There are plenty of historical periods I wish I could have been around for. I wouldn’t have minded getting to meet Jesus or the Buddha. I definitely would have enjoyed watching the Battle of Thermopylae, and getting to live in England between 1300 and 1400 would have been a real rush. But it’s always been one of my great disappointments that I missed 1969 by ten years. Just ten little years.

In 1969, human beings first walked on the moon. For that event alone I would trade most of the experiences in my life to have witnessed that first hand. The United States finally started pulling out of Vietnam. The Concorde jet was successfully tested. Monty Python’s Flying Circus debuts on the BBC. UNIX is invented. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Support Your Local Sheriff” are released. Samuel Beckett wins the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Woodstock, the most fabled (and least remembered by attendees) concert ever, is held. Yes releases Yes. Crosby, Stills and Nash release Crosby, Stills and Nash. The Velvet Underground releases The Velvet Underground. Deep Purple releases Deep Purple. Elton John releases Elton John. Fairport Convention releases Liege and Lief. The Doors release The Soft Parade. Led Zeppelin releases two (count ‘em TWO!) albums: Led Zeppelin I and II. Creedence Clearwater Revival releases three (count ‘em THREE!) albums: Green River” Bayou Country, and Willie and the Poor Boys. The Beatles release Abbey Road. Joni Mitchell releases Clouds. And Johnny Cash recorded and released At San Quentin.

Chevrolet produces the 1969 Camaro. While the stock models are the pinnacle of automotive achievement, that’s not quite enough. Chevy also produces only 69 of the all-aluminum ZL-1, which at a hair-raising 425 horsepower is the most powerful and fastest pony car known to man. Damn.

That’s not to say that some really terrible things didn’t happen in 1969. John and Yoko tied the knot that fateful year, and the first toxic fruit of their union, “Give Peace a Chance,” was released. The Derry Riots. The Charles Manson murders. The My Lai massacre. Ike Eisenhower and Judy Garland die.

But what a year to be alive! I hope those of you who were there to see and hear it appreciate what you got to witness, because I’m absolutely jealous of you. All I can do is experience it after the fact, like a rerun. It’s just as good but nowhere near as exciting as seeing it for myself.