1968

Timeline 1968

JAN 5 The US Justice Department indicts Dr. Benjamin Spock, Rev. William Coffin of Yale
and three others for conspiring to violate draft law
5 Alexander Dubcek is elected leader of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia
6 The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour album goes to number 1
8 Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson endorses the ‘I’m Backing Britain’ campaign for working an
additional half hour each day without pay
17 US president Lyndon B. Johnson calls for the non-conversion of the dollar
19 At a White House conference on crime, singer and actress Eartha Kitt denounces the Vietnam War
directly to President Lyndon Johnson
21 An American B-52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs crashes at North Star Bay, Greenland,
killing one crew member and scattering radioactive material
23 North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying
30 Tet offensive begins as North Vietnamese and NLF forces launch a series of surprise attacks across
South Vietnam. They attack more than 100 cities and assault the US embassy in Saigon

FEB 1 Saigon’s police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes an NLF fighter with a pistol shot
to the head in a scene captured on camera
8 At South Carolina State, three black students are killed in a confrontation with
highway patrolmen in Orangeburg, during a civil rights protest against a whites-only bowling alley
13 The US sends 10,500 more combat troops to Vietnam
18 Some 10,000 people in West Berlin demonstrate against US in Vietnam War
26 Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Mexico Olympics because of the presence of S Africa

MARCH 4 Martin Luther King announces plans for Poor People’s Campaign
8 First student protests in Poland’s political crisis
15 The US mint halts the practice of buying and selling gold
16 My Lai massacre in Vietnam. American troops kill hundreds of civilians
17 Over 100,0000 demonstrate in London’s Grosvenor Square against the Vietnam War. More than 90
injured and 200 demonstrators arrested
18 The Congress of the United States repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency
22 Daniel Cohn-Bendit and 7 other students occupy administrative offices of the University of Nanterre
27 Soviet space pioneer Yuri Gagarin is killed in a training flight crash
28 A riot erupts in Memphis during a protest in support of striking cleaners led by Martin Luther King
31 US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-election

APRIL 4 Martin Luther King. is shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in
major American cities for several days afterward
11 Joseph Bachmann tries to assassinate Rudi Dutschke, leader of a left-wing student
movement in Germany. Students attack Springer Press HQ in Berlin
19 Secretary of the National Assembly in Czechoslovakia promises rehabilitation of political prisoners
and freedom of the press, assembly and religion
23 Student protesters at Columbia University take over buildings and shut down the university

MAY 3 First battle between students and police at Sorbonne, University of Paris
7 March of 50,000 students to the Arc de Triomphe
10 Night of the Barricades in Paris. Hundreds injured and arrested
13 Demonstration of one million workers and students in Paris
14 Occupation of factories begins at Sud-Aviation, Nantes
27 Second week of strike action, with 10 million workers involved
29 De Gaulle “disappears” as 500,000 demonstrate in Paris

JUNE 3 First returns to work take place
3 Radical feminist Valerie Solanas shoots and wounds Andy Warhol as he enters his studio
5 US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los
Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy dies from his injuries the next day
13 Several left-wing organisations banned in France
17 The UK imposes sanctions against Rhodesia
19 50,000 in Washington to support the Poor People’s Campaign
23 Elections in France lead to major successes for Gaullists
27 Czechoslovak parliament abolishes censorship and provides for rehabilitation of political prisoners

JULY 17 The Arab Baath Party  stages a bloodless coup in Iraq and gains control as the
Revolution Command Council

AUGUST 11 USSR announces new military manoeuvres along the Czechoslovak border
13 An assassination attempt is made against Col. Papadopoulos, the right-wing military
leader in Greece
20 Prague Spring ends as 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia
25 Seven dissidents protest in Red Square against the invasion
28 Beatles release Revolution

SEPTEMBER 27 France vetoes the UK entry into the Common Market

OCTOBER 2 A student demonstration ends in a bloodbath in Tlatelolco, Mexico City. Soldiers
kill 300 students prior to the start of the summer Olympics
5 A civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland, which included several Stormont and
British MPs, is attacked by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
16 In Mexico City, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two African-Americans athletes, raise their arms in a
black power salute after winning medals

NUVEMBER 3 300,000 march against Greek fascist junta as ex-premier Papandreou is buried
5 Richard M. Nixon defeats Hubert Humphrey to become US president

DECEMBER 22 Mao Zedong advocates educated youth in urban China to be re-educated in the
country
24 US spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon
a year that shook the world