News and Events of 1968

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1968 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 3.556 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
René Cassin (France)

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North Korea seizes US Navy ship Pueblo; holds 83 on board as spies (Jan. 23).
North Vietnamese launch the Tet Offensive, a turning point in the Vietnam War (Jan.-Feb.).
American soldiers massacre 347 civilians at My Lai (March 16). Background: Vietnam War
Czechoslovakia is invaded by Russians and Warsaw Pact forces to crush liberal regime (Aug. 20).

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey
Population: 200,706,052
Life expectancy: 70.2 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 33.7
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 30.7
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 7.3

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President Johnson announces he will not seek or accept presidential renomination (March 31).
Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, is slain in Memphis (April 4).
James Earl Ray, indicted in King murder, is sentenced to 99 years.
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is shot and critically wounded in Los Angeles hotel after winning California primary (June 5)—dies June 6. Background: Timeline of Kennedy tragedies

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $910.6 billion
Federal spending:   $178.13 billion
Federal debt:   $368.7 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars):  $7,743
Consumer Price Index:   34.8
Unemployment:   3.8%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.05 ($0.06 as of 1/7/68)

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

Super Bowl

Green Bay d. Oakland (33-14)

World Series

Detroit d. St. Louis Cardinals (4-3)

NBA Championship

Boston d. LA Lakers (4-2)

Stanley Cup

Montreal d. St. Louis (4-0)

Wimbledon

Women: Billie Jean King d. J. Tegart (9-7 7-5)
Men: Rod Laver d. T. Roche (6-3 6-4 6-2)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Forward Pass

NCAA Basketball Championship

UCLA d. North Carolina (78-55)

NCAA Football Champions

Ohio St. (10-0-0)

1968 Summer Olympics

1968 Winter Olympics

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron
Music: Echoes of Time and the River, George Crumb

Oscars awarded in 1968
Academy Award, Best Picture: In the Heat of the Night, Walter Mirisch, producer (United Artists)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)

1968 Emmy Awards

1968 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1968
Record of the Year: "Up, Up and Away," 5th Dimension
Album of the Year: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles (Capitol)
Song of the Year: "Up, Up and Away," Jimmy L. Webb, songwriter

Miss America: Debra Dene Barnes (KS)

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Events

60 Minutes airs on CBS, beginning its reign as the longest-running prime-time newsmagazine.
The motion picture rating system debuts with G, PG, R and X.
The rock musical Hair opens on Broadway.

Movies

2001: A Space Odyssey, Romeo and Juliet, Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Oliver!

Books

William H. Gass, In the Heart of the Heart of the Country
Gore Vidal, Myra Breckenridge

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Lars Onsager (US), for development of system of equations in thermodynamics

Physics: Luis Walter Alvarez (US), for study of subatomic particles

Physiology or Medicine: Robert W. Holley, Har Gobind Khorana, and Marshall W. Nirenberg (all US), for studies of genetic code

Prototype of world's first supersonic airliner. The Soviet-designed Tupolev Tu-144 made its first flight, Dec. 31. It first achieved supersonic speed on June 5, 1969. Background: Famous Firsts in Aviation
The largest reservoir of American petroleum north of Mexico is discovered in Alaska.
Amniocentesis is developed. Background: reproduction
The successful flight of Apollo 8 makes Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders the first people to orbit the moon.