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 The year 1969 was such a big blast in world history. A lot of memorable people and sensational events made tremendous headlines in both media and the press which eventually marked this “Year of the Rooster” as one of the most important years in the 20th century. In politics, Col. Moammar Qadhafi became the first Libyan Arab Republic leader after staging a bloodless, unopposed coup d’etat in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, that eventually overthrew King Idris I into exile. Richard Milhous Nixon succeeded Lyndon Johnson as the 37th President of the United States of America, while Golda Meir from Milwaukee, Wisconsin became the 4th Prime Minister of Israel. In movies and television, “Sesame Street” debuted on U.S. national television while Hollywood mourned for the loss of one of its finest talents, Judy Garland (from the movie classic, “The Wizard of Oz”), who died in London from accidental overdose of prescription medication.
 The entertainment industry also recognized and awarded Oscar trophies to Goldie Hawn for her best supporting role in the movie, “Cactus Flower”, and John Wayne for his lead role in “True Grit”. In science and technology, the Seiko 35 SQ Astron in Japan introduced its first quartz wristwatch while in Toulouse, France, the first Concorde test flight was conducted. And of course, who could ever forget the brilliant success of Apollo 11’s mission when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the face of the moon? It was only a small, single step for man but what a huge, giant leap for mankind!
Meanwhile, in the world of pageants, the Philippines stole the limelight and became a major headliner when it produced and won its first Miss Universe in the person of Gloria Diaz.  Convent-bred Gloria was only a debutante when she competed at the Miss Universe pageant in Miami Beach, Florida. At that time, she was only in her sophomore year at St. Scholastica’s College when her winning the Binibini title paved the way for the international competition. She was never a frontrunner during the pageant as she was not a typical promenade beauty as most of the delegates were. As a matter of fact, the early favorites in the preliminaries that year were: Vera Fischer, a beautiful Brazilian beauty from Santa Catarina who was assigned the daunting task to follow the success of her predecessor and the reigning Miss Universe, Martha Vasconcellos; Scandinavian beauties Jeanne Perfeldt (Denmark) and Harriet Eriksson (Finland) who both received numerous press interviews and media mileage coverage prior to the pageant due to their recent placements in Miss Europe with 1st and 3rd Runners-up placements, respectively; Wendy Jane Dascomb (USA), a Southern belle from the state of Virginia who later wrote a “kiss and tell” article for MS Magazine about her reign as Miss USA; Maria Julia Mantilla (Peru), a high school graduate and a part-time model from Lima; Chava Levy (Israel), a very charismatic young girl who became a wonderful roommate to Miss Tunisia, Zohra Boufaden, a Muslim delegate who later won the title of “Miss Amity” in the pageant; Gloria Hernandez (Mexico); and Margarita Zawadsky (Colombia), a model from Valle. But despite the tremendous number of beauties who participated in that pageant, Gloria’s promising presence and bubbly personality started to emerge as the pageant drew closer to its final night. She managed to score high in the swimsuit category due to her lean and proportionate figure. She was also a very engaging conversationalist who exuded natural confidence, spunk and spontaneity during her interviews with the judges that they, too, began to notice her. Her demeanor intrigued them as she was not a “pageant patty”. It was a rare instance for them to see an Asian woman who was not scared to express herself on sensitive issues that required an honest opinion. She had her sensibility as her defense and wit as her weapon. Oh, what a package!
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