CrossRoads Farm

Happy Birthday To Me

28 November, 2004 - 9:07 am

This weekend I turned 35. I can hardly believe it. In honor of that I thought I’d write down a few things about the year I was born.

1969

January 30 – The Beatles famous performance, their last live appearance, on the roof of Apple records.

February 3 – Yasser Arafat was appointed the head of the PLO. Yes, folks it was that long ago.

March 1 – John Kerry returns to the US from his brief tour in Viet Nam. I didn’t know he was in the war – he should have mentioned that during his campaign….heh.

April 4 – Dr Denton Cooley implanted the first temporary artificial heart.

May 16 – A Russian space probe called the “Venera 5” landed on Venus. Didn’t know that one did you folks? If Sputnik was an upset – this must have had the Nasa people pissing their pants.

June 27 – The Stonewall Riots marked the beginning of the gay rights movement.

July and August ended up needing two mentions…..
July 18 - Mary Jo Kopechne and Ted Kennedy headed home after a party in Chappaquiddick. Mary Jo didn’t make it home because Teddy drove off the bridge.
July 20 – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

August 9 – The “Manson Family”, on orders from Charles Manson, murdered five people including Sharon Tate, Jay Sebrng, Abigail Folger, steven Parent and Wojeciech Frykowski. Six if you count Sharon Tate’s unborn baby. The next day they murdered Rosemary and and Leno LaBianca.
August 15-17 – The Woodstock music festival began on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, New York. They expected 20, 000 people and got 400,000. I wrote a tern paper and presentation on Woodstock when I was a junior in high school. I got an “A” on it.

September 2 – the first ATM machine was installed in Rockville Center, New York.

October 1 – The Beatles album Abbey Road was released in the U.S.

November 10 – Sesame Street premiered.

December 1- The first draft lottery was held since WWII.

The Best Picture Oscar went to Midnight Cowboy.
Other movies that came out in 69…
The Love Bug and The Lion in Winter.

The Book Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex: But Were Afraid to Ask. was published. It was updated and re-released in 1999. This is a great book. Should be required reading for both genders when they hit puberty. I came across a paperback copy of it when I was 15. Read it until it was dog eared.

In Sports:
Mario Andretti won the Indianapolis 500. I almost got myself kicked out of the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. when I leaned over the pretty velvet ropes to touch the car he won with.
The New York Jets won Superbowl II in an upset after Joe Namath guaranteed the victory.

On Tv you’d be able to watch, among other things, Laugh In
The Ed Sullivan show
The dean Martin Show
Hogan’s Heroes

Some other folk born in 1969:
Brett Favre
Emmitt Smith
Catherine Zita-Jones
Jennifer Anniston
and Matthew Perry

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