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“Operation Barrier Reef” commences in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.
A nude photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono on the cover of their album, “Two Virgins”, violates pornography laws in New Jersey.
The government of Spain handed over Ifni to Morocco.
Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashed into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants.
An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise near Hawaii kills 27 and injures 314.
Student Jan Palach sets himself on fire in Prague's Wenceslas Square to protest the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia; three days later, he dies.
The end of the siege of the University of Tokyo marked the beginning of the end of the 1968–69 Japanese university protests.
Richard Nixon was sworn in as the 37th President of the United States.
An assassination attempt was carried out on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, and several are injured. Brezhnev escaped unharmed.
Fourteen men, nine of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel.
The Beatles gave their last public performance of several tracks on the roof of Apple Records, London.
Yasser Arafat was elected Palestine Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo.
The Allende meteorite explodes over Mexico.
The world’s largest airplane, the Boeing 747, makes its first-ever commercial flight.
Le Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) terrorists bomb the Montreal Stock Exchange.
Pope Paul VI issued Mysterii Paschalis, a motu proprio, deleting many names from the Roman calendar of saints (including Valentine, who was celebrated on this day).
Peru and Russia signed their first-ever trade accord, a defining moment of 1969 events.
In the village of Thanh Phong, over a dozen women, old men, and children were killed in a raid in Vietnam involving Lt. Bob Kerry.
Thousands of students protested the arrival of President Nixon’s visit to Rome.
The Soviet and Chinese forces clashed at a border outpost on the Ussuri River.
NASA launched Apollo 9 to test the lunar module.
Sirhan Sirhan testified in court that he killed Robert Kennedy.
Arrest warrants were issued by a Florida court for Jim Morrison on charges of indecent exposure during a Doors concert three days earlier.
James Earl Ray pleads guilty to the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee, and is sentenced to 99 years in jail.
Apollo 9 returned safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
Golda Meir became the first female prime minister of Israel.
An annular solar eclipse was visible in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and was the 49th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 129.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married in Gibraltar and proceed to their honeymoon "Bed-In" for peace in Amsterdam.
The Barroterán coal mine disaster killed 153 coal miners in Mexico.
Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.
Fermín Monasterio Pérez is murdered by the ETA in Biscay, Spain, the 4th victim in the name of Basque nationalism.
North Korea shot down the aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was found guilty of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
Robin Knox-Johnston became the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping.
Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
Charles de Gaulle stepped down as president of France after suffering defeat in a referendum the day before.
Northern Irish candidate Bernadette Devlin became the youngest woman ever elected to the British Parliament, exposing the discrimination against Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland.
Zakir Husain, President of India, died due to a heart attack.
Scott Momaday, the Kiowa author, became the first American Indian to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for “House Made of Dawn.”
The Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as Hamburger Hill, began during the Vietnam War.
Placed in solitary confinement for seventeen months, Winnie Mandela is detained under South Africa’s Terrorism Act.
Race riots occur in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi visited Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
The Soviet space probe Venera 5 lands on Venus.
The Soviet space probe Venera 6 begins to descend into Venus's atmosphere, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure.
Apollo 10 has been launched.
United States National Guard helicopters spray skin-stinging powder on anti-war protesters in California.
19-year-old Alex Rackley was fatally shot by Warren Kimbro, both members of the Black Panthers. Rackley was believed to be an FBI informant.
“Midnight Cowboy” is released with an X rating, based upon James Leo Herlihy’s novel of the same name.
Riots in Curaçao marked the start of an Afro-Caribbean civil rights movement on the island.
During the “Bed-In” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, John Lennon and Yoko Ono recorded “Give Peace a Chance”.
An international communist conference begins in Moscow.
The Gibraltar border with Spain, also known as “The Fence of Gibraltar”, was closed by dictator General Franco.
President Nixon met with Nguyen Van Thieu, President of South Vietnam, at a joint press conference announcing the reduction of US troops in Vietnam.
Georges Pompidou was elected President of France.
William Brent, a member of the Black Panther group, hijacks a US airplane to Cuba and becomes the 28th person this year to do so.
After a 23-game match, Boris Spassky defeats Tigran Petrosian to become the World Chess Champion in Moscow.
American film actress Judy Garland, the star of “The Wizard of Oz”, died in London.
The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, catches fire due to pollution levels in the water.
Vivian Strong, a 14-year-old African-American girl, is shot and killed by a white police officer in Omaha, Nebraska, leading to three days of riots in the city.
The Stonewall riots in New York City marked the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S.
Charles, Prince of Wales, is invested with his title at Caernarfon.
The founder of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, died at 27 years of age.
The California Zodiac killer shoots a waitress in Vallejo.
Tom Mboya, Kenyan Minister of Development, is assassinated.
The first U.S. troops left South Vietnam in Saigon.
Apollo 11 lifted off from Cape Kennedy in Florida as the first manned landing on the moon.
US Senator Edward M. Kennedy drives off a bridge into a tidal pond after leaving a party on Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing Mary Jo Kopechne.
Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
Apollo 11 returned from the first successful moon landing.
U.S. President Richard Nixon declared the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense.
U.S. Representative Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese Representative Xuan Thuy began secret peace negotiations.
The Lonesome Cowboys police raid occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, leading to the formation of the Georgia Gay Liberation Front.
The Beatles, at 11:30, have photographer Iain Macmillan take their photo on a zebra crossing on Abbey Road.
Members of the Manson family invade the home of actress Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski in Los Angeles.
The Manson Family kills Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, a wealthy Los Angeles businessman and his wife.
Serious border clashes occurred between the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.
British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland to restore order following three days of political and sectarian violence, marking the beginning of the 37-year Operation Banner.
The Woodstock Festival is held near White Lake, New York, and features some of the top rock musicians of the era.
Australian Denis Michael Rohan sets the Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire.
Strong violence on demonstrations in Prague and Brno, Czechoslovakia.
The Nahr al-Bared camp rises up against the Lebanese government.
A Trans World Airlines flight from Rome to Tel Aviv is hijacked and diverted to Syria.
A bloodless coup in Libya ousts King Idris and brings Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to power.
Lieutenant William Calley is charged with six counts of premeditated murder for the 1968 My Lai Massacre deaths of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai, Vietnam.
Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a DC-9 airliner, collides in flight with a small Piper PA-28 airplane and crashes near Fairland, Indiana, killing all 83 people in both aircraft.
An annular solar eclipse was visible in the Pacific Ocean and South America and was the 41st solar eclipse of Solar Saros 134.
Scooby-Doo airs its first episode on the CBS network.
At a meeting between The Beatles (minus George Harrison) and business manager Allen Klein, John Lennon announced his intention to quit the group.
The last theatrical Warner Bros. cartoon is released: the Merrie Melodies short Injun Trouble.
An Islamic conference in Rabat, Morocco, following the al-Aqsa Mosque fire (August 21), condemns the Israeli claim of ownership of Jerusalem.
China carried out an underground nuclear bomb test.
The Chicago Eight trial begins in Chicago, Illinois.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference was founded.
The Beatles released their Abbey Road album.
The Brady Bunch airs its first episode on the ABC network.
The 1969 Tulbagh earthquake in South Africa was the most destructive earthquake in South African history.
The Illinois National Guard is called in to control demonstrations involving the radical Weathermen in connection with the "Chicago Eight" Trial.
The Zodiac Killer shoots and kills taxi driver Paul Stine in the Presidio Heights neighborhood of San Francisco.
An unofficial strike amongst British mineworkers began over the working hours of surface workers.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part in the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam demonstrations across the United States.
Fourteen black athletes were kicked off the University of Wyoming football team for wearing black armbands into their coach's office.
General Siad Barre comes to power in Somalia in a coup, six days after the assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke.
Led Zeppelin released Led Zeppelin II to critical acclaim and commercial success.
The first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner of the internet.
The Arab League makes a deal that gives the PLO in Lebanon refugee camps freedom from government interference as they plan to recruit and train fighters for their army.
Pink Floyd released their Ummagumma album.
Alcatraz Island is occupied by a group of American Indians.
Sesame Street airs its first episode on the NET network.
My Lai Massacre: Independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh breaks the My Lai story.
NASA launched Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the Moon.
The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea.
Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States met in Helsinki.
Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean land at Oceanus Procellarum, becoming the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
Richard Oakes returned with 90 followers to Alcatraz Island and began a 19-month occupation lasting until June 1971.
The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
John Lennon returned his MBE medal to protest the British government's involvement in the Nigerian Civil War.
Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark are shot dead in their sleep during a raid by 14 Chicago police officers.
The Rolling Stones album Let It Bleed is released.
Frosty the Snowman aired on the CBS network.
In two separate locations, the Los Angeles police make surprise attacks on the black panthers.
The Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan, Italy, killed 17 people and injured 88.
The murder of Diane Maxwell takes place. The 25-year-old phone operator is found sexually assaulted and killed.
Michael Jackson made his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show with his brothers and sisters as The Jackson 5.
Charles Manson is allowed to defend himself at the Tate-LaBianca murder trial.
Nigerian troops capture Umuahia. The last Biafran capital before its dissolution became Owerri.
The Young Lords take over the First Spanish Methodist Church in East Harlem.
The Linwood bank robbery left two police officers dead.