Right before we hit the Seventies, with its Watergate, disco, and leisure suits, there was 1969. Let’s see what was happening in the world this week in July:
Senator Ted Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of a fatal auto accident in what now has become known as the Chappaquiddick incident. His Secretary Mary Jo Kopechne was killed when the car Senator Kennedy was driving left the road and plunged into the channel between Chappaquiddick Island and Martha’s Vineyard. While Senator Kennedy made it out alive, Mary Jo did not.
As for the war in Vietnam, 53% of the people approved of the way President Nixon was handling it while 30% disapproved. Seventeen percent had no opinion.
In sports, Hank Aaron hit his 537th lifetime homer, putting him in third place on the all-time home run list. In a victory for women’s lib, Bernice Gera of Long Island won her fight to become an umpire in baseball. She was to report to work with the Class A New-York Pennsylvania League.
On television, a show that used to scare the heck out of me was getting a new cast member. ABC’s “Dark Shadows” gained co-star Michael Stroka, who would play the character of Aristide. “Dark Shadows” was also on the charts as the show’s album had sold over 100,000 copies. The album featured such stars as Jonathan (Barnabas) Frid and David (Quentin) Selby.
Chuck Barris, who would go on to star on “The Gong Show” in the late Seventies, had not only produced “The Newlywed Game” and “The Dating Game,” but he was also doing an off-Broadway musical titled “Dames at Sea.” He also had just produced a television special for Mama Cass.
On Sunday nights, you could catch “Lassie” on CBS. If you tuned over to NBC, you could see “Huck Finn,” “Walt Disney,” or “Bonanza.” ABC featured “Land of the Giants” and “The FBI.”
In music news, Neil Young joined Crosby, Stills & Nash and the group began working on a new album. If you were listening to the radio, you might hear “In the Year 2525” by Zager & Evans, “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat, and Tears, “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond, or the “Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet” by Henry Mancini & Orchestra. Artists like Charley Pride, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Porter Wagoner, and Roy Clark were topping the country charts. Over 10,000 people go to the Seattle Pop Festival this week to hear acts like Chuck Berry, The Byrds, Bo Diddley, The Doors, and Led Zeppelin.
If you wanted to go to the theater, you could choose between Midnight Cowboy with Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, Easy Rider starring a very young Jack Nicholson, or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with Dick Van Dyke.