1969

Today in History 05/20/18

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Paratroopers rush to help a wounded comrade after being evacuated off Dong Ap Bia, aka, Hamburger Hill, a North Vietnamese-held hill on the western edge of the A Shau Valley, May 19, 1969 (© Hugh Van Es/AP)(1969) Bloody Battle of ‘Hamburger Hill’ ends in South Vietnam
Ten days of fierce fighting win US Airborne forces the scarred and decimated Hill 937 on Ap Bia Mountain. Hundreds were wounded or killed, almost 20,000 artillery rounds were fired, and 500 tons of ordinance dropped to secure what battle-weary GIs call ‘Hamburger Hill.’
The Battle of Hamburger Hill was a battle of the Vietnam War that was fought by U.S. Army and Army of the Republic of Vietnam forces against People’s Army of Vietnam forces from 10 to 20 May 1969 during Operation Apache Snow. Although the heavily fortified Hill 937 was of little strategic value, U.S. command ordered its capture by a frontal assault, only to abandon it soon thereafter. The action caused a controversy both in the American military and public.
Start date: May 10, 1969
End date: May 20, 1969

101st Airborne Division Soldiers are loaded on to a UH-1 during Operation Apache Snow , May 1969
Wounded Soldiers are loaded on to a UH-1 medevac helicopter
wiki/Battle_of_Hamburger_Hill
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(1969) Bloody Battle of ‘Hamburger Hill’ ends in South Vietnam.
Also on this day,
1570 | World’s first atlas
1932 | Earhart begins solo Atlantic flight
1993 | “Cheers” series finale

Today in History 02/08/18

Dr. Gerald Wasserburg holds up a large piece of the Pueblito de Allende meteorite that landed in Mexico in 1969 (© Jonathan Blair/Corbis)(1969) Best-studied meteorite in history falls over Mexico
An extremely rare, car-sized carbonaceous chondrite meteorite, holding some of the universe’s oldest elements, streaks across the sky and breaks into thousands of pieces over Chihuahua, Mexico.
The Allende meteorite is the largest carbonaceous chondrite ever found on Earth. The fireball was witnessed at 01:05 on February 8, 1969, falling over the Mexican state of Chihuahua. After breaking up in the atmosphere, an extensive search for pieces was conducted and it is often described as “the best-studied meteorite in history”.
Allende Meteorite
A 520g individual of the Allende meteorite shower. Allende is a carbonaceous chondrite (CV3) that fell on 1969 February 8 in Mexico. This specimen is approx. 8 centimeters wide. Note the patches of dull black fusion crust. Severals condrules and CAIs can be seen embedded in the gray matrix.
wiki/Allende_meteorite
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Today in History 11/14/17

Apollo 12 being launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 14, 1969 (© NASA)(1969) Rocket lifts off in second manned mission to moon
Apollo 12 takes off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida with three astronauts aboard: Charles Conrad, Jr.; Richard Gordon, Jr.; and Alan Bean. A few days later, Conrad and Bean will become the third and fourth persons to walk on the moon’s surface.
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles “Pete” Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean performed just over one day and seven hours of lunar surface activity while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit. The landing site for the mission was located in the southeastern portion of the Ocean of Storms.
Mission start: Nov 14, 1969
Mission end: Nov 24, 1969
Space program: Apollo program
Astronauts: Alan Bean · Pete Conrad · Richard Gordon
Destination: Moon

Surveyor 3 - Apollo 12
Charles Conrad Jr., Apollo 12 Commander, examines the unmanned Surveyor III spacecraft during the second extravehicular activity (EVA-2). The Lunar Module (LM) “Intrepid” is in the right background. This picture was taken by astronaut Alan L. Bean, Lunar Module pilot. The “Intrepid” landed on the Moon’s Ocean of Storms only 600 feet from Surveyor III. The television camera and several other components were taken from Surveyor III and brought back to earth for scientific analysis. Surveyor III soft-landed on the Moon on April 19, 1967.

wiki/Apollo_12
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Today in History 10/15/17

Demonstrators in Bryant Park in New York City gather for Moratorium Day, October 15, 1969 (© AP)(1969) Millions take to the streets, protesting for peace
With some 40,000 American troops killed in the Vietnam War, millions of people across the US and the world gather in a Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, a mass demonstration calling for peace and a withdrawal of forces from Southeast Asia. It will be called history’s largest peace rally.
The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a massive demonstration and teach-in across the United States against the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. It took place on October 15, 1969, followed a month later by a large Moratorium March on Washington.
Date: Oct 15, 1969

Vietnam Moratorium protesters 1970
Vietnam Moratorium protesters in the City Square, Melbourne, 18 September 1970
wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam
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Today in History 10/05/17

Cast of 'Monty Python' (© Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)(1969) BBC-TV premieres something completely different
Five Brits and one American write and star in the BBC’s new sketch comedy show, ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus.’ Their particular brand of silly, surreal mayhem will change the comedy landscape over 45 episodes that at first garner a cult following before achieving worldwide fame.
And now for something completely different: Monty Python’s Flying Circus was simply the most influential comedy program television has ever seen. Five Englishmen, all working under the constraints of conventional TV shows such as The Frost Report (for which the five Englishmen wrote), gathered together with an expatriate American in the spring of 1969 to break the rules. The result, first airing on BBC-1 on October 5, 1969, has influenced countless future men and women in the media and comedy since.
First episode: Oct 05, 1969
Episode duration: 30 minutes
Creator: Monty Python
Theme song: The Liberty Bell
Producer: Ian MacNaughton
Awards: BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award · British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Programme · British Academy Television Award – General Category

wiki/Monty_Python’s_Flying_Circus
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