Historical Events in 1969

Events 1 - 200 of 648

• Jan 1 Jack Kent Cooke, owner of NHL's LA Kings, fines each player $100 for "NOT" arguing with the referee
• Jan 1 People's Democracy (PD) begin a march from Belfast to Derry, inspired by ML King's Selma to Montgomery march in the US

• Jan 2 Luis Ferré becomes the first statehooder Governor of Puerto Rico

• Jan 2 Operation Barrier Reef begins in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
• Jan 2 Robert B. Nemiroff's stage drama "To Be Young, Gifted & Black" adaptated from the writings of his late wife of Lorraine Hansberry, starring Ruby Dee, premieres in NYC
• Jan 2 The Beatles begin rehearsals, while being filmed, for the Let It Be project at Twickenham Film Studios, London
• Jan 3 Adam Clayton Powell Jr returns to seat in US House of Representatives, having been re-elected after previously being expelled from Congress

• Jan 4 A People's Democracy march between Belfast and Derry is repeatedly attacked by loyalists and off-duty police officers
• Jan 4 France begins arms embargo against Israel
• Jan 5 Bollingen prize for poetry presented to John Berryman & Karl Shapiro

• Jan 5 Neville Williams' "Chronology of the Expanding World" completed
• Jan 5 USSR Venera 5 launched for 1st successful planet landing (Venus)

• Jan 6 WLIW TV channel 21 in Garden City, NY (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Jan 7 Dance Theatre of Harlem ballet school opens in a church basement
• Jan 7 US Congress doubles presidential salary
• Jan 9 First trial flight of Concorde supersonic jetliner, Bristol, England

• Jan 10 Pirate Radio Station Free Derby begins operation by Northern Ireland
• Jan 10 Sweden is the 1st Western country to recognize North Vietnam
• Jan 10 USSR's Venera 6 launched for parachute landing on Venus
• Jan 11 "Hooked on a Feeling" by BJ Thomas peaks at #5
• Jan 11 Jethro Tull's "This Was Jethro Tull" album debuts
• Jan 12 Atlantic Records releases eponymous debut album of Led Zeppelin in US

• Jan 14 25 members of US aircraft carrier Enterprise die during maneuvers
• Jan 14 Matt Busby retires from Manchester United
• Jan 14 Soyuz 4 launched; rendezvous with Soyuz 5 two days later
• Jan 15 Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
• Jan 15 Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Terence O'Neill announces that an official inquiry will analyse the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland
• Jan 15 Soyuz 5 launched by Soviet Union
• Jan 16 Jan Palach, a Czech student, self-immolates in protest after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia
• Jan 16 Soviet Soyuz 4 & Soyuz 5 perform 1st transfer of crew in space
• Jan 17 Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 5 lands
• Jan 18 Expanded 4 party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris
• Jan 18 United Airlines Flight 266 crashes into Santa Monica Bay, killing all 38 people on-board
• Jan 20 Richard M Nixon inaugurated as US president
• Jan 20 U of Az reports 1st optical id of pulsar (in Crab Nebula)
• Jan 21 A partial meltdown at the Lucens nuclear reactor in Switzerland seriously contaminating the cavern containing the reactor; the plant is sealed and decommissioned
• Jan 22 Orbiting Solar Observatory 5 launched into earth orbit

• Jan 23 Cream releases their last album "Goodbye"
• Jan 24 Deputy Prime Minister Brian Faulkner resigns from the Northern Ireland cabinet in protest at the lack of 'strong government' on the part of PM Terence O'Neill

• Jan 24 Students protest the erection of steel gates around the London School of Economics
• Jan 25 US-North Vietnamese peace talks begin in Paris
• Jan 26 Minister of Health and Social Services William Morgan resigns from the Northern Ireland government
• Jan 26 Police break up a march by hundreds of demonstrators in central Prague
• Jan 27 14 spies hanged in Baghdad
• Jan 27 9 Jews publicly executed in Damascus, Syria
• Jan 27 Actress Thelma Ritter suffers a heart attack (she dies Feb 5th)

• Jan 29 Sheahan & Connolly hang on for exciting draw Australia v West Indies
• Jan 30 The Beatles perform their last live gig, a 42 minute concert on the roof of Apple Corps HQ in London, England
• Jan 30 US/Canada ISIS 1 launched to study ionosphere
• Jan 31 Vice Admiral Rufus L Taylor, USN, ends term as deputy director of CIA

• Feb 1 Tim Wood wins second of 3 straight US Men's Figure Skating titles whilst Janet Lynn takes first of her 5 consecutive Women's National Championships in Seattle
• Feb 1 WPGH TV channel 53 in Pittsburgh, PA (IND) begins broadcasting
• Feb 2 KMST TV channel 46 in Monterey-Salinas, CA (CBS) begins broadcasting
• Feb 2 Stan Coveleski & Waite Hoyt are voted into Baseball Hall of Fame
• Feb 3 Ibuprofen launched in the UK under brand name Brufen as prescription medicine - now world's most popular anti-inflammatory painkiller [1]
• Feb 3 Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill announces the dissolution of the Stormont parliament and the holding of new elections
• Feb 4 41,163, then largest NBA crowd, watches doubleheader Cin-Det, SD-Bost
• Feb 4 Beatles appoint Eastman & Eastman as general counsel to Apple Records

• Feb 4 Lonne Elder's "Ceremonies in Dark Old Men" premieres in NYC

• Feb 5 "Turn-On," debuts and cancelled by ABC after flopping so badly
• Feb 5 United States population reaches 200 million
• Feb 5 Vince Lombardi, becomes part owner, vice-president, general manager, and head coach of NFL Washington Redskins
• Feb 6 The New Ulster Movement forms, promoting moderate and non-sectarian policies and to assist those candidates who support Northern Ireland Prime MinisterTerence O'Neill

• Feb 7 Al-Fatah-leader Yasser Arafat becomes president of PLO
• Feb 7 British rock band The Who record their song "Pinball Wizard" at Morgan Studio's, London
• Feb 7 Diane Crump becomes 1st woman jockey at a major US racetrack (Hialeah)
• Feb 7 The original Hetch Hetchy Moccasin Powerhouse is removed from service
• Feb 8 Last edition of American magazine "Saturday Evening Post"
• Feb 8 Meteorite weighing over 1 ton falls in Chihuahua, Mexico
• Feb 9 1st flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet
• Feb 9 KGTO TV channel 36 in Fayetteville, AR (ABC/NBC) begins broadcasting

• Feb 11 Diana Crump becomes 1st US woman jockey to ride against men, Hialelah
• Feb 11 Dorey Funk Jr beats Gene Kiniski in Tampa, to become NWA champ

• Feb 13 Suriname government of Pengel resigns

• Feb 16 Detroit Red Wings' captain Alex Delvecchio picks up an assist in a 6-2 defeat at Minnesota to become the 3rd player in NHL history to score 1,000 career points
• Feb 17 "Cloud Nine" 9th studio album by The Temptations is released (Grammy Award Best Rhythm & Blues Performance by a Duo or Group 1969, Billboard Album of the Year 1969)

• Feb 18 Doug Walters scores 2nd innings century after 242 in 1st
• Feb 18 PLO-attack El-Al plane in Zurich Switzerland
• Feb 21 1st launching of heavy N-1 rocket at Baikonur Kazakhstan (explodes)

• Feb 22 Barbara Jo Rubin becomes 1st female jockey to win at an American parimutuel race at a major US track aboard Cohesian at Charles Town, West Virginia
• Feb 22 Beatles begin recording what becomes their "Abbey Road" album at EMI Recording Studio at 3 Abbey Road in Westminster, London, England; the studio was later renamed in honor of their achievements there
• Feb 23 11th Daytona 500: LeeRoy Yarbrough driving for Junior Johnson, catches Charlie Glotzbach on final lap to win; first Daytona 500 won on a last lap pass
• Feb 23 Groundbreaking TV documentary series "Civilisation" presented by art historian Kenneth Clark premieres on BBC2 in the UK
• Feb 23 Nayif Hawatimah forms Dem People's Front for Liberation of Palestine
• Feb 23 WWVU (now WNPB) TV channel 24 in Morgantown, WV (PBS) 1st broadcast

• Feb 24 Mariner 6 launched for Mars flyby to study planet's atmosphere
• Feb 24 Northern Ireland Stormont parliament elections are held; the Unionist party fragments into 'Official Unionist' and 'Unofficial Unionist'
• Feb 25 Mariner 6 launched for fly-by of Mars
• Feb 25 Pension plan for baseball is agreed to
• Feb 25 West Germany gives $5 million to an Arab terrorist as ransom for the passengers and crew of a hijacked jumbo jet

• Feb 27 President Nixon visits West Berlin
• Feb 28 Ice Dance Championship at Colorado Springs won by Towler & Ford of Great Britain
• Feb 28 Ice Pairs Championship at Colorado Springs won by Rodnina & Ulanov of the Soviet Union
• Feb 28 Ladies Figure Skating Champion in Colorado Springs won by Gabriele Seyfert of Great Britain
• Feb 28 Terence O'Neill re-elected as leader of the Unionist Parliamentary Party and thus confirmed as Northern Ireland Prime Minister
• Mar 1 After 88 weeks, the Beatles' album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" drops off the charts

• Mar 1 Pirate Radio 259 begins operation off the French coast
• Mar 1 Tuesdee Testa becomes the first female jockey to win a race at a major American Thoroughbred track when she takes out the 3rd race at Santa Anita Park aboard Buz On
• Mar 2 1st test flight of the supersonic Concorde
• Mar 2 Boston center Phil Esposito becomes first player in NHL history to record 100 points in a season when he scores 2 3rd-period goals in the Bruins' 4-0 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins
• Mar 2 Chinese-Russian borders fight (approx 70 die)

• Mar 3 Apollo 9 launched for 151 Earth orbits (10 days)
• Mar 3 Apple Records releases Mary Hopkin's debut album "Post Card", in the US, produced by Paul McCartney: US version substitutes her earlier hit singles for two tracks included on the UK version
• Mar 4 London East End gang bosses twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are found guilty of murder. Both will die in captivity.
• Mar 5 Gold reaches then record high ($47 per ounce) in Paris
• Mar 5 Gustav Heinemann elected President of West Germany
• Mar 5 Joe Orton's "What the Butler Saw" premieres in London
• Mar 7 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

• Mar 12 120 cannabis joints found at George & Patti Harrison's home
• Mar 13 Apollo 9 returns to Earth
• Mar 14 Barbara Jo Rubin becomes first female jockey to win at Aqueduct Racetrack, NYC aboard 2-year-old bay Bravy Galaxy at 13 to 1
• Mar 14 CBS-TV renews "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" for a third season
• Mar 14 West Indies cricket batsman Seymour Nurse scores career high 258 in his last Test innings in 3rd Test win over NZ at Christchurch
• Mar 15 US Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigns
• Mar 15 Violent Chinese-Russian border dispute leaves 100s dead
• Mar 16 Boston Bruins scores a NHL record 8 goals in 1 period
• Mar 16 Viasa DC-9 crashes at Maracaibo's Grano de Oro airport, killing 155

• Mar 19 British invade Anguilla
• Mar 19 Chicago 8 indicted in aftermath of Chicago Democratic convention
• Mar 19 The 385 metre tall TV-mast at Emley Moor, United Kingdom, collapses due to ice build- up.
• Mar 21 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

• Mar 23 Rally for Decency in Miami
• Mar 24 Francis Turner is sworn in as the director of the Federal Highway Administration

• Mar 25 Andes Pact signed in Peru

• Mar 25 Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting, loyalists in Northern Ireland are jailed for organising an illegal counter demonstration in Armagh on 30 November 1968
• Mar 25 Pakistan General Agha Mohammed Jagja Khan succeeds Ayub Chan as president
• Mar 26 "Marcus Welby, M.D.", starring Robert Young and James Brolin debuts as a TV movie on ABC-TV, prior to becoming a weekly series
• Mar 26 Nuclear reactor Dodewaard in the Netherlands is commissioned
• Mar 26 Soviet weather satellite Meteor 1 launched
• Mar 27 Black Academy of Arts & Letters forms in Boston
• Mar 27 Launch of Mariner 7, flies 2,190-mi above southern Mars
• Mar 28 Greek poet and Nobel Prize laureate Giorgos Seferis makes a famous statement on the BBC World Service opposing the junta in Greece

• Mar 29 Communist New People's Army founded in the Philippines
• Mar 30 Loyalists bomb water and electricity installations in Northern Ireland in the hope that the attacks would be blamed on the IRA and on elements of the civil rights movement, which was demanding an end to discrimination against Catholics

• Apr 1 Royal Canadian Mint formally forms as a Crown Corporation
• Apr 1 Seattle Pilots trade little-known minor league outfielder Lou Piniella to KC Royals for 2 prospects; hits .282 with 11 HRs & 68 RBI to win AL Rookie of the Year; becomes leading MLB manager
• Apr 1 The Hawker Siddeley Harrier (vertical take-off fighter) enters service with the RAF.
• Apr 2 Toronto center Forbes Kennedy sets a Stanley Cup playoff record for most penalties in one game with 8 as the Maple Leafs crash 10-0 to the Bruins at Boston; Boston’s first NHL playoff victory in 10 years
• Apr 3 Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start a policy of "Vietnamization", reducing American involvement
• Apr 4 CBS-TV abruptly cancels "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" three weeks after renewing it, citing the program's failure to provide advance screening for review before airing [1]
• Apr 4 Haskell Karp receives the 1st temporary artificial heart, implanted by surgeon Denton Cooley at Texas Heart Institute in Houston
• Apr 5 Massive anti-Vietnam War demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities
• Apr 7 Dodgers' Bill Singer is credited with 1st official save, against Reds
• Apr 7 Supreme Court strikes down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material
• Apr 7 Ted Williams begins managing Washington Senators, they lose to Yanks 8-4
• Apr 7 The Internet's symbolic birth date: publication of RFC 1
• Apr 8 Expansion teams Royals, Expos, Padres & Pilots win their 1st games
• Apr 8 First Major League Baseball game featuring a Canadian team; Montréal Expos beats NY Mets, 11-10 at Shea Stadium; KC Royals, SD Padres and Seattle Pilots also win on debut
• Apr 9 1st flight of Concorde 002 (Filton-Bristol)
• Apr 9 Chic Cub Billy Williams hits 4 consecutive doubles beat Phillies 11-3
• Apr 12 Simon & Garfunkel releases "Boxer"
• Apr 13 Closure of the Brisbane tramway network.

• Apr 14 First regular-season MLB game played outside the United States; Montreal Expos beat St. Louis Cardinals, 8-7 at Parc Jarry, Montreal
• Apr 14 KEET TV channel 13 in Eureka, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
• Apr 14 Student Afro-American Society seized at Columbia College
• Apr 14 Tornado strikes Dacca, East Pakistan killing 540
• Apr 15 North Korea shoots at US airplane above Japanese sea

• Apr 17 Mont Expos Bill Stoneman no-hits Phillies, 7-0
• Apr 17 People's Democracy activist Bernadette Devlin becomes the youngest woman Member of Parliament ever elected to Westminster at 21 years old

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