The Impact of the 1960s

Every decade has its memorable/infamous/impactful moment(s), but the United States of America of the 1960s, was hit really, really hard with its share.

Most decades pass with few, if any, high-profile killings, but there were a number of them during the 1960s. John F. Kennedy was murdered on November 22, 1963. We lost Malcolm X on February 21, 1965. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968. Robert Kennedy died from gunshot wounds on June 6, 1968. These events alone are HUGE points in our nation's history, but......

There was Vietnam. There was the Civil Rights Movement. There was Woodstock. There was the "Summer of Love." Charles Manson. The British Invasion, especially that band called The Beatles. Bay of Pigs. MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. Hendrix. Joplin. The Doors. Pink Floyd. Motown Records opened. Psycho. Breakfast at Tiffany's. The pill. Cuban Missile Crisis. Cash went to Folsom. Haight-Ashbury. Monterey Pop. 

And then, the love ended on December 6, 1969. Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell's Angels, who were acting as security, at the Altamont Speedway Free Festival in northern California. This, while the Rolling Stones performed on-stage, just feet away from the incident.

I'm working to become a music/cultural history professor someday. Random thoughts like this will often pop up as I get deeper into my studies.

And for those (like me) that weren't alive during the 1960s, this is also a reminder of just how important that decade was.