It is considered one of mankind's most impressive triumphs. It was a promise from a President. It was the pride of a nation in the face of a perceived communist threat. It was Apollo 11 and mans first steps on the surface of the moon.

Can you believe that was 44 years ago? If you were alive back then and of an age where cognizant thought could occupy your mind you were watching TV this night 44 years ago.What 720 million plus views from around the world saw was a grainy ghost-like picture of the image of a man. We heard the now famous words, "One small step for (a) man, One giant leap for mankind". Grown men cried, mother's prayed and children stared with wide eyes and open mouths; a man was on the moon.

Let's climb in the time machine and see what else you might remember about the  year 1969.

The number one song in country music on that date belong to Conway Twitty with I Love You More Today. The Pop music charts had belonged to Zager and Evans with In the Year 2525(Exordium and Terminus).

The gas we were putting in our cars cost .35 cents a gallon, the car we put it in had an average price of about $3,400.00. We drank milk that we paid $1.26 a gallon for and a loaf of bread would set you back .23 cents. If you wanted to mail a letter, you'd need to buy a .06 cent stamp from the post office to get it to its destination.

On TV in 1969, a science fiction show was cancelled because of poor ratings, that show Star Trek grew into monster franchise of merchandise and movies. On the set of the TV show Bewitched Dick York collapsed. His role of Darrin Stevens was taken over by another Dick, Dick Sargent. CBS announced that The Smother's Brothers were banned from the network. It was three days later Walter Cronkite announced that the show was in fact cancelled and would be replace by a country music variety show called Hee Haw.

So that was the year that saw man land on the moon. For me, watching the moon landing and seeing our astronauts walk on the moon was quite profound.

I remember walking out into my backyard after the coverage of the moon walk had gone off the air. I stared up at a star filled sky that was lit with a brilliant July moon and the vast emptiness around me didn't seem so big. Suddenly, dreams that seemed out of reach were now close enough to touch. It was if a door had been opened for me and a generation of kids like me. The path our future would take was being illuminated by a confident beam of silvery moonlight.

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