Top News Stories from 1968
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade Nobel Peace Prize: René Cassin (France)
More World Statistics... - 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.).
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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).
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
More U.S. Statistics... - 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
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $910.6 billion
Federal spending: $178.13 billion
Federal debt $368.7 billion
Consumer Price Index: $34.8
Unemployment: 3.8%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.05 ($0.06 as of 1/7/68)
Sports
Super Bowl
Green Bay d. OaklandWorld Series
Detroit d. St. Louis Cardinals (4-3)NBA Championship
Boston d. LA LakersStanley Cup
Montreal d. St. LouisWimbledon
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 PassNCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. North CarolinaNCAA Football Champions
Ohio St. (10-0-0) 1968 Summer OlympicsEntertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes Music: Echoes of Time and the River, George Crumb
Academy Award, Best Picture: In the Heat of the Night, Walter Mirisch, producer (United Artists)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Yasunari Kawabata (Japan)
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)
More Entertainment Awards... 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
Physiology or Medicine: The Confessions of Nat Turner, William Styron
More Nobel Prizes in 1998... - 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.
