A 1969 timeline: Turbulent year signaled major societal change

A 1969 timeline: Turbulent year signaled major societal change


The news in 1969 may not have been as big or as bad as in 1968, which had the Kennedy and King assassinations.  But there was more of it in 1969, and whatever happened in any category was usually stranger than what had come before it in a decade that had already been strange to the extreme

The most astonishing events could be easily reduced to a handful: Woodstock, People’s Park, Charlie Manson, the Zodiac, the moon landing, the Alcatraz occupation, the Miracle Mets, Broadway Joe, the Weathermen, Chappaquiddick and “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.”

Fifty years later, you can mention any of these to someone who remembers, and you will be headed deep into tumult and trivia. It’s why we decided to task our Chronicle writers and critics to take a deep dive into that year’s cultural moments; the landmark bits of music, film and television that helped shape 1969, and the years — decades — that followed.

You can read those focused looks. But here is a selected cultural timeline gathered from online sources and the nonfiction account “1969: The Year Everything Changed,” by Rob Kirkpatrick, that takes you through the year.

Jan. 5 –  Fantasy Records in Berkeley releases Creedence Clearwater Revival’s second album, “Bayou Country.”  Bandleader John Fogerty becomes the king of Swamp Rock, though there are no swamps in El Cerrito, where the band comes from.Jan. 12 — The New York Jets live up to quarterback Joe Namath’s bold prediction and beat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III at the Orange Bowl in Miami.


Jan. 20 — Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th president of the United States.

Jan. 29 — An oil rig off the coast of Santa Barbara blows up, causing an estimated 3 million gallons of oil to leach into the Pacific Ocean over the course of a week. Images of shorebirds black with oil lead to the first major efforts to protect the coastline environment from the oil industry.

Jan. 30 — The Beatles play an impromptu rooftop concert at their recording studio in London. The concert can be heard but not seen from the street, six stories below. It turns out to be the last live performance  for the Beatles.Feb. 9 — Inaugural test flight of a Boeing 747 with two decks of passenger seats and the soon-to-be-famous piano bar in the first-class lounge.

March 1 –  New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle retires after 18 seasons, 12 World Series, three MVP awards, one Triple Crown for hitting, and five knee and shoulder surgeriesMarch 20 — Third World Liberation Front ends its student strike at San Francisco State, still the longest at any university in U.S. history. The strike, which began on Nov. 6, 1968, results in establishment of a College of Ethnic Studies. Five strikers end up on the Ethnic Studies faculty.

April 4 — Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first totally artificial heart in a human at the Texas Heart Institute. The device works for 64 hours, but the patient later dies.

April 9 — After a disturbingly quiet 1968, Bob Dylan finally releases an album, “Nashville Skyline.” The sound is unexpectedly country. The different style prompts speculation that Dylan’s voice changed when he stopped smoking after a motorcycle accident in 1966. 

April 20 — A group of Berkeley residents bring tools and sod to reclaim a vacant and derelict square block that had been bulldozed but never built on by UC Berkeley. Originally called Herrick Peace and Freedom Park, it soon becomes the battleground known as People’s Park.

May 3 — Funk rock pioneers Sly and the Family Stone, out of Vallejo, release the album “Stand,” behind the singles “Everyday People” and “Want to Take You Higher.”May 15 — Gov. Ronald Reagan sends the California Highway Patrol to Berkeley to reclaim People’s Park, homeland of the hippies. A chain-link fence is erected just in time for the people to come take back their park. Sheriff’s deputies from Alameda County are brought in to back the CHP. In the ensuing riot, Cal student James Rector is killed, and more than 100 are injured and hospitalized.  

May 20 — After a deadly 10-day battle with the entrenched North Vietnamese army, U.S. Army paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division capture Hamburger Hill in the A Shau Valley. It takes 11 assaults and 72 American dead and 372 wounded. A few weeks later, it is abandoned as having no strategic value. Hamburger Hill becomes a symbol of the futility of the Vietnam War.

May 23 — The Who release “Tommy,” the first album billed as a rock opera.

May 24 — “Sugar, Sugar” is released by the Archies. It becomes the top single of the year. 
May 25 — “Midnight Cowboy” premieres, introducing the New York City losers Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo, as played by Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman.  The film becomes the first X-rated film to win the Academy Award for best picture.

May 28 — A benefit for People’s Park, including Creedence Clearwater Revival, by now the hottest band in America, is held at Winterland in San Francisco.


May 29 — Crosby, Stills & Nash releases its self-titled album, bringing acoustic folk-rock to the forefront. Neil Young is soon added to form CSNY, which debuts at Woodstock and later plays Altamont.

May 30 — A crowd estimated at 30,000 people marches on Berkeley as the protests at People’s Park continue.

June 8 — The final episode of “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” airs.  It was canceled by CBS due to its heavy political and social commentary and questions over censorship. It still wins the 1969 Emmy Award for outstanding writing for a variety series.June 11 — “True Grit” is released to later earn John Wayne the Academy Award for best actor, and his co-star Glen Campbell a reputation for worst actorJune 27 — A Life magazine cover story titled “The Faces of the American Dead in Vietnam” publishes the pictures of all 241 service members killed during one week’s fighting. The first name listed is Michael Volheim, 20, of Hayward.


June 28 — New York City police raid the Stonewall Inn gay bar in Greenwich Village. A riot erupts as the bar patrons fight back, in a historic moment. Stonewall becomes the symbol of the fight for LGBT rights

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