West Lincoln High School
Class of 1969
Tuesday, May 27, 1969
Graduation Day
The Billboard Top 10
Week of May 27, 1969
News Events in 1969
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250,000 march on Washington in protest at the Vietnam War
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Golda Meir of Milwaukee, Wisconsin , USA, becomes Prime Minister of Israel
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Robin Knox-Johnston becomes the first person to sail around the world solo without stopping
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The US institutes the draft lottery to determine draft into US Forces for Vietnam War
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The very first U.S. troop withdrawals are made from Vietnam
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Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Established
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Police raid Stonewall Inn on June 28th a gay club located in New York City ending The Stonewall Riot.
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Senator Edward Kennedy driving a car plunges into a pond on July 25th and a body of a woman passenger is later found in the car
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Civil war in Biafra leaves 3 million starving and needing international aid.
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Members of a cult led by Charles Manson murder five people August 9th
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Richard Nixon becomes President of the United States
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Hurricane Camille hits the Mississippi coast killing 248 people
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Britain deploys troops in Northern Ireland following increasing violence
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27-year-old Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi deposes King Idris of Libya and establishes a pro-Arabic, anti-Western, Islamic republic.
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Australian light aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne slices the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half killing 82 of her crew
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Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc
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The trial begins of "Chicago Seven" accused of inciting riot at 1968 Democratic National Convention
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Charles de Gaulle Resigns as French President
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Rising Inflation is a worldwide problem
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The Death Penalty is Abolished in the UK
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Atlanta International Pop Festival on 4th July attracts 100,000 fans
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Woodstock attracts more than 350,000 rock-n-roll fans
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The Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO ) is founded
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The US Supreme Court rules on Stanley v. Georgia declaring "The State may not prohibit mere possession of obscene materials for personal use".
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Militant black students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York use force to take over Willard Straight Hall demanding a black studies program.
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Police forces in the United States crack down on student protests
Popular Television Shows
Technology
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First Concorde test flight is conducted In France
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First transplant of human eye
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Seiko sells the first Quartz Watch
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The Harrier Jump Jet enters service with the RAF
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The first automatic teller machine ATM or Cash Machine is installed in the United States
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Creation of ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet
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The Boeing 747 jumbo jet makes its debut. It carried 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, from Seattle to New York City.
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UNIX is developed by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs
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The Pontiac Firebird Trans Am the epitome of the American muscle car is introduced.
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The Microprocessor ( a miniature set of integrated circuits ) is invented opening the way for the computer revolution that followed
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ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) goes online in December, connecting four major US universities. Designed for research, education, and government organizations, it is the foundation upon which the Internet will eventually be built
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Manned Moon Landing USA Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin walk on Moon
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CCDs USA Charge Coupled Device - enabled digital imaging
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Cash Dispenser Turkey (forerunner of the ATM
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Battery Powered Smoke Detector USA
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The first in vitro fertilization of a human egg
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The scanning electron microscope is developed.
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The use of DDT is banned in residential areas.
Books
- Robert Coover, Pricksongs and Descants
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John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman
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Mario Puzo, The Godfather
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Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint
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Jean Stafford, Collected Stories
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Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
1969 by the Numbers
A gallon of gasoline cost $0.32
A loaf of bread cost $0.23
A gallon milk cost $1.10
A dozen eggs cost $0.62
A pound of sugar cost $0.12
Postage stamp (per ounce) $0.06
A new car cost approximately $2,000.00
A new house cost approximately $40,000.00
The Dow Jones Average on Dec 31 838.92
Minimum wage $1.60 per hour
Average annual income (per person) $6,500.00
Population of the United States 202,677,000
Movies
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Midnight Cowboy
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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
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The Wild Bunch
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Easy Rider
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Anne of the Thousand Days
Fashion Trends in 1969
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Bell-bottomed jeans
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Peasant blouses
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Long hair
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Boots and sandles
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Patriotic and American flag shirts
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Indian and African dresses and pants
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Serapes
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Mixed prints and textures
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Sheer fabrics
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Florals
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Pants under dresses
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Maxi dresses and skirts
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Palazzo pants
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Headbands
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Fringe
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Tie dye
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Paisley
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Plaid
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Sideburns
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Wide ties and lapels
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"Stove-pipe" pants
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Nehru jackets
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Medallions
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"Granny glasses"
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Wide collars and belts
Sports
Super Bowl III
NY Jets d. Baltimore
MVP: Joe Namath
World Series
NY Mets d. Baltimore (4-1)
NBA Championship
Boston d. LA Lakers
Stanley Cup
Montreal d. St. Louis
Wimbledon
Women: Ann Jones d. Billie Jean King
Men: Rod Laver d. J. Newcombe
Kentucky Derby Champion
Majestic Prince
NCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. Purdue
NCAA Football Champions
Texas (11-0-0)
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday
Music: String Quartet No. 3, Karel Husa
Drama: The Great White Hope, Howard Sackler
Academy Award
Best Picture: Oliver!, John Woolf, producer (Columbia)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
Record of the Year: "Mrs. Robinson," Simon and Garfunkel
Album of the Year: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix", Glen Campbell (Capitol)
Song of the Year: "Little Green Apples," Bobby Russell, songwriter
The Times, They Were A Changing
With apologies to Bob Dylan
As we received our diplomas in our peaceful community on that Tuesday evening, we became adults in a chaotic time. War was raging in Southeast Asia and many of the young men in our class feared that they could be drafted to fight very soon. There was still unrest in the streets as Americans protested the war and inequality.
1968, with its riots and assassinations-and, of course, the war- had been one of the most turbulent years in modern American history. Yet, it had ended with beauty and hopes for peace as the astronauts of Apollo 8 took turns reading from the Book of Genesis and wishing the people of Earth a Merry Christmas with the "earth rise" in the background. We all hoped that 1969 would be better. After all, it was "The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius."
Neil Armstrong had not yet walked on the moon. Carrying a telephone, much less a small computer, in one's pocket was still the stuff of comic strips and science fiction. E-mail had yet to be invented. Computers took up entire buildings. The Beatles were still together. No one had ever heard of Charles Manson. Watergate was just another hotel, office, and apartment complex and Woodstock was just a sleepy town in Upstate New York.
Births
Catherine Zeta-Jones
Brett Favre
Renee Zellweger
Jennifer Lopez
Jay-Z
Jennifer Aniston
Ice Cube
Gwen Stefani
Ellen Pompeo
Jack Black
Deaths
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Ho Chi Minh
Judy Garland
Brian Jones
Jack Kerouac
Ian Flemming
Jeffrey Hunter
Sharon Tate
Most Popular Cars of 1969
Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Corvette
Dodge Charger
Ford Mustang
Mercury Cougar
Plymouth Roadrunner
Pontiac Firebird
Pontiac Grand Prix
Pontiac GTO
Shelby GT350