( CNN ) -- From Woodstock and a man on the moon to the Manson murders and the Stonewall riots , the summer of 1969 was a tumultuous and eventful time . Listed below are a few of the historic and memorable moments from that summer . April 23 | Sirhan Sirhan sentenced Sirhan Sirhan , convicted of murdering New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign , is sentenced to death a week after being found guilty . Three years later , his sentence is commuted to life in prison after California abolishes the death penalty . May 18 | Apollo 10 The Apollo 10 mission is a dress rehearsal for the lunar landing module . This mission tested `` all aspects of the lunar landing mission exactly as it would be performed , except for the actual landing , '' according to NASA . It also transmitted the first color pictures of Earth from space . May 23 | The Who releases `` Tommy '' The Who , a key band of the 1960s British Invasion , releases the rock opera `` Tommy . '' The double album features songs like `` Pinball Wizard '' and `` Tommy , Can You Hear Me ? '' May 24 | Beatles ' `` Get Back '' is No . 1 `` Get Back '' by the Beatles becomes the top song on Billboard 's list and stays there for five weeks . Released as a single , the song later appeared on the `` Let it be '' album . `` Aquarius/Let the Sunshine in '' by the Fifth Dimension was the second song on the list for that week . May 25 | `` Midnight Cowboy '' released John Schlesinger 's `` Midnight Cowboy , '' starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman , is released with an X rating , the first ever in wide release . The film received seven Academy Award nominations and won three , including best picture . Other notable movies released during that year include `` Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , '' `` Easy Rider '' and `` True Grit . '' June 3 | Last episode of 'Star Trek ' airs The last episode of the original `` Star Trek '' airs on NBC . During the episode , titled `` Turnabout Intruder , '' one of Captain Kirk 's former lovers steals his body . June 6 | Joe Namath briefly retires Joe Namath , the star New York Jets quarterback who famously guaranteed a Super Bowl victory , briefly retires from the National Football League over a conflict with league Commissioner Pete Rozelle . June 8 | Nixon and Vietnam President Nixon , after being elected on a campaign pledge to pull troops out of Southeast Asia , announces the withdrawal of 25,000 U.S. troops from Vietnam . June 9 / June 23 | Burger becomes chief justice Appointed by President Nixon , Warren Burger is confirmed as the chief justice of the Supreme Court on June 9 , succeeding Earl Warren . Two weeks later , he is sworn in . In 1973 , Burger votes with the majority in the landmark Roe v. Wade case , establishing a woman 's right to an abortion . June 28 | Stonewall riots A confrontation between gay rights activists and police outside the Stonewall Inn -- a gay bar in Greenwich Village , New York City -- escalates into a riot . Over the next four decades , the riots act as a symbolic force for the burgeoning gay rights movement . July 25 | Sen. Kennedy and Chappaquiddick Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy receives a two-month suspended prison sentence after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of a fatal accident . Mary Jo Kopechne , once a campaign worker for Sen. Robert Kennedy , drowned in the July 18 accident in Chappaquiddick , Massachusetts . July 20 | Moon landing Apollo 11 , carrying three U.S. astronauts , lands on the moon . Mission commander Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon ; crewmate Buzz Aldrin also walked on the moon . The third man on the mission was Michael Collins . Six lunar landings followed . July 24 | Muhammad Ali convicted Boxing champion Muhammad Ali is convicted of evading the draft after he refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army . Two years earlier , Ali applied for an exemption as a conscientious objector but was denied . He was stripped of his fighting license and title . He returned to the ring in 1970 , and his conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 . August 9-10 | The Manson murders During a two-night rampage , pregnant actress Sharon Tate and seven others are killed by Charles Manson and his `` Family . '' Manson and four others -- Susan Atkins , Patricia Krenwinkel , Charles `` Tex '' Watson and Leslie Van Houten -- were later convicted of murder and other charges . Their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1972 . August 14 | British troops sent to Northern Ireland More than 300 British troops are ordered into a Londonderry neighborhood in Northern Ireland after three nights of clashes between police and Catholic residents . The troops were supposed to stay for days , but the conflict lasted decades . The number of British troops stationed in Northern Ireland peaked at 30,000 in the early 1970s . August 14 | The Miracle Mets The New York Mets fall nine games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League race but , led by future Hall of Fame pitchers Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver , stage a comeback in the months that followed to capture the pennant . They went on to defeat the Baltimore Orioles for the Word Series title . August 15-18 | Woodstock Nearly 400,000 people show up at a farm in Bethel , New York , for a music festival that features legendary acts Jimi Hendrix , the Who , the Grateful Dead , Janis Joplin and Sly and the Family Stone . The event would help define an era . August 17 | Hurricane Camille More than 250 people are killed in Mississippi and Louisiana when Hurricane Camille strikes the United States mainland . At its peak , Camille was a Category 5 storm , packing winds stronger than 200 mph and leaving tides measuring higher than 20 feet in its wake . September 1 | Gadhafi assumes power Moammar Gadhafi , a military captain at the time , deposes King Idris and assumes control of Libya . He remains in power to this day . September 24 | The `` Chicago 8 '' trial begins A trial gets under way for eight people -- known as the `` Chicago 8 '' -- who were indicted on charges connected with protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago . After a long , raucous trial , two were acquitted , and the others were convicted on various charges . Eight police officers were also indicted in connection with the disorder in Chicago .
Man landed on the Moon on July 20 with Apollo 11 mission . A new Supreme Court justice and withdrawal of troops in Vietnam make headlines . In the world of sports , The Mets , Muhammad Ali and Joe Nameth make news . For more , go to In Depth : Summer of 1969 .