Birdsa bird's-eye view of the latter half of '69 . . .principle source: Day by Day: the Sixties, by Thomas Parker and Douglas Nelson
July 4Gales in Ohio kill six.*
July 5 The Rolling Stonesrelease their 20th US single, "Honky Tonk Women"/"You Can't Always GetWhat You Want."
July 8 Mick Jagger, on the setof Ned Kelly in Sydney, Australia, finds companion MarianneFaithfull in a coma after an overdose of sodium amytal.
July 12 Communist and SouthVietnamese forces clash near the demilitarized zone.
July 16 US mannedspaceflight Apollo 11 blasts off for moon trip.
July 19 White House names apanel to investigate corruption in the Pentagon.
July 20 Vietnam combat lullenters its fifth week. US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrinleave their spacecraft and walk on the moon.
July 30 President Nixon pays anunscheduled visit to South Vietnam.
August 4 US reports thatunemployment increased to 3.6% in July.
August 6 Moon dust samplesshow signs of organic matter.
August 7 Viet Cong indicatesthat it may consider working with non-Communist elements.
August 9 Police find bodies offive brutally murdered persons including actress Sharon Tate in LosAngeles.
August 10 Communist troopskill 19 US Marines near the demilitarized zone. Reports indicate thatCalifornia Governor Ronald Reagan's tough stand on campus disorders ispopular with voters. US ends quarantine of moon astronauts who arereportedly in excellent health.
August 12 Communists launchheaviest offensive in three months as lull comes to an end in SouthVietnam.
August 15-17 Three-to-fivehundred thousand youths attend a rock festival in Bethel, New York; nomajor incidents.
August 18 Keith Richardspicks up Anita Pallenberg from the hospital with Marlon, their firstchild.
August 19 Hurricane leavesat least 170 dead and causes major property damage in Mississippi.
August 21 US suffers highestweekly death toll in two months in South Vietnam.
August 22 Virginia floodingleaves at least 80 dead.
August 29 Bay area reportsindicate that in Berkeley alone the number of juvenile runawaysapprehended virtually doubled from 424 in 1966 to 846 last year.
September 2 Hartford,Connecticut imposes a curfew as Negro youths riot.
September 3 North Vietnameseleader Ho Chi Minh dies at 79.
September 4 Gunmen kidnap USAmbassador-to-Brazil Burke Elbrick.
September 12 US civilrights leaders charge that the Nixon administration has retreated in the fight for desegregation.
September 13 Viet Conglaunch an artillery attack against a South Vietnamese civilian village which leaves more than 100 dead. Disputes over sex education in the schools are seen splitting many UScommunities.
September 15 PresidentNixon backs a manned space flight to Mars but rejects a crash program.
September 16 Whites andblacks exchange gunfire in Cairo, Illinois. President Nixon announces a withdrawal of about 35,000 US troops from
South Vietnam.
September 19 PresidentNixon announces a 50,000-man cut in planned draft calls for the rest of the year.
September 20 Reportsindicate that Mexican farmers are growing more marijuana for export. US officials pledge to step up the fight against
the use of marijuana in Vietnam.
September 24 Reports indicate thatpressure on President Nixon to speed troop withdrawals from Vietnam is growing in Congress.
September 26 PresidentNixon urges the US public to give him time to end the Vietnamese War on "honorable terms."
September 30 US ordersa curb on codeine-based cough syrups because of a health hazard.
October 2 US military commandreports the lowest Vietnam War fatality level in two years; US conducts an underground nuclear test inAlaska.
October 6 US reports thatunemployment has risen to four percent, the highest rate since 1967.
October 9 US combat fatalitiesare lowest since 1966; Defense Secretary Melvin Laird says that the US is speeding the shift of the burden ofthe war to the South Vietnamese Army.
October 12 Charles Mansonapprehended at the Barker Ranch in Death Valley, California.
October 13 President Nixonvows not to be swayed by growing Vietnam War protests.
October 15 About 22,000demonstrators protest against the Vietnam War in Washington, DC.
October 19 Nixon Administrationseeks softer penalties for marijuana users; Vice-president Spiro Agnew calls anti-war demonstrators"effete snobs."
October 21 US novelist Jack Kerouacdies in St. Petersburg, Florida at 47.
October 23 US weeklycasualty rate in Vietnam is the lowest in three years.
October 30 President Nixonvows to enforce a Supreme Court decision mandating immediate desegregation of schools.
November 1 PresidentNixon is reportedly doing well in survey polls
November 3 Sixty Yalestudents hold the university's business manager captive because of a recent dismissal of a Negro employee fornegligence; in a nationwide address President Nixon asks for public support ofhis phased withdrawal from South Vietnam
November 4 President Nixondeclares that the "silent majority" supports his Vietnam policy
November 6 A US courtorders school integration in Mississippi by December 31
November 10 US officialsreport a big jump in enemy activity in South Vietnam during the last week; Vice-president Spiro Agnew denounces
anti-war demonstrators as "the strident minority"
November 15Two-hundred-fifty thousand war protesters stage a peaceful rally in Washington
November 19 US Apollo 12astronauts land on the moon and go for a walk of several hours
November 26 US veteranVarnado Simpson says that he killed 10 South Vietnamese civilians on March 16, 1968 at Songmy; President Nixon signsa bill creating a draft lottery
December 6 300,000 fans show up for the free rock festival at Altamont; there are four deaths, one a murder perpetrated by Hell's Angels right in front of the Rolling Stones and Maysles Film's rolling cameras
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