RobKirkpatrick.com

Here’s a link to an article from Sunday’s New York Times on the first interracial college football game played in the South – between Florida A&M, a black college, and the predominantly white University of Tampa, in 1969:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/us/26florida.html?em

That giant leap made by NASA and the brave astronauts of Apollo 11 – Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins – happened 40 years ago today.

Here’s a link to a priceless mission transcript on the Kennedy Space Center site: http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/history/apollo/apollo-11/apollo-11.html 

Here’s a special New York Times feature on “Readers’ Moon Memories”: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/15/science/space/20090715moon-readers_index.html

And below are a couple of cover stories on the moon landing, one real, one fake.  One could argue the fake one more accurately depicts the dizzying achievement of Apollo 11.

And, of course, the moon landing is placed within the context of the times in my book 1969: The Year Everything Changed, now available at a Barnes and Noble near you…

- Rob

In a year of riots and protests – including the Harvard Student Strike, People’s Park, the War Moratorium, the Days of Rage, and the occupation of Alcatraz – perhaps the most pivotal in terms of lasting influence were the Stonewall Riots, which occurred 40 years ago this weekend in Greenwich Village. The uprising of patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar on Christopher Street, against a police raid inspired local residents, gay and straight, to join in. Forty years later, it stands as one of the most important rallying moments in the history of the gay and lesbian rights movement in America.

Read this recent New York Times story on Stonewall here: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/22/police-records-document-the-stonewall-uprising/?hp

…and, of course, you can read more about the Stonewall Riots in 1969: The Year Everything Changed, available now from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, or directly from the publisher.  Visit my book page for links to purchase.

Ps. I also discuss Stonewall, as well as other colorful incidents from the year, in the upcoming History Channel program Sex in ‘69: The Sexual Revolution in America. Air date coming soon!

- Rob