1969

It may only have been 50 years ago but the world was a very different place in 1969…

- Sally Rodger

Beatles, Rockets & 50pPieces

All eyes were on the skies and the amazing leaps being made in the world of aviation. Concorde, a joint UK-French venture to produce the world’s first supersonic passenger airliner, made its first test flight on March 2 in Toulouse and first went supersonic on October 1.

In April, the Harrier Jump Jet, the Vertical Take Off And Landing Aircraft which seemed to be the stuff of science fiction, entered service with the RAF.

But the world’s eyes were trained on the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. In March Apollo 9 tested the lunar module in Earth orbit, and in May, Apollo 10 undertook a dress rehearsal in lunar orbit. By July, all was ready. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in the Sea of Tranquillity and Armstrong uttered the famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

After a stay of 21 hours and 36 minutes, during which time they conducted experiments, collected samples and took photographs, they rejoined Michael Collins in the command module.

In the world of music, there was a four-way draw for first place at the Eurovision Song Contest. The UK entry, Boom Bang-a-Bang by Lulu, had to share the honours with Spain, France and the Netherlands.