Fifty years ago is a long time for many and, for others, it seems like yesterday. The year 1969 was an interesting year with many historical happenings. I’ve always felt it was one of the most interesting years in history.
The Beatles’ last public performance was on a rooftop of Apple Studios, the rock group Blind Faith played its first gig in front of 100,000 people in London’s Hyde Park and Led Zeppelin released its first album.
The first Concorde supersonic jet had its initial test flight and the Boeing 747 debuted that year.
The Woodstock music festival took place in upstate New York.
Apollo 11 landed on the moon in July 1969. Four Apollo missions took place in 1969 with two missions (8 and 9) prepping for a lunar landing and two (11 and 12) landing on the moon.
Mary Jo Kopechne, born in Wilkes-Barre, lost her life when a car driven by Senator Ted Kennedy plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts.
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was established and “Sesame Street” debuted.
Hurricane Camille killed 248 people as it hit the Mississippi coastline.
Businesses established in 1969: Walmart, The Gap, Cracker Barrel, Red Robin, Samsung, CompuServe, Bank of America, Home Loans and Econo Lodge.
In science, the first eye transplant took place and Dr. Denton Cooley implanted the first temporary artificial heart.
The first ATM was installed in the USA and the microprocessor was invented, leading the way to modern computers. The U.S. military began using something it would call the Internet.
Battery-operated smoke detectors were introduced to the public and Seiko sold the first quartz watch.
Best Picture: “Midnight Cowboy.” Best Actor: John Wayne. Record of the Year: Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson. Best Album: Glen Campbell. Mario Puzo released the novel “The Godfather.”
On the fashion scene, bell-bottom jeans and tie-dye shirts were in vogue.
A first-class stamp was 6¢, a gallon of milk cost $1.35, a loaf of bread was 23¢ and a gallon of gas was 35¢. A brand new Ford would set you back $3,278 and an average three-bedroom home cost $25,600. Life expectancy: 70.5 years. Three million, 600 thousand people were born in the U.S. The U.S. population: 202,676,946. Minimum wage was a whopping $1.35 and a newspaper was 10¢.
The death penalty was abolished in England, Charles de Gaulle resigned as French president and inflation was on the rise worldwide.
Charles Manson and his cult murdered five people in California, including actress Sharon Tate who was pregnant at the time.
The Montreal Expos made their Major League debut.
Joe Namath was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl III when the New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts and Ohio State defeated USC at the Rose Bowl to win the national college football championship.
Rod Laver was the Wimbledon champion, the Boston Celtics were NBA champs, Orville Moody was the U.S. Open Golf champ, Majestic Prince won the Kentucky Derby and the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.
Richard Nixon was sworn in as the 37th president of the United States.
The Santa Barbara oil spill dumped 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude oil off the shores in California, later inspiring the creation of Earth Day in 1970.
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was laid to rest and US native Golda Meir became the first female prime minister of Israel.
An American teenager identified as Robert R. died of an unknown disease later identified as HIV/AIDS.
Brian Jones, bassist of the rock group The Rolling Stones, died by drowning in a swimming pool.
The first troops were withdrawn from Vietnam.
Sirhan Sirhan admitted he killed Robert F. Kennedy and James Earl Ray pleaded guilty to killing Martin Luther King, Jr.
Long John Silver’s restaurant opened its doors for the first time as did Wendy’s and Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips.
Pope Paul VI increased the number of Roman Catholic cardinals by a third to 134 and deleted many names from the Roman calendar saints, including Valentine.
Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Mariah Carey, Paul Rudd, Cate Blanchette, Steffi Graf, Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez, Matthew Perry, Jack Black, Gwen Stefani, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Brett Favre, Matthew McConaughey, Lara Spencer, Renèe Zellweger, Anne Heche and Jay-Z were all born in 1969.
Notables dying in 1969 were Boris Karloff, Robert Taylor, Judy Garland, Rocky Marciano, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., Sonja Henie and Conrad Hilton Jr.
Three local schools
I hit the trifecta this fall when I had the chance to cover the 50th anniversary reunion of the Pittston Area, Wyoming Area and St. John’s High School Classes of 1969.
I had a blast covering each class and those attending had even more fun. It was a joy to see how everyone loved reminiscing, reflecting and, above all, laughing.
Class reunions are a real life time capsule. It’s not very often you can turn back the hands of time and be 18 again.
I wonder what life will be like in 2069, 50 years from now. Even more so, I’d love to know how history will look back at the year 2019.
Quote of the week
“It is beautiful to express love and even more beautiful to feel it.” – Dejan Stojanovic
Thought of the week
“See the world as it is, not as you wish it would be.” – E. Lockart
Bumper sticker
“Reality continues to ruin my life.” – Bill Watterson
