To say it in Brian Adams' words: "it was the summer of '69". And indeed, a major event occurred during the summer of 1969: the first men on the moon.
It all started in 1962, after the speech of John F. Kennedy.
The USSR had beaten the USA several times during the space race. In 1957 they had the first satellite in space and the first living creature in space (Laïka), in 1959 they accomplished the fist unmanned moon mission and in 1961 they had the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin).
The USA was sick and tired of the USSR beating them every time, so in 1961, Kennedy said: "We chose to go to the moon in this decade".
His speech announced the beginning of the Apollo space program. There was Apollo 1 to 17 and the first moon landing was with Apollo 11, on July 20th, 1969 (or July 21sth for Europe). The famous words of Neil Armstrong are written in our memory: "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind". During 1969 and 1975 there were 6 successful moon landings.