360What happened in 1969?
14 moments from 1969 on 360n60, each told in 60 words or fewer.
- History · 20 July 1969
Humans walk on the Moon for the first time
On 20 July 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Hours later, Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on its surface, followed by Buzz Aldrin, while Michael Collins orbited above. Hundreds of millions of people watched on television. The crew returned safely to Earth on 24 July, completing one of humanity's greatest journeys.
- On this day · 30 January 1969
The Beatles play their last live concert, on a rooftop
On 30 January 1969, the Beatles played an unannounced concert on the roof of their Apple Corps office in London. Crowds gathered in the streets below until police asked them to turn down the volume. It was the band's last public performance, lasting about 42 minutes.
- On this day · 2 March 1969
Concorde makes its first flight
On 2 March 1969, the Anglo-French supersonic airliner Concorde took off for the first time, from Toulouse in France, for a 27-minute test flight. It later flew passengers at twice the speed of sound, crossing the Atlantic in about three and a half hours, until it retired in 2003.
- On this day · 16 July 1969
Apollo 11 launches for the Moon
On 16 July 1969, a Saturn V rocket launched Apollo 11 from Florida, carrying Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. About a million people watched nearby. Four days later, Armstrong and Aldrin became the first people to walk on the Moon.
- On this day · 20 July 1969
Humans walk on the Moon for the first time
On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon in the lunar module Eagle. Stepping onto the surface, Armstrong said: 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.' About 600 million people watched on television.
- On this day · 26 September 1969
The Beatles release Abbey Road
On 26 September 1969, the Beatles released Abbey Road, the last album they recorded together. Its cover photograph, of the four walking across a zebra crossing outside the London studio, is one of the most copied in music. Fans still recreate it every day.
- On this day · 29 October 1969
The first message is sent over the internet's ancestor
On 29 October 1969, a student programmer at the University of California, Los Angeles, sent the first message over ARPANET to a computer at the Stanford Research Institute. He meant to type 'login', but the system crashed after 'lo'. ARPANET grew into the network of networks we now call the internet.
- 1969 · from The 20th century: flight, world wars and the digital age
First Moon landing
- 1969 · from Intel launches the first commercial microprocessor
Busicom approaches Intel
- 16 July 1969 · from Humans walk on the Moon for the first time
Apollo 11 launches from Florida
- 20 July 1969 · from Humans walk on the Moon for the first time
Eagle lands in the Sea of Tranquility
- 24 July 1969 · from Humans walk on the Moon for the first time
The crew splashes down in the Pacific
- 20 July 1969 · from Apollo 8 orbits the Moon and photographs 'Earthrise'
Apollo 11 lands on the Moon
- 1969 · from The 1960s: the first astronaut and the Moon landing
Apollo 11 lands on the Moon