The Kent State shootings, also known as the May 4 massacre or Kent-State
massacre, occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and
involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio
National Guard. The guardsmen fired 67 rounds over a period of 13 seconds,
killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered
permanent paralysis. In response to the killings, over 400 colleges and
universities across America shut down. In Washington, nearly 100,000
protesters surround various government buildings including the White House
and historical monuments. On an impulse, President Nixon exits the White
House and pays a late night surprise visit to the Lincoln Memorial and chats
with young protesters
Links: http://alancanfora.com/?q  www.may4th1970.com
May 2, 1970 - American college campuses erupt in protest over the invasion
of Cambodia; 96th Kentucky Derby: Mike Manganello on Dust Commander wins
2:03.4 and Diane Crump is 1st woman jockey to race the Kentucky Derby;
May 1 - May Day, the traditional Communist holiday; Vietnam war update;
President Nixon calls anti-war students "bums blowing up campuses."
NCSD Jr & Sr Prom occurred this evening

April 30 - President Nixon stuns Americans by announcing U.S. and South
Vietnamese incursion into Cambodia"; Chicago Cubs Billy Williams is first
National Leaguer to play in 1,000 consecutive games
April 29 - 50,000 US and South Vietnamese troops invade Cambodia; Birth
of Uma Thurman, Boston MA, actress (Baron Munchausen, Pulp Fiction);
also born this date; Andre Agassi, Las Vegas NV, tennis pro/star (US &
French Open finalist-1990, Olympics-gold-96, US Open-1994 and 1999,
Wimbledon-1992)
April 27 - T. Smirnova discovers asteroid #2469 Tadjikistan;
Arthur Shields, actor (Your Show Time), dies at 73
April 25 - The Jackson 5's 'ABC' topples the Beatles' 'Let It Be' this week;
Anita Louise actress (last appearances; Mannix, The Mod
Squad), dies at about 55; Freda Payne releases "Band of Gold";
Melanie releases "Lay Down"
April 24 - China PR launches its 1st satellite, Dong Fang Hong I,
transmitting song "East is Red"; Gambia becomes a republic within the
Commonwealth; Senegal adopts constitution; Grace Slick of Jefferson
Airplane is invited to a party at the White House by Tricia Nixon, daughter
of US President Richard Nixon. Slick arrives at the party with Abbie
Hoffman, who is on trial for conspiring to riot at the 1968 Democratic
National Convention. Hoffman is not allowed into the White House and
leaves with Slick
April 23 - Herb Shriner humorist/TV host (Herb Shriner Show), dies at 51
April 22 - 1st Earth Day held internationally to conserve natural resources;
Sports history was made today:
NY Met Jerry Grote sets record of 20 put outs by a catcher while
teammate NY Met Tom Seaver consecutively strikes out last 10 San Diego
Padres, for a total of 19;
Washington Senators beat Yankees 2-1 in 18 innings
April 20 - Bruno Kreisky becomes first socialist chancellor of Austria;
President Nixon announces the withdrawal of another 150,000 Americans
from Vietnam within a year; 74th Boston Marathon won by Ron Hill of
Great Britain in 2:10:30 (new US marathon record)
Birth of Shemar Moore, Oakland CA, actor, CBS's Criminal Minds
April 19 - Apollo 13 Review Board panels established;
Reports in pdf formats, NASA or web page format
24th Tony Awards Borstal Boy and Applause win;
Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Raleigh Ladies Golf Invitational;
Birth of Michael Barrow NFL linebacker (Houston Oilers, Carolina Panthers)
April 18 - Despite the failure of the Apollo 13 moon mission, the United States
space exploration program will press on, the head of the space agency said
today; General Kamanin, head of the cosmonaut training in Soviet space
program, considers the Apollo 13 mission was a 'true test' of American
technical capability in space. "The saving of the American astronauts
demonstrated the robust redundancy in the American Space Program."
Birth of Carl Simpson NFL defensive tackle (Chicago Bears)
April 17 - Apollo 13 limps back safely, Beech-built oxygen tank no help;

This view of the severely damaged Apollo 13 Service Module (SM)
was photographed from the Lunar Module/Command Module
(LM/CM) following SM jettisoning. As seen here, an entire panel
on the SM was blown away by the apparent explosion of oxygen
tank number two located in Sector 4 of the SM.
Source: www.jsc.nasa.gov

Paul McCartney's first solo album "McCartney" is released; Johnny Cash
performs at the White House at the invitation of President Richard M. Nixon
April 16 - 70 die in an avalanche (France)
April 15 - Libyan leader Qadhafi launches "Green Revolution" for Libya;
"Cry for Us All" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 8 performances
Birth of Darrin Smith NFL linebacker (Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles)
April 13, 9:08pm - "Houston, we got a problem";
Oakland uses gold-colored bases during the club's home opener. The Rules
Committee subsequently bans this innovation; San Francisco beats
Cincinnati 2-1, only day Reds aren't in first place in 1970;
34th Golf Masters Championship Billy Casper wins, shooting a 279
Birth of Rick Schroder Staten Island, NY, actor
(Ricky-Silver Spoons, Champ, Earthling)
April 12 - Yankees dedicate plaques to Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio
April 11 - The third manned lunar landing mission is launched from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert,
and Fred W. Haise; Beatles' "Let It Be", single goes #1
and stays #1 for 2 weeks
April 10 - Paul McCartney announces official split of the Beatles by way of
the promotional material for his upcoming "McCartney" album, that he will
be leaving the Beatles because of "personal, business and musical
differences" and that the band would never work together again, thereby
breaking the group's silence about their breakup; Charles Paton,
English film actor appearing in 105 films between 1927 and 1951, dies at 96
Birth of Sean Gilbert defensive tackle (Washington Redskins)
April 8 - Senate rejects Nixon's nomination of Carswell to Supreme Court;

December 31 - Congo-Brazzaville becomes People's Republic of Congo,
under Major Ngouabi
December 30 - Cold War: USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk
December 28 - Neil Simon's (more links-1, 2) Last of the Red Hot Lovers
premieres in New York City, New York, (movie); Cold War: USSR performs
nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk; Sports: Dallas Cowboy
kicker Mike Clark (d-2002), attempting an on-side kick against Cleveland,
missed the ball; Born: Linus Torvalds, chief architect of the Linux kernel;
Music: "Psychedelic Shack", released, is a 1970 hit single for the Motown
label performed by The Temptations
December 26 - NBC Daytime show "Letters to Laugh-In" ends;
Sports: Tangerine Bowl was held at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The
Toledo Rockets of the Mid-American Conference defeated the
Davidson Wildcats of the Southern Conference by a score of 56–33. The
Tangerine Bowl is a former name of what is now called the Capital One Bowl
December 25 - Five Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor;
Births: Bernhard Jr-Prince of Netherlands; Mike Locksley, current coach
 for University of New Mexico Lobos football team; Julian Letterlough,
(d July 8, 2005) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was an American boxer, known
as "Mr. KO", Letterlough was a popular TV fighter who was often featured
on ESPN; Sports: India all out for 163 at  Madras versus Australia, Ashley Mallett 5-91
December 22 - Donald Foster, actor (Herbert Johnson-Hazel), dies at age 80;
Ilse Steppat, actress (Invisible Terror), dies at age 52;Josef von Sternberg,
Austrian director (Shanghai Express), dies at age 75;
Sports: Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots;
Radio Free Alcatraz broadcast for first time from Berkeley radio station KPFA
December 21 - Vince Lombardi (Redskins) coaches his last football game, losing;
Diana Ross makes final TV appearance as a Supreme (The Ed Sullivan Show)
December 20, 1969 - A frustrated Henry Cabot Lodge quits his post as chief
U.S. negotiator at the Paris peace talks;
Peter, Paul and Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1, their biggest and last hit
December 19 - NCSD closes down starting at 12 noon for the two week
Christmas holiday; The Beatles' seventh Christmas record is released
December 18 - Britain abolishes death penalty; US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
December 17 - 50 million TV viewers see singer Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky
 on The Tonight Show,
US Air Force closes Project Blue Book, concluding no evidence of
extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings
December 16 - British House of Commons votes 343-185 abolishing the death penalty;
"War is Over! If You Want It, Happy Christmas from John & Yoko" posters begin appearing
(source: section 4 - John Lennon Museum)
December 15, 1969 - President Nixon orders an additional 50,000 soldiers out of Vietnam;
Plastic Ono Band, play their only concert at London's Lyceum Ballroom
San Francisco Fire Department replaces leather helmets with plastic ones
December 14 - Jackson Five make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show  (extra link J5)
December 13 - Raymond A Spruance, US admiral (battle of Midway), dies at age 83;
Sports: Billy Martin fired as Twins' manager d-12/26/1989;
Entertainment: Arlo Guthrie releases "Alice's Restaurant"
December 12 - Bomb attack on bank in Milan, Italy, 14 killed; The Archies'
Sugar Sugar Jingle Jangle Christmas Show airs on CBS. It is not a success;
"Hello Dolly" with Barbra Streisand premieres;
Sports: Decathlon-Bill Toomey achieves world record-score (8417 points)
December 11 - Libya adopts constitution
December 8 - Greek (Olympic Airways) DC-6B crashes in storm at
Athens, Greece; 93 killed. Fact: Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis
(bio) sold Olympic Airways he founded to the Greek government in 1974;
Police surprise attack on Black-Panthers in LA (History of Black Panthers);
Four sports players born today;
Antoon Kuil, soccer player (Veendam, SC Heerenveen)
Bobby Phillips, WLAF running back (Minn Vikings, Frankfurt Galaxy)
Darrin Shannon, Barrie, NHL left wing (Winnipeg Jets)
Victor Green, NFL cornerback/safety (NY Jets)
December 7 - Eric Portman, actor (Naked Edge), dies from heart ailment at
age 66; Hugh Williams, actor (Human Monster), dies after surgery at age 65
December 6 - The group Steam tops #1 with "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him
Goodbye", the last one hit wonder of the decade; USSR performs nuclear test;
300,000 attend the Altamont, California, rock concert featuring The Rolling
Stones, a fan was stabbed to death by Hells Angels, a biker gang that had
been hired to provide security for the event, this event is also
considered the end of the "hippie era"
December 5 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
December 4 - Fred Hampton, American Black-Panther leader, is murdered
December 3 - Ruth White, actress (Fugitive), dies of cancer at age 55;
John Lennon is offered role of Jesus Christ in the rock opera
'Jesus Christ Superstar' more links - retrospective from PBS
December 2 - Boeing 747 jumbo jet first public preview;
 Kliment J Voroshilov, President of USSR (1953-60), dies;
 the evening's episode of I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie
(Barbara Eden) finally becomes Mrs. Anthony Nelson
December 1 - The first draft lottery since World War II is held in
New York City. Each day of the year is randomly assigned a number
from 1-365. Those with birthdays on days that wind up
with a low number will likely be drafted

November 30 - Students return to NCSD for three weeks of school
before the Christmas holidays
November 29 - The Beatles' "Come Together," single goes #1
November 26 - NCSD closes down starting at 12 noon for the long
Thanksgiving weekend; Cream's final concert (Royal Albert Hall)
November 25 - John Lennon returns his Member of the British Empire
medal to protest Britain's involvement in Biafra & Vietnam;
Pele scores his 1,000th soccer goal
November 24 - Apollo program: The Apollo 12 spacecraft splashes down
safely in the Pacific Ocean, ending the second manned mission to the Moon
November 21 - The first ARPANET link is established; U.S. President Nixon
and Japanese Premier Eisaku Sato agree in Washington on the return of
Okinawa to Japanese control in 1972 Under the terms of the
agreement, the US is to retain its rights to bases on the island, but
these are to be nuclear-free - link to story
November 20 American Indians seized and occupied Alcatraz Island;
Vietnam War: The Cleveland Plain Dealer publishes explicit photographs of
dead villagers from the My Lai massacre in Vietnam
November 19 - Apollo 12's Conrad and Bean become third and
fourth humans on the Moon; The Benny Hill Show premieres
on Thames Television (1969-1989) (UK); Brazilian soccer great
Pele scores his 1,000th professional goal in a game, against
Vasco da Gama in Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium.
November 18 - Joseph P Kennedy, father of the Kennedy brothers John,
Robert and Edward dies in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, at age 81
November 17 - NCSD Seniors return from their trip to Florida;
Cold War: Negotiators from the Soviet Union and the United States meet
in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the
number of strategic weapons on both sides
November 16, 1969 - For the first time, the U.S. Army publicly discusses
events surrounding the My Lai massacre; The first episode of Clangers (a
British stop motion animated television program for children) is
broadcast by the BBC (1969-1972).
November 15 - 250,000 peacefully demonstrate in Washington DC against the
Vietnam War, called the ''Mobilization' peace demonstration, it was the
largest anti-war protest in U.S. history; Janis Joplin accused of vulgar and
indecent language in Tampa, Florida, Colour introduced to BBC1 and ITV
in the UK; Cold War: The Soviet submarine K-19 collides with the American
submarine USS Gato in the Barents Sea; Dave Thomas opens his first
restaurant in a former steakhouse on a cold, snowy Saturday in downtown
Columbus, Ohio. He names the chain Wendy's after his 8-year-old daughter
Melinda Lou (nicknamed Wendy by her siblings)

The Original Wendy,
Melinda Lou Thomas
Picture located at the First Wendy's restaurant,
closed down on Friday, March 2, 2007

November 14 - NCSD Class of 1970 views the liftoff of Apollo 12;
Video excerpt from the miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon"
showing Apollo 12 struck by lightning and another at the tower.
November 13 - NCSD Class of 1970 starts their trip to Florida;
V-President Spiro Agnew, in a televised speech from Des Moines, Iowa, sirs up
a national controversy by attacking the network news commentaries accusing
them of bias and distortion
November 11 - Beatles with Billy Preston release "Get Back" in the UK;
Jim Morrison arrested on an airplane by the FBI for drunkenness
November 10 - National Educational Television (the predecessor to the Public
Broadcasting Service) in the United States debuts the children's television
program Sesame Street (1969-present)
November 8 - Kam Tong, actor (Have Gun Will Travel, Mr Garlund), dies at age
62; The 5th Dimension tops the charts with "Wedding Bell Blues" for 3 weeks
November 4 – Matthew McConaughey, born; American actor
November 3 - President Nixon delivers a major TV speech asking for support
from "the great silent majority of my fellow Americans" for his Vietnam
strategy. "...the more divided we are at home, the less likely the enemy
is to negotiate at Paris...North Vietnam cannot defeat or humiliate
the United States. Only Americans can do that."
November 1 - The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album goes #1 on the album charts
and stays #1 for 11 weeks; After seven years off the top of the charts, Elvis
Presley's song "Suspicious Minds", hits No. 1 on the Billboard's pop singles
chart (his last No. 1 during his lifetime)

October 31 – Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Race riot in
Jacksonville, Florida; George Harrison's "Something" is released in UK
October 29 – The first message is sent over ARPANET, the forerunner
of the internet
October 27 - Ralph Nader sets up a consumer organization known as
Nader's Raiders
October 26 - Petula Clark performed in a concert at Royal Albert Hall
celebrating her 30th anniversary in show business. The concert was
filmed and aired as the first program ever broadcast in color by the BBC
on Clark's 37th birthday, November 15, 1969 (Links coming soon)
October 21 – Willy Brandt becomes Chancellor of West Germany; General Siad
Barre comes to power in Somalia in a bloodless coup, 6 days after the
assassination of President Abdirashid Ali Shermarke, this date is now called
National Day in Somalia
October 19 - Trey Parker, American actor, creator of South Park, born
October 18 - US Federal government bans use of cyclamate artificial
sweetener, Soyuz 8 returns to Earth; The soul group, The Temptations,
begins their two weeks at #1 with "I Can't Get Next to You"
October 17 – Willard S. Boyle and George Smith invent the CCD at Bell
Laboratories (40 years later, this technology is widely used in digital
cameras); Soyuz 7 returns to Earth
October 16 - The "miracle" New York Mets win the World Series, beating the
heavily favored Baltimore Orioles 4 games to 1; Soyuz 6 returns to Earth
October 15 - Vietnam Moratorium Day; millions in US nationwide protest the
war: The 'Moratorium' peace demonstration is held in Washington and several
U.S. cities.
October 14 - The final single by Diana Ross & The Supremes, "Someday We'll
Be Together", is released. The single becomes the final #1 hit of 1969 (and of
the 1960s). After a farewell concert in January 1970, Diana Ross leaves the
Supremes for a solo career
October 11 - The space race continues: For three days in a row on
Oct. 11, 12, and 13, Soviets launches Soyuz 6, 7, and 8
October 11 - The Archies hit "Sugar, Sugar" ends it's fourth week on the
charts at #1
October 9–12 – Days of Rage: In Chicago, the United States National Guard is
called in to control demonstrations involving the radical Weathermen, in
connection with the "Chicago Eight" Trial.
October 5 - Monty Python's Flying Circus premieres on BBC1 (1969-1974);
Sazae-san premieres as a kids' comedy on Fuji Television in Japan. The show
is still airing as of 2009 with over 12,000 episodes
October 2, 1969 - NCSD celebrates it's 75th Anniversary with various activities
over the next two months. Check out the 75th Anniversary articles in
The North Carolinian
and don't forget the 75th Anniversary

The Launch of Apollo 11
July 16, 1969 9:32am EDT
     
12, 11, 10, 9, ignition sequence starts, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero, all engines running, LIFTOFF. We have
a liftoff, 32 minutes past the hour. Liftoff on Apollo 11. Tower cleared.
While the late Walter Cronkite anchored the launch, he shouted "go, baby, go" as it rocketed into space.

Earthrise Sequence
       

Lunar Module Separates from the Command Module
   

Moon Landing
       

July 20. 1969 4:17pm EDT "Houston, Tranquility Base here, the Eagle has landed." "Roger,
Tranquility, we copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue here.
We're breathing again. Thanks a lot!"
Cronkite famously exclaimed, "Man on the moon!" "Oh, boy!" and then, "Whew, boy!" He
remained on the air for 24 of the network’s 27 hours of CBS' lunar walk special.

Man on the moon!
 

 

Diagrams of Apollo Equipment
Click on either to obtain a larger view

Apollo Command and Service Module

Apollo Lunar Module

Lunar Roving Vehicle

July 20, 1969: One Giant Leap For Mankind It's a little over eight years since the flights of Gagarin and Shepard, followed quickly by President Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the moon before the decade is out. It is only seven months since NASA's made a bold decision to send Apollo 8 all the way to the moon on the first manned flight of the massive Saturn V rocket. Now, on the morning of July 16, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins sit atop another Saturn V at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The three-stage 363-foot rocket will use its 7.5 million pounds of thrust to propel them into space and into history. At 9:32 a.m. EDT, the engines fire and Apollo 11 clears the tower. About 12 minutes later, the crew is in Earth orbit. After one and a half orbits, Apollo 11 gets a "go" for what mission controllers call "Translunar Injection" -- in other words, it's time to head for the moon. Three days later the crew is in lunar orbit. A day after that, Armstrong and Aldrin climb into the lunar module Eagle and begin the descent, while Collins orbits in the command module Columbia. Collins later writes that Eagle is "the weirdest looking contraption I have ever seen in the sky," but it will prove its worth. When it comes time to set Eagle down in the Sea of Tranquility, Armstrong improvises, manually piloting the ship past an area littered with boulders. During the final seconds of descent, Eagle's computer is sounding alarms. It turns out to be a simple case of the computer trying to do too many things at once, but as Aldrin will later point out, "unfortunately it came up when we did not want to be trying to solve these particular problems." When the lunar module lands at 4:18 p.m EDT, only 30 seconds of fuel remain. Armstrong radios "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." Mission control erupts in celebration as the tension breaks, and a controller tells the crew "You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue, we're breathing again." Armstrong will later confirm that landing was his biggest concern, saying "the unknowns were rampant," and "there were just a thousand things to worry about." At 10:56 p.m. EDT Armstrong is ready to plant the first human foot on another world. With more than half a billion people watching on television, he climbs down the ladder and proclaims: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Aldrin joins him shortly, and offers a simple but powerful description of the lunar surface: "magnificent desolation." They explore the surface for two and a half hours, collecting samples and taking photographs. They leave behind an American flag, a patch honoring the fallen Apollo 1 crew, and a plaque on one of Eagle's legs. It reads, "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon. July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." Armstrong and Aldrin blast off and dock with Collins in Columbia. Collins later says that "for the first time," he "really felt that we were going to carry this thing off." The crew splashes down off Hawaii on July 24. Kennedy's challenge has been met. Men from Earth have walked on the moon and returned safely home. In an interview years later, Armstrong praises the "hundreds of thousands" of people behind the project. "Every guy that's setting up the tests, cranking the torque wrench, and so on, is saying, man or woman, 'If anything goes wrong here, it's not going to be my fault.'" In a post-flight press conference, Armstrong calls the flight "a beginning of a new age," while Collins talks about future journeys to Mars. Over the next three and a half years, 10 astronauts will follow in their footsteps. Gene Cernan, commander of the last Apollo mission leaves the lunar surface with these words: "We leave as we came and, god willing, as we shall return, with peace, and hope for all mankind." The bootprints of Apollo are waiting for company.

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Historical Moment 40 Years Ago" series and will be updated
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