1969 was an extremely important year in history for many reasons. It was the end of a decade. It was the first year man walked on the moon. It was a big year for music with the first releases of several popular bands. It was a significant year for the civil rights movement. It was also eventful year at SEMO.
1969 was a very successful year for the U.S. space program, four U.S. astronauts walked on the surface of the moon for the first time in the history of mankind. First, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on Apollo 11. Also, Charles Conrad and Alan Bean on Apollo 12 (wikipedia). The Apollo 11 mission started at 9:32 AM on July 16. Approximately a million people came to Cape Kennedy, Florida, and hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world watched the Saturn 5 rocket take off (Americana, 21). The crew of Apollo 11 safely landed on the moon at 4:17 PM. Neil Armstrong was the first to exit the lunar module followed by Edwin Aldrin. They placed an American flag along with a plaque that said "Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind" (Americana, 24). The crew lifted off the surface of the moon at 1:55 P.M. on July 21 returned safely to earth about 60 hours later (Americana, 26) This was a very substantial achievement for the United States and mankind. It took almost a whole decade of training and preparation for the Apollo 11 mission (Americana, 17). The United States repeated this achievement four months later with the Apollo 12 mission where astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean walked on the moon and returned safely home.
In 1969 a trend of mixing different types of music together became popular with combinations like jazz-rock, folk-rock, country-rock. One of the most popular jazz-rock groups of the year was Blood, Sweat & Tears. They mixed jazz improvisations, rock rhythms, and blues vocals (Americana 579). Some other popular groups such as Three Dog Night, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Led Zepplin had there first releases in 1969. These bands combined simple traditional blues songs with electronic distortion effects, high intensity volume, and loud bass rhythms (Americana 579). 1969 was also the year of the Beatles last live performance on the top of Apple Records. The concert was broken up by the police (Wikipedia).
“On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon. Just little kids at the time, my brother and I watched history in the making.
The Apollo 13 Mission had a huge impact on space exploration. The Determination of the crew helped them return back to earth. People may think that Apollo 13 would have been a better success if they changed the launch date. Even though they failed at their goals the overall result was success. If they had changed the launch date NASA would have had more time to check the spacecraft and make sure that it was safe. If this event had not happened NASA wouldn't have learned how to make spaceships safer as well as space exploration and learn what to do in this type of emergency.
"First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."- John F. Kennedy. On a warm July night in 1969, this dream came true. Millions of people sat captivated in front of their TVs witnessing one of the most monumental events in history, Neil Armstrong walking gracefully on the moon. This event in US history changed the way we look at space forever. Political issues such as the Vietnam War and foreign affairs were on the forefront of American's minds. Thousands of people came peacefully together in a historical concert event called Woodstock. Children were introduced to a place called "Sesame Street" and Heavy Metal meant more than just an old car. The year 1969 impacted American's lives today in politics, science, sports, art, entertainment and daily living.
When the word "Woodstock" is mentioned, what do you think of? Perhaps you think of the little yellow bird from the Peanuts cartoons, or maybe you think of a small town in New York. However, you also might know that Woodstock was the largest and most famous of all rock festivals.
On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong planted the first human footprints in the lunar soil. The United States had accomplished their goal in sending men to the moon. They managed to not only send them 238,857 mi. (384,403 km) into space to our neighbor celestial body, but also send them back with a successful flight to our mother earth. This seems like a difficult task for a country that was behind Russia in space exploration at the time.
The sixties was a decade of revolution. Many musicians from the sixties are still well known and even popular today. Without inventions from the sixties many things would not be as they are today. Things within the sixties changed the way people live their everyday lives. Without the sixties, the United States would not be where it is today politically, and technologically.
The success of Apollo 11 which included the historic presence of the first humans on the moon signified the greatest extent of human intellectual advancement. Apollo 11 was part of a larger project known as the Apollo Program, comprised of a large number of unmanned test missions and 11 manned missions. The Apollo Program was intended to land humans on the moon and safely return them back to Earth. Of the 15 missions executed, six resulted in success to date. The concept of space expedition was initially sparked by the Russian launch of satellite Sputnik during the Cold War. The launch induced the creation of NASA’s first human spaceflight program called Project Mercury. A portion of the United States saw the launch as beneficial, as it established the need for the country’s advance, whereas others were concerned about what the Soviet Union will make out of this achievement. The first successful manned space expedition executed was Apollo 7, which had a tremendous influence in the outcome of the subsequent missions. Various other missions were performed before the launch of Apollo 11, some of which were unsuccessful such as Apollo 1, whereas others, like Apollo 7, had prospered in assisting in the success of Apollo 11. During the momentous mission, the participants, Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin E. Aldrin, fulfilled their roles effectively. With the actions of those that participated in the mission, the United States was able to leave a physical mark on the uncharted territory thought to have been far beyond human reach.
When the space race began in the 1900s, the United States of America was competing against Russia to excel in space exploration. They wanted to be the first to fly in space, first people in space, and especially first to go to the moon. The man that achieved this was Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon. He is honored and remembered by this legendary space walk but many people overlook his many other important life achievements.
Little did anyone know or expect this would be the most rewarding mission since 1961. Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, and Michael Collins left from the Kennedy Space Center on the east coast of Florida on July 16,1969. Michael Collins was the command module pilot, Neil Armstrong was the mission commander, and Buzz Aldrin was the lunar module pilot. The Apollo 11 crew traveled 240,000 miles in just 72 hours, Apollo 11 entered into a lunar orbit on July 19,1696. Collins detached for the lunar module The mission was already ahead of schedule with Americans waiting to see what was going to happen next for their country. At 10:39 p.m., Armstrong, being televised, opened the hatch of the lunar module, and three minutes later Armstrong made history by putting his left foot of the moon’s powdery surface. When Armstrong stepped down from the last step from the spacecraft, all of America jumped for excitement and joy. Aldrin soon joined Armstrong 19 minutes later, and together they took photographs, then planted the United States flag. President Nixon was so very blessed and honored that he was able to witness America make history on July 24, 1969 along with all of the other Americans. Returning back to Earth
Two of the more important events to come out of the sixties were the Vietnam War and the popularization of drug use. The Vietnam War was probably the most unpopular war in the history of American wars but there were still many positives that came out of the war. The war was fought to contain communism and keep Vietnam from becoming another China. Many Americans fought and died in Vietnam and the most important thing that America should have learned for the war was that we cannot just go into a country and bully them around, resistance will be fierce and support back home is needed to win wars.
During the late 60’s and early 70’s there were many social issues, and political hardships. This is the time when America had to deal with some of it's greatest challenges. Like The Vietnam War, The Civil Rights Movement, Drug Abuse, and The Women's Movement. All of these issues have made an Impact in the world today, especially America. The Vietnam War has made one the greatest history in the world.
The Beatles played a big role in the music industry in the Sixties and their music has still has impacted the music industry today (recording, live playing, clothing…etc.). They introduced America and the rest of the world to an entirely new style of playing music. They also changed the way people listened to, enjoyed and recorded music. They also inspired many British bands to come to America, leading to the British Invasion, and influenced some American bands as well, like the Beach Boys and the Monkees. They also began the trend of recording music in the studio instead of playing live concerts. On top of all that they had incredible sounding new music. Music today would never have been the same without the Beatles.
“On July 16, 1969 the world watched in anticipation as three men were hurtled skyward in a rocket bound for the moon.” (news.nationalgeographic.com). This was the Apollo 11 spacecraft, the first successful manned mission to the moon. This mission was the product of the space race (race to see who would go into outer space first, against the Soviet Union). This goal was set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961 and he promised that we would be the first to step on the moon by the end of the decade. The Apollo 11 mission is often cited as the greatest achievement in human history. (news.nationalgeographic.com)
Neil Armstrong looked at it not only as a great triumph for America, but also for the human race when he said "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on his first step on the moon (Dunbar). On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave a speech about what he called "urgent national needs" at a stadium at Rice University in Houston, Texas (“NASA Moon Landing”). In that speech, he challenged America to "commit itself to landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the decade"(Schlager and Lauer). This became known as Kennedy's challenge and the idea was to outperform the Soviets. While the Soviets were off to a better start with the launch of Sputnik I, we soon rose to the challenge and accomplished our goal only eight years later on June 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely landed on the moon. With the great accomplishments of Apollo 11, America had bettered the Soviets and established superiority in space.
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” It was July 20 1969, the day that reshaped our nation and gave us unparalleled dreams for the future. The impact of the day goes far beyond our pride and nationalism; that day would change space exploration and technology forever. Just like a shooting star, that day would give us a glimpse of hope. A chance to see an event so breathtaking and defying, it would be man’s greatest accomplishment in the 20th century. As millions of people watched from their TV sets, a rush of euphoria came over the nation as Neil Armstrong stepped foot on the surface of the moon. It was the first time in the history of mankind that we would step on the surface of another celestial body. John F. Kennedy dared us to dream, he inspired the nation to reach for the moon, to set ourselves apart from the rest of the world. The Space Race was symbolic of many things. Our future as the technically dominate nation was secured in place; just as secure as Old Glory would be, when she was driven down into the soil of the moon. We not only reached the moon, we conquered it as a nation; united.