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1968
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 3.556 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.).
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
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
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)
Sports
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)
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)
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)
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
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.
Deaths
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Marcel Duchamp
Helen Keller
Upton Sinclair
John Steinbeck
1969
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 3.631 billion
population by decade
Nobel Peace Prize:
International Labour Organization
Nixon begins "Vietnamization" in Southeast Asia. Background: Vietnam War
The United States, USSR, and about 100 other countries sign the nuclear nonproliferation treaty (NPT). Background: nuclear disarmament
Russian and Chinese troops clash along the Ussuri River.
27-year-old Colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi deposes King Idris of Libya and establishes a pro-Arabic, anti-Western, Islamic republic.
U.S. Events
U.S. Statistics
President: Richard M. Nixon
Vice President: Spiro T. Agnew
Population: 202,676,946
Life expectancy: 70.5 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 36.8
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 33.5
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 7.7
Richard M. Nixon is inaugurated 37th President of the US (Jan. 20).
Stonewall riot in New York City marks beginning of gay rights movement (June 28).
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy pleads guilty to leaving scene of fatal accident at Chappaquiddick, Mass. (July 18) in which Mary Jo Kopechne was drowned—gets two-month suspended sentence (July 25). Background: Timeline of Kennedy tragedies
Apollo 11 astronauts—Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., —take first walk on the Moon (July 20).
Economics
US GDP (1998 dollars): $982.2 billion
Federal spending: $183.64 billion
Federal debt: $365.8 billion
Median Household Income
(current dollars): $8,389
Consumer Price Index: 36.7
Unemployment: 3.6%
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.06
Sports
Super Bowl
NY Jets d. Baltimore (16-7)
World Series
NY Mets d. Baltimore (4-1)
NBA Championship
Boston d. LA Lakers (4-3)
Stanley Cup
Montreal d. St. Louis (4-0)
Wimbledon
Women: Ann Jones d. B.J. King (3-6 6-3 6-2)
Men: Rod Laver d. J. Newcombe (6-4 5-7 6-4 6-4)
Kentucky Derby Champion
Majestic Prince
NCAA Basketball Championship
UCLA d. Purdue (92-72)
NCAA Football Champions
Texas (11-0-0)
Entertainment
Entertainment Awards
Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: House Made of Dawn, N. Scott Momaday
Music: String Quartet No. 3, Karel Husa
Drama: The Great White Hope, Howard Sackler
Oscars awarded in 1969
Academy Award, Best Picture: Oliver!, John Woolf, producer (Columbia)
Nobel Prize for Literature: Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
Grammys awarded in 1969
Record of the Year: "Mrs. Robinson," Simon and Garfunkel
Album of the Year: By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Glen Campbell (Capitol)
Song of the Year: "Little Green Apples," Bobby Russell, songwriter
Miss America: Judith Anne Ford (IL)
Events
- In August, more than half a million people gather in the small, upstate New York town of Bethel (near Woodstock, N.Y.) for four days of rain, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Performers include Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jefferson Airplane and Sly and the Family Stone.
- A Rolling Stones fan is killed at the group's Altamont, California, concert by members of Hell's Angels.
- The FCC bans all cigarette advertising on television and radio.
- Children's Television Workshop introduces Sesame Street.
Movies
- Midnight Cowboy, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch, Easy Rider, Anne of the Thousand Days
Books
- Robert Coover, Pricksongs and Descants
- John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman
- Mario Puzo, The Godfather
- Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complaint
- Jean Stafford, Collected Stories
- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
Science
Nobel Prizes in Science
Chemistry: Derek H. R. Barton (UK) and Odd Hassel (Norway), for study of organic molecules
Physics: Murray Gell-Mann (US), for study of subatomic particles
Physiology or Medicine: Max Delbruck, Alfred D. Hershey, and Salvador E. Luria (all US), for study of mechanism of virus infection in living cells
- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the moon. Background: US Staffed Space Flights
- The first in vitro fertilization of a human egg is performed in Cambridge, England. Background: Birth & Contraception
- ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) goes online in December, connecting four major US universities. Designed for research, education, and government organizations, it is the foundation upon which the Internet will eventually be built. Background: Computers and Internet
- The scanning electron microscope is developed.
- The use of DDT is banned in residential areas.
Deaths
Dwight David Eisenhower
Joseph P. Kennedy
Jack Kerouac
