Woodstock Festival

Billed as 'three days of peace and music', the Woodstock festival of 15 -19 August 1969 was originally designed as a commercial, profit making venture before mutating into a free festival when the barriers were torn down by eager ticketless fans.

Nearly half a million people attended and watched performances by acts ranging from Sly and Family Stone to The Who to Crosby, Stills and Nash. Over the three days there were three deaths and two births, as well as some career defining performances.

Jimi Hendrix had insisted on being the final act and by the time he took the stage on Monday morning there were less than 80,000 people and the site resembled a war zone. Still, the guitarist's anguished deconstruction of "The Star Spangled Banner" became one of the most iconic moments in the history of rock.