flying Circus" debut on television.
- The Academy award for Best Picture goes to "Midnight Cowboy." John Wayne wins for Best Actor in "True Grit." Paul Newman and Robert Redford star in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
- December 1: The Selective Service conducts the first draft lottery since 1942, affecting 800,000 males born between 1944 and 1950.
Technology Events
- Honeywell releases the H316 "Kitchen Computer", the first home computer, priced at $10,600 in the Neiman Marcus catalog.
- Advanced Micro Devices is founded by Jerry Sanders and seven others from Fairchild Semiconductor.
- Intel announces a 1 kilobit RAM chip (that's only 128 Bytes!), which has a significantly larger capacity than any previously produced memory chip
- For the Busicom project, Intel's Marcian (Ted) Hoff and Stan Mazor design a 4-bit CPU chip set architecture that could receive instructions and perform simple functions on data. The CPU becomes the 4004 microprocessor
- ARPANET (later to become a little thing called the Internet) commissioned by DoD for research into networking. First set up with 4 nodes: Stanford, UCLA, UCSB, and U. of Utah. First attempt at sending packets was from UCLA to Stanford on October 29. The first 2 characters were successfully transferred, but the third keystroke crashed the system.
1969 Oscar Nominations (winner is underlined)
Best Picture
Anne of the Thousand Days
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Hello, Dolly!
Midnight Cowboy
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Best Director
Arthur Penn for Alice's Restaurant
Costa-Gavras for Z
George Roy Hill for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
John Schlesinger for Midnight Cowboy
Sydney Pollack for They Shoot Horses, Don't They? |
Best Actor
Dustin Hoffman for Midnight Cowboy
John Wayne for True Grit
Jon Voight for Midnight Cowboy
Peter O'Toole for Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Richard Burton for Anne of the Thousand Days |
Best Actress
Genevieve Bujold for Anne of the Thousand Days
Jane Fonda for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Jean Simmons for The Happy Ending
Liza Minnelli for The Sterile Cuckoo
Maggie Smith for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie |
Best Supporting Actor
Anthony Quayle for Anne of the Thousand Days
Elliott Gould for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Gig Young for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Jack Nicholson for Easy Rider
Rupert Crosse for The Reivers |
Best Supporting Actress
Catherine Burns for Last Summer
Dyan Cannon for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower
Susannah York for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Sylvia Miles for Midnight Cowboy |
1969 Grammy Winners
Record of the Year
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In; 5th Dimension |
Album of the Year
Blood, Sweat and Tears; Blood, Sweat and Tears |
Song of the Year
Games People Play; Joe South - songwriter |
Best New Artist of 1969
Crosby, Stills and Nash |
Best Contemporary Song
Games People Play; Joe South - songwriter |
Best Contemporary Vocal Performance - Male
Everybody's Talkin'; Harry Nilsson |
Best Contemporary Vocal Performance - Female
Is That All There Is; Peggy Lee |
Best Contemporary Vocal Performance By a Group
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In; 5th Dimension |
Best Contemporary Performance By a Chorus
Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet; Percy Faith Orchestra and Chorus |
Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance
Variations on a Theme by Eric Satie; Blood, Sweat and Tears |
Best Rhythm and Blues Song
Color Him Father; Richard Spencer - songwriter |
Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance - Male
The Chokin' Kind; Joe Simon |
Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance - Female
Share Your Love With Me; Aretha Franklin |
Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance By a Group or Duo
It's Your Thing; Isley Brothers |
Best Country Song
A Boy Named Sue; Shel Silverstein - songwriter |
Best Country Vocal Performance - Male
A Boy Named Sue; Johnny Cash |
Best Country Vocal Performance - Female
Stand by Your Man; Tammy Wynette |
Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group
MacArthur Park; Waylon Jennings and the Kimberlys |
Best Instrumental Arrangement
Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet; Henry Mancini - arranger |
Best Instrumental Theme
Midnight Cowboy; John Barry - composer |
Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album
Promises, Promises Burt Bacharach and Hal Davis - composers |
Best Original Score Written for Motion Picture or Television
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Burt Bacharach - composer |
Album of the Year - Classical
Switched-On Bach; Walter Carlos |
Best Album Cover
America the Beautiful; Kelbish-painting, Stahlberg-graphics |
Top 100 Songs of 1969 (Record of the Year:....Aquarius, by the 5th Dimension)
1. Aquarius, Fifth Dimension |
2. Sugar, Sugar, Archies |
3. I Can't Get Next To You, Temptations |
4. Honky Tonk Women, Rolling Stones |
5. Build Me Up Buttercup, Foundations |
6. Dizzy, Tommy Roe |
7. Hot Fun In The Summertime, Sly and The Family Stone |
8. I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Tom Jones |
9. Everyday People, Sly and The Family Stone |
10. Get Together, Youngbloods |
11. One, Three Dog Night |
12. Crystal Blue Persuasion, Tommy James and The Shondells |
13. Hair, Cowsills |
14. Too Busy Thinking About My Baby, Marvin Gaye |
15. Love Theme From Romeo And Juliet, Henry Mancini and His Orch. |
16. Crimson And Clover, Tommy James and The Shondells |
17. Grazin' In The Grass, Friends Of Distinction |
18. Suspicious Minds, Elvis Presley |
19. Proud Mary, Creedence Clearwater Revival |
20. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love), Jr. Walker and The All Stars |
21. It's Your Thing, Isley Brothers |
22. Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond |
23. Jean, Oliver |
24. Bad Moon Rising, Creedence Clearwater Revival |
25. Get Back, The Beatles |
26. In The Year 2525, Zager and Evans |
27. Spinning Wheel, Blood, Sweat and Tears |
28. Baby, I Love You, Andy Kim |
29. Going In Circles, Friends Of Distinction |
30. Hurt So Bad, Lettermen |
31. Green River, Creedence Clearwater Revival |
32. My Cherie Amour, Stevie Wonder |
33. Easy To Be Hard, Three Dog Night |
34. Baby It's You, Smith |
35. In The Ghetto, Elvis Presley |
36. A Boy Named Sue, Johnny Cash |
37. Baby, Baby Don't Cry, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles |
38. Only The Strong Survive, Jerry Butler |
39. Time Of The Season, Zombies |
40. Wedding Bell Blues, Fifth Dimension |
41. Little Woman, Bobby Sherman |
42. Love (Can Make You Happy), Mercy |
43. Good Morning Starshine, Oliver |
44. These Eyes, The Guess Who |
45. You've Made Me So Very Happy, Blood, Sweat and Tears |
46. Put A Little Love In Your Heart, Jackie DeShannon |
47. Do Your Thing, Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band |
48. I'd Wait A Million Years, The Grass Roots |
49. Touch Me, The Doors |
50. More Today Than Yesterday, Spiral Starecase |
51. I've Gotta Be Me, Sammy Davis Jr. |
52. Lay Lady Lay, Bob Dylan |
53. Atlantis, Donovan |
54. Traces, Dennis Yost and The Classics IV |
55. It's Getting Better, Mama Cass Elliot |
56. This Magic Moment, Jay and The Americans |
57. Run Away Child, Running Wild, Temptations |
58. Hawaii Five-O, Ventures |
59. Galveston, Glen Campbell |
60. I'm Gonna Make You Mine, Lou Christie |
61. Gitarzan, Ray Stevens |
62. Can I Change My Mind, Tyrone Davis |
63. Time Is Tight, Booker T and The MG's |
64. This Girl's In Love With You, Dionne Warwick |
65. Color Him Father, Winstons |
66. Black Pearl, Sonny Charles and The Checkmates, Ltd. |
67. Indian Giver, 1910 Fruitgum Company |
68. Mother Popcorn (Part I), James Brown |
69. Twenty-five Miles, Edwin Starr |
70. Things I'd Like To Say, New Colony Six |
71. When I Die, Motherlode |
72. That's The Way Love Is, Marvin Gaye |
73. Everybody's Talkin', Nilsson |
74. Worst That Could Happen, Brooklyn Bridge |
75. Chokin' Kind, Joe Simon |
76. Smile A Little Smile For Me, Flying Machine |
77. Polk Salad Annie, Tony Joe White |
78. Ruby, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition |
79. Games People Play, Joe South |
80. You Showed Me, Turtles |
81. Come Together, The Beatles |
82. Oh, What A Night, Dells |
83. Something, The Beatles |
84. This Girl Is A Woman Now, Gary Puckett and The Union Gap |
85. Tracy, Cuff Links |
86. Mr. Sun, Mr. Moon, Paul Revere and The Raiders |
87. I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, Diana Ross and The Supremes |
88. I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Marvin Gaye |
89. Gimme Gimme Good Lovin', Crazy Elephant |
90. Hang 'Em High, Booker T and The MG's |
91. Your Good Thing (Is About To End), Lou Rawls |
92. Baby I'm For Real, Originals |
93. Oh Happy Day, Edwin Hawkins Singers |
94. Love Me Tonight, Tom Jones |
95. Ramblin' Gamblin' Man Bob, Seger System |
96. Laughing, The Guess Who |
97. My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me), David Ruffin |
98. Soul Deep, Box Tops |
99. Hooked On A Feeling, B.J. Thomas |
100. Sweet Cream Ladies, Box Tops |
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