1968

Year 1968 () was a (link will display full calendar) of the.

January

 * - : is elected leader of the Communist Party in.
 * - records "".


 * - An in Sicily kills 231 and injures 262.
 * - calls for the non-conversion of US Dollar.
 * - At a conference on crime, singer and actress  denounces the  directly to President.
 * - A U.S. crashes in, discharging 4 s.
 * -  debuts on.
 * - seizes the , claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying.
 * - The i submarine  sinks in the Mediterranean Sea (69 dead).
 * - A French submarine sinks in the Mediterranean Sea with 50 men.
 * - : The begins, as  forces launch a series of surprise attacks across.
 * - soldiers attack the  Embassy in.
 * - 's president declares independence from.

February

 * - : A officer is executed by, a ese National Police Chief. The event is photographed by . The photo makes headlines around the world, eventually winning the 1969 , and sways U.S. public opinion against the war.
 * - The makes its maiden flight.
 * - : A protest staged at a white-only  in  is broken-up by highway patrolmen, leading to the deaths of 3 college students.
 * - Border clashes take place between and.
 * - Civil rights disturbances occur at the and the.
 * - Administrative reform in divides the country into 39.
 * - : The is halted -  recaptures.
 * - Ex- singer is found dead from a   in.

March

 * - : The begins.
 * - achieves independence from British Rule.
 * - U.S. President edges out antiwar candidate  in the, a vote which highlights the deep divisions in the country, as well as the party, over.
 * - leaks from the U.S. Army  near,.
 * -, British , resigns.
 * - : - American troops kill scores of civilians.
 * - U.S. Senator (D-NY) enters the race for the  presidential nomination.
 * - A demonstration in 's against U.S. involvement in the  leads to violence - 91 police injured, 200 demonstrators arrested.
 * - : The repeals the requirement for a  reserve to back U.S. currency.
 * - Daniel Cohn-Bendit and seven other students occupy Administrative offices of Nanterre, launching France into a state of revolution in the month of May.
 * - Russian space pioneer is killed in a training flight crash.
 * - U.S. President announces he will not seek re-election.

April

 * April -, the first  diver, becomes the first amputee certified to make diving missions, after a long battle which started with the accident which amputated his leg in.
 * - Bombs placed by and  explode at midnight in 2 department stores in ; they are later arrested and sentenced for.
 * - is assassinated at the  in .   Riots erupt in major American cities for several days afterward.
 * - : Apollo-Saturn mission 502 () is launched, as the second and last unmanned test-flight of the launch vehicle.
 * - La, la, la by Massiel (music and text by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa) wins the for.
 * - Double explosion rocks in downtown area. The explosion killed 41 people and injured more than 150.
 * - A shootout between and  police results in several arrests and deaths, including 17-year-old Panther.
 * - Racing driver is killed in a  race at.
 * - Joseph Bachmann tries to assassinate, leader of a left-wing movement in Germany, and tries to commit suicide afterwards, failing in both, although Dutschke dies of his brain injuries 11 years later.
 * - German left-wing students blockade the HQ in Berlin and many are arrested (one of them is ).
 * - U.S. President signs the.
 * - becomes 's 15th.
 * - English politician makes his controversial.
 * - The film  temporarily moves to, after a rights dispute between , which had previously telecast it, and . NBC will telecast the film until 1976. CBS telecasts of the film will resume that year, and will last until 1998, when will win the rights to telecast it.
 * - President releases captured  in.
 * - Surgeons at the Hôpital de la Pitié,, perform Europe's first heart transplant, on Clovis Roblain.
 * - - : Student protesters at in  take over administration buildings and shut down the university.  See main article 
 * - The musical  officially opens on.

May

 * May - "" is a symbol of the resistance of that generation. Agitations and strikes in Paris lead many youth to believe that a is starting. Student and worker strikes, sometimes referred to as the, nearly bring down the  government.
 * - The commences television broadcasts.
 * - An outbreak of severe thunderstorms produces tornadoes causing massive damage and heavy casualties in, , and.
 * - The enter the  offices in, , take dozens of selective service draft records, and burn them with  as a protest against the.
 * - are held in.
 * - The U.S. nuclear-powered  sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the.

June

 * - The grand opening of theme park in.
 * June 1 - dies in her  home, just 26 days before her 88th birthday.
 * -  shoots  as he enters his studio, wounding him.
 * - The index closes above 100 for the first time, closing at 100.38.
 * - U.S. presidential candidate is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in  by . Kennedy dies from his injuries the next day.
 * - is arrested for the murder of.
 * - Soccer: beats  2-0 in a replay to win the . The original final on  ended 1-1.
 * -, Member of Parliament (MP) at in , along with others, squats a house in  to protest discrimination in housing allocations.
 * - A stampede in  leaves 74 dead and 150 injured.
 * - Giorgio Rosa declares the independence of his, an artificial island off , . Italian troops demolish it not long after.

July

 * - The 's is officially established.
 * - Yachtsman, 59, receives a hero's welcome as he sails into , after his 354-day round-the-world trip.
 * - The  premieres on.
 * - becomes Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in  after a.
 * - - African-American militants led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans engage in a fierce gunfight with police in the of.
 * - publishes the  entitled , condemning .   Many American Catholics defy it.
 * - Vietnam War: ese opposition leader Truong Dinh Dzu is sentenced to 5 years, for advocating the formation of a as a way to move toward an end to the.
 * - erupts in  for the first time in centuries.

August

 * - - The in  nominates  for U.S. President and  for Vice President.
 * - The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A steam  makes the 120-mile journey from  to  and returns to Liverpool before being dispatched to the.
 * - The  of political liberalization ends, as 200,000 troops and 5,000 s invade.
 * - The is posthumously awarded to  &mdash; he is the first black  to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
 * - explodes its first hydrogen bomb, thus becoming the world's fifth nuclear power.
 * - - Police clash with antiwar protesters in, outside the , which nominates  for U.S. President, and  for Vice President.

September

 * - becomes independent.
 * - French General and 94 others die in a   jetliner crash near  in the.
 * - The D'Oliveira Affair: The tour of  is cancelled when the South Africans refuse to accept the presence of, a , in the side.
 * - becomes  of.
 * - A in  gives more power to the military junta.

October

 * - : A student demonstration ends in a bloodbath at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in, , , 10 days before the inauguration of the.
 * - An illegal civil rights march in, Northern Ireland, which included several Stormont and British MPs, is batoned off the streets by the.
 * - : -  and ese forces launch a new operation in the.
 * - : launches , the first manned Apollo mission .   Mission goals include the first live  broadcast from  and testing the  docking maneuver.
 * - In, a military coup d'etat, led by Col. Boris Martinez and Col. , overthrows the democratically-elected (but highly controversial) government of President . Within a year, Torrijos will have ousted Martinez and taken charge as de facto  in Panama.
 * - - The are held in,.
 * - receives its independence from.
 * - : The announces that the  and  will send about 24,000 troops back to  for involuntary second tours.
 * - In, and , 2 African-Americans competing in the Olympic 200-meter run, raise their arms in a   after winning the gold and bronze medals for 1st and 3rd place.
 * - is rocked by the, provoked by the banning of  from the country.
 * - and  marry on the Greek island of.
 * - : Citing progress in the peace talks, U.S. President  announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of " effective.

November

 * - :  challenger  defeats Vice President  and  candidate.
 * - is elected.
 * - : is initiated to interdict men and supplies on the, through  into . By the end of the operation, 3 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations.
 * - A second is declared in the.
 * - announces it is going co-educational.
 * - The is released by.
 * - : First Lieutenant and  helicopter pilot  rescues an Army  unit pinned down by  fire, earning a  for his bravery.

December

 * - publicly demonstrates his pioneering  system,, in.
 * - 's biggest heist, the still-unsolved "", occurs in.
 * - The film , based on the hit and  musical, opens in the  after being released first in . It will go on to win the  for.
 * - ian  decrees the  (or the fifth Institutional Act), which lasts until 1978 and marks the beginning of the hard times of.
 * - marries, the daughter of U.S. President-elect.
 * - advocates educated youth in urban  to be re-educated in the country. It marks the start of the "Up to the mountains and down to the villages" movement.
 * - : U.S. spacecraft  enters orbit around the . Astronauts, and  become the first humans to see the  of the  and planet  as a whole. The crew also.

Undated

 * abolishes capital punishment.
 * opens in.

Ongoing

 * (none)

Fictional
The following are references to year 1968 in fiction: (unknown).

January-February

 * -, American actor
 * -, Polish boxer
 * -, American film director and writer
 * -, American actress
 * -, American ist
 * -, Canadian footballer
 * -, American rapper and actor
 * -, American actor
 * -, American gymnast
 * -, American singer
 * -, Canadian singer
 * -, American actor
 * -, Korean actress


 * -, American singer
 * -, basketball player
 * -, baseball player
 * -, n player in the
 * -, American actor
 * -, Indonesian television newscaster
 * -, New Zealand/Australian actress
 * -, American actress and fromer fashion model
 * -, American model and television personality
 * - Nelson "" Frazier, Jr., American professional wrestler
 * -, British musician and frontman of 1990s' Britpop group
 * -, American actress, singer and dancer
 * -, American musician (d. )
 * -, American actress
 * -, French actress
 * -, Cypriot singer
 * -, baseball player

March-April

 * -, Indian weightlifter
 * -, American actress
 * -, British actor
 * -, British actress
 * -, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
 * -, American actress
 * -, American singer
 * -, British actor
 * -, Japanese singer
 * -, American musician
 * -, Japanese (voice actor)
 * -, Norwegian musician
 * -, English cricketer
 * -, English musician ( and )
 * -, American novelist
 * -, American musician
 * -, American musician
 * -, American author (d. )
 * -, English cricketer
 * -, New Zealand actress and singer
 * -, Canadian singer


 * -, German director
 * -, West Indian-born musician
 * -, American actress
 * -, American actor and singer
 * -, American model
 * -, English born Canadian actor
 * -, American actress
 * -, American television host
 * -, American terrorist (d. )

May-June

 * -, American musician
 * -, American actress
 * -, American porn star
 * -, French athlete
 * -, American skateboarder
 * -, Hong Kong actress
 * -, professional dressage rider
 * -, Filipino child actress and singer (d. )
 * -, baseball player
 * -, baseball player
 * -, Australian actress and singer
 * -, Australian actress and singer


 * -, Australian actor and singer
 * -, member of the from radio's 
 * -, English comedian and impressionist
 * -, Russian lawyer and
 * -, rapper
 * -, British singer
 * -, American actor
 * -, Russian mixed martial artist
 * -, Welsh footballer
 * -, American football player and commentator
 * -, British actor
 * -, Canadian hockey player
 * -, American musician

July-August

 * -, Japanese
 * -, American actress
 * -, American writer
 * -, Japanese (voice actor)
 * -, American actor
 * -, Algerian athlete
 * -, American actor
 * -, Producer.music.Art.
 * -, Indian field hockey player
 * -, American football player
 * -, actor and TV presenter
 * -, American comedian and radio personality (The Show)
 * -, Welsh actor
 * -, American soprano and actress
 * -, Australian actor
 * -, Polish racewalker


 * -, American musician
 * -, American baseball player (d.)
 * -, Scottish driver (d. )
 * -, American actress
 * -, Australian actor
 * -, Canadian ice hockey player
 * -, American guitarist, singer and songwriter
 * -, American actor
 * -, Northern Irish professional golfer
 * -, American actress
 * -, American football player
 * -, Belgian economist
 * -, American television chef and host

September-October

 * -, Egyptian terrorist
 * -, American actor
 * -, baseball player
 * -, French footballer
 * -, American musician
 * -, Japanese actor
 * -, Croatian basketball player
 * -, race car driver (d. )
 * -, British TV presenter
 * -, Canadian actress
 * -, English television presenter
 * -, American rapper and actor
 * -, American actor
 * -, English-born actress
 * -, American paranormal investigator and television personality.
 * -, Indian film and TV actor


 * -, English television presenter
 * -, British radio presenter
 * -, English footballer
 * -, British singer/songwriter
 * -, American rapper
 * -, Turkish rock music artist singer and songwriter.
 * -, Dutch mountainbiker
 * -, American actress
 * -, Australian actor
 * -, English footballer
 * -, French footballer
 * -, Finish singer
 * -, Jamaican musician and oldest son of
 * -, Jamaican singer
 * -, American comedian and radio writer for 
 * -, Japanese singer, music producer, and song composer
 * -, American rapper

November-December

 * -, Canadian actress
 * -, American, Anglican bishop
 * -, New Zealand cricketer
 * -, American actress
 * -, Dutch actress
 * -, Italian pianist
 * -, British singer
 * -, German-American photographer
 * -, Christian music singer and comedian
 * -, Dominican player
 * -, baseball player
 * -, American singer
 * -, American rapper (d. )
 * -, Northern Irish footballer and football manager
 * -, American actor
 * -, Creator of
 * -, Iranian scholar
 * -, Canadian actress
 * -, Canadian actress and talk show host
 * -, French actor
 * -, American singer


 * -, American actress
 * -, Korean-American actress and comedian
 * -, Australian player
 * -, baseball player
 * -, (WWE) commentator
 * -, American amateur and professional wrestler, Gold Medalist
 * -, Canadian race car driver
 * -, Australian actress

Unknown dates

 * , Irish artist
 * , a famous international classical pianist

January-March

 * -, The most famous wrestler in Iranian history (b. )
 * -, Canadian hockey player (b. )
 * -, American race car driver (b. )
 * -, American journalist (b. )
 * -, American swimmer (b. )
 * -, American newspaper publisher and aviation promoter (b. )
 * -, American business leader and philanthropist (b. )
 * -, American writer (b. )
 * -, American playwright (b. )
 * -, British director and writer (b. )
 * -, Australian-born pharmacologist, recipient of the (b. )
 * -, American cartoonist (b. )
 * -, American singer (b. )
 * -, Norwegian poet (b. )
 * -, Italian composer (b. )
 * March 16 -, American baseball pitcher (b.
 * -, American actor (b. )
 * -, American novelist and winner (b. )
 * -, cosmonaut (b. )

April-June

 * -, Russian physicist, laureate (b. )
 * - Rev., American civil rights activist, recipient of the (assassinated) (b. )
 * -, Scottish race car driver (b. )
 * -, Latvian politician (b. )
 * -, baseball player (b. )
 * -, American record executive (b. )
 * -, American athlete (b. )
 * - British race car driver (b. )
 * -, American poet, playwright, costume designer, and socialite (b. )
 * -, American actress (b. )
 * -, American admiral (b. )
 * -, American spokeswoman for deaf and blind (b. )
 * -, U.S. Senator and (assassinated) (b. )
 * -, Italian writer, laureate (b. )
 * -, baseball player (b. )
 * -, British comedian (b. )

July-December

 * -, Belgian physiologist, laureate (b. )
 * -, English scientist, recipient of the (b. )
 * -, German chemist, laureate (b. )
 * -, incumbent Premier of Queensland, Australia (b. )
 * -, Ukrainian-born physicist (b. )
 * - (b. )
 * -, American soldier and planner (b. )
 * -, American guitarist (b. )
 * -, Scottish golfer (b. )
 * -, French artist (b. )
 * -, American actress (b. )
 * -, American author and reporter (b. )
 * -, Mexican actor (b. )
 * -, Belarusian painter (b. )
 * -, American Anglican bishop (b. )
 * -, French conductor and violinist (b. )
 * -, American writer (b. )
 * -, German writer (b. )
 * -, Estonian artist (b. )
 * -, German Protestant theologian (b. )
 * -, American author (b. )
 * -, American actress (b. )
 * -, American politician (b. )
 * -, American writer, laureate (b. )
 * -, first (b. )
 * -, American animator (b. )
 * -, American musician (b. )
 * -, American musician (b. )

Unknown dates

 * , Czech animator (b. )
 * , American politician (b. )
 * , Indonesian rebel (b. )