Britain and the World 1969

BRITAIN AND THE WORLD SINCE 1953

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	1969
Jan1	The Australian Rupert Murdoch purchases the U.K.s largest selling Sunday newspaper "The News Of The World"
Jan5	The Derry Riots leave over 100 people injured
7	The trial begins in Los Angeles of Sirhan Sirhan the alleged assassin of Robert Kennedy. He is found guilty and sentenced to death in the gas chamber (23 April)
Jan14	An explosion aboard the US aircraft carrier Enterprise kills 24 ratings
Jan16	Jan Palach immolates himself in Wenceslas Square in Prague in protest at the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.
	Ten paintings including a Rembrandt are defaced in New York's Metropolitan Art Gallery
Jan20	Richard Nixon is inaugurated as the 37th President of U.S.A.
Jan24	Martial Law is declared in Madrid. The University is closed and over 300 students are arrested
Jan27	14 men, nine of them Jews, were executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel
	Leader of the DUP in Northern Ireland, Rev Ian Paisley is jailed for three months for illegal assembly
Jan30	The Beatles perform on the roof of the Apple HQ (3 Saville Row) in London. After complaints from neighbours, the police brought the show to an abrupt end. It is their last public performance together
Feb3	Yasser Arafat becomes Leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation
Feb8	The Boeing 747 the worlds largest commercial aircraft makes its first commercial flight
Feb13	900 National Guard are drafted in to suppress civil rights disturbances at the University of Winconsin. Violent clashes between polic wand students also occur at the University of North Carolina
Feb14	The Arpanet (a forerunner to the Internet) is tested. Four computers in the US are setup in a bid to send the word "login" via the network. The system crashes on the letter "g"
Feb24	Launch of the Mariner 6 Mars probe from Cape Kennedy
	The Jimi Hendrix Experience makes its final appearance at the Royal Albert Hall London
Mar2	Maiden flight of Concorde 001 from Sud-airport Toulouse. The flight lasted 27 minutes
	A serious border dispute between USSR and China arises in the Ussur River region
Mar3	Launch of Apollo 9 which tested the Lunar Landing Craft/Module in earth orbit
Mar5	After a trial lasting 39 days, the Kray Twins are found guilty of the murders of Jack "The Hat" McVitie and George Cornell and are sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that they serve at least thirty years.
Mar7	Victoria Line tube opens in London
	Golda Meir is elected as Israel's Premier
	The Small Faces give their final concert at the Springfield Theatre Jersey, Channel Islands: - probably one of the most influential bands to come out of the 60's
Mar10	James Earl Ray pleaded guilty in Memphis, Tenn., to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and is sentenced to 99 years imprisonment. Ray later repudiated that plea, maintaining his innocence until his death
Mar12	Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office in London.
	Police raid the home of George and Patti Harrison who are arrested for possession of cannabis. On March 31 they appeared in court and were fined for possession
Mar15	Swindon Town beat Arsenal 3 - 1 in the League Cup Final at Wembley
Mar17	The Longshore Lifeboat is lost in the Pentland Firth. All eight crew members die
Mar20	John Lennon married Yoko Ono at the Rock of Gibraltar on this day. (immortalised in the song "The Ballad of John and Yoko") Lennon called the location, “quiet, friendly and British.” He was the second Beatle to marry in eight days. Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman were wed a week earlier. -
Mar28	Dwight D Eisenhower former President of USA and Supreme Allied Commander in Europe 1939-1945 War dies aged 78
Apr17	Voting age in UK is lowered from 21 to 18
Apr20	British troops arrive in Northern Ireland
Apr22	British lone yachtsman Robin Knox-Johnston arrived at Falmouth after completing the first solo nonstop circumnavigation of the Earth in just 312 days.
Apr24	US B52 bombers launch their biggest offensive in the war to date. The death toll of US soldiers in Vietnam is reported to stand at 33,641 - more than the total loss of US lives in the Korean War. Over 540,000 US troops are stationed there - an all-time high.
Apr25	The radio serial Mrs. Dale's Diary ended after 21 years and 5,400 episodes.
May2	British passenger liner Queen Elizabeth 2 left on her maiden voyage to New York.
	University campuses in New York are closed as students engage in further anti-Vietnam protests
May12	Martin Lamble Fairport Convention's drummer together with the girlfriend of guitarist Richard Thompson - Jeannie "Genie the Tailor" Franklin - are killed in a motor accident on the M1 near Mill Hill.
May17	Dubliner Tom McClean completed the first solo transatlantic crossing in a rowing boat.
May20	National Guard helicopters spray skin-stinging powder on anti-war protesters in California
Jun2	74 American sailors were killed when the Australian aircraft carrier Melbourne collided with the U.S. destroyer Frank E. Evans in the South China Sea.
Jun20	The three day Newport Rock Festival begins in Northridge San Fernando California
Jun20	Georges Pompidou succeeds Charles de Gaulle as President of France as the latter was defeated in a referendum
Jun21	Maureen Connelly "Little Mo" one of tennis's all time greats dies
Jun22	Judy Garland dies of drugs overdose in her London flat aged 47
Jun24	Britain and Rhodesia sever diplomatic ties
Jun25	The longest tennis match at Wimbledon - after 5hrs12 min Pancho Gonzales defeats Charles Pasarell 22-24,1-6,16-14,6-3,11-9
Jul1	Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle
Jul3	Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones is found dead in a swimming pool at his home Catchford Farm in Sussex. He is buried six days later in his home town of Cheltenham
Jul5	The Rolling Stones play a free concert in Hyde Park London
Jul18	Edward Kennedy drives off Dikes Bridge into Poucha Pond at Chappaquidick Island killing his companion Mary Jo Kopechne. He did not report the incident for 10 hours and was subsequently found guilty of leaving the scene of the accident and given a two-month suspended sentence. His political ambitions were dealt a fatal blow
Jul21	First men land on the moon Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin from the Apollo 11 mission. They pilot the Apollo lunar module Eagle to a landing on the Sea of Tranquility
Jul31	Halfpenny ceases to be legal tender in UK
Aug9	Director Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate and four others were found brutally murdered. The culprits of the crime were members of a hippie cult led by Charles Manson who were indicted to stand trial for the murders on December 24th
Aug15	Woodstock Music and Art Fair opens in New York State (Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm)
Aug19	The Battle of the Bogside erupts in Derry. The Ulster government summon British troops "to prevent the breakdown of law and order".
Aug21	Part of the al-Agsa Mosque is destroyed by arson
Sep1	Libyan revolution - Military officers overthrew the Libyan government and force King Idris to abdicate. Col. Moammar Gadhafi came to power.
Sep3	Ho Chi Minh dies
Sep5	ITV begins broadcasting television in colour
Oct14	The 50p coin introduced in Britain (reduced in size 1998)
Oct5	"Monty Python's Flying Circus" made its first appearance on BBC2 Television at 10.55pm.
Oct21	Jack Kerouac the author dies aged 47
Nov15	ATV screened the first colour television commercial in Britain.
	The Star Club in Hamburg announces that it will close before the end of the month
Nov16	US discloses that hundreds of Vietnamese civilians had been killed in the village of My Lai
Nov19	Apollo 12's Conrad and Bean become third and fourth persons to set foot on the Moon
Nov25	John Lennon returns Order of the British Empire medal to protest the Wilson government's support of the US in Vietnam. In 1999 it emerged that Wilson wanted to send UK troops to Vietnam
Nov26	Creams' final concert at the Royal Albert Hall. It was filmed and part of the concert can be found on the album "Goodbye Cream"
Dec06	A free concert given by the Rolling Stones in front of over 300,000 people at Altamont Speedway, Livermore California, ends in tragedy when Hell's Angels stab a man Meredith Hunter to death.
Dec18	Following a five year trial the House of Commons finally abolishes death penalty (apart from a couple of exceptions) in Great Britain

Last Updated 02/08/04 08:49

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