1969

World History 1969ָ

Juan Carlos Succeeds, Non- Proliferation Agreement, Violence in N. Ireland, The Return of Okinawa, Clashes on Soviet Chinese Border, War of Attrition, Woodstock, War Between Honduras and El Salvador, Apollo 11, First 747 Flight, Concorde Airborne

1969 Juan Carlos Succeeds Franco Spanish dictator Francisco Franco announced that Juan Carlos was to become his successor and King of Spain when Franco retired or died. Carlos was the grandson of Alfonso XIII, the last Spanish King. Alfonso had been deposed in 1931.

1969 Non- Proliferation Agreement Signed The United States and the Soviet Union signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which pledged the two nations not to divulge information that would allow additional countries to build nuclear weapons.

1969 Violence in Northern Ireland Rioting beset Belfast for three days. Eight Catholics were killed and two hundred thirty-six people were wounded. The British sent in the army in an effort to keep order in Northern Ireland. Troops are still there, over 25 years later.

1969 First 747 Flight On February 9, the first test flight of a Boeing 747 was flown. The plane was 231 feet long and weighed 710,000 pounds. The initial version of the plane was designed to carry 374 passengers over 5,700 miles. The plane launched the age of the Jumbo Jet.

1969 Clashes on Soviet Chinese Border In March 1969, the ideological rift between the Soviet Union and Communist China deteriorated into fighting along the border. Thirty Soviet soldiers were killed in one clash on a small uninhabited island in the Ussuri River. The roots of the dispute lay in Chinese claims to parts of the eastern Soviet Union relinquished by the Chinese under the pressure of "the Unequal Treaties." These treaties were forced upon China by the Western powers during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

1969 Concorde Airborne On March 2, the first prototype of the Concorde made its maiden flight. The Concorde was the product of a joint venture of the British and French Aerospace industries. It took over 20 years to bring the plane from the drawing boards to commercial flight. The Concorde entered commercial service in 1975. The Concorde is configured to carry 128 passengers, and is flown daily by Air France and British Airways on TransAtlantic flights.

1969 Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Festival was held at Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, near Woodstock. Although 10,000 or 20,000 people were expected, over 400,000 attended. Among the many artists who performed were Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Joe Crocker, The Who and the Grateful Dead. The weekend was rainy, the facilities were overcrowded, and attendees shared food, alcohol, and drugs, although no violence was reported. The Woodstock Festival represented the culmination of the counterculture of the 1960's and the high point of the "hippie era."

1969 War Fought Between Honduras and El Salvador After Honduras lost a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting broke out in Honduras against Salvadorian migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadorian workers in Honduras, tens of thousands were expelled, prompting the Salvadorian army to invade Honduras. The OAS eventually worked out a cease-fire.

1969 Apollo 11 Apollo 11, with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin, Jr., lifted off for the moon on July 16. On July 20t, while on the far side of the moon, the lunar module, called "Eagle," separated from the "Columbia." After a careful visual inspection, Eagle fired its engine and began its descent. Despite four-alarm bells and a descent that took the lunar module to a boulder-strewn area, Armstong landed the Eagle on Tranquilty Base. Six and a half hours after landing, Armstrong made his descent to the moon surface and made the famous statement: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." After 21 hours and 36 minutes, Eagle fired its ascent engines and rendezvoused with the Columbia for the return flight. The astronauts returned to earth on July 24, welcomed as heroes.

1969 War of Attrition Begins On October 21, 1967, the Israeli destroyer "Eilat" was targeted by an Egyptian surface-to-surface missile. Forty-seven Israeli sailors were killed. Israel retaliated by shelling Egyptian refineries along the Suez Canal. Thus began the "War of Attrition," which lasted until August 1970.

This war was characterized by escalating artillery duels, air raids and commando missions. Over 500 Israelis were killed. The war only came to end after there had been a direct confrontation between Israeli and Soviet forces, in which Israel downed six Soviet aircraft. Terms of the agreement called for the Egyptians not to install any new surface-to-air missiles close to the Canal. Within weeks of the cease-fire, the Egyptians violated this agreement.

1969 US and Japan Agree on the Return of Okinawa In November, Premier Sato visited the United States. During the visit, an agreement was reached for the return of Okinawa to Japanese control, to be carried out in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the US was to retain its rights to bases on the island, but these were to be nuclear-free.