Information for the Year 1968

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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.).
  • Czechoslovakia is invaded by Russians and Warsaw Pact forces to crush liberal regime (Aug. 20).
  • Population:   3.556 billion
  • Nobel Peace Prize:  René Cassin (France)
  • 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.
  • President:  Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Vice President:   Hubert H. Humphrey
  • Population:   200,706,052
  • Life expectancy:  70.2 years
  • 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)
  • Super Bowl  Green Bay Packers defeated Oakland Raiders (SCORE 33-14)
  • World Series of Baseball  Detroit defeated St. Louis Cardinals
  • National Basketball Association Championship  Boston defeated Los Angeles Lakers
  • National Hockey League Stanley Cup  Montreal Canadians defeated St. Louis Blues
  • Women Wimbledon Tennis  Billie Jean King defeated J. Tegart (9-7 7-5)
  • Men Wimbledon Tennis  Rod Laver defeated T. Roche (6-3 6-4 6-2)
  • Kentucky Derby Horse Race Champion   Forward Pass
  • National College Athletic Association Basketball Championship  UCLA d. North Carolina (SCORE 78-55)
  • National College Athletic Association Football Champions  Ohio St. (RECORD 10-0-0)
  • 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City, Mexico
  • 1968 Winter Olympics held in Grenoble, France
  • 60 Minutes airs on CBS, beginning its reign as the longest-running prime-time news magazine.
  • The motion picture rating system debuts with G, PG, R.
  • Academy Award, Best Picture:  In the Heat of the Night
  • Grammy Award - Record of the Year   Up, Up and Away by the 5th Dimension
  • Emmy Award - Best Television Comedy  Get Smart - NBC
  • Miss America:   Debra Dene Barnes (Kansas)
  • JPrototype 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.
  • The largest reservoir of American petroleum north of Mexico is discovered in Alaska.
  • 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.

 

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