"Star Trek" and "Laugh-In" win Primetime Emmys 1969

Back when television shows were the best, Star Trek, Laugh-in, and Bewitched were nominated for several Primetime Emmys, at the 21st annual ceremony held June 8, 1969. Star Trek and Laugh-In were nominated for the same award: Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Scenic Design. Unfortunately, Mission: Impossible took that award.

Laugh-In was also nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music for Gordon Wiles, Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music, Outstanding Variety or Musical Program, Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy, Variety or Music, and three nominations for Special Classification Achievement-Individuals (Variety Performances) Arte Johnson, Ruth Buzzi (winner) and Goldie Hawn. Laugh-In received two nominations for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Electronic Production and won one.

Leonard Nimoy received a nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series for his role as Spock. Episode Assignment: Earth was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing.

Episode The Tholian Web won a Special Classification of Outstanding Individual Achievements-Special Photographic Effects.  

Happy birthday, Star Trek actor Connor Trinneer!

Connor Trinneer, born March 19, 1969 in Walla Walla, Washington, is best known for his role as Commander Charles 'Trip' Tucker III in Star Trek: Enterprise. He was nominated twice for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series.

He's made appearances in 9-1-1, NCIS: Los Angeles, and 24.

"Hee Haw" debuts 1969

Intended as a country version of Laugh-In, Hee Haw aired its first episode June 15, 1969.  Buck Owens and Roy Clark hosted the show, which featured comic skits, jokes, and country music.  Hee Haw helped boost careers of many budding music stars. 

Loretta Lynn and Charley Pride appeared in the first episode. The series ran for twenty-six seasons, finally wrapping up in 2003.

Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Occupation of Alcatraz begins 1969

On November 20, 1969, eighty-nine Native Americans and their supporters landed on Alcatraz Island and maintained a presence until June 11, 1971. The organizers of the protest, Richard Oakes, LaNada Means, and John Trudell, claimed that under the Treaty of Fort Laramie of 1951 between the US and the Lakota tribe, all retired, abandoned, or federal land no longer in use, was to be returned ot the Indigenous people who once occupied it.  Since the penitentiary had been closed since March 1963 and the land had been declared surplus federal property in 1964, the Red Power activists felt the island belonged to the Native Americans.

They began the occupation late on November 20, and despite a Coast Guard blockade, fourteen managed to land on the island.  At the height of the occupation, four hundred people lived on the island.  They set up a daycare, a health clinic, and a school.  Doctors volunteered their services and Native and non-Natives brought necessary supplies to the island to support the occupiers.

Coast Guard blockades made it increasingly more difficult to reach Alcatraz, but the occupation began receiving a lot of support from around the world.

In January 1970, Oakes' stepdaughter feel to her death, which prompted Richard and his wife to leave the island. A hippie and drug scene moved to the island creating problems until non-Indians were prohibited from staying over night.  The government cut off electrical power, water, and telephone service to the island.  In June 1970, a fire destroyed numerous buildings on the island.  After that, the number of occupiers began to dwindle.  On June 11, 1971, government officers removed the last fifteen people.

The Occupation of Alcatraz established a precedent for Indian activism and spurred such actions as the Trail of Broken Treaties in 1972, the Wounded Knee incident in 1973, and the Longest Walk in 1968. 

Happy birthday, Dave Bautista!

Hot, sexy Dave Bautista, my latest obsession, is a WWE wrestler turned actor.  Born on January 18, 1969 in Washington, DC, he began to make his mark in the WWE universe in 2002.  He made an appearance in Smallville in 2006 and played the lead in House of the Rising Sun.  Then he appeared with Vin Diesel in Riddick before joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and the Avengers movies.  He played Rabban Harkonnen in the 2021 remake of Dune and is currently appearing in Glass Onion, a Knives Out movie.  I saw Knives Out so I definitely need to see the next one. 

 

Happy birth-month, Chinese astronaut Liu Wang!

Liu Wang, born in March 1969 in China, went into space aboard Shenzhou 9 in June 2012.  Wang performed the first manual docking for the Chinese space program. 

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Tracy Dyson!

Tracy Caldwell Dyson, born August 14, 1969 in Arcadia, California, is a veteran of two missions into space.  She studied atmospheric chemistry at the University of California, Irvine.

Her first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-118) as mission specialist in August 2007 to the International Space Station.  She celebrated her 38th birthday during the flight.

Her second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-18 as flight engineer in April 2010. She participated in Expeditions 23 and 24.  She returned to Earth in September 2010.

Angela Lansbury wins Tony for Best Actress in a Musical 1969

Angela Lansbury won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a musical for her role as Countess Aurelia in Dear World, April 20, 1969. It was the only nomination for the musical and Angela took it home!

This was her second win of five total Tony Awards.

"Gamera vs Guiron" released 1969

Gamera vs. Guiron, the fifth installment of the Gamera series in the Showa era, was released March 21, 1969 in Japan.  Daiei Films introduced Gamera in 1965 to compete with Godzilla, but we all know how that went.

Two kids discover a spacecraft that landed near their home with the door wide open.  They go inside despite the bratty little sister threatening to tell Mom.  The doors close and the two boys are whisked off to another planet and Gamera must come to their rescue.  First he has to battle Guiron, a strange creature with a curved blade for a head.

It was featured twice on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Juan, cai monkey, sent into space by Argentina 1969

On December 23, 1969, Argentina sent Juan, a cai monkey native to a region of the country, into space.  The rocket ascended to 82 km and he was recovered successfully.  On February 1, 1970, a female cai monkey was sent to a higher altitude but she was lost when the parachutes failed to open.

Soyuz 6 launched 1969

Soyuz 6 crew (L-R): Valeri Kubasov, Georgy Shonin

Mission patch

Soyuz 6, launched October 11, 1969, was the first of three consecutive launches which would see three spacecraft in orbit at once for the first time in history.  Soyuz 6's crew consisted of Commander Georgy Shonin and Valeri Kubasov.  They were supposed to take high-quality photography of Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 docking.  Due to unknown problems, the rendezvous never took place.

They returned to Earth on October 16.

Happy birthday, astronaut Karen Nyberg!

Karen Nyberg, born October 7, 1969 in Parker's Prairie, Minnesota, has been in space twice. 

Her first trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as mission specialist in May-June 2008.  She served as the lead for all the robotic arm operations.

Her second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-09M as flight engineer to the International Space Station, launched in May 2013.  She was part of the crew of Expedition 36.  They returned to Earth in September.

Elvis Presley releases "Suspicious Mind" 1969

Elvis Presley released his eighteenth and last #1 hit, Suspicious Minds, August 26, 1969.  It was a cover of a song written and recorded by Mark James.  It would reach #1 in November.  When James' recording failed commercially, Elvis covered it.  It revived Elvis' chart success and is ranked by Rolling Stone as No. 91 on the list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin!

Anatoli Ivanishin, born January 15, 1969, is a cosmonaut who has been into space twice. 

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-22 to the International Space Station in November 2011.  He participated in Expeditions 29 and 30.  He spent 165 days in space, returning to Earth in April 2012.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz MS-01 to the ISS in July 2016.  He was a part of Expeditions 48 and 49.  He was commander of Expedition 49.  He returned to Earth in October. 

Ivanishin has spent 280 days total in space.

Soyuz 5 launched 1969

Soyuz 5 crew (L-R): Boris Volynov, Yevgeny Khrunov, Aleksei Yeliseyev

Soyuz 5 mission patch

Soyuz 5, launched January 15, 1969, participated in the first docking between two manned spacecraft.  Its crew consisted of Commander Boris Volynov, Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev and Research Engineer Yevgeny Khrunov.

The following day Soyuz 5 successfully docked with Soyuz 4, and crew members Yeliseyev and Khrunov transferred to Soyuz 4 for re-entry.

Volynov remained in Soyuz 5.  Upon return, the service module did not separate  when the retrorockets fired.  It was too late to abort and the module turned to find the best aerodynamic position available, which was nose first.  Basically, upside down.  Volynov was pressed against his restraining harness instead of the cushions of his seat.

Fortunately, the struts connecting the service module and descent module burned through before the hatch did, and the modules separated.  The lander corrected its position, with the heat shield taking the friction of re-entry.

Then the parachutes got tangled and the soft-landing rockets failed to fire, resulting in a hard landing, which broke several of Volynov's teeth.  The temperature was about 40° below zero and Volynov knew it would be hours before the rescue units would find him, so he left the capsule and walked several kilometers to find shelter at a local peasant's house.

Volynov did not go into space for another 7 years.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka!

Oleg Skripochka, born December 24, 1969 in the former Soviet Union, has flown to space twice and has spent almost a year in space. 

His first mission was aboard  Soyuz TMA-01M, launched in October 2010 to the International Space Station.  He was part of the crews of Expeditions 24 and 25, and  performed 3 EVAs during his stay.  He returned to Earth in May 2011.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-20M, launched in May 2016 to the ISS.  He was part of the crews of Expedition 47 and 48. 

Mariner 7, mission to Mars, launched 1969

Mariner 7, the second of twin space probes to Mars, was launched March 27, 1969, about a month after Mariner 6 was launched. 

Less than a week before its closest approach, Jet Propulsion Laboaratory lost contact with Mariner 7 on July 29, but they managed to find a signal using a backup low-gain antenna and then regained use of a high-gain antenna.  Mariner 7 made its closest approach to the Red Planet August 5.  After its pass, it was deactivated in December 1970 and now is in a heliocentric orbit.

"The Love Bug" released 1969

Everyone's favorite racing car Herbie appeared first in The Love Bug, which opened to wide release March 13, 1969.  It premiered in a limited release December 24, 1968.  The movie starred Dean Jones, Michelle Lee, David Tomlinson, Buddy Hackett and Gary Owen of Laugh-In fame.

It is based on the book Car, Boy, Girl by Gordon Buford, published in 1961, and it was the last live-action movie authorized by Walt Disney.  It was released two years after his death.  Dean Jones attributes this to the movie's success.

It was the third-highest grossing movie of 1968.

Soyuz 4 launched 1969

Soyuz 4, launched January 14, 1969, carried cosmonaut Vladimir Shatalov on his first flight.  It docked with Soyuz 5 January 16, a first for two manned spacecraft.  Apollo 9 would do the same in March.  The mission involved transferring switching crews from one spacecraft to another via EVA, since connecting tunnels which would allow a simple internal transfer had not been developed. 

Soyuz 5 cosmonauts Aleksei Yeliseyev and Yevgeny Khrunov successfully transferred to Soyuz 4 and returned to Earth January 17.

Happy birthday, Nog!

Aron Eisenberg, born January 6, 1969 in Hollywood, California, is best known for his recurring role as Nog, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine for which he has received a nomination for Best Guest Actor in a Syndicated Series. 

Here is a good example of why Mr. Eisenberg was nominated.  He should have won.