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The year’s big stories
UPI chronology of major news events in 1969
By United Press International
1969, the year when Man walked on the moon, brought to an
exciting end a turbulent decade in the history of the United States
and the world. Following is a chronology of the year’s major
news events:
Jan. I—Ohio State beats Southern California, 27-16, in Rose
Bowl to become undisputed national collegiate football champions.
Jan. 2—Eastern Airlines plane carrying 146 hijacked to Havana;
theatrical producer Gilbert Miller dies at 84.
Jan. 3—Sen. Edward M. Kennedy named Democratic Senate
whip; Adam Clayton Powell seated in 91st Congress, but fined and
denied seniority.
Jan. 4—lll injured when Protestants attack Roman Catholic
civil rights marchers in Northern Ireland.
Jan. s—Henry Cabot Lodge named chief U.S. negotiator at Paris
Vietnam talks.
Jan. 6—ll killed, 17 survive Allegheny Airlines propjet crash at
Bradford, Pa., second in area in two weeks.
Jan. 7—Trial of Sirhan Sirhan in Robert F. Kennedy assassination
opens in Los Angeles; major banks raise prime interest rate to
7 per cent.
Jan. B—Bl of 150 Cubans shoot their way past Cuban soldiers to
enter U.S. naval base at Guantanamo and later fly to Miami as
refugees.
Jan. 9—Labor Department reports 1968 jobless rate 3.6 per cent,
lowest in 15 years.
Jan. 10—Sweden recognizes government of communist North
Vietnam, first Western European country to do so.
Jan. 11—Two airliners, one American and one Peruvian, hijacked
to Havana.
Jan. 12—AFL New York Jets defeat NFL Baltimore Colts,
16-7, in Super Bowl upset.
Jan. 13—Scandinavian Airlines System jet crashes in Pacific off
Los Angeles, 16 dead, 29 survive.
Jan. 14—Fire and explosions kill 27, injure 85 on carrier Enter
prise; President Johnson stresses peace in final State of Union speech.
Jan. 15—President Johnson sends $195.3 billion budget to
Congress.
Jan. 16—Two Russian space ships dock in orbit and two astro
nauts transfer from one to the other.
Jan. 18—38 killed in United Airlines jet crash in Pacific off
Los Angeles.
Jan. 19—Two airliners hijacked to Havana, one with 171 aboard.
Jan. 20—Richard M. Nixon inaugurated as 37th President.
Jan. 23—Tornado kills 29, injures hundreds at Hazlehurst, Miss.;
gunman fires several shots at motorcade in Moscow welcome to
astronauts.
Jan. 25—Expanded Vietnam peace talks open in Paris.
Jan. 26—California declared disaster area as worst flooding in 32
years takes heavy toll of lives and property.
Jan. 27—T01l of heavy rains in California placed at 92 dead,
property damage $56 million; Iraq hangs 14 alleged spies, including
nine Israelis.
Jan. 29—Labor Department reports price rise of 4.7 per cent in
year as worst inflation since Korean War in 1951.
Feb. 2—Actor Boris Karloff, 81, and former Metropolitan Opera
star Giovanni Martinelli, 83, die.
Feb. 3—Ralph McGill, publisher of The Atlanta Constitution,
dies at 70.
Feb. s—Federal Communications Commission moves to bar
broadcast cigarette ads; oil slick fouls 16 miles of California beaches.
Feb. 6—President Nixon announces plan for nine-day tour of
Western Europe.
Feb. 11-Death toll placed at 25 as New York City slowly
recovers from 15-inch snowstorm.
Feb. 13—National Guard uses tear gas in student disorders at
University of Wisconsin; student demonstrators disrupt Duke Univer
sity and City College of New York.
Feb. 16—Red Chinese seize three yachts near Hong Kong,
including one American-owned and hold 15 captive, including
four Americans.
Feb. 17—France quits Western European Union in slap at Britain.
Feb. 18—6 wounded in Arab terrorist attack on Israeli airliner in
Zurich, Switzerland; Red China calls off scheduled meeting with
U.S. in Warsaw.
Feb. 20—Man’s heart, liver, both kidneys and a cornea given to
five others in world’s largest multiple transplant operation.
Feb. 23—President Nixon begins European tour in Belgium; King
Saud of Saudi Arabia dies in Athens at 67.
Feb. 24—President Nixon in London reassures European Allies on
any negotiations with Russia.
Feb. 25—Premier Levi Eshkol of Israel dies in Jerusalem at 73.
Feb. 26—President Nixon in Bonn assures West Germans of U.S.
support, General Motors recalls 4.9 million cars for check.
Feb. 28—President Nixon visits President de Gaulle in Paris, calls
for end to “old quarrels”.
March 1-New York Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle retires from
baseball.
March 2—Russian and Chinese troops battle at Far East border;
President Nixon returns from European trip; 11 killed when racing
car leaves track at Covington, Ga.
March 3-Apollo 9 blasts off with three astronauts to test lunar
module to be used in moon landing.
March 4-President Nixon warns continued attacks on South
Vietnamese cities will bring “appropriate response.”
March 5-Two Apollo 9 astronauts leave main ship and put
linked-up lunar module through successful test.
March 6-Apollo 9 astronaut Russell Schweikart stands in space
for 40 minutes on platform of lunar module, takes pictures and
makes tests.
March 7-Two of three Apollo 9 astronauts fly lunar module
around main space craft and then link up again.
March 9-Egyptian chief of staff Gen. Abdel Moneim Raid killed
by Israeli shell during artillery duel across Suez Canal.
March 10-James Earl Ray pleads guilty to murder of Dr. Martin
Luther King and is sentenced to 99 years imprisonment.
March 13-Apollo 9 returns after 10-day earth orbit that success
fully tested moon landing craft; Senate approves treaty to block
spread of nuclear weapons.
March 14-President Nixon asks Congress to. approve a limited
antiballistic missile system to protect U.S. nuclear bases.
March 15-Doctors at Walter Reed Hospital disclose Dwight D.
Eisenhower suffering from congestive heart failure.
March 16-Venezuelan airliner plunges into Maracaibo suburb,
killing at least 150 and injuring 100.
March 17-Major banks boost prime interest rate to record 7*4 per
cent. ,
March 19—Britain seizes Caribbean island of Anguilla, a former
colony, to prevent rule “by armed minority.”
March 22-President Nixon condemns mounting student violence
and urges colleges to act.
March 25—Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower in critical
condition; President Ayub Khan of Pakistan resigns, turns govern
ment over to army.
March 28—Dwight D. Eisenhower dies at 78; four Americans
among 33 cardinals named by Pope Paul VI.
March 31—World and national leaders at last rites for Eisenhower.
April 2—Dwight D. Eisenhower buried in Abilene, Kan.
April 3—Pope hits dissent in Roman Catholic Church; National
Guard curbs violence in Negro sections of Chicago.
April 4—First implant of a total artificial heart performed in
Houston, Tex. on Skokie, 111. man.
April 8-Haskell Karp, first person to receive total artificial heart,
replaced two days later by human heart, dies.
April 9-Students seize Harvard administration building and eject
nine deans.
April 12—President Nixon announces a $4 billion cut in revised
Johnson Administration budget.
April 13—Flooding Midwest rivers keep 8,000 persons home
less; George Archer wins 33rd Masters Golf tournament.
April 15—North Korea reports it downed U.S. Navy intelligence
_plane with 31 aboard off Korean coast.
April 18—President Nixon announces reconnaisance flights off
Korea will be resumed with protection for planes.
April 20r-Negroes carrying arms leave Cornell University building
after 36-hour occupation; weekend of violence in Northern Ireland
climaxed by mass fire-bomb attacks in Belfast.
April 22-City College of New York shut down by blockade of
Negro and Puerto Rican students; world’s first transplant of a
complete human eye performed in Houston, Tex.
April 23—Sirhan Sirhan sentenced to death in murder of Robert
F. Kennedy; President Nixon orders crackdown on Mafia gambling
operations.
April 24—Labor Department reports consumer prices in March
were 5.1 per cent over March, 1968.
April 28—French President Charles de Gualle resigns after
defeat in referendum; Alain Poher becomes Interim President.
April 29—President Nixon calls on colleges to be firm against
disruptive students.
April 30—Radical students seize two Columbia University build
ings.
May 2—Student disorders cause closing of two more New York
City University campuses; Franz von Papen, German chancellor
who helped Hitler to power, dies at 89.
May 4—Negro militants halt service at New York’s famed
Riverside Church to demand “reparations.”
May 6—Secretary of Navy John H. Chafee overrules Navy
court of inquiry, bars any action against crew of captured intel
ligence ship Pueblo.
May 7—Negro students attack whites with clubs injuring seven,
as City College of New York is closed by Negro and Puerto Rican
protesters; New York welcomes new superliner, Queen Elizabeth 2.
May B—Vietcong offers 10-point program at Paris talks; foreign
money pours into West Germany, which considers boosting marie.
May 9—Vatican drops 200 saints from liturgical calendar, in
cluding St. Valentine and St. Christopher; Bonn decides against
revaluation of West German mark.
May 11—Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York starts Latin
American fact-finding mission for President Nixon.
May 12—Fred (Ahmed) Evans, black nationalist, sentenced to
death in four Detroit slayings.
May 13—President Nixon asks substituting lottery for present
draft system, with 19-year-olds subject to first call.
May 14—President Nixon proposes withdrawal within a year
of U.S., Allied and North Vietnamese forces from South Vietnam.
May 15—Abe Fortas resigns from U.S. Supreme Court after dis
closure of link with financier Louis E. Wolfson.
May 18—Three astronauts blast off for moon in Apollo 10
spacecraft in rehearsal flights for lunar landing.
May 21—President Nixon nominates Warren E. Burger to be
Chief Justice of the United States; Apollo 10 enters moon orbit.
May 22—Two of three Apollo 10 astronauts approach within
9.4 land miles of moon in lunar landing craft.
May 24—Apollo 10 astronauts rocket out of lunar orbit and
head for earth after 31 trips around moon.
May 26—Three astronauts of Apollo 10 splash down safely in
South Pacific; NASA okays plans for summer landing on moon.
May 27—President Nixon proposes converting Post Office Depart
ment into semi-independent corporation to improve mail service.
May 28—President Nixon asks Congress for $2.6 billion foreign
aid funds, lowest in program’s histoiy; final returns in Los Angeles
mayoralty election give incumbent Samuel W. Yorty victory over
Negro opponent.
June I—Gaullist candidate Georges Pompidou wins first round
of French presidential election; threats of disorders cause New
York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller to call off Venezuelan stop on
Latin American tour.
June 2—U.S. destroyer Frank E. Evans cut in half by Australian
aircraft carrier in South China Sea maneuvers; 74 sailors lost.
June 4—President Nixon calls military and foreign policy critics
“new isolationists”; 79 killed in Mexican Airways jet crash.
June 6—New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath announces
retirement from pro football in dispute over restaurant ownership.
June B—President Nixon announces 25,000 U.S. servicemen
to be withdrawn from Vietnam by Aug. 31; film star Robert
Taylor dies of cancer at 57.
June 9—Prime interest rate for bank loans climbs to new high
of 8 1/2 per cent; Senate confirms nomination of Warren E.
Burger as Chief Justice.
June 10—Pope Paul VI visits Geneva, center of Protestant
reformation, first Pontiff to do so since 16th centruy.
June 11—Labor leader John L. Lewis, president emeritus of
the United Mine Workers, dies at 89.
June 15—Georges Pompidou, Gaullist candidate, wins election
as President of France.
June 16—Supreme Court rules barring by House of Adam
Clayton Powell was illegal; Earl Alexander of Tunis dies in England
at 77.
June 17—New York State Sen. John J. Marchi defeats Mayor
John V. Lindsay in New York City Republican mayoralty primary.
June 20—Wealthy industrialist Clinton W. Murchison Sr. "dies
in Athens, Tex., at 74.
June 22—Judy Garland, 47, found dead in London home.
June 23—Earl Warren retires as Chief Justice of the United
States; Warren E. Burger sworn in to succeed him.
June 24—Columnist Westbrook Pegler, 74, dies in Tucson, Anz.;
chemical kills millions of fish in Rhine River.
June 28-President Nixon announces he will visit five Asian
nations and Romania.
June 29—Former Premier Moise Tshombe of the Congo dies in
Algiers, where he had been held prisoner two years.
June 30—Visit by New York Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller stirs
disorders in Argentina. ... , D •
July I—Queen Elizabeth II of England invests her son, Fnnce
Charles, as Prince of Wales.
July 3—Stokely Carmichael resigns from Black Panther party,
denouncing alliances with white radicals.
July 4—Mrs. Ann Jones of England wins Wimbledon tennis
championship, defeating Mrs. Billie Jean King of Berkeley, Calif.
July s—Tom Mboya, Minister of Economic Affairs ot Kenya,
shot to death on Nairobi street; Dr. Walter Adolf Gropius, famous
architect, dies in Boston at 86. . .
July B—Troop withdrawal from Vietnam begins with amval
of more than 800 infantrymen at McChord AFB, Wash.
July 9—President Nixon, in economy move, orders cut ot
14,000 troops at overseas bases and dropping of 5,100 government
civilian employes. ,
July 11-Convictions of Dr. Benjamin Spock and three others
on charges of conspiring to counsel evasion of the draft reversed
by U.S. court.
July 13—Russia sends unmanned spacecraft toward moon as
countdown continues on U.S. Apollo 11 lunar flights.
July 14—Troops of El Salvador invade Honduras.
July 16—Spaceship Apollo 11 blasts off for the moon with three
astronauts aboard.
July 18—Russian unmanned craft orbits moon.
July 19-Astronauts on Apollo 11 go into lunar orbit and pre
pare to land on moon; young woman companion of Sen. Edward
Kennedy drowns when car he is driving plunges off bridge in
Massachu setts.
July 20—Men walk on the moon, watched on earth via tele
vision; astronaut Neil A. Armstrong lands, first, joined by Col.
Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr.; New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath
resumes football career. . r. <■>>
July 21—Apollo 11 astronauts blast off for home alter 21
hours, 37 minutes on the moon; Soviet unmanned spacecraft
crashes on moon. n r
July 22—Generalissimo Francisco Franco names I’nnce Juan
Carlos of Bourbon to succeed him as chief of Spanish state;
President Nixon leaves on trip to Asia and Romania.
j u ]y 24-Apollo 11 moonmen return to earth, greeted by
President Nixon aboard recovery ship in Pacific and then go into
qU Edward M. Kennedy says on television he is
considering whether to resign because of accident involving death
of Mary Jo Kopechne.
July 29—First photographs taken by men on the moon are
shown, including graphic shots of footprints on lunar surface.
July 30—President Nixon, on Asian tour, takes side trip to
Vietnam; Sen. Edward M. Kennedy decides to keep senate seat.
Aug 2—President Nixon, ending Asian tour, goes to Romania
to enthusiastic greeting in Bucharest; Pope Paul returns to Rome
from historic three-day visit to Africa.
Aug. s—Eight former Green Berets special forces troops held
in slaying of Vietnamese agent.
Aug. 6-Senate approves administration’s Safeguard missile de
fense sytem.
Aug. B—President Nixon urges sweeping overhaul of welfare
with minimum standard of Federal aid; French franc devalued to
18.004 cents from 20.255 cents.
Griffin Daily News
Aug. 9—Five persons, including actress Sharon Tate, found
mysteriously slain in Beverly Hills, Calif., home; financier Robert
Lehman dies at 77.
Aug. 10—Astronauts in quarantine since return from moon
landing, released with clean bill of health.
Aug. 13—Heavy fighting between Catholics and Protestants
breaks out in Londonberry, Northern Ireland.
Aug. 15—British troops move into Northern Ireland as death
toll in Catholic-Protestant fighting mounts; investigators blame
U.S. destroyer Frank E. Evans in collision with Australian carrier
Melbourne which killed 74 U.S. seamen.
Aug. 16—300,000 youths mired down in mud at rock festival
on upstate New York farm, but maintain order.
Aug. 17—North Koreans shoot down U.S. Army helicopter
with three aboard; Hurricane Camille hits Mississippi coast devas
tating blow; Dr. Philip Blaiberg, world’s longest surviving heart
transplant patient, dies at 60.
Aug. 18—Death toll in Hurricane Camille grows in Mississippi
and Louisiana; President Nixon nominates Judge Clement F.
Haynsworth Jr., of South Carolina as Associate Justice of U.S.
Supreme Court.
Aug. 20—Czech army and police battle anti-Soviet demonstrators
in Prague on first anniversary of invasion.
Aug. 21—Reduction of 100,000 men in armed forces and cut of
$1.5 billion in Pentagon budget ordered by Defense Secretary
Laird.
Aug. 22—Virginia floods resulting from Hurricane Camille killed
more than 100.
Aug. 24—Huge ice-breaking tanker Manhattan leaves Chester,
Pa., in attempt to make first commercial ship crossing of North
west Passage to Alaska.
Aug. 25—Members of U.S. Army company in Vietnam tempo
rarily refuse order to move into battle.
Aug. 26—45 injured as Negroes battle police in Pittsburgh in
demonstration over contrsuction jobs.
Aug. 27—President Nixon entertains former President Johnson
in California on latter’s 61st birthday.
Aug. 28—Administration wins delay to Dec. 1 in desegregation
of 30 Mississippi school districts.
Aug. 29—Trans World Airlines jet with 113 aboard hijacked to
to Syria by two Arabs.
Aug. 31—Military takes over rule of Brazil after President Arthur
da Costa e Silva suffers stroke.
Sept. I—Columnist Drew Pearson, 71, dies of heart attack;
junta takes over rule of Libya from King Idris I. 79.
Sept. 3—President Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam dies of heart
attack at 79; former Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike missing in
Jordan after car breakdown.
Sept. 4—President Nixon proposes controversial tax bill; Ambas
sador to Brazil C. Burke Elbrick kidnaped by gunmen in Rio de
Janeiro, note demands release of 15 political prisoners for his
freedom.
Sept. 6—Brazil flies 15 political prisoners to asylum in Mexico
as ransom for kidnaped U.S. envoy.
Sept. 7—Kidnaped U.S. ambassador freed in Rio de Janeiro;
Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen dies at 73; body of former
Episcopal Bishop James A. Pike found in Judean wilderness.
Sept. 9—lsraelis in biggest attack on Egypt since 1967 war;
83 killed near Indianapolis in collision of jet airliner and small
plane.
Sept. 10—New York Mets take first place in Eastern Division
of National League; S9OO million bid for oil leases in Alaska.
Sept. 11-Soviet Premier Aleksei N. Kosygin and Red Chinese
Premier Chou En-lai hold surprise meeting in Peking.
Sept. 16-President Nixon announces 35,000 more troops to be
withdrawn from Vietnam.
Sept. 18—President Nixon urges U.N. members to help bring
peace in Vietnam; House approves popular vote for President.
Sept. 19—President Nixon cuts draft calls and announces changes
in draft system.
Sept. 24—New York Mets win Eastern Division championship
of the National League.
Sept. 25—President Nixon asks 10 per cent increase in Social
Security benefits and link to cost of living.
Sept. 26-President Nixon asks public support for Viet peace
efforts, raps war critics; military junta takes over Bolivian govern
ment.
Oct. s—Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, a leader of American
Protestantism, dies at 91.
Oct. 6—New York Mets win National League pennant; U.S.
unemployment rises to 4 per cent, highest since October, 1967.
Oct. 7—Russia and Red China agree to negotiate border dispute;
Montreal police and some firemen strike.
Oct. B—House Post Office Committee rejects administration
proposal to convert Post Office Department into a public corpora
tion; Montreal police return to work after two killings, 10 bank
robbereis and widespread looting.
Oct. 10—Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey fired as director of Selective
Service system.
Oct. 16—New York Mets win World Series, 4 games to 1, over
Baltimore Orioles.
Oct. 17—President Nixon names Dr. Arthur F. Burns to succeed
William McChesney Martin as Chairman of the Federal Reserve
Board.
Oct. 18—Last of three Russian spacecraft, carrying total of
seven men, returns after orbiting earth.
Oct. 21—Social Democrat Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor
of West Germany, with support of Free Democrats.
Oct. 24—West Germany revalues mark; Arab guerrillas riot
in three Lebanese cities.
Oct. 25—300 Arab guerrillas invade Lebanon from Syria.
Oct. 27—Strike cripples General Electric plants nationwide;
earthquake destroys Yugoslav city, killing scores and injuring
hundreds.
Oct. 28—Labor Party of Premier Golda Meir wins Israeli
general election but fails to gain absolute majority.
Oct. 28—U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation of
schools.
Oct. 31—Youth hijacks plane from California to Rome.
Nov. I—California-to-ltaly plane hijacker captured near Rome.
Nov. 2—Six men who hijacked planes to Cuba return to U.S.
to face charges; Lebanon and Arab guerrillas in cease-fire.
Nov. 3—President Nixon calls for nation’s support for his plan
to end Vietnam war.
Nov. 4—John V. Lindsay, running as Liberal-Independent, re
elected mayor of New York City.
Nov. 11—Time-bombs rock three New York skyscrapers, no
serious injuries.
Nov. 12—Bomb explodes in New York Criminal Courts Build
ing, four arrested; three gunmen escape with $1.3 million from
Wells Fargo armored truck in New York.
Nov. 13—Vice President Agnew charges television networks
with distorting news.
Nov. 14—Apollo 12 spacecraft carrying three astronauts, blasts
off for moon.
Nov. 15—250,000 march in Washington in protest against
Vietnam war.
Nov. 16—South Vietnamese villagers say U.S. troops killed
567 unarmed civilians March 16, 1968; Army lieutenant and staff
sergeant charged in incident.
Nov. 17—Apollo 12 enters moon orbit; U.S.-Russian talks on
strategic arms limitation gegin in Helsinki, Finland.
Nov. 18—Two of the three Apollo astronauts leave command
ship in lunar module for man’s second landing on moon; Joseph
P. Kennedy, patriarch of the Kennedy clan, dies at 81.
Nov. 19—Cmdrs. Charles Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean, Apollo
12 astronauts, take two long walks on the moon.
Nov. 20—Two astronauts leave moon and reenter command ship
for return trip to earth; Vice President Agnew extends attack on
news media to press; Henry Cabot Lodge resigns as chief U.S.
delegate to Paris Vietnam talks.
Nov. 21-Senate votes against confirming Clement F. Haynsworth
as Associate Justice of Supreme Court; Apollo 12 leaves moon
orbit and heads for earth.
Nov. 24—Apollo 12 returns safely to earth after 10-day moon
trip; Army sets court martial for lieutenant charged with slaying
109 Vietnamese villagers; U.S. and Russia sign nuclear weapons
treaty.
9
Sat. and Sun., Dec. 27-28, 1969