Humans walked on the moon for the first time. Richard
M. Nixon became president. 100 counties signed a nuclear proliferation
treaty. Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi
overthrew King Idris of Libya. The U.S. Supreme Court demanded an immediate
end to segregation in public schools. Alcatraz
was seized by Native Americans who demanded the land be returned to them
pursuant to another treaty not honored. Stonewall Riot began gay rights
revolution. Chinese-Russian border clash
resulted in 100s dead. Golda Meir
became prime minister of Israel. Sirhan
Sirhan was sentenced to death for killing Robert Kennedy. Senator Edward
Kennedy left the scene of a drowning, ending any chance for a presidential run.
Kennedy dad, Joseph Kennedy, died. James
Earl Ray pled guilty to the killing of Martin
Luther King. Electron microscope was
developed. First in vitro fertilization
of a human egg occurred. Woodstock happened. DDT was banned. Paul McCartney
was forced to deny he was dead. Rolling Stones fan killed at Altamont. The
last episode of “Star Trek” aired. Mario
Andretti won the Indy 500. Willie Mays hit his 600th home run. Cabaret closed on Broadway after 1166
performances. Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw premiered in London.
The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Samuel Beckett. We read The
Godfather by Mario Puzo, Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth, The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, and Slaughterhouse
Five by Kurt Vonnegut. The
Mystery Writers of America gave their top prize to Jeffery Hudson for A Case of
Need. On the silver screen we watched Midnight
Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the
Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, Easy Rider, and Anne of a Thousand Days.
Beatles’ album Yellow Submarine was released.
We also listened to “Sugar, “Sugar” by The
Archies, “Aquarius” by The Fifth Dimension, “I Can’t Get Next
To You” by The Temptations, “Honky
Tonk Woman’ by the Rolling Stones, “Everyday
People by” Sly and the Family Stone,
“Dizzy” by Tommy Roe, “Hot Fun in
the Summertime” by Sly and The Family Stone, “Build Me Up Buttercup” by the Foundations, “Crimson and Clover” by Tommy James and the Shondells, and “I’ll
Never Fall In Love Again” by Tom Jones.
Shuffling off the mortal coil were Dwight D. Eisenhower, Judy Garland, Jack Kerouac, Sharon Tate, Boris Karloff,
George “Gabby” Hayes, Thelma Ritter,
Robert Taylor, and Sonja Henie. Taking on the coil were Jack Black, Jay Z, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Anniston, Simon
Baker, Gerard Butler, Edward Norton, Matthew McConaughey and Marilyn
Manson. If you were around, what were
you doing this year of the earth rooster?
4 comments:
Our daughter was born in January of '69. so we spent a lot of the year learning about being first-time parents. I was also in grad school, working on my doctorate, so I was busy. I still know what was going on in the world, though, most of the time. And I remember all those songs. Not a bad year for music.
You, sir, were the best man at a wedding at Beck Chapel on the IU campus on June 14 of that year. I'm so glad that, as the years whizzed past, that I got to know you so much better! You have always made me smile!
Bill, it was the dawn of the age of aquarius, just out of the army and i was ready to live a little. I had also started my first and no doubtv ery unpublishable novel.
Teri, amazing the amount of good fun we've had since, naming malls and visiting a dude ranch.
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