Jan Palach's torch
1969 · Event
A 20-year-old philosophy student sets himself alight at the top of Wenceslas Square, in protest not at the occupation but at the resignation settling over his countrymen. Hundreds of thousands follow his coffin. Twenty years later, 'Palach Week' demonstrations on his anniversary open the year that ends with the Velvet Revolution.
On these timelines: The Prague Spring, Eastern Europe & the Balkans, Cold War, Master
More from The Prague Spring
- Prague Spring (1968)
- Dubček takes the helm (1968)
- The Moscow Protocol (1968)
- Censorship abolished — the Spring in full leaf (1968)
- Normalisation: Husák replaces Dubček (1969)
- Charter 77 (1977)
Around 1969
- Vietnam War (American phase) (1965)
- Watergate scandal (1972)
- Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
- Iranian Revolution (1978)
- Yom Kippur War (1973)
- The Troubles (1968)
- Apollo 11 moon landing (1969)
- Six-Day War (1967)
- The Beatles (1960)
- Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody (1975)