Jan Palach's torch
1969 · Event
A 20-year-old history 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
- The Troubles (1968)
- Apollo 11 moon landing (1969)
- Iranian Revolution (1978)
- Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)
- Vietnam War (American phase) (1965)
- Watergate scandal (1972)
- Six-Day War (1967)
- Yom Kippur War (1973)
- The Beatles (1960)
- Birth of hip-hop (1973)