Year retrospective · 1960s

1969

1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1960s decade.

Recorded events

top entries

Notable births

Notable deaths

Decade

1960s

Defining moment · 1969

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force.

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British jet-powered attack aircraft designed and produced by the British aerospace company Hawker Siddeley. It was the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and the only truly successful V/STOL design of its era.

See april 1 in detail

Timeline

Defining events of 1969

1969 The Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first operational fighter aircraft with Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing capabilities, enters service with the Royal Air Force.

British ground attack aircraft

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British jet-powered attack aircraft designed and produced by the British aerospace company Hawker Siddeley. It was the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) capabilities and the only truly successful V/STOL design of its era.
1969 The EC-121 shootdown incident: North Korea shoots down a United States Navy aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board.

Downing of a U.S. Navy aircraft by North Korean over the Sea of Japan

On 15 April 1969, a United States Navy Lockheed EC-121M Warning Star of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One (VQ-1) on a reconnaissance mission was shot down by a North Korean MiG-21 aircraft over the Sea of Japan. S. aircrew during the Cold War era.
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Robert F. Kennedy.

Assassin of Robert F. Kennedy (born 1944)

S. senator Robert F. S.
1969 Communist Party of Czechoslovakia chairman Alexander Dubček is deposed.

Ruling party of Czechoslovakia (1948–1989)

The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comintern. Between 1929 and 1953, it was led by Klement Gottwald.
1969 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 crashes into the Polica mountain near Zawoja, Poland, killing 53.

1969 aviation accident

LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 was an Antonov An-24 aircraft, registration SP-LTF, operating a scheduled passenger flight from Warsaw to Krakow Balice airport. It crashed into a mountain on 2 April 1969 at 16:08 local time (UTC+1) during a snowstorm. All 53 people on board were killed.
1969 British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.

British yacht racer (born 1939)

Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston CBE RD* is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won in 1994 the second Jules Verne Trophy, for which they were also given the ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards.
1969 The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
1969 Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.
1969 Vietnam War: United States Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announces that the United States will start to "Vietnamize" the war effort.
1969 Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart.