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More on KentOnline
The year 1969 was monumental.
The Beatles staged their last public performance on the roof of the Apple building, Britain’s Labour government sent soldiers into Northern Ireland to subdue the worsening Troubles and the US began to pull its weary troops out of Vietnam.
But rocketing way above everything else were two men talking a stroll on the moon.
Apollo 11 blasted three astronauts into space on July 16, 1969, on the first mission of its kind.
Crackly film shows Neil Armstrong thrusting a United States flag into the moon's rocky surface just four days later.
Ron Green, the first editor of KentOnline, recalls 1969 as the first time in history when the British had a taste of round-the-clock television.
The 72-year-old said: "That momentous moon landing was, of course, why we had 24-hour telly for one day only.
"My wife Paulene and I were on holiday with my mum and dad.
"We had two little children so survived on little sleep and were ready for the all-night drama.
"'The Eagle had landed' a few minutes after nine that evening. It had just 30 seconds of fuel left.
"But both the Beeb and ITV decided to stay on air all-night long, as the moon landing happened in the middle of British night time.
"We clearly heard Armstrong say “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” - Ron Green
"First, mum went to bed, fed up because “if I want to see the man in the moon all I have to do is look out the window”. She never really believed it happened.
"Then dad went to sleep, and snored. Then Paulene, up with the children, woke me up and said something was happening. It was almost 4am.
"My wife and I were among the 650 million people around the globe to see the first grainy, grey pictures of a man stepping on to the grainy, grey surface of the moon.
"We clearly heard Armstrong say “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”.
"The two brave astronauts spent more than 21 hours on the moon, transmitting pictures from the TV camera they put (the correct way up) on a tripod.
"That evening, when the moon was up and they were still on it, my wife and I took our children into the garden and talked about what had happened."
Sci-fi fan, David Jones felt fiction was about to become a reality in 1969.
The former editor, who worked at the KM Media Group for 37 years, said: "I can’t remember exactly what I was doing when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon, but like everyone else I watched it on TV not long afterwards.
"It felt as if manned voyages to distant galaxies were on the cards. Unfortunately, the reality proved to be somewhat different.
"I can especially recall the prolonged debate over what Neil Armstrong said – or didn’t say – when he set foot on the moon.
"He appeared to be saying the same thing twice when he uttered: ” That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
"Armstrong later insisted he actually said “a man” but that it was inaudible.
"The most recent scientific analysis concluded that he did not say “a.”
The 72-year-old added: "But I have another and much more important reason for remembering July, 1969.
"Some time towards the end of that month, I plucked up the courage to ask the girl who was later to become my wife out on a date. I was 22 and she was 20.
"We were married three years later and – 50 years after our first date – we are still married."
Peter Cook, former senior reporter for the Medway Messenger, does not have much memory of the moon landing, and assumes he had "more important things" on his mind.
Peter, 74, said: "Memory is a selective creature. And they do say that if you remember the 1960s you probably weren’t there.
"But we weren’t all pot heads and I definitely was there.
"I vividly remember Churchill being hauled on a gun carriage along The Strand for his funeral, and then the riverside cranes dipping in tribute as the coffin headed upriver on a hydrographic survey vessel on its final voyage.
"They say that if you remember the 1960s you probably weren’t there." - Peter Cook
"I recall the Cuban missile crisis, and the very real fear that we would all be blasted into oblivion by Russian hydrogen bombs the next day.
"I have a very clear recollection of screaming at the television in my mother-in-law’s house during the 1966 World Cup.
"But of the moon landings I have almost no memory.
"There is a vague image in my mind of a monotone television screen, probably in my parents’ house, with rather fuzzy images of men in space suits.
"My wife, Lizzie has no clear memory of it either and seems to recall seeing something at her mother’s house.
"In 1969 we had more important things on our minds apparently.
"We had recently returned from two and a half years in Australia. I was working for a national disability charity and Lizzie had an amazing feature writing job interviewing all kinds of exciting people.
"But they were all earth bound. We were buying our first house at the time, so maybe that occupied our minds more than anything so trivial as a moon landing."
