TOTALLY SUGAR: 1969 would be known as the Year of Woodstock, but Billboard's No. 1 hit for 1969 was "Sugar, Sugar," a song generated by a cartoon band called The Archies. The song was written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim and featured a musical hook that was hard to resist. Woodstock, meanwhile, attracted more than 400,000 people to a farm in upstate New York and featured performers like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and The Grateful Dead. The Beatles, meanwhile, recorded their final studio album, "Abbey Road," although "Let It Be," which was recorded in January 1969, would be released the following year, ending the group's long and winding career as a foursome.
BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: The No. 1 grossing movie of 1969 was "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katherine Ross. It later won four Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay (by William Goldman), Best Cinematography (Conrad L. Hall), Best Music, Original Song (Burt Bacharach and Hal David for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head), and Best Music, Original Score (Bacharach).
HELLO, BIG BIRD: "Sesame Street" made its debut on PBS in 1969. Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Miss Piggy and Cookie Monster continue to enthrall children 50 years later.
HIGH TECH: The first ATM was installed in the United States on Sept. 2, 1969. It was available at Chemical Bank in Rockville Center, New York. Also, the first message in internet history was sent two months earlier. On July 3, 1969, two machines on the UCLA campus were linked through ARPANET -- the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network.
ONE SMALL STEP: The biggest event of 1969 -- and possibly the 20th century -- was the day astronauts walked on the moon. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were the crew of Apollo 11, which was launched July 11, 1969. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the lunar surface, with Armstrong the first human to set foot on the moon.
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