Woodstock Music and Art Fair opens in New York State

Woodstock Festival was held on Max Yasgur's 600 acre farm in Bethel outside New York. Attended by over 400,000 people, the event featured, Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Santana, The Who, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Canned Heat, Joan Baez, Melanie, Ten Years After, Sly and the Family Stone, Johnny Winter, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shanker, Country Joe and the Fish, Blood Sweat and Tears, Arlo Guthrie, and Joe Cocker. During the three days there were three deaths, two births and four miscarriages. Joni Mitchell was booked to appear but had to pull out due to being booked for a TV show, wrote the song 'Woodstock.'

Woodstock was designed as a profit-making venture, aptly titled "Woodstock Ventures".

It famously became a "free concert" only after it became obvious that the event was drawing hundreds of thousands more people than the organizers had prepared for. Tickets for the event cost $18 in advance (equivalent to $75 in 2009 after adjusting for inflation) and $24 at the gate for all three days. Ticket sales were limited to record stores in the greater New York City area, or by mail via a post office box at the Radio City Station Post Office located in Midtown Manhattan. Around 186,000 tickets were sold beforehand and organizers anticipated approximately 200,000 festival-goers would turn up

The influx of attendees to the Woodstock concert site in Bethel created a massive traffic jam.

Fearing chaos as thousands began descending on the community, Bethel did not enforce its codes. Eventually, announcements on radio stations as far away as WNEW-FM in Manhattan and descriptions of the traffic jams on television news programs discouraged people from setting off to the festival. Arlo Guthrie made an announcement that was included in the film saying that the New York State Thruway was closed. The director of the Woodstock museum discussed below said this never occurred. To add to the problems and difficulty in dealing with the large crowds, recent rains had caused muddy roads and fields. The facilities were not equipped to provide sanitation or first aid for the number of people attending; hundreds of thousands found themselves in a struggle against bad weather, food shortages, and poor sanitation.

On the morning of Sunday, August 17, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller called festival organizer John Roberts and told him he was thinking of ordering 10,000 New York State National Guard troops to the festival. Roberts was successful in persuading Rockefeller not to do this. Sullivan County declared a state of emergency.

Retro History for August 15 The 50s 60s 70s 80s

Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 Cancer sufferer/San Francisco Giant pitcher Dave Dravecky breaks arm on mound
1989 Frederik de Klerk becomes president of South Africa
1989 Giorgio Lamberti swims world record 200m free style (1:46.69)
1989 U.S. Venus probe Magellan launched from Space shuttle
1989 In 2nd start since after cancer treatment, Giants Dave Dravecky breaks his pitching arm while throwing to Tim Raines
1988 "Ain't Misbehavin'" opens at Ambassador Theater New York City for 176 performances
1988 At 4PM LILCO consumers used a record 3,813 megawatts
1988 New York City begins $70 million program to rebuild 900 Bronx apartments
1987 U.S. beats Cuba in Pan-Am baseball
1986 President Reagan decides to support a replacement for Challenger
1985 Anti-apartheid lawyer Bulelani Ngcuka marries in South Africa
1985 Iraqi air raid on Iran oil-island Kharg
1983 Ramones guitarist Joey Ramone, beaten in fight-undergoes brain surgery
1982 Beth Daniel wins LPGA WUI Golf Classic
1982 Equatorial Guinea adopts constitution
1981 Botham scores a century in 86 balls vs. Australia at Old Trafford
1981 Robin Leamy of U.S. swims record 7.98 kph for 50 m

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 Andrew Young resigns as United Nations ambassador
1978 House of Representatives approves (233-169), 39-month extension for ERA
1977 England regain cricket Ashes by taking a 3-0 series lead over Australia
1977 SS chief Kappler escapes from prison hospital in Rome
1976 Jane Blalock wins LPGA Wheeling Golf Classic
1975 Bangladesh military coup under Khondakar Moustaque Ahmed
1975 Joanne Little acquitted of murder charges
1974 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1974 Hurricane/floods ravage Bangladesh, 4,000 killed
1974 Longest team (6) trampoline bouncing marathon (1,248 hours (52 days))
1974 South Korean President Park Chung-Hee escapes assassination
1973 Black September kills 3 wounds 55 Athens
1973 David Storey's "Cromwell," premieres in London
1973 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test
1971 Charles Lismont wins Helsinki marathon (2:13:09.0)
1971 KVRL (now KRIV) TV ch 26 in Shreveport-Texarkana, LA (NBC) begins
1971 President Nixon announces 90-day freeze on wages, prices and rents
1971 Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Len Immke Buick Golf Open
1970 Patricia Palinkas becomes 1st woman pro football player (Orlando)

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair opens in New York State (Max Yasgur's Dairy Farm)
1968 Romanian president Ceausescu visits Prague
1968 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan U.S.S.R.
1967 Pope Paul VI publishes constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae
1966 Radio Free Asia (South Korea) begins radio transmission
1965 47th PGA Championship: Dave Marr shoots a 280 at Laurel Valley Golf Club Pennsylvania
1965 Beatles play to 55,000 at Shea Stadium
1965 Mary Mills wins LPGA St. Louis Golf Open
1965 Japanese community of San Francisco holds Masanori Murakami Day at Candlestick Park to honor 1st Japanese player to play in major leagues
1964 Fred Trueman takes 300th Test Cricket wicket (Neil Hawke)
1964 Mayor Daley declares "Ernie Banks Day" in Chicago
1964 Phillies triple-play New York Mets
1964 Ralph Boston of U.S., sets then long jump record at 27' 3"
1963 Fulbert Youlou, resigns as President of Congo-Brazzaville
1962 Netherlands and Indonesia signs accord about New Guinea
1962 Shady Grove Baptist Church burned in Leesburg Georgia
1960 CFL's Calgary Stampeders move into McMahon Stadium
1960 Chicago Bears beat New York Giants 16-7 in Toronto (NFL expo)
1960 Congo (formerly Congo/Brazzaville) declares Independence from France
1960 Mil Brave Lew Burdette no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1958 25th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 35, Detroit 19 (70,000)
1958 Buddy Holly weds Maria Santiago
1958 Marshal Boelganin resigns as director of Staatsbank
1958 Soviet Marshal Bulganin resigns as director of State Bank
1957 David Simons reaches 30,942 m in Man High 2 balloon
1955 WXEX TV channel 8 in Richmond-Petersburg, Virginia (ABC) begins
1954 Alfredo Stroessner names himself president of Paraguay
1954 WCHS TV channel 8 in Charleston-Huntington, WV (ABC) begins
1952 19th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Los Angeles 10, All-Stars 7 (88,316)
1952 9" of rain fall creates a 20' wave in Lynmouth, England killing 34
1950 8.6 earthquake in India kills 20,000 to 30,000
1950 Ezzard Charles TKOs Freddie Beshore in 14 for heavyweight boxing title
1950 Indians make their 1st triple play at Cleveland Stadium
1950 Indies Constitution goes into effect
1950 Joseph Pholien becomes Belgian premier
1950 President Sukarno proclaims unity of Indonesia
1950 Rotterdam harbor strike begins

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! Woodstock Music and Art Fair opens in New York State on August 15, 1969.