1969
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1 January 1969 Roman Catholic students begin a march from Belfast to Londonderry (117 km) to protest discrimination in housing, employment, and voting.
Biafran leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu calls for a truce to allow food to reach the starving.
2 January 1969 Roman Catholic students on a march from Belfast to Londonderry battle Protestants outside Randalstown and Toome. At Toome Bridge a bomb explodes. After they pass through Maghera, violence breaks out in the town between Catholics and Protestants.
The UN Children’s Fund estimates that 2,000,000 people have starved to death as a result of the Nigerian Civil War.
3 January 1969 Catholics surround a meeting of 1,000 Protestants in Belfast. Police use water cannon to disperse them.
The Ninety-first Congress of the United States convenes in Washington. The soon-to-be opposition Democratic Party controls both houses. It is the first time a President faces both houses of Congress in the hands of the opposition at the beginning of his first term.
4 January 1969 At the Bruntollet Bridge near Belfast, Catholic marchers are attacked by Protestants wielding clubs and throwing rocks. As they approach Belfast, the marchers are attacked again. After completing the 117 km march from Belfast to Londonderry, the Catholic marchers hold a peaceful rally in Guildhall Square.
Spain turns over Ifni to Morocco at a treaty-signing ceremony in Fez. The actual turnover will take place on 30 June.
5 January 1969 Governor Ronald Reagan of California says that San Francisco State College should be kept open “at the point of a bayonet if necessary.”
6 January 1969 Le Minh Tri, minister of education for the Saigon government, is killed when a hand grenade is thrown into his car. His driver is also killed. Three people are injured.
San Francisco State College opens for the first time since 13 December. 20% of students attend classes.
7 January 1969 A coalition of opposition parties meeting in Dacca, East Pakistan announces it will boycott elections scheduled for later this year.
France bans all military sales and spare parts to Israel in retaliation for the Israeli raid on the Beirut airport.
The trial of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan opens in Los Angeles.
Governor Ronald Reagan of California asks his legislature to help him drive “criminal anarchists and latter-day Fascists” off the campuses of his state.
8 January 1969 Meeting in Noorwijkerhout, a Pastoral Council of clergy and laity of the Dutch Roman Catholic Church issues a statement criticizing Pope Paul VI, especially his stand on birth control.
Julian Myrick dies of heart disease in New York at the age of 88. In 1907 he founded an insurance agency with Charles Ives (†14).
Sonata for violin and piano op.134 by Dmitri Shostakovich (62) is performed for the first time, privately before the Union of Soviet Composers in Moscow. See 3 May 1969.
9 January 1969 During an exchange of artillery between Israeli and Jordanian forces, the Damiya Bridge over the Jordan River is destroyed.
Delusion of the Fury: a Ritual of Dream and Delusion for actors, chorus, dancers, large ensemble of original instruments, and small hand instruments by Harry Partch (67) to his own words after traditional words is performed for the first time, at UCLA. Public and press are ecstatic.
10 January 1969 The sentence of 15 years for Isang Yun (51) for espionage is reduced to ten years by the South Korean government. He will be released next month.
The Swedish government announces it will recognize North Vietnam.
Symphony no.9 “Le fosse ardeatine” by William Schuman (58) is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia. The work was inspired by a visit to the monument to the victims of 24 March 1944 in Rome.
11 January 1969 5,000 civil rights demonstrators riot and clash with police in Newry, Northern Ireland.
12 January 1969 String Quartet no.3 by Antonín Dvorák (†64) is performed for the first time, in Prague, 100 years after it was composed.
Three Pieces from Arden Must Die op.21a for winds, harp and percussion by Alexander Goehr (36) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC Radio. See 5 March 1967 and 16 January 1969.
13 January 1969 Five Pieces for Orchestra (1913) by Anton Webern (†23) is performed completely for the first time, in Cologne. See 14 April 1967.
Purcell: Fantasia and Two Pavans for flute, clarinet, harpsichord (or out of tune upright piano), violin, cello, and percussion by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) is performed for the first time, in the BBC Concert Hall, London the composer conducting.
14 January 1969 Prime Minister Tran Van Huong of the Saigon government proposes that US forces start withdrawing from his country “at the rate of ten to twenty thousand a month.”
About 1,300 artists and intellectuals in Spain send a petition to their government asking it to investigate 100 cases of police brutality.
Morton Sobell, convicted with Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1951, is released from federal prison in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania after serving almost 18 years of a 30-year sentence.
Asterism for piano and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (38) is performed for the first time, in Toronto.
15 January 1969 A joint statement by Rockefeller University of New York and the Merck Sharp and Dohme Research Laboratories in Rahway, New Jersey announces the first synthesis of an enzyme.
Votre Faust, a fantaisie variable genre opéra by Henri Pousseur (39) to words of Buton, is performed for the first time, in Piccola Scala, Milan. See 17 March 1968.
16 January 1969 A 21-year-old Czech student, Jan Palach, sets himself alight in Wenceslas Square, Prague to protest the Soviet occupation of his country and the abandonment of reforms. He will die 19 January. The incident sets off student and worker protests.
Two Soyuz spacecrafts dock in orbit and cosmonauts pass freely between them.
Brazilian President Arturo da Costa e Silva uses his emergency powers to remove three Supreme Court justices and 37 congressmen.
Three Pieces from Arden Must Die op.21a for winds, harp, and percussion by Alexander Goehr (36) is performed for the first time before a live audience, in Royal Festival Hall, London. See 5 March 1967 and 12 January 1969.
Relata II for orchestra by Milton Babbitt (52) is performed for the first time, in Philharmonic Hall, New York under the baton of Leonard Bernstein (50).
17 January 1969 About 50 students at the University of Barcelona invade and ransack the offices of Rector Manuel Albadalejo. Four university porters step in and save the rector just before the students attempt to defenestrate him.
Waves for indeterminate instrumentation by Lukas Foss (46) is performed for the first time, at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.
Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn for band by Norman Dello Joio (55) is performed for the first time, at Michigan State University. See 3 June 1969.
18 January 1969 Expanded Vietnam peace talks, including the NLF and the Saigon government, begin on substantive issues for the first time, in Paris. Much of the last few months have been spent on disputes over the shape of the table at which the delegations will sit.
Brazilian Supreme Court President Antonio Goncalves de Oliveira resigns in protest to the sackings of two days ago.
19 January 1969 Thousands of people gather in Wenceslas Square, Prague to mark the death of Jan Palach.
20 January 1969 Anti-government students battle police in Dacca. One person is killed, three injured.
100,000 people gather in Wenceslas Square and march to Charles University in Prague.
Richard Milhous Nixon replaces Lyndon Baines Johnson as President of the United States. Duke Ellington (69) and his Orchestra perform at an inaugural ball in the Smithsonian Institution.
Two chamber works by György Ligeti (45) are performed for the first time, in Malmö, Sweden: Six Bagatelles for wind quintet (arranged from Musica ricercata), and Ten Pieces for wind quintet. See 18 November 1969.
21 January 1969 5,000 people march in Dacca to honor the student killed yesterday. Police fire on them, then attack the crowd. 35 people are injured.
Antonio Carlos Lafayette de Andrada, who succeeded to the Presidency of Brazil’s Supreme Court after the resignation of Antonio Goncalves de Oliveira, also resigns.
A government study states that chronic hunger and malnutrition are widespread in the United States.
A strike by students begins at the University of California at Berkeley in support of an ethnic studies program.
Two Images for the Computer Piece, a film with music by Vladimir Ussachevsky (57), is shown for the first time, at the Whitney Museum, New York.
23 January 1969 Dr. Eugen Gerstenmaier resigns as President of the West German Bundestag. After he received $70,000 in reparations for wartime persecution by the Nazis, questions arose about just how anti-Nazi he was and whether this was a politically sensitive move.
Students demanding educational reform seize the office of the rector of the Sorbonne. They are ejected by police after ransacking the office.
Elections to the Danish Folketing see gains for the Social Liberal Party at the expense of the ruling socialist parties.
Striking students hold a rally at San Francisco State College. 483 people are arrested.
24 January 1969 A general strike takes place in Dacca to protest the Pakistani government. Federal troops are called in and a 24-hour curfew is imposed. Three people are killed, 15 injured. Violence begins between students and police in Karachi. 43 people are injured.
The government of Spain imposes a three-month “state of exception”, suspending five articles of the Bill of Rights. Between 200-500 people are arrested.
The London School of Economics is closed due to student-police disturbances.
25 January 1969 The first plenary session of four-party Vietnamese peace talks begins in Paris between representatives of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Saigon government, the National Liberation Front, and the United States.
After daily mass demonstrations since his death, the remains of Jan Palach are taken from Charles University to Wenceslas Square in Prague before and estimated 500,000 people. The remains are then laid to rest in a private family ceremony.
26 January 1969 Police fire on a demonstration in Dacca in violation of the curfew. Three people are killed, seven wounded.
Police use tear gas to break up crowds in Wenceslas Square, Prague. 200 are arrested.
27 January 1969 14 Iraqis are executed by hanging, convicted of spying for Israel. Eleven are hanged in Baghdad, three in Basra. Nine of the victims are Jews.
Police use tear gas and clubs to clear 1,200 students off the campus of Nairobi University. The students have been boycotting classes because the government will not allow a speech by opposition leader Oginga Odinga.
28 January 1969 A blowout occurs at a Union Oil well ten km off of Santa Barbara, California.
29 January 1969 Nigerian federal troops begin a new offensive into Biafra.
Hallelujah for voices by Mauricio Kagel (37) is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.
30 January 1969 About 400 students occupy the administration building of the University of Chicago to protest the sacking of a teacher for her political views.
31 January 1969 Music for Prague 1968 for band by Karel Husa (47) is performed for the first time, in Washington. It will become his most popular work. See 31 January 1970.
1 February 1969 Relief flights by the ICRC for starving Biafran refugees resume.
The Inter-American Press Association protests to Brazilian President Costa e Silva over censorship, arrests of publishers and editors, and the seizing of newspapers.
2 February 1969 The Trustees of the Boston Symphony Orchestra announce that Gunther Schuller (43) and Seiji Ozawa will be co-directors of the Tanglewood musical organization beginning next year.
3 February 1969 Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane, leader of the Mozambique Liberation Front, is killed by a bomb in Dar es Salaam.
34 Sorbonne students involved in the 23 January takeover are expelled from the school. Eleven are immediately conscripted into the armed forces.
4 February 1969 20,000-30,000 Okinawans demonstrate outside the US air base on the island, demanding the removal of B-52s.
Former Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto goes on trial in Lahore, Pakistan for inciting anti-government violence.
The French government legalizes the manufacture and sale of birth control pills.
A court in San Francisco orders striking teachers at San Francisco State College back to work.
Police wielding clubs attempt to move about 300 demonstrators from the main gate of the University of California at Berkeley. Students battle back with missiles of various sorts.
5 February 1969 Governor Ronald Reagan declares a “state of extreme emergency” in Berkeley, California. He authorizes the California Highway Patrol to render all necessary aid to local police.
The beaches of Santa Barbara, California are blackened by oil from the blowout which occurred 28 January.
Clarinet Concerto by Thea Musgrave (40) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.
7 February 1969 A week of demonstrations, rioting and looting begins in Bombay, led by a right-wing organization, over a border dispute between Maharashtra and Mysore, and autonomy for Marathi-speakers. 43 people will be killed, 200 hospitalized, over 1,000 arrested.
A Nigerian federal warplane drops two bombs on a market in Umuohiagu, northeast of Owerri. The plane then strafes the survivors. 200-300 people are killed.
The Brazilian military government suspends five state legislatures and expels 33 federal legislators from the Congress.
Gli eroi di Bonaventura, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (86) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Piccola Scala, Milan. It is a collection of music from his earlier operas.
8 February 1969 The last issue of the Saturday Evening Post hits the newsstands. The magazine was founded in 1821.
9 February 1969 Biafrans complete the encirclement of about 2,000 federal troops in Owerri.
10 February 1969 Four Interludes and a Tragedy for basset clarinet and tape by Harrison Birtwistle (34) is performed for the first time with tape, in London. See 18 October 1968.
11 February 1969 About 200 students at St. George Williams University in Montreal destroy a $1,000,000 computer and torch the school’s computer center when police move in to remove them. The students have occupied the computer center since 29 January to protest alleged racism by a professor. 97 students are arrested.
Double Basses at Twenty Paces for two referees, two bassists, and conductor by Pauline Oliveros (36) is performed for the first time, at the University of California, San Diego.
12 February 1969 200 teachers take over the Sorbonne in Paris to protest the conscriptions of 3 February. They are ejected by police.
Fanfare for brass and strings by Henryk Górecki (35) is performed for the first time, in Wroclaw.
Verses for Ensembles for 15 players by Harrison Birtwistle (34) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.
13 February 1969 Pro-Soviet Radio Vltava, broadcasting in Czechoslovakia since the invasion last August, goes off the air.
Unrest occurs in various parts of Paris as attempts are made to block the conscription of students expelled from the Sorbonne. 600 people are arrested.
The National Guard arrives at the University of Wisconsin in Madison as about 5,000-10,000 students battle with police using clubs and tear gas.
About 60 African-American students seize the administration building at Duke University. After the students leave peacefully, police battle with students outside. 26 people are injured. Two hours after they arrive, police withdraw.
Scherzi musicali for chamber orchestra by Ulysses Kay (52) is performed for the first time, in Detroit.
14 February 1969 Students occupying the administration building of the University of Chicago for the last two weeks evacuate the premises, their demands unmet.
Versuch über Schweine for baritone and orchestra by Hans Werner Henze (42) to words of Salvatore, is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London the composer conducting. The audience is very appreciative.
Photoptosis, a prelude for orchestra by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (50), is performed for the first time, in Gelsenkirchen.
15 February 1969 Nature magazine includes a paper entitled “Early Stages of Fertilization in vitro of Human Oocytes Matured in vitro” by RG Edwards, BD Bavister, and PC Steptoe. They describe their groundbreaking work on in vitro fertilization in humans.
18 February 1969 Pakistani soldiers open fire on anti-government demonstrators in Dacca. Seven people are killed, 35 injured.
Four Arab terrorists attack an El Al airliner on the ground in Zürich. They fire machine guns and throw hand grenades. Six people on board the plane are wounded. One will die of his wounds. One terrorist is killed, the other three are captured.
19 February 1969 Six people are killed in anti-government riots in Karachi.
The London School of Economics, closed since 24 January, reopens.
21 February 1969 President Mohammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan announces that he will not be a candidate in upcoming elections.
Arab terrorists explode a bomb in a Jerusalem supermarket killing two people and injuring nine others.
Antoni Zambrowski, identified as the leader of student uprisings at Warsaw University last year, is sentenced to two years in prison by a Warsaw court.
The rector of the University of Rome closes the campus after weeks of occupation of buildings by students.
Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth is published in the US.
22 February 1969 Sun Music II for orchestra by Peter Sculthorpe (39) is performed for the first time, in Town Hall, Sydney.
23 February 1969 North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launch a major three-day offensive on Saigon and over 100 other cities. The Saigon government arrests Buddhist leader Thich Thien Minh and over 50 of his followers.
Die Witwe des Schmetterlings, an opera by Isang Yun (51) to words of Kunz after Ma Chi Yuan, is performed for the first time, in Nuremberg.
Three new works by Pauline Oliveros (36) are performed for the first time, at the University of California, San Diego: A-OK for accordion, violins, chorus, conductor, audience, and tape-delay system; SY*dF=1 for mixed media; and The Dying Alchemist Preview for trumpet, violin, percussion, narrator, and slides.
24 February 1969 Israeli jets bomb terrorist camps inside Syria. Two Syrian warplanes are shot down.
Violin Sonata no.2 by Alfred Schnittke (34) is performed for the first time, in Kazan.
25 February 1969 Jan Zajic, an 18-year-old high school student from Sumperk, Moravia, sets himself alight in Wenceslas Square Prague. He leaves a note praising Jan Palach. It is the 21st anniversary of the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia.
A bomb set by Arab terrorists goes off in Jerusalem, severely damaging the British consulate. One person is injured.
26 February 1969 Prime Minister Levi Eshkol of Israel dies of a heart attack in Jerusalem. He is replaced ad interim by Yigal Allon.
Nigerian aircraft drop six bombs on a marketplace in Ozu Abam, killing at least 120 people.
Costa-Gavras’ film Z is released in France. Its soundtrack is collected music of Mikis Theodorakis (43).
Between Categories for chimes, two pianos, two violins, and two cellos by Morton Feldman (43) is performed for the first time, in Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y, New York.
27 February 1969 Jack Griffith, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, announces he has photographed the structure of DNA using an electron microscope.
28 February 1969 Cigarette manufacturers in the United States begin an advertising campaign which claims that smoking is not dangerous to health.
Serenade no.2 for eleven players by George Perle (53) is performed for the first time, in Washington.
1 March 1969 US and Saigon government forces launch a counteroffensive into the A Shau Valley.
Rome police move into the university campus and disperse students occupying the buildings there.
Set of Two for violin and harpsichord by Henry Cowell (†3) is performed for the first time, at Converse College, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
2 March 1969 An armed clash between Soviet and Chinese troops takes place in the Ussuri River on an island known as Damansky to the Russians and Chen Pao (Zhenbao) to the Chinese. It lies 175 km south of Khabarovsk. There is considerable loss of life.
Pathet Lao and North Vietnamese forces capture the government stronghold of Na Khang after intense combat.
The UK-France supersonic transport Concorde makes it first test flight, in Toulouse.
Fancie for chorus and piano by Benjamin Britten (55) to words of Shakespeare is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of the BBC Scottish Home Service.
Part II of Time’s Encomium for synthesized and processed synthesized sound by Charles Wuorinen (30) is performed for the first time, in Newark, New Jersey. See 16 August 1969 and 8 May 1970.
3 March 1969 Mass demonstrations besiege the Soviet embassy in Peking for four days.
Biafran forces surround 2,000 Nigerian troops in Owerri.
US astronauts on Apollo 9 deploy and dock with a lunar module, the vehicle which will transport people to the surface of the moon.
5 March 1969 Two Viet Cong open fire on the car of Prime Minister Tran Van Huong in Saigon. They are subdued by his security force. The Prime Minister is unhurt.
Two astronauts move from the command module into the lunar module of Apollo 9.
6 March 1969 Saigon comes under heavy shelling by communist forces. 22 people are killed, 35 injured.
Arab terrorists explode a bomb in the cafeteria of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 29 people are injured.
Astronaut Richard Schweickart exits the lunar module of Apollo 9 for a 40-minute space walk.
7 March 1969 100,000 people demonstrate outside the Chinese embassy in Moscow.
Two astronauts aboard the lunar module of Apollo 9 detach it from the command module and pilot it independently for over six hours. They then return to the command module and jettison the lunar module.
8 March 1969 Two days of artillery duels between Egypt and Israel begin across the Suez Canal. Israeli artillery severely damages oil refining and storage facilities at Suez.
9 March 1969 General Abdel Moneim Raid, Chief of Staff of the armed forces of Egypt, is killed in Israeli shelling of Ismailiya.
10 March 1969 The University of Rome reopens after being closed for over two weeks. Students resume their protest tactics.
James Earl Ray pleads guilty in a Memphis court to murdering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is sentenced to 99 years in prison. Ray says that he disagrees with the prosecutor when he claimed there was no conspiracy.
Industrial workers in France begin a 24-hour general strike to support demands of higher wages, lower taxes, and lower retirement age. 200,000 workers march from the Place de la Republique to the Place de la Bastille. Police move in to break up the march. Some battles ensue with dozens of injuries.
Pacific Sirens for instrumental ensemble and two-track tape by Robert Erickson (52) is performed for the first time, at the University of Washington, Seattle.
11 March 1969 Pathet Lao forces destroy three planes at a government airport near Luang Prabang.
Three days of artillery battles begin across the Suez Canal.
Rafael Caldera Rodríguez replaces Raúl Leoni Otero as President of Venezuela.
British official William Whitlock arrives in Anguilla with proposals to end the secession. He is ordered off at gunpoint.
13 March 1969 In the fourth purge since last December, the Brazilian military government strips political rights from 95 politicians.
Apollo 9 returns to earth less than two km from its intended splash down, northeast of Puerto Rico.
14 March 1969 A West Berlin court sentences Josef Bachmann, a house painter, to seven years at hard labor for trying to kill Rudi Dütschke, leader of the Socialist League of German Students, last April.
Italy’s first birth control clinic is opened in Rome, in violation of an Italian law banning distribution of birth control information.
15 March 1969 A Saigon court convicts Buddhist leader Thich Thien Minh of “harboring rebels and concealing weapons and illegal documents.” He is sentenced to ten years at hard labor.
Dream Music no.2 for harpsichord and percussion by William Bolcom (30) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
16 March 1969 John Barry, a reporter for the London Sunday Times publishes an article which says that he has visited Mikis Theodorakis (43) in Zatouna where the composer is being held by the Greek Security Police. He has returned with tapes of new songs performed by Theodorakis and letters for U Thant, Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Subcommission on Human Rights of the Council of Europe. They are published in his paper today, to be excerpted in periodicals throughout the world.
Paragraph 2 of The Great Learning for singers and drummers by Cornelius Cardew (32), to words of Confucius, (tr. Pound), is performed for the first time, at the Leeds College of Art.
1776, a musical by Sherman Edwards and Peter Stone, opens in New York.
17 March 1969 About 2,500,000 workers strike for one day in West Pakistan in favor of higher wages, better living conditions and the right to form trade unions.
Golda Meir replaces Yigal Allon as Prime Minister of Israel.
18 March 1969 US and Saigon government forces launch a counteroffensive in the Saigon area to try to relieve pressure on the capital.
19 March 1969 After a two year secession movement by the island, Great Britain reasserts its control over Anguilla, landing 135 soldiers and 40 police from two frigates.
20 March 1969 A federal grand jury in Chicago indicts eight police officers and eight protest leaders in connection with the violence last August during the convention of the Democratic Party.
21 March 1969 After being photographed three times by Mexican police, Hans Werner Henze (42) arrives in Havana on a flight from Mexico City.
23 March 1969 Troops are called into the streets of Karachi to deal with civil unrest.
Collect for chorus and tape by Leslie Bassett (46) is performed for the first time, in East Orange, New Jersey.
24 March 1969 Images for flute, oboe, violin, and cello by Isang Yun (51) is performed for the first time, at Mills College, Oakland, California.
25 March 1969 President Mohammed Ayub Khan of Pakistan resigns, turning power over to army commander Mohammed Yahya Khan, who immediately proclaims martial law.
The “state of exception” imposed by the Spanish government on 24 January is lifted.
27 March 1969 Age of Consent, a film with music by Peter Sculthorpe (39), is shown for the first time, in the Odeon Theatre, Brisbane.
Bulgarian artists are warned to join in “a united militant front against the reactionary schemes of those who want to stop the progressive historical development by an ideological diversion in the field of art.”
28 March 1969 The victory of the Czechoslovak hockey team over the USSR in the World Hockey Championship in Stockholm causes widespread, jubilant anti-Soviet demonstrations throughout Czechoslovakia. Some turn to rioting. The Aeroflot office in Prague is ransacked.
Seven anti-Vietnam War leaders are acquitted in an Oakland court of conspiracy to trespass and obstruct police during anti-draft demonstrations in the city two years ago.
29 March 1969 Pieces for violin and piano and El Mar la Mar for two sopranos and five instruments by Luciano Berio (43) is performed for the first time, in Royan.
Duo, from the film Schnebel: visible music I by Mauricio Kagel (37), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of NDR television, Hamburg.
Songs, Drones and Refrains of Death for baritone, electric guitar, electric contrabass, amplified piano, and percussion by George Crumb (39) to words of Garcia Lorca is performed for the first time, at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
30 March 1969 An electricity generating plant is blown up at Castlereagh outside Belfast.
31 March 1969 Slaughterhouse Five, or the Children’s Crusade by Kurt Vonnegut is published by Dell in the US.
1 April 1969 Pierre Boulez (44) receives an official request from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to become its music director. He thinks it is an April Fool’s joke.
2 April 1969 Under pressure from the Soviet Union, the government of Czechoslovakia imposes new press censorship.
3 April 1969 The number of US combat deaths in Vietnam now exceeds that of the Korean war.
4 April 1969 An artificial heart is placed in the chest of Haskell Karp by a team led by Dr. Denton Cooley at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. Present is the inventor of the heart, Dr. Domingo Liotta of Argentina.
William Paley, President and CEO of the CBS network, cancels The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour because the stars refuse to submit their show to network censors and their opposition to the Vietnam War.
Nomos gamma for orchestra by Iannis Xenakis (46) is performed for the first time, in Royan, France. Also premiered is Quadrivium for orchestra by Bruno Maderna (48).
Blacks riot for two nights in Baltimore. 340 people are arrested.
5 April 1969 About 20,000 people march in New York City demanding an end to the war in Vietnam. Among them are a number of military men out of uniform.
7 April 1969 Haskell Karp receives a heart transplant after three days with an artificial heart. Unfortunately, he will die tomorrow because of tissue rejection.
In the case of Stanley v. Georgia, the US Supreme Court rules unanimously that citizens have the right to possess obscene materials, even if their sale or distribution is prohibited.
8 April 1969 Arab terrorists fire 30-40 rockets from a schoolyard in Aqaba into Elath, about six km away. Thirteen people are injured. Israeli warplanes retaliate.
9 April 1969 About 300 students take over the main administration building at Harvard University, University Hall. They produce six demands, including the removal of ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) from campus. Deans are removed from their offices, sometimes by force.
A tryout of four scenes from Virgil Thomson’s (72) new opera Lord Byron takes place in a rehearsal room of the Metropolitan Opera in New York before more than 100 invited guests. The performance goes well and is well received. See 14 April 1969.
10 April 1969 Communist forces launch 45 separate attacks throughout South Vietnam. The heaviest are at Vinh Long and Tay Ninh.
French President Charles de Gaulle threatens to resign if his constitutional reform measures are defeated in an upcoming referendum.
At the request of Harvard President Nathan Pusey, 400 helmeted police with clubs forcibly remove 300 students who occupied University Hall yesterday. 180 people are arrested, 41 injured.
Tomorrow, students will call for a general strike on campus to protest the brutality used by police and to put forth further demands.
11 April 1969 A student strike at Harvard University is 70-80% effective. The faculty of Arts and Sciences votes overwhelmingly to condemn both the occupation and the use of police.
The Rainbow for small orchestra by Charles Ives (†14) is performed for the first time, in Danbury, Connecticut, 55 years after it was composed.
12 April 1969 Nguyen Lau, publisher of the Saigon Daily News, is arrested for publishing opinions critical of the Saigon government.
Twelve-Tone Variations for piano by Lejaren Hiller (43) is performed for the first time, in Buffalo.
13 April 1969 A Nation of Cowslips, seven bagatelles for chorus by Dominick Argento (41) to words of Keats, is performed for the first time, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
14 April 1969 Virgil Thomson (72) receives a letter from Rudolf Bing, general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Bing tells him that Lord Byron is not appropriate for his house, and will not be performed there in the foreseeable future. See 9 April 1969.
Terry Riley (33) gives the inaugural concert at the newly renovated Electric Circus on St. Mark’s Place, New York. In the audience is an interested composer named Philip Glass (32).
Deux for two pianos by Ralph Shapey (48) is performed for the first time, in the Pan-American Union, Washington.
15 April 1969 North Korean warplanes shoot down an unarmed US reconnaissance plane about 150 km off the coast. 31 crewmen are presumed dead.
Scientists of the University of California announce in Minneapolis that they have created two isotopes of the heaviest element (104) on the periodic table.
16 April 1969 Ten prominent party members are exonerated by the Presidium of the Czechoslovak Communist Party of collaborating with the Soviet invasion.
Michigan becomes the first of the United States to ban the sale of DDT.
Virgil Thomson’s (72) Fugue and Chorale on Yankee Doodle for orchestra is performed for the first time, in Glenn Memorial Auditorium, Emory University, Atlanta.
17 April 1969 The Saigon regime arrests 26 intellectuals and professionals opposed to the government.
The voting age in Britain is reduced from 21 to 18.
Gustav Husak replaces Alexander Dubcek as first secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. Other reformers are removed from the Central Committee.
The Arts and Sciences faculty at Harvard University call on the school to end all ties to ROTC.
A Los Angeles court finds Sirhan Bishara Sirhan guilty of the murder of Senator Robert Kennedy.
Flute Variations II for flute solo by Charles Wuorinen (30) is performed for the first time, at Jersey City State College.
19 April 1969 Violence erupts in Londonderry when police block a planned march by Catholic civil rights protesters. Catholics throw rocks and bottles at police. Protestants then attack the Catholics. Water hoses are employed to end the violence. Later, Catholics attack a Londonderry police station. 288 people are injured throughout the day.
One day after a burning cross is found outside a cooperative for black women students, black students at Cornell University occupy Willard Straight Hall. Some white students make an attempt to eject them but fail. The building is then surrounded by members of Students for a Democratic Society to protect those within.
Piano Sonata no.5 by Lejaren Hiller (43) is performed for the first time, in New York.
20 April 1969 Molotov cocktails are thrown at nine post offices and a bus station in Belfast. The fires are extinguished.
Blacks assault whites after a protest at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore. 138 people are injured, 130 arrested.
Black students who occupied Willard Straight Hall of Cornell University yesterday leave the building peacefully.
22 April 1969 UN Secretary General U Thant reports that “a virtual state of active war” exists between Israel and Egypt along the Suez Canal.
Catholics riot in the Falls Road section of Belfast. Police move in and receive rocks and fire bombs. Twelve people are injured.
Federal Nigerian troops capture Umuahia, the provisional capital of Biafra.
The City College of New York is closed after 150 black and hispanic students lock themselves inside the gates.
Eight Songs for a Mad King, a stage work for male voice, piccolo, flute, clarinet, keyboards, percussion, violin, and cello by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) to words of Stow, is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, the composer conducting.
Two works by Harrison Birtwistle (34) are performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London: Linoi for clarinet, piano, tape, and dancer, and Some Petals from my Twickenham Herbarium for piccolo, clarinet, viola, cello, piano, and bells conducted by the composer. See 11 October 1968.
Für Dr. K. no.28 for flute, clarinet, piano, vibraphone, tubular bells, violin, and cello by Karlheinz Stockhausen (40) is performed for the first time, conducted by Pierre Boulez (44) in London. Also premiered is Pour le Dr Kalmus for flute, clarinet, viola, cello and piano by Pierre Boulez (44), the composer conducting.
23 April 1969 Fighting between Lebanese police and Palestinian terrorists breaks out in Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Tripoli, Baalbek, and Nabatiah. Twelve people are killed. The government institutes a state of emergency and places curfews on the affected cities.
The Egyptian government announces that it considers the cease-fire agreement of 1967 to no longer have effect.
A Los Angeles jury votes to impose the death penalty on Sirhan Bishara Sirhan.
Ramifications for string orchestra by György Ligeti (45) is performed for the first time, in Berlin. See 10 October 1969.
24 April 1969 The Ninth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party closes in Peking after adopting a new party constitution which includes the naming of Lin Piao (Lin Biao) as the successor to Mao Tse-tung.
Biafran troops recapture Owerri.
25 April 1969 Letters from Paris for chorus and small orchestra by Ned Rorem (45) to words of Flanner, is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
26 April 1969 Three nights of racially motivated fire bombings and shooting erupt in Cairo, Illinois.
Shapes and Designs for orchestra by Gunther Schuller (43) is performed for the first time, in Bushnell Memorial Auditorium, Hartford, Connecticut the composer conducting.
27 April 1969 French voters reject 52-48% constitutional changes proposed by President de Gaulle.
Despite and Still op.41, a cycle for voice and piano by Samuel Barber (59) to words of Graves, Roethke and Joyce, is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York.
In Memoriam Zach Walker for band by TJ Anderson (40) is performed for the first time, in his home town of Coatesville, Pennsylvania.
Igor Stravinsky (86) attends an Homage to Stravinsky concert at SUNY Stony Brook. It is the last public function he attends.
28 April 1969 About 150,000 people march in various places in Japan demanding the return of Okinawa. Serious violence occurs in Tokyo.
After French voters reject his government reorganization plan, Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France. Alain Emile Louis Marie Poher becomes acting President.
Alexander Dubcek, former first secretary of the Communist Party, is elected chairman of the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia.
29 April 1969 Israeli forces strike over 300 km inside Egypt. They damage the Nag Hammadi dam and bridge and the Idfu Bridge. They also destroy part of the power station at Isna near Luxor.
The military government of Brazil denies political rights to 107 more people and removes them from office, including 74 legislators, nine mayors and several judges. In addition, 68 professors are sacked from the University of São Paulo and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
200 National Guardsmen and 60 state police are sent into Cairo, Illinois to quell violence.
A party in honor of Duke Ellington’s 70th birthday takes place at the White House hosted by President and Mrs. Nixon. Ellington and many other jazz luminaries perform.
30 April 1969 Egyptian and Israeli forces begin heavy artillery exchanges across the Suez Canal on a 100 km front from Qantara to Bûr Taufiq.
Lebanese troops relieve an army post between Merj Ayun and Hasbeya under siege by Palestinian terrorists since yesterday.
Terence O’Neill resigns as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and head of the Unionist Party after his party refuses to support his efforts to redress the grievances of the province’s Catholics.
Rioting in Amsterdam occurs when the Socialist Youth are prevented from broadcasting their take on Queen Juliana’s 60th birthday. Police battle 2,000 demonstrators.
From Here on Farther for clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, and piano by Stefan Wolpe (66) is performed for the first time, in the YMHA, New York.
1 May 1969 Laotian government troops capture the communist stronghold of Xieng Khouang 250 km northeast of Vientiane.
May Day is celebrated with civilian parades in all Warsaw Pact countries except East Germany.
James Chichester-Clark replaces Terence O’Neill as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and head of the ruling Unionist Party.
2 May 1969 Cantata de Virtue for vocal soloists, narrator, children’s chorus, chorus, and orchestra by Peter Mennin (45) to words of Browning and various Latin texts is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati.
3 May 1969 President Zakir Husain of India dies of a heart attack in New Dehli and is replaced by Varahagiri Venkata Giri.
Sonata for violin and piano op.134 by Dmitri Shostakovich (62) is performed publicly for the first time, in Moscow Conservatory Bolshoy Hall by David Oistrakh and Sviatoslav Richter. See 8 January 1969.
Igor Stravinsky (86) undergoes an operation at New York Hospital to remove a blood clot in his knee.
4 May 1969 Paragraph 2 of The Great Learning for singers and drummers by Cornelius Cardew (32), to words of Confucius, (tr. Pound), is performed publicly for the first time, at the Round House, London.
5 May 1969 Synchronstudie for actor, solo voice, film, and one, two, or three tape recorders by Mauricio Kagel (37) is performed for the first time, in Basel.
6 May 1969 Lebanese troops battle Palestinian terrorists at Kabr Nikha. Two people are killed, ten wounded. 40 of the terrorists are captured.
7 May 1969 Howard University in Washington is closed after students occupy eight buildings.
8 May 1969 Ein Schmetterlingstraum for chorus and percussion ad. lib. by Isang Yun (51) to words of Ma is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
Down the Greenwood Side, a dramatic pastoral by Harrison Birtwistle (34) to words of Nyman, is performed for the first time, in Festival Pavilion, West Pier, Brighton.
Dennis Hopper’s film Easy Rider is shown for the first time, at the Cannes Film Festival.
Greatshot, a cabaret opera by William Bolcom (30) to words of Weinstein, is performed for the first time, at Yale University conducted by the composer.
9 May 1969 US Marshals clear eight buildings occupied by students at Howard University, Washington.
CASTA* for soprano and electronic sounds by Ben Johnston (43) is performed for the first time, at the opening of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois.
10 May 1969 US and Saigon government troops begin a sweep into the A Shau Valley.
A federal jury in Meridian, Mississippi acquits three members of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1966 murder of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer. They can not reach a verdict on seven others.
11 May 1969 Communist forces launch two days of rocket attacks and ground assaults throughout South Vietnam.
12 May 1969 Nonomiya op.27 for piano by Alexander Goehr (36) is performed for the first time, in Macclesfield.
13 May 1969 Trustees of Columbia University vote to abolish ROTC on campus.
Trustees of Stanford University vote to end its ties with the Stanford Research Institute where secret Defense Department research is done.
Suite aus der Oper Hyperion for two solo flutes, solo oboe, speaker, chorus, and orchestra by Bruno Maderna (49) is performed for the first time, in Berlin. It includes the premiere of Maderna’s Entropia III.
15 May 1969 Arab terrorists throw explosive devices into marketplaces in five towns in the Gaza Strip. 35 people are injured.
When police kill a student demonstrator in Corrientes, waves of unrest and violence spread throughout the universities of Argentina.
After Berkeley police remove about 500 people from a plot of land owned by the University of California they had turned into a “people’s park”, protestors march from the school to the park to retake it. They are stopped by sheriff’s deputies who fire into the crowd and hurl tear gas. Protestors respond with rocks. The National Guard is called out and a curfew is imposed on the city.
One person will die of gunshot wounds suffered today.
Spiral no.27 for soloist and short-wave receiver by Karlheinz Stockhausen (40) is performed for the first time, in Zagreb.
16 May 1969 Students occupy the administration building of Amsterdam University.
HPSCHD for 1-7 harpsichords and 1-51 tapes by John Cage (56) and Lejaren Hiller (45) is performed for the first time, in Assembly Hall of the University of Illinois at Urbana. The production includes seven harpsichords, 51 tapes, seven film projectors, and 80 slide projectors and lasts from 19:30 until midnight. Six of the seven harpsichord parts were created using the musical dice game of Mozart (†173) and the I Ching.
17 May 1969 Mitja Ribicic replaces Mika Spiljak as President of the Federal Executive Council of Yugoslavia.
Purges of Czechoslovak reformers take place in Moravia.
Students demanding a greater voice in university affairs take over buildings at Amsterdam University and hold them for five days.
Leonard Bernstein (50) conducts his final performance as music director of the New York Philharmonic.
Aeolian Partitions for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano by Pauline Oliveros (36) is performed for the first time, at Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.
18 May 1969 The Apollo 10 manned moon mission blasts off from Cape Kennedy.
Streams in the Desert for chorus and orchestra by Howard Hanson (72) to words from the Bible is performed for the first time, at Texas Technology College, Lubbock, Texas the composer conducting.
19 May 1969 The US Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Timothy Leary on drug charges. They find the laws under which Leary was convicted unconstitutional.
Argentine authorities close four universities in an attempt to quell student unrest.
Children’s Crusade op.82 for children’s voices, percussion, two pianos, and organ by Benjamin Britten (55) to words of Brecht (tr. Keller), composed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Save the Children Fund, is performed for the first time, in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.
Musica-manifesto no.1 for voice and tape by Luigi Nono (45) to words of Pavese, is performed for the first time, in Chatillon-sous-Bagneux.
20 May 1969 On the eleventh assault, American and Saigon troops capture Ap Bia Mountain in the A Shau Valley two km from the border with Laos. The mountain will be abandoned on 28 May as it has no strategic value.
Police eject students who have occupied the Amsterdam University administration building since 16 May. 672 people are arrested.
As 2,000 students and faculty conduct a silent march in memory of a protestor killed in the 15 May disorders in Berkeley, police attack them with tear gas. National Guard helicopters drop tear gas indiscriminately on the University of California campus.
Syrmos for 18 strings by Iannis Xenakis (46) is performed for the first time, in Salle Gaveau, Paris.
21 May 1969 Violence erupts between blacks and police at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. Over the next three days, police and national guardsmen battle snipers in dormitories. Tear gas is used.
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is sentenced to death in a Los Angeles court for the murder of Robert Kennedy.
Apollo 10 enters orbit around the moon.
The faculty at the University of California, Berkeley vote to boycott classes as long as the National Guard remains on campus.
22 May 1969 Biafran aircraft attack an airfield at Port Harcourt destroying three federal Nigerian war planes.
One person is killed, five injured in an exchange of gunfire at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro.
University students take over an area of 50 blocks in Rosario, Argentina and battle police and erecting barricades. Federal troops are called in with orders to shoot rioters.
Leaving John Young behind in the command module, Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan detach the lunar module of Apollo 10 and guide it towards the moon. They descend to within 14 km of the surface, surveying the landing site for Apollo 11 on the Sea of Tranquility, then return to dock with the command module.
About 500 people are arrested as they attempt a protest march through downtown Berkeley, California.
Orpheus--for the Singer to the Dance for tenor, chorus, and percussion by Lou Harrison (52) to words of Duncan, is performed for the first time, at San Jose State University, California.
23 May 1969 The National Guard clears the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro with tear gas, rifle fire, and smoke from airplanes. 200 people are arrested.
Labor leaders call a general strike in Rosario, Argentina in sympathy with striking students.
Songs of Ecstasy for soprano with piano, percussion, and tape by Ralph Shapey (48) is performed for the first time, in Mandel Hall of the University of Chicago.
Colloquy for orchestra by Leslie Bassett (46) is performed for the first time, in Fresno, California.
24 May 1969 Having jettisoned the lunar module, Apollo 10 leaves lunar orbit.
A raid by Biafran warplanes on Benin destroys one Nigerian fighter and some civilian aircraft.
A federal judge orders the Sheriff of Alameda County, California to stop beating and torturing prisoners arrested in civil protests. At the urging of the city council, most National Guard troops are removed from Berkeley.
25 May 1969 A small group of army officers led by Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry overthrows the government of Sudan.
John Schlesinger’s film Midnight Cowboy is shown for the first time, in New York.
From an Unknown Past for chorus by Ned Rorem (45) to words of various 16th century authors is performed for the first time, at Montclair State College, Upper Montclair, New Jersey.
26 May 1969 Laotian government forces capture Ban Ban, penetrating further into Pathet Lao territory.
Apollo 10 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean east of American Samoa.
27 May 1969 A federal court in Florence, South Carolina acquits nine state policemen in the deaths of three black students in Orangeburg in February 1968.
Four Log Drums by Steve Reich (32) is performed for the first time, at the Whitney Museum in New York.
Dream Passage for mezzo-soprano, chorus, actors, dancers, chamber orchestra, and tape by R. Murray Schafer (35) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of CBC Vancouver.
28 May 1969 US forces abandon Ap Bia Mountain, won 20 May after a ten-day battle.
After a week of strikes and student unrest throughout the country, Argentine President Ongania declares a limited state of siege.
29 May 1969 Street fighting breaks out in Cordoba, Argentina. Troops are sent in.
30 May 1969 The Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party adopts hard-line guidelines and begins national purges.
Great Britain grants internal self-government to Gibraltar.
A nationwide general strike in Argentina brings the country to a virtual halt.
Sonata a la española for guitar by Joaquín Rodrigo (67) is performed for the first time, in Teatro dell’Opera, Rome.
Setz die Segel zur Sonne from Aus dem sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (40) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
31 May 1969 37 people are convicted in a Thessaloniki court for plotting against the Greek military government. Sentences range from 13 months to life in prison.
Istanbul University is closed after students occupy all the buildings on campus. The students demand increases in faculty salary and that faculty work full time.
Civil unrest begins to wane in Argentina. 17 people have been killed over the past three weeks.
1 June 1969 Three movements of the Suite for harp op.83 by Benjamin Britten (55) are performed for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC2 TV. See 24 June 1969.
2 June 1969 St. Thomas Wake, foxtrot for orchestra on a pavan by John Bull by Peter Maxwell Davies (34), is performed for the first time, in Dortmund the composer conducting.
Stop (Paris version) no.18 1/2 for 18 instruments by Karlheinz Stockhausen (40) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
Kraanerg, a ballet for orchestra and tape by Iannis Xenakis (47), commissioned for the opening of the Canadian National Arts Center, is performed for the first time, at the inauguration of the National Arts Center, Ottawa.
3 June 1969 Homage to Haydn for orchestra by Norman Dello Joio (56) is performed for the first time, in Little Rock, Arkansas. See 17 January 1969.
5 June 1969 An ICRC relief flight to Biafra is shot down by Nigerian federal war planes. All four crew members are killed. Further relief flights are suspended.
Donald Martino (38) marries Lora Harvey, his second wife.
6 June 1969 After being closed for a week, Istanbul University reopens. Students promptly reoccupy campus buildings.
Nine people, including five Roman Catholic clergy, are found guilty on charges stemming from the invasion of a selective service office in Catonsville, Maryland in May of last year.
7 June 1969 The Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, is destroyed by fire on the second day of the Aldeburgh Festival. The remainder of the festival goes on as planned.
La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ for chorus, piano, cello, flute, clarinet, vibarphone, marimba, xylorimba, and orchestra by Olivier Messiaen (60) to words of the Bible, Missal and St. Thomas Aquinas, is performed for the first time, in the Coliseu, Lisbon. The work was commissioned in memory of the millionaire Calouste Gulbenkian. The cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, is roused from his sick bed (food poisoning) by the organizer Maria Madalena de Azeredo Perdigão and forced to the concert. Despite the late start, the applause at the end lasts 30 minutes.
8 June 1969 Spain closes its border with Gibraltar to protest the new constitution for the colony.
Stefan Wolpe (66) receives an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the New England Conservatory of Music.
On Midway Island, US President Nixon announces that 25,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Vietnam starting 31 August.
10 June 1969 The National Liberation Front announces the formation of a Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam headed by chairman Huynh Tan Phat.
The Polish government announces that it is ending its lenient policy towards Jewish emigration.
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra announces that Pierre Boulez (44) will succeed Leonard Bernstein (50) as music director of the orchestra.
12 June 1969 Street violence between about 2,000 students and police takes place in Amsterdam. Police bring in water cannon to disperse the crowds.
Two works by Harrison Birtwistle (34) are performed for the first time, in Purcell Room, London: Cantata for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano/celesta, and glockenspiel/bongos, the composer conducting, and Ut Heremita Solus (after Ockeghem) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and glockenspiel.
13 June 1969 Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma of Laos publicly admits for the first time that US warplanes are bombing North Vietnamese infiltration routes in Laos.
14 June 1969 Inauguration Fanfare by Aaron Copland (68) is performed for the first time, at the unveiling of a stabile by Alexander Calder in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.
15 June 1969 After five days of student rioting, Turkish troops are called into Istanbul University and the school is closed until September.
In the second round of presidential elections in France, Gaullist Georges Pompidou defeats centrist interim President Alain Poher.
17 June 1969 Kammerkonzert for clarinet, string quartet, and string orchestra by Karl Amadeus Hartmann (†5) is performed for the first time, in Zürich.
18 June 1969 Parliamentary elections in Ireland result in a third straight victory for Fianna Fail who increase their majority by two seats.
Igor Stravinsky (87) is released from New York Hospital having fully recovered from three operations to correct problems arising from a blood clot on his knee.
19 June 1969 Eram quasi agnus for seven winds, handbells, and harp by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London the composer conducting.
20 June 1969 Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou replaces acting President Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher as President of France.
The government of Czechoslovakia dissolves the Czech Union of Students.
Voters in Rhodesia approve a new constitution based on white rule and severing all links with Great Britain.
Krzysztof Penderecki’s (35) opera The Devils of Loudun, to his own words after Huxley, is performed for the first time, at the Hamburg Staatsoper.
21 June 1969 Symphony no.14 op.135 for soprano, bass, strings, and percussion by Dmitri Shostakovich (62) to words of Garcia Lorca, Apollinaire, Küchelbecker, and Rilke, is performed for the first time, privately in Moscow Conservatory Malyi Hall. During the performance, musicologist, party functionary, and Shostakovich-tormentor Pavel Ivanovich Apostolov suffers a heart attack. Many Russians take this to be a sign from heaven. See 29 September 1969.
22 June 1969 After an increase in Egyptian shelling of Israeli positions, Israeli troops cross the Suez Canal, attack a radar station at Ras Adabiya, then return safely.
Oben und Unten from Aus dem sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (40) is performed for the first time, in a live broadcast from Amsterdam. Later, Stockhausen abandons a performance of Stimmung because of the constant insertion of noises from the audience. After he leaves, members of the audience rush on stage and take over the microphones for political purposes.
Ellen Taaffe (30) marries Joseph Zwilich.
23 June 1969 North Vietnamese forces besiege the US base at Ben Het, 460 km northeast of Saigon.
Tit for Tat, a cycle for voice and piano by Benjamin Britten (55) to words of de la Mare, is performed for the first time, in Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh by John Shirley-Quirk and the composer.
Cauda Pavonis for piano by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) after Schubert is performed for the first time, in the Little Theatre, Bath by the composer.
24 June 1969 After nearly four years of house arrest, the British governor of Rhodesia, Sir Humphrey Vicary Gibbs, resigns his post. Clifford Dupont becomes acting President of Rhodesia.
While riding in an open car in Conakry with President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and former President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, President Sekou Touré of Guinea is attacked by a man wielding a knife. Touré fights off the would-be assassin until the crowd is able to subdue him. The president is unhurt. The attacker is immediately lynched by the crowd.
Jacques Chaban-Delmas replaces Maurice Couve de Murville as Prime Minister of France.
Arab terrorists blow up an oil pipeline in Haifa.
Suite for harp op.83 by Benjamin Britten (55) is performed completely for the first time, in Jubilee Hall, Aldeburgh. See 1 June 1969.
A long-standing border dispute between Honduras and El Salvador erupts into open warfare. El Salvador declares a state of siege. Thousands of Salvadorans begin fleeing Honduras.
President Jorge Pacheco Areco of Uruguay declares a limited state of siege in Uruguay in the face of strikes and student unrest.
Four nights of rioting by blacks begins in Omaha, Nebraska. 60 people will be arrested.
25 June 1969 The case of Mikis Theodorakis (43) is postponed indefinitely when Greek officials refuse to allow him to leave his confinement in Zatouna to attend the court.
Solita for flute and optional music box by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) is performed for the first time, in Lyons Hall of York University.
26 June 1969 El Salvador breaks diplomatic relations with Honduras.
27 June 1969 Honduras breaks diplomatic relations with El Salvador.
28 June 1969 The New York City Police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, but meet with unexpected resistance from the patrons. A riot ensues, becoming known as the Stonewall Rebellion, a focal point in the history of equal treatment for homosexuals.
29 June 1969 Moise Tshombe dies, reportedly of a heart attack, in detention in Algiers.
30 June 1969 Israeli forces destroy an electric power line between the Aswan Dam and Cairo at Sohag, in the Nile Valley.
Spain turns Ifni over to Morocco in a ceremony in Sidi Ifni.
A new law goes into effect in South Africa giving the Bureau of State Security unlimited power over what evidence may be presented in court.
1 July 1969 Gustav Heinemann replaces Heinrich Lübke as President of West Germany.
Prince Charles is invested as Prince of Wales at Caernarvon Castle.
In the sixth purge since last December, Brazilian President Arthur da Costa e Silva deprives 75 people of their political rights.
An organizational meeting of the Scratch Orchestra takes place at St. Katherine’s Dock, London, led largely by Cornelius Cardew (33).
2 July 1969 The North Vietnamese end their siege of Ben Het in the Central Highlands.
3 July 1969 Cross border air and ground fighting take place between Honduras and El Salvador.
Anaktoria for eight winds and strings by Iannis Xenakis (47) is performed for the first time, in Avignon.
Bravo, Mozart for oboe, violin, horn, and orchestra by Dominick Argento (41) is performed for the first time, in Northrup Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
4 July 1969 The Organization of American States convenes in emergency session to deal with the El Salvador-Honduras dispute.
5 July 1969 Tom Mboya, Kenyan Economic Planning Commissioner and heir presumptive to President Jomo Kenyatta, is killed in Nairobi by Nahashon Isaac Njenga Njoroge in what is widely believed to be a tribal dispute.
Walter Gropius dies in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the age of 86.
8 July 1969 The first US troops are pulled out of South Vietnam.
Israeli warplanes shoot down seven Syrian fighters southwest of Damascus.
9 July 1969 Royal assent is granted in Ottawa to the Official Languages Law. This gives every Canadian the right to use either French or English when dealing with the Canadian government.
10 July 1969 Egyptian forces cross the Suez Canal and occupy an Israeli position near Bûr Taufiq.
11 July 1969 The convictions of Benjamin Spock and Michael Ferber are overturned by a federal appeals court in Boston. They were found guilty last year for conspiring to counsel men to avoid conscription.
12 July 1969 As Protestants march through Catholic areas of Londonderry violence ensues between the two groups and police.
14 July 1969 Police attempting to separate battling Catholics and Protestants in Belfast are attacked by both sides. 1,500 British troops move into Londonderry to guard important sites.
Salvadoran forces invade Honduras and advance 60 km.
Blacks riot in San Diego, California. Three people are killed, three injured, 64 arrested.
Easy Rider opens in New York.
15 July 1969 A seven-nation OAS peace team arrives in El Salvador.
16 July 1969 Apollo 11, the first manned mission to land on the moon, blasts off from Cape Kennedy.
Salvadoran troops capture several towns inside Honduras.
A Celtic Requiem, a cantata for solo voices, children’s chorus, chorus, and orchestra by John Tavener (25), is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London. The composer is one of the two conductors.
17 July 1969 Blacks riot for six consecutive nights in York, Pennsylvania.
The National Guard is ordered into Youngstown, Ohio to quell racial violence.
18 July 1969 Honduras and El Salvador accept an OAS peace plan which includes an immediate cease-fire.
A seven-man crew led by Thor Heyerdahl abandon their papyrus reed boat the Ra, near Barbados 54 days out of Safi, Morocco. They have been trying to prove that ancient Egyptians might have sailed to Central America. Although they do not make their destination of the Yucatan Peninsula, Heyerdahl pronounces the voyage a success.
Cantata op.26 for organ by Henryk Górecki (35) is performed for the first time, in Kamien Pomorski.
19 July 1969 Apollo 11 enters orbit around the moon.
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of India orders the nationalization of the 14 largest banks in the country which control 75% of the private deposits.
20 July 1969 Muhammad Hidayat Ullah replaces Varahagiri Venkata Giri as acting President of India. Giri resigns in order to run for president.
1747 UTC The lunar module of Apollo 11 separates from the command module.
2017 UTC The lunar module of Apollo 11 sets down on the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon.
21 July 1969 0256 UTC Neil Armstrong, a human being from the planet Earth, walks on the surface of the Moon. He is followed 20 minutes later by his companion, Edwin Aldrin.
Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko, playwright Viktor Rosov, and author and playwright Vasily Aksyonov are dropped from the editorial board of the magazine Yunost.
1754 UTC Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin blast off in their lunar module from the surface of the Moon. They bring with them a solar wind sampler, photographs and about 25 kg of rock.
2135 UTC The lunar module of Apollo 11 docks with the command module behind the moon.
Racial violence in Columbus, Ohio kills one person, injures 36 and 434 people are arrested.
22 July 1969 0456 UTC Apollo 11 leaves lunar orbit.
A deadline for troop withdrawals behind their border is not met by El Salvador. They demand protection for the thousands of Salvadorans living in Honduras.
The National Guard is called out to York, Pennsylvania to quell rioting. One person has died, 37 injured, 19 arrested.
23 July 1969 Prince Juan Carlos de Borbon y Borbon is formally invested as heir to the Spanish throne, which has been vacant since 1931. Yesterday, Generalissimo Francisco Franco named Juan Carlos his legal successor.
Spiders for harpsichord by Ned Rorem (45) is performed for the first time, in Waterloo, Ontario.
24 July 1969 Egyptian and Israeli air and ground forces battle for eight hours across the Suez Canal.
1650 UTC Apollo 11, with its crew of Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Edwin Aldrin, splash down in the Pacific Ocean 400 km south of Johnston Island.
26 July 1969 The Italian daily L’Unita publishes a statement from Mikis Theodorakis (43) in which he expresses fear for his life.
Unbegrenzt from Aus dem sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (40) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul de Vence.
28 July 1969 President Yahya Khan of Pakistan relaxes some controls over political activities.
29 July 1969 El Salvador agrees to remove its troops from Honduras.
African-American tennis star Arthur Ashe reveals that he has been denied a visa to compete in South Africa.
30 July 1969 The British government announces that Soviet author Anatoly Kuznetsov has defected to the west and will live in Britain.
A peace pact is signed between El Salvador and Honduras at the Pan American Union in Washington.
31 July 1969 American space probe Mariner 6 comes within 3,200 km of Mars.
500 armed policemen invade the West Bengal state assembly in Calcutta protesting the failure of the government to protect them. They run amok in the building for an hour, assaulting seven members.
Pope Paul VI visits Uganda to address the all-Africa bishops conference. It is the first time that a reigning Roman Catholic pope has visited Africa.
2 August 1969 As Protestants march through a Catholic district of Belfast they are attacked and battles ensue. This leads to 16 hours of violence between the two groups and the police. 97 people are injured, 35 arrested.
3 August 1969 The Japanese Diet passes legislation giving the government and university presidents greater power to deal with campus unrest.
Protestants attempt to march into a Catholic district of Belfast for a second time precipitating greater violence. The rioters disperse after armored cars are brought in.
Puerto Ricans riot for six days in Passaic, New Jersey. 131 people are arrested, $150,000 damage is done.
4 August 1969 Street battles take place between Catholics, Protestants, and the police in a different Catholic section of Belfast. Rioters use gasoline bombs while the police respond with water cannons.
The Long and the Short for violin solo by Charles Wuorinen (31) is performed for the first time, in Berkeley, California.
5 August 1969 American space probe Mariner 7 comes within 3,200 km of Mars.
8 August 1969 Tokyo University and 37 other Japanese schools announce they will not cooperate with the new measure passed 3 August.
France devalues its franc by 11.1%.
9 August 1969 The Portuguese government declares illegal almost all political activity by the opposition in the run up to national elections.
10 August 1969 The French government orders a freeze on prices until September 15.
Actress Sharon Tate and four others are found murdered in the house of her husband, Roman Polanski, in Los Angeles. They were killed by members of a cult led by Charles Manson.
11 August 1969 The bodies of two more victims of the Manson “family” are found in Los Angeles.
12 August 1969 Communist forces begin attacks on 150 cities in South Vietnam, the heaviest being An Loc, Quan Loi, Tay Ninh and Loc Ninh, north of Saigon.
Catholics attack another Protestant march in Londonderry. They then battle police sent to quell the rioting. Gasoline bombs are employed. 92 people are injured.
13 August 1969 Border fighting flares between the USSR and China on the border between Sinking-Uighur (Xinjiang-Uygur) and Kazakhstan.
Communal fighting in Londonderry spreads to Dungiven, Newry, and Armagh.
14 August 1969 The British government sends in regular army troops onto the streets of Londonderry.
The Spanish government announces the arrest of six capitalists and the removal of the director of the state-owned Bank of Industrial Credit. The six are accused of taking government loans designed to build products for export and investing it in foreign concerns.
15 August 1969 The unmanned Soviet space probe Zond 7 returns to earth south of Qostanay, Kazakhstan after orbiting the moon.
Communal violence intensifies in Belfast. Three people are killed. The Irish government mobilizes 2,000 army reservists.
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opens near Bethel, New York.
16 August 1969 Relative calm is restored to Belfast by British troops. In the past 24 hours, 236 people have been injured, including 66 by gunshots.
Israel and Romania agree to establish full diplomatic relations.
Time’s Encomium for synthesized and processed synthesized sound by Charles Wuorinen (31) is performed completely for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts. See 8 May 1970.
17 August 1969 Ten days of fierce fighting begin 50 km south of Da Nang.
The New York Times reports that most Japanese companies are refusing to do business with Israel for fear of Arab reprisals.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe dies in Chicago at the age of 83.
18 August 1969 A state of emergency is declared in Niagara Falls, New York following racial violence.
19 August 1969 About 1,000 demonstrators marking the first anniversary of the invasion of Czechoslovakia battle with police using tear gas in Wenceslas Square, Prague.
The British army takes over responsibility for all security in Northern Ireland.
21 August 1969 The Mosque of al-Aksa in Jerusalem is badly damaged by fire. Arabs blame Israel. When Israeli firemen attempt to enter the mosque to put out the fire, they are beaten and stoned by Arabs.
20 August 1969 Peter Sculthorpe (40) takes part is an illegal production of the anti-war America Hurrah by Jean-Claude van Itallie, in Sydney. After the production, workers take down the set to prevent police from using it as evidence.
Nine hours of demonstrations in Prague are ended by police using tear gas and water cannons.
21 August 1969 Czechoslovak army units enter Prague and occupy important sites. About 50,000 people gather in Wenceslas Square chanting against the Soviet Union and the present Czechoslovak government. Army and police units using tear gas clear the square. In the evening, about a hundred tanks are sent into the square.
In a letter to The Guardian in London, pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy says that Soviet government statements that he is free to travel are “a travesty of the truth.”
22 August 1969 Tran Thien Khiem replaces Tran Van Huong as Prime Minister of the Saigon government.
Israeli authorities arrest Australian Michael Rohan for setting fire to the Mosque of al-Aksa in Jerusalem. Rohan attempted the same arson on 11 August.
The Czechoslovak government grants police emergency powers. During a wreath-laying ceremony in Brno, police move in with clubs and battle 5,000 demonstrators.
Songs of Abelard for baritone and band by Norman Dello Joio (56) is performed for the first time.
23 August 1969 Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser calls on the creation of a force to liberate Jerusalem and restore the Mosque of al-Aksa. “…in the coming battle, the Arab soldiers will not be soldiers of the Arab nations alone but soldiers of God and protectors of religion, houses of worship, and holy books.”
24 August 1969 Varahagiri Venkata Giri replaces Muhammad Hidayat Ullah as President of India.
Discovery for orchestra by Carlos Chávez (70) is performed for the first time, in the Cabrillo College Theatre, Aptos, California.
27 August 1969 The third 24-hour general strike in as many months takes place in Argentina, causing havoc throughout the economy. Workers demand wage increases, the release of prisoners and a reinstatement of labor organizations.
Paraphrase on the dramatic madrigal Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi op.28 for clarinet by Alexander Goehr (37) is performed for the first time, in Edinburgh.
28 August 1969 Demonstrations take place in East Jerusalem and several Arab countries against the burning of the al-Aksa mosque.
Legend for piano by Arnold Bax (†15) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC Radio 3, 34 years after it was composed.
Worldes Blis for orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (34) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London the composer conducting.
29 August 1969 A US commercial airliner flying from Rome to Athens is hijacked by Arab terrorists and forced to fly to Damascus. Minutes after landing the cockpit is destroyed by a bomb. Four people are injured fleeing the airplane.
30 August 1969 The Syrian government releases 105 passengers and crew of the hijacked plane that landed in Damascus yesterday. They hold six Israeli citizens.
Reports of a black woman being shot by police causes blacks to riot for five days in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Ten people are injured, 115 arrested.
31 August 1969 A military junta takes power in Brazil, replacing President Artur da Costa e Silva who has suffered a stroke.
1 September 1969 The Syrian government releases four women Israelis from the plane hijacked on 29 August. They continue to hold two Israeli men.
A military coup led by Colonel Mu’ammar al-Ghadaffi, overthrows the government of King Sayyid Muhammad Idris as-Sanusi of Libya.
Puerto Ricans and Blacks riot for six days in Hartford, Connecticut. Two people are killed, 516 arrested.
Richtige Dauern and Nachtmusik from Aus den sieben Tagen no.26 by Karlheinz Stockhausen (41) are performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.
2 September 1969 Verbindungen and Abwärts from Aus den sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (41) are performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.
The National Guard enters Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to quell racial violence.
A nighttime curfew is ordered in Hartford in an attempt to quell racial violence.
3 September 1969 President of the Vietnam Workers’ Party and President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh dies in Hanoi, reportedly of a heart attack. He is replaced by Le Duan in the party post and Ton Duc Thang as head of state.
Intensität and Kommunion from Aus den sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (41) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
4 September 1969 Israeli forces strike into southern Lebanon to destroy bases used by Palestinian terrorists to send rockets into Israeli villages.
US Ambassador to Brazil C. Burke Elbrick is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro by anti-government commandos. They demand publication of a manifesto and the release of political prisoners.
A subway system begins operation in Mexico City.
Aufwärts from Aus den Sieben Tagen by Karlheinz Stockhausen (41) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.
7 September 1969 Anti-government kidnappers release US Ambassador C. Burke Elbrick in Rio de Janeiro after the Brazilian junta publishes their manifesto and releases 15 political prisoners.
Parliamentary elections in Norway result in an almost even split. The ruling center-right coalition wins 76 seats, the Labor Party 74.
9 September 1969 Israeli forces attack across the Gulf of Suez striking along a 30 km strip south of El Hafayer. They destroy 15 military installations including radar stations and rocket launching sites.
Artists demanding a greater voice in cultural policy occupy the Rembrandt Room of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. All Amsterdam museums are closed through 12 September.
Persephassa for six percussionists by Iannis Xenakis (47) is performed for the first time, in Persepolis, Iran.
10 September 1969 Nahashon Isaac Njenga Njoroge is found guilty of the murder of Tom Mboya in a Nairobi court and sentenced to death.
11 September 1969 Israeli jets shoot down eleven Egyptian war planes.
The report of an inquiry into recent violence commissioned by the Northern Ireland government and chaired by the Scottish High Court judge Lord Cameron, supports Roman Catholic claims of official discrimination and police misconduct.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is inaugurated in the new Alice Tully Hall.
12 September 1969 Protestant mobs attack British troops in Belfast as they arrive to break up fighting between Catholics and Protestants.
Concerto for violin and orchestra by Bruno Maderna (49) is performed for the first time, in Venice.
Military police enter three churches in Honolulu and capture twelve US servicemen who sought refuge in them.
14 September 1969 The National Assembly of South Korea amends the constitution to allow President Park Chung Hee to run for a third term.
Igor Stravinsky (87) leaves Los Angeles and moves permanently to the Essex House, New York.
The commercial tanker SS Manhattan enters the Beaufort Sea, thus completing a traversal of the Northwest Passage.
Orchestersonate no.2 by Werner Egk (68) is performed for the first time, in Ludwigshafen.
Die Himmelsmechanik, a Komposition mit Bühnenbildern by Mauricio Kagel (37), is performed for the first time, in Venice.
Symphony no.2 by Lejaren Hiller (45) is performed for the first time, in Brockport, New York.
15 September 1969 British authorities erect a barrier between Catholic and Protestant districts of Belfast.
NASA scientists announce in Washington the results of two months of study of 22 kg of rocks brought back from the moon. They pronounce the rocks 2,000,000,000-3,500,000,000 years old and say they are unlike rocks found on earth, rich in elements not found in great quantity on earth.
The Battle of Britain, a film including some music by William Walton (67), is shown for the first time, in the Dominion Cinema, London.
16 September 1969 Rhodesian authorities force 1,500 Tangwena tribesmen from their homeland on to a reservation. Their land has been designated “white only.”
US President Nixon announces the withdrawal of 35,000 more men from Vietnam.
17 September 1969 A new Performing Arts Center is opened in Milwaukee, including Uihlein Hall.
A court in New York judges Andy Warhol’s Blue Movie criminally obscene.
18 September 1969 A week of communal fighting begins in Ahmedabad when Hindu sacred cows interrupt a Moslem procession.
Once There Was a Man for narrator, chorus, and orchestra by Ulysses Kay (52) to words of Caudill is performed for the first time, in Detroit.
19 September 1969 US President Nixon announces a reduction in draft calls of 50,000 for the rest of the year.
The University of California Board of Regents sacks Angela Davis from the faculty after she reveals that she is a member of the Communist Party.
20 September 1969 Catholics build new barricades in Belfast after new shooting and arson.
22 September 1969 After twelve hours of battles, including fire bombs, police clear thousands of students from Kyoto University.
Catholics in the Bogside district of Londonderry remove barricades protecting them from Protestants and police. They are replaced by a white line and warnings that police and British army units may not cross it.
In the village of Zatouna, where Mikis Theodorakis (44) and his family are held under house arrest, the local police commander, Kostas Stergiou, bursts into the house, locks the composer in the kitchen, and proceeds to search his wife and children. While locked in, Theodorakis composes the song My Name is K.S. His wife and children are taken to Athens.
23 September 1969 Funktion Blau for tape by Gottfried Michael Koenig (42) is performed for the first time, in Prague.
24 September 1969 A month-long Israeli commission investigating the al-Aksa mosque fire concludes that the arsonist gained entry to the building easily because Moslem authorities did not guard the entrance. They also noted that Israeli authorities warned last November that firefighting equipment at the mosque was inadequate but mosque authorities rejected the warnings. Fire extinguishers, properly applied at the time of the arson, would have prevented serious damage.
The trial of the “Chicago 8” begins as Judge Julius Hoffman orders the arrest of four of the defense attorneys.
Old Polish Music op.24 for brass and strings by Henryk Górecki (35) is performed for the first time, in Warsaw.
25 September 1969 The Organization of the Islamic Conference is founded by Afghanistan, Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Palestinian Arab representatives, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, and the Republic of Yemen.
A report submitted to the Council of Europe calls the Greek military regime “undemocratic, illiberal, authoritarian and repressive.” It concludes that Greece is no longer fit for membership in the council.
27 September 1969 The Czechoslovak Communist Party ends three days of meetings at Hradcany Castle, Prague. Reformers are purged. Alexander Dubcek is removed from the Presidium and the Central Committee and his post as Chairman of the Federal Assembly. Josef Smrkovsky is dropped from the Central Committee and removed from his government positions.
28 September 1969 Protestants break through barbed wire protecting a Catholic district in Belfast and set five Catholic homes on fire before retreating.
Elections for the West German Bundestag result in gains for the Social Democratic Party.
29 September 1969 Laotian government troops recapture Muong Soui, 175 km north of Vientiane, from the Pathet Lao.
The West German government allows the mark to float on world markets.
A bomb explodes at the home of Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau. His wife and son are within the house but no one is injured.
Symphony no.14 op.135 for soprano, bass, strings, and percussion by Dmitri Shostakovich (63) to words of Garcia Lorca, Apollinaire, Küchelbecker, and Rilke, is performed publicly for the first time, in the Hall of the Glinka Academy Choir, Leningrad. It is greeted with a thunderous ovation. The work is dedicated to Benjamin Britten (55). See 21 June 1969.
30 September 1969 The Coral Sea Islands Territory is established by Australia.
In exile in Paris, former Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis calls on the Greek military to overthrow the fascist military regime.
The first playing meeting of the Scratch Orchestra takes place at St. Katherine’s Dock, London organized by Cornelius Cardew (33).
1 October 1969 As Toru Takemitsu (38) arrives in Sydney for the Canberra Spring Festival, he is met at the airport by Peter Sculthorpe (40). Takemitsu’s Eucalypts I&II will be inspired by trips the two of them take into the bush near Canberra.
Spain severs all telephone and cable links with Gibraltar.
Serenata per un Satellite for violin, flute, oboe, clarinet, marimba, harp, guitar, and mandolin by Bruno Maderna (49) is performed for the first time, in the European Space Operation Center, Darmstadt.
Change of Mind, a film with music by Duke Ellington (70), is released in the United States.
2 October 1969 The Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe votes to condemn the military government of Greece.
The Juilliard School opens in a new facility at Lincoln Center, New York. The move was overseen by its president, Peter Mennin (46).
4 October 1969 Communal fighting rages in Belfast over the night 4-5 October.
5 October 1969 Blacks riot for four nights in Las Vegas. Two people are killed, 142 arrested.
7 October 1969 China and the USSR agree to negotiation of their common border dispute.
The military junta ruling Brazil since President Artur da Costa e Silva suffered a stroke 31 August, chooses Emilio Garatuzú Medici to replace him as President of Brazil.
Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences votes 255-81-150 to urge a “prompt, rapid, and complete withdrawal of United States forces” from Vietnam.
8 October 1969 It is reported that the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare has blacklisted hundreds of renowned scientists from advisory panels for political (especially anti-war) statements.
Hundreds of members of the radical Weathermen faction battle police for four days in Chicago. The action was called to coincide with the trial of the Chicago 8.
9 October 1969 US and Saigon government forces are reported to have withdrawn from the A Shau Valley.
National Guard troops arrive in Chicago to keep order during the trial of the Chicago 8.
10 October 1969 The last US forces are removed from Saigon. The defense of the city is now in the hands of Saigon government forces.
The report of a three-man commission chaired by Lord Hunt recommends that the Royal Ulster Constabulary be disarmed and relieved of its military duties. It further recommends that the part-time B Special Force be disbanded. More Roman Catholics should be recruited into the police force to better reflect the population of Northern Ireland.
Ramifications by György Ligeti (46) is performed for the first time, in the setting for twelve solo strings, in Saarbrücken. See 23 April 1969.
11 October 1969 In response to yesterday’s report, Protestants attack police and British troops protecting a Catholic district in Belfast. They use guns and gasoline bombs. Three people are killed, 53 injured.
Trio for violin, cello and piano op.428 by Darius Milhaud (77) is performed for the first time, in Lincoln Center, New York.
12 October 1969 The ruling Justice Party increases its majority in parliamentary elections in Turkey.
13 October 1969 The Syrian government releases the two Arab terrorists who hijacked a US commercial airliner and forced it to Damascus on 29 August. They continue to imprison two Israeli passengers on the flight.
14 October 1969 Sven Olof Joachim Palme replaces Tage Fritiof Erlander as Prime Minister of Sweden.
Prima vista for two ensembles and two slide projectors by Mauricio Kagel (37) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
15 October 1969 Biafran leader Odumegwu Ojukwu informs President Albert Bongo of Gabon that he is willing to negotiate with the Nigerian government without preconditions.
Millions of Americans take part in the first Moratorium Day, protesting across the country against the War in Vietnam. The almost universally peaceful events demonstrate the breadth of feeling against the war, crossing all class, ethnic, and racial divides in massive numbers.
While touring drought areas north of Mogadishu, President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke of the Somali Republic is murdered by a policeman.
Canada establishes diplomatic relations with the Vatican for the first time.
16 October 1969 Kuang-ming Jih-pao publishes an article condemning Stanislavsky’s system of stage acting and praising Chiang Ching (Jiang Qing) for her part in the creation of “model revolutionary plays.”
Fuge for piano by Albert Roussel (†32) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of RTB 3e Programme originating in Brussels, 71 years after it was composed, during the centennial of the composer’s birth.
Metropolitan Museum Fanfare: Portrait of an American Artist for brass and percussion by Virgil Thomson (72) is performed for the first time, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, conducted by the composer.
Music for orchestra by Leon Kirchner (50) is performed for the first time, in New York.
17 October 1969 Voters in South Korea are reported to have approved a constitutional amendment to allow President Park Chung Hee to run for a third term.
The military government of Bolivia nationalizes Bolivian Gulf Oil Co., a subsidiary of Gulf Oil Corp.
18 October 1969 Three days of battles begin between PLO elements and Lebanese army units in southern Lebanon.
The US government orders the removal of cyclamates from food and drinks by next February. The artificial sweeteners cause cancer in laboratory animals.
Sinfonia for singers and orchestra by Luciano Berio (43) to words of Lévi-Strauss, Beckett and the composer, is performed completely for the first time, in Donaueschingen. See 10 October 1968.
19 October 1969 The Greek government announces that Mikis Theodorakis (44) has been imprisoned again, at Oropos, north of Athens.
US Vice-President Spiro Agnew, speaking in New Orleans, says that the war moratorium of four days ago was “encouraged by an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals.”
Study no.2 “Coulée” for organ György Ligeti (46) is performed for the first time, in Basilika Seckau, Graz.
...pianissimo... for orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (34) is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen.
War Scenes, a cycle for voice and piano by Ned Rorem (45) to words of Whitman, is performed for the first time, in Constitution Hall, Washington. The work is dedicated “to those who died in Vietnam, both sides, during the composition: 20-30 June 1969.”
20 October 1969 Border negotiations between China and the USSR open in Peking.
21 October 1969 Willy Brandt replaces Kurt Kiesinger as Chancellor of West Germany heading a coalition with the Free Democrats. He is the first socialist chancellor since World War II.
Six days after President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke of the Somali Republic was killed by a policeman, the military seizes power.
Jack Kerouac dies in St. Petersburg, Florida of a gastric hemorrhage, aged 47.
22 October 1969 Arab terrorists explode bombs under four apartment buildings in Haifa. Two people are killed, 20 injured.
Les larmes du couteau, an opera by Bohuslav Martinu (†10) to words of Ribemont-Dessaignes, is performed for the first time, in Brno, 41 years after it was composed.
Il marescalco, an opera by Gian Francesco Malipiero (87) to his own words after Aretino, is performed for the first time, in Teatro Comunale, Treviso.
Two works by Harrison Birtwistle (35) are performed for the first time, in Firth Hall at the University of Sheffield: Hoquetus David for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, glockenspiel, and bells, and Medusa for flute/piccolo, clarinet/saxophone, violin/viola, cello, piano/celesta, percussion, two tapes, and shozyg, conducted by the composer.
23 October 1969 PLO units, supported by rocket fire from Syria, attack three Lebanese border posts in southern Lebanon, kidnapping 20 Lebanese soldiers.
Animus III for clarinet and tape by Jacob Druckman (41) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
24 October 1969 PLO fighters seize control of part of Tripoli, Lebanon, in battles with government troops.
Night Music for orchestra by Thea Musgrave (41) is performed for the first time, in Cardiff City Hall. The work was commissioned by the BBC.
25 October 1969 Parliamentary elections in Australia see big gains for the opposition Labor Party but the ruling Liberal/Country majority of Prime Minister John Gorton is so large, it still retains power.
A PLO force moves into Lebanon from Syria and occupies the village of Yanta. The Lebanese army prevents any further advance. A PLO broadcast from Cairo calls on Lebanese soldiers to revolt against their officers.
26 October 1969 A concert takes place in Alice Tully Hall marking the official opening of the Juilliard School and the completion of Lincoln Center. Attenders include the First Lady, her daughter and son-in-law, Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Martha Graham, Sol Hurok, Isaac Stern, and William Schuman (59). The master of ceremonies is Leonard Bernstein (51). Speakers include John D. Rockefeller III and President of Juilliard Peter Mennin (46). A dispute between Mennin and Schuman has recently become very public culminating this morning in the appearance of a scathing letter to the editor from Schuman in the New York Times.
27 October 1969 The British crown colony of St. Vincent and the Grenadines becomes an associated state with internal autonomy.
28 October 1969 Elections to the Israeli Knesset see the Labour Alignment winning 57 of 120 seats, the largest number to date. It will form the new government under Prime Minister Golda Meir.
Violence begins between police and students at the Central University of Venezuela. The students are protesting the torture and killing of one of their fellows by police.
Portrait of a Conductor, a film with music by Krzysztof Penderecki (36), is shown for the first time, in Paris.
String Quartet by Stefan Wolpe (67) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
29 October 1969 A military court in Athens begins trials against 43 alleged opponents of the regime.
In the case of Alexander v. Holmes, the United States Supreme Court rules that school districts must end racial discrimination “at once.”
In the trial of the Chicago 8, Judge Julius Hoffman orders defendant Bobby Seale bound and gagged for his persistent outbursts in the courtroom.
Anti-government violence moves from the Central University of Venezuela to other cities throughout the country.
The first message is sent over the ARPANET computer network between UCLA and Stanford. After two letters are sent, the system crashes, but is working again in an hour. The ARPANET will not be permanently running until 21 November.
Nature’s Concord for trumpet and piano by Charles Wuorinen (31) is performed for the first time, in the studios of Irish State Radio.
30 October 1969 PLO fighters assault Lebanese army positions near the towns of Aiha and Rasheiya but are repulsed.
The government of Kenya outlaws the opposition Kenya People’s Union, thus creating a one-party state.
General Emilio Garatuzú Medici is sworn in as President of Brazil, replacing Arthur da Costa e Silva. 58 constitutional amendments go into effect, solidifying power in the military executive.
US Vice President Spiro Agnew calls politicians who oppose the Vietnam War “ideological eunuchs” who straddle “the philosophical fence, soliciting votes from both sides.”
31 October 1969 PLO fighters battle the Lebanese army at Kfar Kouk.
After four days of violence, elements of the Venezuelan army invade and occupy the Central University in Caracas.
Trio for violin, cello, and piano by Darius Milhaud (77) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
Tableaux for soprano, two actors, male chorus, and twelve players by George Rochberg (51) to words by Paul Rochberg, is performed for the first time, at the University of Washington, Seattle. Also premiered is the concert version of Rochberg’s music for The Alchemist. See 13 October 1968.
Lingua II: Maledetto for seven virtuoso speakers by Kenneth Gaburo (43) is performed for the first time, in San Diego directed by the composer.
1 November 1969 The first performance of the Scratch Orchestra takes place in Hampstead Town Hall.
3 November 1969 The Lebanese government and the PLO reach agreement in Cairo on ending the fighting between them.
In a nationally televised address, US President Richard Nixon announces the US and the Saigon government have agreed on a plan to withdraw all US ground forces from Vietnam. He does not reveal the timetable. He asks for support from “the great silent majority of my fellow Americans.”
4 November 1969 Carlos Marighela, presumed head of the National Liberation Action, is shot to death by Brazilian police in São Paulo.
5 November 1969 In the trial of the Chicago 8, Judge Julius Hoffman finds defendant Bobby Seale guilty of 16 counts of contempt of court and sentences him to four years in prison. He also separates Seale from the conspiracy trial of the other defendants.
6 November 1969 Two arias from Virgil Thomson’s (72) unperformed opera Lord Byron are performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York. See 20 April 1972.
7 November 1969 West Germany’s first satellite, the 71 kg Azur, is sent into orbit by a US rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
10 November 1969 Hallelujah, a film for two choruses and organ by Mauricio Kagel (37), is shown for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR-TV.
Sesame Street first appears on US television.
11 November 1969 Catharsis: Open Style for Two Improvisation Ensembles, Tapes, and Conductors by Larry Austin (39) is performed for the first time, in Oakland.
12 November 1969 A court in Amman sentences nine Palestinian terrorists to death for fomenting a revolt to overthrow King Hussein last November. Eight others are sentenced to 15 years at hard labor.
Literaturnaya Gazeta confirms that Alyeksandr Solzhenitsyn has been expelled from the Soviet Writers Union for criticizing the regime.
13 November 1969 The Libyan government nationalizes all foreign-owned banks.
Three days of massive anti-war demonstrations begin in Washington.
Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, US Vice President Spiro Agnew assails the three US television networks for bias against the administration.
35 US newspapers publish a report by Seymour Hersch detailing the massacre of Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers at My Lai in March of last year. It is the first report on the massacre to be seen in US newspapers.
14 November 1969 The US Army announces that Staff Sergeant David Mitchell has been charged in connection with the murders of civilians at My Lai, South Vietnam. The indictment took place 28 October.
Apollo 12 blasts off from Cape Kennedy heading for the moon. Aboard are Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean.
The Lobster Quadrille no.2 of An Alice Symphony for amplified soprano, folk group, and orchestra by David Del Tredici (32) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.
15 November 1969 125 US soldiers sign statements of support for a war moratorium. 20,000 people demonstrate in Paris against the Vietnam War. 42 other French cities see protests. Several thousand people (including US servicemen out of uniform) take part in demonstrations in Frankfurt. 8,000 people demonstrate in West Berlin. Other protests take place in London, Rome, Montreal, Halifax, Vancouver, Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Auckland, Manila, Addis Ababa, and Lusaka. Over 250,000 people gather in Washington for the culminating events in three days of protest against American involvement in the Vietnam War. Among the speakers is Leonard Bernstein (51).
With hostile musicians and a remarkably inattentive audience, Fresco no.29 for four orchestral groups by Karlheinz Stockhausen (41) is performed for the first time, in the Beethovenhalle, Bonn.
The first Scratch Orchestra performance based on a Research Project takes place in Chelsea Town Hall. They perform Journey of the Isle of Wight Westwards by Iceberg to Tokyo Bay by George Brecht.
16 November 1969 Le Monde reports that Archbishop Felicio Cesar da Cunha Vasconcelos excommunicated the chief of police in São Paulo for the arrest and torture of Sister Maurina Borges da Silveira and other atrocities against clergy.
A group of survivors of the My Lai massacre tell of the murder of 567 civilians in 1968 at My Lai, South Vietnam. The interview takes place in the presence of US Army officers.
Seven Stars’ Symphony op.132 for orchestra by Charles Koechlin (†18) is performed completely for the first time, over the airwaves of BBC radio 3 and Radio France-Musique, 36 years after it was composed. The seven movements are 1. Douglas Fairbanks (du “Voleur de Bagdad”) 2. Lilian Harvey 3. Greta Garbo 4. Clara Bow et la joyeuse Californie 5. Marlene Dietrich 6. Emil Jannings (de “L’ange bleu”) 7. Charlie Chaplin (d’après “La ruée vers l’or”, “Circus” etc.). See 14 December 1944.
17 November 1969 The military government of Greece institutes a new press code providing fines and prison terms for “press offenses.”
The British newspaper The Sun first appears as a tabloid, shortly after being bought by Rupert Murdoch.
18 November 1969 Prime Minister Marcello Caetano of Portugal announces that the Internal and External Security Police will be disbanded.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in the fiscal year 20 June 1968-30 June 1969, 56,000 men deserted from the US Army. The desertion rate is twice as high as during the Korean War.
Musica ricercata for piano by György Ligeti (46) is performed for the first time, in Sundsvall, Sweden. 20 January 1969.
19 November 1969 06:54 UTC The lunar module of Apollo 12 sets down on the moon in the Ocean of Storms. At 11:45, mission commander Charles (Pete) Conrad steps on to the lunar surface. At 12:14 he is joined by Alan Bean. They explore the area for four hours, traveling as far as 400 meters from their vehicle, setting out several scientific data collection devices.
A report by the European Commission on Human Rights concludes that the Greek military government practices torture as a matter of policy and regularly denies its citizens their human rights. It further concludes there was no communist threat at the time of the 1967 coup, a claim made by those who carried out the coup.
Beauty and the Beast, a ballet by Thea Musgrave (41) to a scenario by Graham after Barbot Villeneuve, is performed for the first time, in Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.
Valentine for double bass by Jacob Druckman (41) is performed for the first time, in Composer’s Theatre, New York.
Contrafactum for orchestra by Charles Wuorinen (31) is performed for the first time, in The Auditorium of the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
20 November 1969 04:01 UTC Charles Conrad and Alan Bean begin a second walk on the moon. They explore a nearby crater where Surveyor 3 made a soft landing in 1967. They return to their vehicle shortly before 0800. The lunar module blasts off from the moon at 14:25 and rejoins the command module with Richard Gordon aboard.
About 100 PLO fighters attack a Lebanese army post at Nabatiyeh. They are repulsed.
Henry Cabot Lodge resigns as chief US negotiator at the Paris Peace Talks. His deputy, Lawrence Walsh, also resigns. Both men express frustration with the lack of progress.
The US government orders an end to the use of DDT in residential areas within 30 days. All DDT use is ordered ended by 1971.
21 November 1969 The first permanent link between distant computers is effected with ARPANET between UCLA and Stanford.
Gênesis, a symphonic poem and ballet by Heitor Villa-Lobos (†10) is performed for the first time, in the Teatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro.
33 1/3, for records, gramophones, and audience by John Cage (57) is performed for the first time, at the University of California, Davis.
22 November 1969 The Defense Ministry of the Saigon government calls allegations of a massacre at My Lai “totally untrue.”
Scientists at Harvard University announce that they have isolated a single gene.
Sonata for violin and chamber orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (34) is performed for the first time, in Kuybyshev.
24 November 1969 Apollo 12 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean 650 km southeast of Pago Pago, having made the second landing on the moon.
In ceremonies in Washington, US President Richard Nixon and Soviet President Nikolay V. Podgorny sign a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Funktion Indigo for tape by Gottfried Michael Koenig (43) is performed for the first time, in Utrecht.
Chamber Symphony by TJ Anderson (41) is performed for the first time, in Nashville.
25 November 1969 President Nixon orders the destruction of all biological weapons stocks held by the US.
32 Piano Games by Ross Lee Finney (62) is performed for the first time, in Columbia, Missouri.
26 November 1969 Symphony no.6 for two chamber orchestras by Hans Werner Henze (43) is performed for the first time, in Havana.
27 November 1969 Arab terrorists throw a hand grenade into the El Al office in Athens. 15 people are injured, none of them Israelis. A two-year-old Greek boy will die of his wounds. The killers are apprehended and charged with attempted murder.
President Juan Carlos Ongania declares an amnesty for those arrested during the state of siege imposed in May and June. At least 109 people are freed.
29 November 1969 Four people are found guilty of treason by a military court in Saigon and sentenced to life in prison. 37 others receive lesser sentences for espionage.
30 November 1969 Casanova in London, a ballet by Werner Egk (68) to his own scenario, is performed for the first time, in the Munich Staatsoper, directed by the composer.
1 December 1969 The first draft lottery in the US since 1942 is held in Washington.
2 December 1969 A board of inquiry of the US Army begins secret investigations into the murder of civilians at My Lai, South Vietnam.
3 December 1969 Prominent socialist Maria Lamas returns to Portugal after eight years of exile in France.
4 December 1969 Italy’s Constitutional Court removes criminal penalties for adultery.
Black Panther leaders Mark Clark and Fred Hampton are killed by Chicago Police. Four people are wounded in the police assault.
Ein Aufnahmezustand, a radio play by Mauricio Kagel (37), is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR.
5 December 1969 Two Israeli civilians held hostage by Syria since a hijacked jet landed in Damascus on 29 August are released in exchange for 13 Syrians held by Israel.
A team organized by Ohio State University announces that it found a 200,000,000 year-old reptile skull 650 km from the South Pole. Scientists believe that this animal could not have migrated to Antarctica and thus supports the theory of continental drift.
The ARPANET, the first computer network, is completely and permanently in operation between UCLA, the University of California at Santa Barbara, Stanford University, and the University of Utah.
6 December 1969 Geod for four orchestral groups by Lukas Foss (47) is performed for the first time.
One person is killed and many injured at a popular music performance at the Altamont Speedway near San Francisco. Security is provided by the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang who are paid in beer in advance. They take out their aggressions on entertainers and audience alike.
7 December 1969 Warm-Up, a round for chorus by Leonard Bernstein (51) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Philharmonic Hall, New York. It will be incorporated into Mass.
Mass for chorus, brass, and organ by Norman Dello Joio (56) is performed for the first time, in the Church of Our Lady of Loretto at St. Mary’s College in Indiana.
8 December 1969 Los Angeles police assault the local headquarters of the Black Panther Party. A lengthy gun battle ensues. Six people are injured. Eleven people are arrested.
Charles Manson and four others are indicted in Los Angeles for the murders of Sharon Tate and six others on 9 and 10 August.
9 December 1969 Vesalii icones for male dancer, cello, piccolo, flute, alto flute, clarinet, basset horn, piano, percussion, and violin by Peter Maxwell Davies (35) is performed for the first time, in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, the composer conducting.
10 December 1969 Moon Canticle for chorus, cello, narrator, and soprano by Leslie Bassett (46) to various texts is performed for the first time, in the Concord Hotel, New York.
11 December 1969 Canticum Graduum op.27 for orchestra by Henryk Górecki (36) is performed for the first time, in Düsseldorf.
Requiem für einen jungen Dichter for vocal soloists, narrator, three choruses, electronic instruments, jazz combo, organ, and orchestra by Bernd Alois Zimmermann (51) to words of various authors, is performed for the first time, in the Rheinhalle, Düsseldorf.
12 December 1969 The 1,350-person non-combatant contingent from the Philippines begins to withdraw from Vietnam.
After receiving testimony from hundreds of tortured victims of the fascist regime, the Council of Europe is set to expel Greece from its membership. Before the vote is taken, Greece withdraws from the council.
A bomb explodes at the National Bank of Agriculture in Milan. 14 people are killed, 90 injured. Three bombs explode in Rome, injuring 17 people.
Variations for violin and piano by Carlos Chávez (70) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
14 December 1969 String Quartet no.2 by György Ligeti (46) is performed for the first time, in Baden-Baden.
15 December 1969 US President Nixon announces a reduction of 50,000 troops in Vietnam.
16 December 1969 The British House of Commons votes to continue the suspension of the death penalty indefinitely, effectively ending executions.
Consequents for orchestra by Gunther Schuller (44) is performed for the first time, at Woolsey Hall, Yale University, the composer conducting.
17 December 1969 Josef Smrkovsky and ten other Czechoslovak reformers resign from the Federal Assembly and the Chamber of the People. It is the last position held by Smrkovsky.
Seven members of the cast of a Los Angeles production of Oh Calcutta! are arrested for lewd conduct and indecent exposure.
Kurzwellen mit Beethoven (Stockhoven-BeethausenOpus1970), a realization of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s (41) Kurzwellen with music of Beethoven, is performed for the first time, in Düsseldorf. See 5 May 1968.
18 December 1969 With final passage by the House of Lords, the death penalty is formally abolished in Great Britain.
20 December 1969 Quatre Plages for string orchestra by Betsy Jolas (43) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of RTF.
21 December 1969 Greek police arrest three Arab terrorists as they are about to board a TWA plane in Athens. A search of the three finds guns and hand grenades. One later confesses.
22 December 1969 A court in Winterthur, Switzerland sentences three Arab terrorists to twelve years in prison for the murder of the co-pilot of an El Al jet they attacked last February.
A court in Londonderry sentences Bernadette Devlin to six months in prison on three counts of inciting to riot and one count of riotous behavior.
25 December 1969 An Israeli raid across the Suez Canal causes widespread destruction at the Egyptian naval base at Ras Ghareb, 185 km south of Port Suez. They capture and dismantle a seven-ton radar installation and transport it by helicopters to Israeli held Sinai.
27 December 1969 The Liberal Democratic Party is returned to power in national elections to the Japanese Diet.
28 December 1969 Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers opens in New York.
31 December 1969 Five French gunboats, ordered by Israel in 1967 but withheld because of the imposition of an arms embargo by France, arrive in Haifa. They were apparently spirited out of Cherbourg harbor by Israeli and Norwegian crews.
©2004-2011 Paul Scharfenberger
22 December 2011
Last Updated (Tuesday, 27 December 2011 10:51)