A half century ago, humans first set foot on the moon, hundreds of thousands of young people gathered in New York’s Catskill Mountains for a music festival that became a cultural milestone, and the war in Vietnam dragged on while protest and resistance grew. It was the year that Sesame Street premiered on Public TV, British troops were first sent into Northern Ireland, the Manson Family murders took place, that Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United States, and much more.
50 Years Ago in Photos: A Look Back at 1969
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A portrait of the crew of NASA's Apollo 11 mission to the moon; from left, the astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong, as they pose on a model of the moon in 1969 #
Ralph Morse / The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty -
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Chief Justice Earl Warren administers the oath of office to Richard Nixon, who became the 37th president of the United States, on the east portico of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 1969. #
Library of Congress -
Original caption: "A hippie demonstrator is restrained by police during a 'Counter Inaugural' parade staged along Pennsylvania Avenue this afternoon. Several demonstrators were arrested by police." #
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A U.S. Cobra helicopter gunship pulls out of a rocket and strafing attack on a Vietcong position near Cao Lanh in the Mekong Delta on January 22, 1969, during the Vietnam War. #
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A view of an unidentified dancer on the short-lived television show Turn-On, in Los Angeles, California, in February of 1969. The show, canceled after one episode, featured comedy sketches, animation, surrealism, and computerized music (from a recently invented Moog synthesizer). Here the dancer appears to be involved in a primitive form of motion capture to render the stick figure on the monitor. #
Yale Joel / The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty -
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Students attending the last day of the U.S. Senate Youth Forum on February 8, 1969, in Washington, D.C., meet with President Nixon, and use their cameras to record the visit. #
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Original caption from April 9, 1969: "Off the ground for the very first time is the British-built prototype of the Anglo-French supersonic airliner 'Concorde 002' The liner, piloted by test pilot Brian Trubshaw, made her maiden flight to the nearby Fairford, spending some 21 minutes in the air." #
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The Apollo 9 astronaut Dave Scott opens the hatch of the command module and moves toward the lunar module while in Earth orbit on March 6, 1969. The Apollo 9 mission tested the readiness of the Lunar Module and EVA procedures, ahead of the scheduled Apollo 11 mission to the moon. #
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FBI agents carry the Vietnam War draft resister Robert Whittington Eaton, 25, from a dwelling in Philadelphia on April 17, 1969, where Eaton had chained himself to 13 young men and women. The agent leading the way pushed one of the group who tried to block the path to the sidewalk. At least six young persons were taken away with Eaton. #
Warren M. Winterbottom / AP -
Original caption: "Special Delivery. Dong Ha, South Vietnam: A helicopter drops another howitzer for a contingent of the U.S. 3rd Marine Division that is occupying a high area near the Laotian border. Some 5,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops massed to stage a drive against an area near the abandoned allied fortress at Khe Sanh in a search for North Vietnamese regulars and the equipment." #
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Juanita Boyd, the wife of Secretary of Transportation Alan S. Boyd, and Anna Chennault talk on a roof deck of the Watergate East co-op apartment building after having tea, in Washington, D.C. #
Michael Rougier / The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty -
The American Falls at Niagara Falls, New York, dried up to little more than a trickle, giving visitors an unusual chance to see the rocks normally hidden from view by the water, in June 1969. For several months, the U.S. Army diverted the flow of the river to study the underlying geology and the cliff face below the falls. #
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Original caption: "Biltmore, a millinery manufacturer, creates the look of knit by stitching green jersey for a snug helmet. An added feature of a wide plastic visor to protect the eyes from the sun, windy days or unidentified flying objects." #
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Lynn Montgomery of Seattle heads for the water after his hydroplane flipped and sailed into the air twice, then disintegrated when it smashed back into the water, on June 2, 1969, during the Green Lake Memorial Inboard Regatta races in Seattle, Washington. Montgomery was thrown out head over heels and spun around side to side, and he emerged with a broken arm. #
Bob Carver / AP -
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The rock and roller Mick Jagger performs onstage in Hyde Park on July 5, 1969, during the "Stones in the Park" outdoor festival. Marianne Faithfull is visible just behind the photographers. #
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The astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., the lunar-module pilot of the first lunar-landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during an Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface on July 20, 1969. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon. The astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, the commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar-surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the LM, the "Eagle," to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, the astronaut Michael Collins, the command-module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit. #
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Some 1969 fashion shots. At left: an example from Italian Winter and Fall dresses, July 17, 1969. Middle: an unidentified model from the Black Beauty agency dressed in a red, black, & white harlequin-print sweater suit. Right: a single-breasted overcoat of gold, yellow woolen double jersey, with an original lacing. #
AP, Yale Joel / LIFE Picture Collection / Getty, AP -
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Original caption: "Edgartown, Massachusetts: A frogman attempts to raise a car eight hours after it plunged into a pond here with Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy behind the wheel, on July 19. Mary Jo Kopechne, 29, was killed in the crash. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended two-month jail sentence." #
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Original caption: "Saigon, South Vietnam: Troops of the Ninth Division pick up Viet Cong suspects for questioning in the delta area south of Saigon in the summer of 1969." #
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During the 1969 to 1974 Mauna Ulu eruption in Hawaii, a lava fall cascades into Alae Crater. Lava falls higher than Niagara Falls began to fill Alae Crater on August 5, 1969, following a catastrophic draining on August 4. Renewed fountaining at Mauna Ulu sent lava into Alae, starting to refill the crater. #
USGS -
Original caption: "Lahore, Pakistan. U.S. President Richard Nixon springs down from the trunk of a limousine which carried him and Pakistani President Yahya Khan (left, background) in a motorcade to Government House after Nixon's arrival August 1. The Pakistani President seems to take a more cautious way down." #
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Amid a cloud of confetti and paper, the returned Apollo 11 astronauts (from left) Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins, and Neil Armstrong wave to crowds on New York's 42nd Street from atop the rear of an open-top automobile as they head for the UN building and an award presentation by UN Secretary General U Thant. #
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A wide-angle view of the audience and stage at the Woodstock music festival in New York's Catskill Mountains in August of 1969. Woodstock became a major cultural event, a festival planned for 50,000 attendees, but swarmed by more than 400,000, amplified by news coverage, a popular documentary film, and the music that became symbolic of an era. #
John Dominis / The LIFE Picture Collection / Getty -
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Pass Christian Civil Defense Director Parnell McKay looks over the town’s main business district in Mississippi on August 23, 1969, after Hurricane Camille passed through. Hurricane Camille destroyed much of the Mississippi coastline, killing 259 people. #
Jack Thornell / AP -
Original caption: "Former Dodger great Jackie Robinson signs autographs before the start of the 'Old timers' game between the Angels-Dodgers at Anaheim Stadium. Robinson was elected to Hall of Fame in 1962, NL's most valuable player in 1949 and was the NL batting champ in 1949. He retired in 1956." #
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U.S. Army First Air Cavalry division troopers lie on stretchers out in the open after they were wounded in an enemy rocket and mortar fire attack at Fire Base Ike, about 60 miles from Saigon, Vietnam, on September 5, 1969. #
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Original caption: "Every Kid's Dream. London: Yes, it's real, a genuine fire-engine, and these kids have got it for their very own. Hoses, pumps, and all to play with whenever they like. The whole machine, built in 1951, has been declared obsolete by London Fire Brigade who don't think it's adequate to deal with modern requirements. Rather than sell it as scrap, they've given it to children at Vernon House School, in Willesden, London. It's undoubtedly going to earn a real return in fun and make-believe from its new owners, and all the volunteer crews for thousands more 'fires' to come." #
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Original caption: "Madison, Wisconsin: This cameraman stood between the points of Wisconsin National Guardsmen bayonets on September 30, during a demonstration here of welfare mothers, led by Milwaukee civil rights leader Father James Groppi, who were protesting the cuts made in welfare funds. The guard was called out when the demonstrators occupied the state assembly chamber for 10 hours." #
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A wide view of the Moratorium Day demonstration in Washington, D.C., on October 15, 1969. The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam was a broad single-day protest calling for the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. #
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Original caption: "Los Angeles, California: The kids test-driving this naturally air-conditioned Volkswagen say it runs fine on the beach, but miniskirts may pose a problem in traffic. Its entire body is constructed out of white wrought-iron. The car, built as part of Volkswagen's exhibit at the international auto show here, is complete with black vinyl upholstery and all running gear." #
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Original caption: "Adam Nordwall, 40, a Chippewa Indian, stands at the rail of the three-masted clipper Monte Cristo as it sails past Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay on November 9, 1969. Nordwall led a group of Indians in a proposal to purchase the Island for $24 in beads and cloth and suggested it be made into an Indian center. Nordwall hopes to make the proposal to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and possibly to President Nixon. Disposition of the island has been under discussion." Two weeks later, some of Nordwall's group landed on Alcatraz and began an occupation that lasted more than a year and a half. #
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Charles Manson is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case on December 11, 1969, in Los Angeles, California. #
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Original caption: "New York City, December 15, 1969: Sign on Times Square reads 'War is Over! If you want it. Happy Christmas from John and Yoko.' The sign was one of several large billboards purchased in 11 major world cities to display the Lennon's Christmas message for peace." #
Bettmann / Getty
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