Last night was my 50th High School Reunion back in my hometown. I enjoyed seeing all the photos of the Class of ’69 rather than make the long trip back to Indiana. My wife and I stuck to our usual “Movie Night” routine with Once Upon a time in Hollywood. Both the reunion and movie were reminders of the year 1969. Plus, I’ve been reading the book Summer of ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand to further add to the memories. Here’s my list of 69 things that happened that special year:

  1. Celebrated my 18th Birthday
  2. Graduated from Elkhart High School
  3. Freshman year at Albion College
  4. First Draft Lottery for me 
  5. Apollo 11 Moon walk
  6. Saw the Broadway show Hair in Chicago
  7. Manson murders
  8. Woodstock Festival
  9. Ohio State wins Rose Bowl
  10. Led Zeppelin first album released
  11. Joe Namath and Jets win Super Bowl
  12. Richard Nixon sworn in as President
  13. Elvis “comeback”
  14. The Beatles give their final public performance
  15. Yassar Arafat elected PLO leader
  16. The last Saturday Evening Post is published
  17. The first flight of a Boeing 747
  18. Mariner 6 Mars Probe launched
  19. First Amendment ruled to apply to pubic schools
  20. Soviet and Chinese forces clash on Ussuri River
  21. Apollo 9 launched to test Lunar Module
  22. Sirhan Sirhan admits to killing President Kennedy
  23. Jim Morrison of arrested for indecent exposure
  24. James Earl Ray pleads guilty to King assignation
  25. Mario Puzio’s Godfather book published
  26. Golda Meir becomes the first woman Israel Prime Minister
  27. Cambodia bombing begins
  28. John Lennon and Yoko Ono are married
  29. UCLA over Purdue for NCAA basketball championship
  30. 153 Coal Miners killed in Mexico
  31. First artificial heart implanted
  32. SDS takes over Harvard Administration Building
  33. People’s Park formed in Berkeley
  34. Robin Knox-Johnston sails non-stop round the world
  35. Charles de Gaulle steps down as president of France
  36. Montreal Canadians win Stanley Cup
  37. Hamburger Hill battle begins in Vietnam
  38. First confirmed case of AIDS in the US
  39. Apollo 10 is launched
  40. Soviets land on Venus probe
  41. Midnight Cowboy film released
  42. Stonewall Riots start LGBT movement
  43. Blind Faith plays in London’s Hyde Park
  44. Georges Pompidou elected President of France
  45. Boris Spassky becomes World Chess Champion
  46. Cuyahoga River fire
  47. Judy Garland dies
  48. Stones’ Brian Jones downs in pool and Let It Bleed released
  49. Zodiac Killer
  50. First US Troop withdrawals from Viet Nam
  51. Mary Jo Kopechne drowns in Edward Kennedy’s car
  52. Abbey Road photo taken and album released
  53. Haunted Mansion opens at Disneyland
  54. Hurricane Camille
  55. The Gap, Long John Silver’s, Wendy’s and Walmart open
  56. TWA flight hijacked
  57. First ATM installed
  58. Lieutenant William Calley charged with Vietnam murders
  59. Scooby-Doo premiers on CBS
  60. Willie Mays hits his 600th home run
  61. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid opens
  62. Chicago Eight trial begins
  63. Brady Bunch first broadcast on ABC
  64. Amazing Mets win the World Series
  65. Pink Floyd release Ummagumma album
  66. Sesame Street airs on NET
  67. The Cold War begins
  68. Pele scores his 1000th goal
  69. Altamont Free Concert