MCMLXIX: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
1969
As July 20th, 1969, approaches, the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, I think those of us who were there are reflecting on what an incredible year of highs and lows it was. George Carlin said, "If you can remember the sixties, you weren't there." I remember rampant experimental drug use. I could get LSD in high school - yes, even on Shelter Island. I recall violent anti-war protests and civil rights protests. It seemed like you barely processed one horrific event on the news before you were hit with a new one.
Still, my memory of where I was when I saw the moon landing is crystal clear. Like when Kennedy was shot. I recall every detail. I was at my boyfriends house and everyone was glued to the television. The feeling of fear we all had. So much could go wrong. What if something happened and they couldn't get back? Were their calculations right? How deep was the moon dust? That was a big question. Was it a few inches deep or would they sink into a quicksand of grey dust? The poor quality black and white transmission was fuzzy and stark at the same time. America watched every second of this historic event, the whole world watched.
I feel privledged to be one of the people to have witness the event. But I envied my grandmothers generation. Her generation witnessed the invention of the car, airplane and telephone, and were still present to see the moon landing. She saw more "firsts" than I ever will.
I don't think any years were more jam packed with events than 1968 and 1969. We had such extremes. In '69 we had the moon landing and the Manson murders. Here's a little stroll down memory lane.
Some More Firsts:
* Golda Meir became the first female Prime Minister in Israel. * The first Boeing 747 appeared. * Monty Python's Flying Circus first airs in the United Kingdom. * Dave Thomas opens his first restaurant in a former steakhouse on a cold, snowy Saturday in downtown Columbus, Ohio. He names the chain Wendy's after his 8-year-old daughter Melinda Lou (nicknamed Wendy by her siblings). * The Stonewall riots in New York City mark the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S. * Sesame Street premieres on the National Educational Television (NET) network. *The first Gap store opens, in San Francisco. * Reported as being the year the first strain of the AIDS virus (HIV) migrated to the United States via Haiti.
* Richard Nixon succeeded Lyndon Johnson as the 37th President of the U.S.
* The last issue of the Saturday Evening Post, famous for it's covers by Norman Rockwell, hit the stands. It is the end of a publishing era. * Super Bowl III; NY Jets play the Baltimore Colts. * Chappaquiddick > Senator Ted Kennedy’s car accident, which took the life of Mary Jo Kopechne, ended any chance of a shot at the Presidency for him. * U.S. President Richard Nixon and South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu meet at Midway Island. Nixon announces that 25,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn by September. * ( I love this one) The New York Times publicly takes back the ridicule of the rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard published in 13 Jan 1920 that spaceflight is impossible. * The Harvard University Administration Building is seized by close to 300 students, mostly members of the Students for a Democratic Society. Before the takeover ends, 45 will be injured and 184 arrested. * March on Washington to protest Viet Nam, estimated half a million marchers. * VP Spiro Agnew called the protesters "effete snobs". Later he resigned his office for tax evasion. * The "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series, beating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1. * Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot dead in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers. * Vietnam War: The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II (on January 4, 1970, the New York Times will run a long article, "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random"). * An army platoon is said to have raided a Vietnamese village and then allegedly following the orders of Lieutenant William Kelly shot down every villager; men, women and children. The Pentagon is investigating the matter, and Lieutenant Kelly charged with murder will go on trial in early 1970. * My Lai Massacre: Lieutenant William Calley is charged with 6 counts of premeditated murder, for the deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai. The death of Ho Chi Minh, the ineffectiveness of the peace talks, and the withdrawal of American troops seemed to have little effect on the war.
* 1969 was a year of airplane hijacks, most of them to Cuba. Over 50 times, planes have been diverted to a destination other than the one they started out for. *Woodstock - the defining event of my generation. *Jan 30, the Beatles perform for the last time as a group; Soon after Paul marries Linda Eastman and they form the band Wings. *John Lennon marries Yoko Ono, they later host a televised "bed-in" for peace. *Charles Manson's "family murder the eight months pregnant actress Sharon Tate and others. *Diana Ross leaves the Supremes. * Simon and Garfunkel air TV special Songs Of America, an hour-long show that is anti-war and anti-poverty featuring live footage from their 1969 tour. *1776 is a hit show on Braodway
And the next generation arrived on the heels of love beads, burned draft cards and the sound of a Green Tamborine.
Brian McKnight, Ice Cube, Marc Anthony, Sean Combs, Gwen Stefani, Bobby Brown, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Anniston, Javier Bardem, Chastity Bono, Rodney Atkins, Renee Zellweger, Cate Blanchett Tracey Gold, Steffi Graf, Josh Holloway, Jennifer Lopez, Midori Ito, Edward Norton, Christian Slater, Matthew Perry, Diane Farr, Catharine Zeta-Jones, Hal Sparks, Brett Farve, Nancy Kerrigan, Gerard Butler, Ken Griffey, Jr., , are among those born in 1969
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