Title: 1969 Content: 1969 (MCMLXIX) was . == Events == * January 12 – Led Zeppelin's first album is released. * January 20 – Richard Nixon becomes President of the United States, after Lyndon Johnson. * February 3 – Yasser Arafat becomes Palestinian Liberation Organization leader at the Palestinian National Congress. * April 9 – Around 300 students take over Harvard University, because they do not like the Vietnam War being fought. * May 10 – Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam. * May 20 – National Guard helicopters spray skin-stinging powder on Vietnam War protesters in California. * May 31 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace a Chance" at their "Bed-In" in Montreal. * June 8 – Nixon announces that 25,000 US troops will start to leave Vietnam before September. * July 8 – As promised, some US troops begin to leave Vietnam. * July 16–24 – The Apollo 11 mission makes Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin the first people on the Moon. * August 9 – The Manson Family murders the actress Sharon Tate and members of her family. * August 15 – The Woodstock music festival starts in Upstate New York. * August 17 – Hurricane Camille hits Mississippi, killing 248 people. * August 31 – Boxer Rocky Marciano dies in a plane crash on the day before his 46th birthday. * September 1 – King Idris I of Libya is removed from power in a coup. * September 7 – Monty Python's Flying Circus airs for the first time on British television. * October 15 – Hundreds of thousands of people across the US protest against the Vietnam War by not going to work. * October 21 – Willy Brandt becomes the first SPD-Chancellor of Germany * November 9 – A group of American Indians takes over Alcatraz Island and holds it for 19 months. * November 10 - Sesame Street first aired. * November 13 – Up to 500,000 anti-war protesters march and protest in Washington DC. * December 1 – The United States holds the first "draft lottery", to pick who is going to be sent to fight in Vietnam. == Births == * January 2 – Christy Turlington, American model * January 3 – Michael Schumacher, German Formula one driver * January 5 – Marilyn Manson, American singer * January 14 – Dave Grohl, American musician * January 16 – Roy Jones, Jr., American professional boxer * January 18 – Dave Bautista, American professional wrestler * February 1 – Brian Krause, American actor * February 11 – Jennifer Aniston, American actress * March 6 – Greg Scott, English television presenter * April 25 – Renée Zellweger, American actress * May 14 – Cate Blanchett, Australian actress * May 25 – Stacy London, American fashion consultant * June 14 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player * June 15 – Oliver Kahn, German football player * June 27 – Colleen Fitzpatrick, American singer and actress * July 17 - Kazuki Kitamura, Japanese actor * July 20 – Josh Holloway, American actor * July 24 – Jennifer Lopez, American singer and actress * July 27 – Triple H, American professional wrestler * August 6 – Elliott Smith, American singer and musician (d. 2003) * August 18 – Edward Norton, American actor * August 19 – Matthew Perry, American actor * August 28 – Jack Black, American actor, comedian, and musician * October 24 - Adela Noriega, Mexican television actress * November 10 – Jens Lehmann, German football player * December 4 – Jay-Z, American rapper * December 9 – Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer * December 19 – Kristy Swanson, American actress * December 28 – Linus Torvalds, Finnish computer scientist * Buckethead, American musician == Deaths == === January === * January 1 – Barton MacLane, American actor (b. 1902) * January 1 – Bruno Söderström, Swedish track and field athlete (b. 1881) * January 4 – Paul Chambers, American jazz double bassist (b. 1935) * January 9 – Jacques van Egmond, Dutch racing cyclist (b. 1908) * January 17 – Grażyna Bacewicz, Polish composer (b. 1909) * January 19 – Jan Palach, Czech activist (b. 1948) * January 30 – Dominique Pire, Belgian friar (b. 1910) * January 31 – Meher Baba, Indian mystic (b. 1894) === February === * February 2 – Boris Karloff, English actor (b. 1887) * February 23 – Madhubala, Indian actress (b. 1933) * February 23 – King Saud of Saudi Arabia (b. 1902) * February 26 – Levi Eshkol, 3rd Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1895) === March === * March 24 – Joseph Kasa- Vubu, 1st President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1917) * March 28 – Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States (b. 1890) === April === === May === * May 2 – Franz von Papen, 22nd Chancellor of Germany (b. 1879) * May 3 - Zakir Husain, 3rd President of India (b. 1897) === June === * June 8 – Robert Taylor, American actor (b. 1911) * June 22 – Judy Garland, American actress and singer (b. 1922) === July === * July 3 – Brian Jones, British musician (the Rolling Stones) (b. 1942) === August === * August 6 - Theodor W. Adorno, German philosopher (b. 1903) * August 9 – Sharon Tate, American actress (b. 1943) * August 31 – Rocky Marciano, American boxer (b. 1923) === September === * September 2 – Ho Chi Minh, 1st President of Vietnam (b. 1890) === October === * October 12 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912) * October 21 – Jack Kerouac, American writer and poet (b. 1922) === November === * November 8 – Vesto Slipher, American astronomer (b. 1875) * November 12 - Iskander Mirza, 1st President of Pakistan (b. 1899) * November 12 – Liu Shaoqi, 2nd President of China (b. 1898) * November 18 - Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., American businessman (b. 1888) * November 21 – Mutesa II of Buganda, President of Uganda (b. 1924) === December === * December 13 – Spencer Williams Jr., American actor (b. 1893) * December 17 - Artur da Costa e Silva, 27th President of Brazil (b. 1899) == Nobel Prizes == * Nobel Prize in Physics – Murray Gell-Mann, American physicist (for his work on the theory of elementary particles) * Chemistry – Derek H R Barton, Odd Hassel * Medicine – Max Delbrück, Alfred D Hershey, Salvador E Luria * Literature – Samuel Beckett, Irish writer * Peace – International Labour Organization * Economics – Ragnar Frisch, Jan Tinbergen == Movies released == * Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid * Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice * Cactus Flower * Easy Rider * Midnight Cowboy * Shart * The Wild Bunch == Hit songs == * "Aquarius"/"Let The Sunshine In" – Fifth Dimension * "The Ballad of John and Yoko" – The Beatles * "But You Know I Love You" – Kenny Rogers and The First Edition * "The Boxer" – Simon and Garfunkel * "In The Ghetto" – Elvis Presley * "Cloud Nine" – The Temptations * "Come Together" – The Beatles * "Get Back" – The Beatles * "Good Times Bad Times" – Led Zeppelin * "Honky Tonk Women" – Rolling Stones * "I'd Wait A Million Years" – The Grass Roots * "Listen to the Band" – The Monkees * "Pinball Wizard" – The Who * "Proud Mary" – Creedence Clearwater Revival * "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" – B.J. Thomas * "Something" – The Beatles * "Suspicious Minds" – Elvis Presley * "Touch Me" – The Doors * "Whole Lotta Love" – Led Zeppelin == New Books == * Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle – Vladimir Nabokov * The Andromeda Strain – Michael Crichton * The Edible Woman – Margaret Atwood * The Godfather – Mario Puzo * The Green Man – Kingsley Amis