What else was making headlines that week?
At the Spaceship Earth attraction at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, time travelers glide through the past inside a geodesic sphere.
In a re-creation of July 20, 1969, an animatronic family – a mom, dad and their two children – are gathered at home around a black-and-white TV. The young boy, lying on the shag carpet, clutches a toy rocket as famed newsman Walter Cronkite covers the moon landing.
Yes. That moment in history, without a doubt, had the world’s attention and remains a powerful example of how human communication brings the world together.
But other life-changing and just-life happenings occurred between July 16, when Apollo 11 launched, and July 24, when the crew returned triumphant to an appreciative global audience.
Americans were fighting and dying in Vietnam.
On July 17, an article in the New York Times shared that “Secretary of State William P. Rogers said today that he was at a loss to understand how North Vietnam could take a position ‘so lacking in humanity’ as to refuse the names of American prisoners of war and to deny permission for international teams to inspect their camps.”
The next day, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts drove an Oldsmobile off a bridge after a party on Chappaquiddick Island, and his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died. Kennedy would appear on TV to talk about the incident on July 25, a day after Apollo 11’s return to Earth.
On TV, other than live reports about those moon-walking guys, viewed by an estimated 720 million people, summertime was rerun time. Remember, we’re talking about a time when new shows didn’t premiere every other day and cable TV wasn’t a mainstay in American households – viewers relied on ABC, NBC and CBS, the three major broadcast networks. That summer of 1969, popular shows included “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in,” “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “Mayberry RFD” and “Family Affair.”
On the big screen, “Easy Rider,” starring Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, was released two days before the launch. The 95-minute movie became one of the most popular films of 1969 and an enduring cult classic, eventually grossing $60 million.
The timeline of the summer of 1969 featured music that has stood the test of time, too, still popular on oldies stations and staples in advertising.
Billboard’s Top 3 songs from the moon landing week of July 19, 1969: “In The Year 2525” by Zager & Evans; “Spinning Wheel” by Blood, Sweat & Tears; and “Good Morning Starshine” by Oliver. “Bad Moon Rising” by Credence Clearwater Revival landed at No. 11 that week. “Get Back” by the Beatles slipped in at No. 16.
And on July 24, the day Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins got back on Earth? A future megastar – actor and singer Jennifer Lopez – was born.
Contact Kennerly at 321-242-3692 or bkennerly@floridatoday.com.