Issue 33, August 16, 2015
1969 was a favorite year of mine. Now, I was way too young to enjoy/experience most of it, but having lived on a college campus at the time, I did get to see some of what was going on during those turbulent days (albeit from my tricycle).
In 2015, I see very little exciting news. Mostly, it’s about problems in the middle-east or Eastern Europe…not really news, now is it? But in ’69, cars were fast and gas was cheap! And EVERYTHING was happening: Science, entertainment, war, sports, politics, alphas and omegas, 1969 had it all…
- Led Zeppelin releases their first album; the Beatles play their last public performance (atop the Abbey Road Studios building, in London).
- Nixon takes over; Johnson didn’t want the job, any longer.
- Joe Namath catapults the NY Jets into prominence by upsetting the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. He’d go on to wear pantyhose in a commercial, (sigh).
- The Boeing 747 makes its inaugural flight.
- Jim Morrison (of The Doors) is arrested in Miami…put it back Jim.
- Jacksonville native, LeeRoy Yarbrough wins the Daytona 500!!
- Golda Meir becomes the first woman Prime Minister of Israel.
- WWII Supreme Allied Commander and President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, dies.
- The salt-water fishing Mecca’s of Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky, are homes to start-ups: Captain D’s, Arthur Treacher’s and Long John Silver’s, respectively. Must be the Year of the Fish…nope…a rooster.
- British troops arrive in Northern Ireland (not a good time for Annie’s father).
- SBMC establishes the Little Gator Bowl game, to be played during halftime!!
- The Battle of Dong Ap Bia (aka. Hamburger Hill) begins in Vietnam.
- Queen Elizabeth crowns Prince Charles, as heir to the throne!! (cricket sounds)
- Chappaquiddick: Teddy’s more of a Mark Spitz, than a Richard Petty.
- Butch Cassidy, Midnight Cowboy (oh my), and Easy Rider are top-grossing movies.
- Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin…and that other guy, land on the moon!!
- Charles Manson horrifies the country; Woodstock Festival promotes Aquarian peace (happened this week); Altamont (Speedway) Free Concert ends it…again.
- Pele’ scores his 1,000th goal in soccer! Who?
- Indira Gandhi gets kicked out of her party, but retains power in India.
- Cat. 5 Hurricane Camille slams Mississippi with 200 mph sustained winds.
- Scooby-Doo, the Brady Bunch, Sesame Street, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus begin airing. Yes, I watched the first three back then, the fourth was later.
- Willie Mays hits 600 home runs (the first since Babe Ruth).
- Trial of the Chicago Seven (Eight) begins. Seale can’t keep his mouth shut.
- Wal-Mart is incorporated. Sears would later rue that move.
- SALT (1) talks between U.S. and Soviet Union to reduce strategic weapons.
Now that I think about it…I’ve got all the excitement I can handle. In 1969, I still had a lot of mistakes yet to be made in my life…hopefully I have most of that behind me now.
