January 1968
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The following events occurred in January 1968:


January 1, 1968 (Monday)

*Ranked as the number one college football team in the United States, the
USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...
(9-1-0) faced the #4 ranked Indiana Hoosiers (9-1-0) in the Rose Bowl in
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...
; that evening, the
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...
in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
pitted the #2 and #3 teams against each other, as the second-ranked
Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...
(9-1-0) met the
Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...
(9-1-0). The format of #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3 would be used half a century later as the semi-finals for the NCAA Division I football championship game, but there were no playoffs in 1968, and USC, Indiana, Tennessee and Oklahoma were champions of their respective conferences. At the time, the Rose Bowl matched the Pac-8 and Big Ten, while the Orange Bowl featured the SEC and Big Eight. USC defeated Indiana, 14-3, on the strength of two touchdown runs by
O. J. Simpson Orenthal James Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed "Juice", is an American former football running back, actor, and broadcaster who played for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Once a popular figure ...
, and would retain its #1 ranking. Oklahoma blew a 19-0 halftime lead over Tennessee, but held off a furious Tennessee comeback which came down to an unsuccessful field goal attempt by West German-born kicker
Karl Kremser Karl Friedrich Kremser (born August 3, 1945) is a German American former football placekicker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and retired college soccer coach from Florida International University. He played ...
, and won the game, 26-24. USC and Oklahoma would not meet for a title game, but would be ranked first and second in the final sportswriters' and coaches' polls. *A new universal military service law went into effect in the Soviet Union, requiring all able-bodied men to report for duty on their 18th birthdays. High school graduates were required to serve for one year; men in the army or air force had to stay two years, and those in the navy or coast guard had three years required service. The new law replaced a 1939 law that required three years in the army or air force, and four years in the navy or coast guard. *
Cecil Day-Lewis Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis; 27 April 1904 – 22 May 1972), often written as C. Day-Lewis, was an Irish-born British poet and Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Bla ...
was named as the 19th
Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will writ ...
, replacing the late
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ''The Box of Delights'', and the poem ...
, who had died on May 12. *The Viet Cong kept up their record of breaking agreed ceasefires by killing 19 South Vietnamese troops during the 1968 New Year truce period in the Vietnam War. *Born: Davor Šuker Croatian soccer football player and sports executive; in
Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
,
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
*Died:
Donagh MacDonagh Donagh MacDonagh (22 November 1912 – 1 January 1968) was an Irish writer, judge, presenter, broadcaster, and playwright. Personal life MacDonagh was born in Dublin on St Cecilia's Day in 1912. He was still a young child when his father Th ...
, 55, Irish playwright


January 2, 1968 (Tuesday)

*The 36-hour ceasefire in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
expired at 0600 hours local time; during the New Year's Day truce, there were 64 major violations by the Viet Cong and
North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
(NVA). Later in the day, a
U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...
patrol at Khe Sanh killed a high-ranking NVA regimental commander and five other officers who had been inspecting the site, an indication of plans for a major attack. *Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the third human
heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common proce ...
in history, and the first that would be considered successful enough that the recipient was able to go home from the hospital.
Philip Blaiberg Philip Blaiberg (24 May 1909 – 17 August 1969) was a South African dentist and the third person to receive a heart transplant. McRae, D. (2007). ''Every Second Counts''. Berkley. On 2 January 1968, in Cape Town, Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed ...
, a 58-year old retired dentist living in
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, would leave the hospital after 73 days and would survive for another 17 months until his death on August 17, 1969. The donor was 24-year old Clive Haupt, who had died from a massive
cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
. *U.S. President
Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
signed the
Bilingual Education Act The Bilingual Education Act (BEA), also known as the Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1967, was the first United States federal legislation that recognized the needs of limited English speaking ability (LESA) s ...
into law. At the signing ceremony, Johnson said, "Thousands of children of Latin descent, young Indians, and others will get a better start— a better chance— in school... We are now giving every child in America a better chance to touch his outermost limits. We have begun a campaign to unlock the full potential of every boy and girl, regardless of his race, or his religion, or his father's income." * Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Jeanette and Barney Aaron were inducted into the ''Ring'' Magazine Hall of Fame; the International Boxing Hall of Fame would be founded in 1990. *Born:
Cuba Gooding, Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeare ...
, American film actor who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in ''Jerry Maguire''; in
Bronx, New York The Bronx () is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state, state of New York (state), New York. It is south of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County; north and east of the ...


January 3, 1968 (Wednesday)

*
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
began rationing gasoline for the first time since
Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
's regime had taken power nine years earlier. In a speech the night before on the anniversary of the revolution, Castro announced that car-owners would be allowed to purchase between eight and 25 gallons per month, depending on the horsepower of their vehicles. * U.S. Senator
Eugene J. McCarthy Eugene Joseph McCarthy (March 29, 1916December 10, 2005) was an American politician, writer, and academic from Minnesota. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the United States Senate from 1959 to 1971. ...
of Minnesota announced that he would directly challenge President Johnson for the Democratic Party nomination for President and arranged to have his name placed on the ballot for the New Hampshire primary. * The
Panton Chair The Panton Chair ( da, Pantonstolen) is an S-shaped plastic chair created by the Danish designer Verner Panton in the 1960s. The world's first moulded plastic chair, it is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Danish design. The chair was in ...
was introduced on the market for the first time by the Herman Miller Corporation.


January 4, 1968 (Thursday)

*An operation by the U.S. 4th Infantry Division in the Dak To area of South Vietnam captured a classified five-page North Vietnamese document, titled "Urgent Combat Order No. 1", that described the strategy for a series of attacks to take place in Pleiku in conjunction with the upcoming Tet holiday. *At a meeting with his cabinet, British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
first presented the proposal for the United Kingdom to withdraw from defending
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
by the end of March 1971. and to pull out its troops stationed east of the Suez Canal by the middle of 1972. *Following two shows at the Lorensberg Cirkus arena in
Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...
, singer
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
was arrested for vandalizing his room at the Opelan Hotel. Hendrix was kept in jail overnight, then released to continue his tour of Sweden. *Died:
Joseph Pholien Joseph Clovis Louis Marie Emmanuel Pholien (28 December 1884 – 4 January 1968) was a Belgian Catholic politician and member of the PSC-CVP. He was born in Liège, and volunteered to serve with the Belgian army during World War I, being commi ...
, 83,
Prime Minister of Belgium german: Premierminister von Belgien , insignia = State Coat of Arms of Belgium.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms , insigniaalt = , flag = Government ...
1950 to 1952


January 5, 1968 (Friday)

* Alexander Dubček was chosen as the leader of the ''Komunistická strana Československa'' (KSČ), the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, after the KSČ Central Committee voted to remove Antonín Novotný because of his ineffective leadership of the nation. Novotny was allowed to continue in his post as President of Czechoslovakia, though he would be removed from that job in March. Recommendations for the new First Secretary had been delegated by the Central Committee to a 21-member "Consultative Group" composed of representatives from regional party committees. On January 4, the group was divided with seven preferring Dubček, six in favor of Prime Minister
Jozef Lenárt Jozef Lenárt (3 April 1923 – 11 February 2004) was a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from 1963 to 1968. Life and career Born in Liptovská Porúbka, Slovakia, he graduated from a chemistry high school and worke ...
, and four apiece for Deputy Premier
Oldřich Černík Oldřich Černík (October 27, 1921 – October 19, 1994) was a Czechoslovak Communist political figure. He was the prime minister of Czechoslovakia from April 8, 1968, to January 28, 1970. A party official and well-known technocrat, Černík ...
and National Assembly Chairman Bohuslav Lastovička. The choice was narrowed down on Friday morning to Dubček or Lenárt, and the Consultative Group selected Dubček by "a decisive majority" of the 21 members. *Romanian First Deputy Foreign Minister Macovescu met with U.S. Ambassador
W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...
to provide a message from top officials in Hanoi, with whom he had just visited. Macovescu provided the clearest indication yet that Hanoi would be willing to open negotiations with the United States if the bombing of North Vietnam was suspended; however, Hanoi did not provide any promises regarding not taking advantage of the bombing pause such as increasing infiltration of men and material into South Vietnam or an all-out invasion across the DMZ. *Born: ** Carrie Ann Inaba, dancer and television host, in
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
** Tom Holland, British author, in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...


January 6, 1968 (Saturday)

*In
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, President
Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
agreed to the petition by the nation's
Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
Society to phasing out the use of Chinese that were taught in schools and which were published in conjunction with the Korean alphabet (''hangul''), with Korean replacements for the Chinese symbols. Instructions would follow on October 25, reducing the number of Chinese words to 2,000 by year's end, 1,300 by the end of 1969, and eliminated altogether by the end of 1972. *The Agartala Conspiracy Case arose with the indictment and arrest of 35 people in
East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
who were charged with plotting the
secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
of the eastern part of Pakistan from the rest of the nation. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, named as the leader of the plot, was charged with traveling to the Indian city of
Agartala Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located on ...
to meet with P. N. Ojha, India's representative to the East, in hopes of military support. East Pakistan, whose residents primarily spoke
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, comprised more than half of Pakistan's population, but only 10 percent of its government officials, the West Pakistan residents who primarily spoke
Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''
Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, with Sheikh Mujib as its first President. *All 45 people on board an Aeroflot An-24B airliner were killed when the plane exploded in midair while flying from Olyokminsk to
Lensk Lensk ( rus, Ленск, p=lʲɛnsk; sah, Лиэнскэй, ''Lienskey'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Lensky District, Sakha Republic, Lensky District of the Sakha Republic, Russia. As of ...
. *A 27-person team of surgeons at the Transvaal Memorial Hospital for Children (located in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
) successfully completed the separation of conjoined twins, Catherine O'Hare and Shirely O'Hare, who had been joined at the head. Two previous attempts to separate twins conjoined at the head had ended with only one of the twins surviving. * The collision of an express train and a truck stalled on the tracks killed 13 people in England, all of them passengers on the train. The truck driver and his-coworker were uninjured. At Hixon, a village in
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
the truck was slowly hauling a 125-ton electrical
transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
over the crossing when the
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
to London southbound express train arrived with 500 people on board. The crossing gates lowered automatically, preventing the truck from completing its move off of the crossing, and the locomotive and eight cars derailed. *
Norman Shumway Norman Edward Shumway (February 9, 1923 – February 10, 2006) was a pioneer of heart surgery at Stanford University. He was the 67th president of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and the first to perform an adult human to human ...
performed the first successful heart transplant in the United States, operating at the
Stanford University Hospital Stanford University Medical Center is a medical complex which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States and serves as a teaching hospital for the S ...
in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. The donor was a 43-year-old woman, Virginia May White, who had suffered a
cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...
while celebrating her 22nd wedding anniversary; the recipient was Mike Casparak, a 54-year-old steelworker dying of
viral myocarditis Myocarditis, also known as inflammatory cardiomyopathy, is an acquired cardiomyopathy due to inflammation of the heart muscle. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain, decreased ability to exercise, and an irregular heartbeat. The ...
. Casparak survived only 15 days, dying on January 21 from liver failure. *According to the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', a group of "more than 200"
Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...
students marched to and demonstrated in front of NBC's studios in
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
as part of what appeared to be a grassroots campaign, actually orchestrated by
Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...
, to get the network to renew ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' for a third season. *Born:
John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...
, African-American director (''Boyz N The Hood''), in Los Angeles (d. 2019) *Died: Karl Kobelt, 76, President of Switzerland in 1946 and 1952 in the course of his membership in the Swiss Federal Council from 1940 to 1954


January 7, 1968 (Sunday)

*Forty-three passengers on a bus in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
were killed near
Jinju Jinju () is a city in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It was the location of the first (1592) and second (1593) Sieges of Jinju by Japanese forces during the Imjin War. The Republic of Korea Air Force Education and Training Command is ...
when their bus lost one of its front wheels, went out of control, fell over a high cliff and sank in the Nam River. *'' Surveyor 7'', the last of the ''Surveyor'' lunar probes launched by the United States, was sent up from Cape Kennedy at 0630 UTC (1:30 in the morning). It would land on the Moon on January 10. *The price of mailing a letter in the United States increased by 20%, requiring six cents of postage to replace the five-cent postage stamp. The increase went into effect exactly five years after the 1963 increase from four cents to five. *Born: James Brokenshire, British MP and
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
; in
Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
(d. 2021) *Died: ** Hugo Butler, 53, blacklisted Canadian-born screenwriter **
Ephraim Longworth Ephraim Longworth (2 October 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an England international footballer for Liverpool in the early part of the twentieth century. He was one of Liverpool's all-time greats, and was Liverpool's first ever England captain. ...
, 80, English soccer football star who played for Liverpool F.C. from 1910 to 1928 **
Mario Roatta Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which assisted Francisco Franco's force during the Spanish Civil War. He was the Deputy Chief of ...
, 80, former Chief of Staff of the Italian Army during World War II, died two years after his return from a post-war exile in Spain.


January 8, 1968 (Monday)

*All 41 U.S. personnel aboard a Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter were killed in the worst helicopter accident of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. The U.S. Marine Corps aircraft had a five-man crew and was transporting 31 Marines, three Navy men, one from the Army and one civilian and was on flying southward from Dong Ha, near the DMZ, to Phu Bai in bad weather. The CH-53 was found four days later, and had apparently slammed into the side of a steep mountain peak. * Pierre Guillard, a mentally ill French man, gouged several holes with a knife in Rubens' ''
The Virgin and Child Surrounded by the Holy Innocents ''The Virgin and Child surrounded by the Holy Innocents'' or ''The Virgin and Child with Angels'' is a 1616 oil painting by Peter Paul Rubens, showing the Virgin and Christ Child with the Holy Innocents. It was originally produced as oil on pane ...
'' at
The Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
. *Italy and
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
signed a treaty setting their nation's respective boundaries in the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
. * A collision between two Boston subway trains injured 61 people, but there were no fatalities. * Otis Redding's single "
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Th ...
" was released, less than a month after the plane crash that claimed his life. * '' The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau'' made its debut on the ABC television network in the United States. *Died:
Gholamreza Takhti Gholamreza Takhti ( fa, غلامرضا تختی, August 27, 1930 – January 7, 1968) was an Iranian Olympic Gold-Medalist wrestler and Varzesh-e Bastani (''Persian Traditional Sport'') practitioner.Houchang E. Chehabi, TAḴTI, Ḡolām-Re ...
, 37, popular athlete wrestler who won a gold medal for Iran in the 1956 Summer Olympics, was found dead in his hotel room of an overdose of sleeping pills; officially, the death was a suicide but many of Takhti's fans thought he had been murdered.


January 9, 1968 (Tuesday)

*In Australia, a Liberal Party leadership election was held to elect a successor to the late Prime Minister
Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in S ...
, who had drowned on December 17. Initially, there were four candidates for the leadership of the party, which was tantamount to the prime ministership: John Gorton,
Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, (1 April 1905 – 9 January 1993) was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding min ...
, Les Bury, and
Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, (31 December 1926 – 27 June 1987) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party from 1972 to 1975. He was also a cabinet minister from 1964 to 1972, and Speaker of the House of Represe ...
. No candidate received a majority, but Bury and Snedden received the fewest votes and were eliminated from consideration. On the second ballot, Gorton won an absolute majority over Hasluck; he was sworn in as prime minister the following day. *Three nations—
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
,
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
and
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
— that were members of both
OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...
and the
Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...
formed the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (
OAPEC The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) is a multi-governmental organization headquartered in Kuwait which coordinates energy policies among oil-producing Arab nations. OAPEC's primary objective is safeguarding the cooperati ...
). *Renovated and refit after being purchased from the United Kingdom, the
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i submarine INS ''Dakar'' departed from Portsmouth Harbour on its first voyage for the
Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...
. All contact with the sub would be lost 15 days later. *For the first time since 1955, the weather stopped the clocks in the tower that houses
Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...
in London. Snow drifts and intense cold caused the clocks' hands to stop at 6:28 a.m.; maintenance crews were able to restart the clock nearly four hours later, at 10:10. *The
National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...
(NFLPA) formally established itself as an independent labor union; the players would strike 6 months later, leading to the league's first collective bargaining agreement. *The
United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
confiscated $4.1 million in counterfeit money at
John F. Kennedy Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...
, at the time the largest seizure in history. *U.S. President Lyndon Johnson polled ahead of
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
, the favored candidate for the Republican nomination, in two national surveys, including one by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''. The poll indicated that if the November 1968 election was held in January, the incumbent President would defeat any of the four most prominent possibilities for Republican nomination, specifically Richard Nixon, George W. Romney,
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
and
Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
. *
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
budgetary restraints required an additional cut in Apollo Applications Program (AAP) launches. The reduced program called for three
Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, ...
and three
Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...
launches, including one
Workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...
launched on a Saturn IB, one Saturn V Workshop, and one Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). Two lunar missions were planned. Launch of the first Workshop would be in April 1970.
Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...
(MSFC) awarded
Perkin-Elmer Corporation PerkinElmer, Inc., previously styled Perkin-Elmer, is an American global corporation focused in the business areas of diagnostics, life science research, food, environmental and industrial testing. Its capabilities include detection, imaging, inf ...
a contract to develop the telescopes for the ATM. *At 7:05 p.m in
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
(0105 UTC on January 10), NASA Mission Control successfully landed '' Surveyor 7'' on the Moon, north of the Tycho crater. *Born:
Joey Lauren Adams Joey Lauren Adams (born January 9, 1968) is an American actress and director. Adams starred in ''Chasing Amy'', for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and played smaller role ...
, American actress (''Dazed and Confused'', ''Chasing Amy''); in North Little Rock, Arkansas *Died: Kōkichi Tsuburaya, 27, Japanese marathon runner and bronze medalist in the 1964 Summer Olympics, committed suicide after concluding that his back problems would prevent him from being on the Olympic team in 1968. In a suicide note he wrote, "I'm too tired and I can't run any more."


January 10, 1968 (Wednesday)

*India rescinded its approval of the Tashkent Declaration that had been signed with Pakistan exactly two years earlier (January 10, 1966) as tensions escalated between the neighboring nations. *Fifteen U.S. battalions in
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
were relocated from the border with North Vietnam, and ordered moved by General
William C. Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from ...
to new positions around
Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
and other major cities. While the U.S. would benefit from the decision later in the month, it "failed to anticipate the timing and, more particularly, scale and character" of the full-scale attack in the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
. *The British submarine was ensnared in the nets of a fishing boat, immobilizing both vessels traveling in the
Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
off the west coast of France. The French trawler ''Formalhaut'' was dragging its nets deep in the bay when it hit something that brought it to a halt. Ninety feet below the surface, the ''Grampus'' would not maneuver. Complicating matters, nobody on the ''Formalhaut'' spoke English and nobody on the ''Grampus'' spoke French. After a few hours, the trawling cable was cut and the ''Grampus'' sailed onward, "with her
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
still draped with nets", to continue in a scheduled naval exercise. *Born: ** Zoe Tay, Singaporean actress, as Tay Hui Gek in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
** Lyle Menéndez, American murderer, in Woodbury, New Jersey *Died:
Eben Dönges Theophilus Ebenhaezer Dönges (8 March 1898 – 10 January 1968) was a South African politician who was elected the state president of South Africa, but died before he could take office, aged 69. Early life Eben Donges was born on 8 March 189 ...
, 69, South African President-elect and former Prime Minister. On June 1, Dönges had been elected to the honorary post of
State President The State President of the Republic of South Africa ( af, Staatspresident) was the head of state of South Africa from 1961 to 1994. The office was established when the country became a republic on 31 May 1961, albeit, outside the Commonweal ...
, but had suffered a stroke before he could take office and fell into a coma from which he never awoke.


January 11, 1968 (Thursday)

*The government of
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
expropriated Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
838 acres of former Jordanian land in
East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
in order to restore the city's Jewish Quarter. *In
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
, the International Red Cross announced that
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
had agreed to conditions for releasing the prisoners of war who had been captured in June during the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
. At the time, there were 4,000 Egyptian POWs and only 20 Israeli ones to be exchanged, in that agreements had already been worked out with Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The transfers took place between Ismailia on the west side of the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, and El Qantara on the east side, controlled by Israel's occupation forces. * S. T. Muna was appointed as the new Prime Minister of West Cameroon, while S. P. Tchoungui continued as the Prime Minister of a reorganized East Cameroon, both under the direction of
Ahmadou Ahidjo Ahmadou Babatoura Ahidjo (24 August 192430 November 1989) was a Cameroonian politician who was the first List of Presidents of Cameroon, President of Cameroon, holding the office from 1960 until 1982. Ahidjo played a major role in Cameroon's inde ...
, the President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon. In 1972, the offices of Muna and Tchoungui would be abolished. *British Foreign Secretary
George Brown George Brown may refer to: Arts and entertainment * George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter * George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist * George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor * G ...
met with his American counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, to tell him that Britain's economic problems had led it to a decision to no longer police the Middle East or Southeast Asia. In a meeting that Brown would refer to as "bloody unpleasant", Rusk reportedly said, "Be British, George, be British. How can you betray us?"., although the official U.S. State Department transcript of the conversation does not record this remark. *The U.S. Navy electronic surveillance ship was dispatched from the port of
Sasebo, Nagasaki is a Core cities of Japan, core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population de ...
toward
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
for a 17-day mission to collect intelligence.Matthew M. Aid, ''The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency'' (Bloomsbury, 2010) p. 141 *Died: **
Rezső Seress Rezső Seress (Hungarian: ''Seress Rezső,'' ; 3 November 1889 – 12 January 1968) was a Hungarian pianist and composer. Some sources give his birth name as Rudolf ("Rudi") Spitzer. Biography Rezső Seress lived most of his life in povert ...
, 68, Hungarian composer whose 1933 song " Gloomy Sunday", was blamed for multiple suicides, killed himself in Budapest. **
Marcello Pirani Marcello Stefano Pirani (July 1, 1880 – January 11, 1968) was a German physicist known for his invention of the Pirani vacuum gauge, a vacuum gauge based on the principle of heat loss measurement. Throughout his career, he worked on advancing l ...
, 87, German-born physicist ** Moshe Zvi Segal, 81, Israeli rabbi and Talmudic scholar


January 12, 1968 (Friday)

*The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (A T & T), which controlled all but a few of the telephones in the United States, announced plans to provide a universal
emergency telephone number Most public switched telephone networks have a single emergency telephone number (sometimes known as the universal emergency telephone number or the emergency services number) that allows a caller to contact local emergency services for assista ...
that could be dialed quickly from any telephone in the country, and said that it would allocate $50,000,000 to install the routing equipment in American cities over a period of several years, starting with the exchanges in New York City and Washington, D.C. According to A T & T, a computer search found that the number most likely to have no conflict with an existing area code or exchange, and to also meet the requirement of not being misdialed from a rotary phone, was
9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...
. *Norman M. Yoder, an official within the
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services is a cabinet-level state agency in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services' seven program offices administer services that provide care and support to Pennsylvania's most vulnerable ...
and commissioner of the state's office that offered services to the blind and visually impaired, told the Associated Press that six college students, all of them men and "all juniors at a western Pennsylvania college" which he declined to identify, had permanently lost their eyesight after taking the hallucinogen LSD and staring at the Sun, not realizing what they were doing. Skeptical reporters began investigating, starting with calls to the state's colleges, Pennsylvania Governor
Raymond P. Shafer Raymond Philip Shafer (March 5, 1917 – December 12, 2006) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 39th governor of Pennsylvania from 1967 to 1971. Prior to that, he served as the 23rd lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from ...
ordered his Attorney General to make an inquiry and Yoder confessed that he had made the story up. *The trial of four Soviet writers ended with verdicts of being guilty of subversion, and sentences ranging from one to seven years. Poet Yuri Galanskov received the longest term after being convicted of sedition for working with the anti-Communist organization Narodno-Trudovoy Soyuz (NTS, the "People's Labor Union"), and author Alexander Ginzburg got five years. Vera Lashkova was sentenced to one year incarceration, but was given credit for nearly a year of detention. Alexei Dobrovolsky got a reduced two-year sentence in exchange for testifying against Galanskov and Ginzburg. *
Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
released all five members of the South African Police who had been held in the jail in
Livingstone Livingstone may refer to: * Livingstone (name), a Scottish surname and a given name. **David Livingstone (1813–1873), Scottish physician, missionary and explorer, after whom many other Livingstones are named Places *Livingstone Falls, on the Con ...
since December 27. The five men had driven across the
Victoria Falls Bridge The Victoria Falls Bridge crosses the Zambezi River just below the Victoria Falls and is built over the Second Gorge of the falls. As the river forms the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, the bridge links the two countries and has border post ...
from
Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
into
Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...
, then ignored an order by border police to stop, and were "given a taste of the local gaol" before being deported. The release followed an apology by South Africa's foreign minister,
Hilgard Muller Hilgard Muller, (4 May 1914 – 10 July 1985) was a South African politician of the National Party, Mayor of Pretoria in 1953–1955, elected an MP in 1958, appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs after the resignation of Eric Louw i ...
, to Zambia's President Kenneth Kaunda. *The
Kampuchean Revolutionary Army The Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea ( km, កងទ័ពរំដោះកម្ពុជា, RAK) were the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea. History During the Democratic Kampuchea days, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF ...
, which would carry out a genocide program in
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
between 1975 and 1979, was established by the orders of
Pol Pot Pol Pot; (born Saloth Sâr;; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian revolutionary, dictator, and politician who ruled Cambodia as Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea between 1976 and 1979. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist a ...
, the leader of the southeast Asian nation's Communist party, the CPK. *Born: **
Keith Anderson Keith Anderson (born January 12, 1968) is an American country music artist. Before signing to a record deal, Anderson was one of several co-writers on "Beer Run (B Double E Double R-U-N)", a duet by Garth Brooks and George Jones, released in lat ...
, American country music singer, in
Miami, Oklahoma Miami ( ) is a city in and county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom. This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capital of ...
**
Christopher Gartin Christopher Russell Gartin (born January 12, 1977, in New York City, New York) is an American actor and producer, known for '' Black Swan'' (2010), '' Tremors 2: Aftershocks'' (1996) and '' Transcendence'' (2014). He was previously married to Jo ...
, American actor and producer; in New York City, New York **
Rachael Harris Rachael Elaine Harris (born January 12, 1968) is an American actress and comedian. She is known for her numerous acting roles, such as starring as Dr. Linda Martin in ''Lucifer'', her role in the ''Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series, and as a gu ...
, American actress who portrayed the mother in the '' Diary of a Wimpy Kid'' film series; in
Worthington, Ohio Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus. The population in the 2020 Census was 14,786. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to ...


January 13, 1968 (Saturday)

*
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
performed his historic concert at the
Folsom State Prison Folsom State Prison (FSP) is a California State Prison in Folsom, California, U.S., approximately northeast of the state capital of Sacramento. It is one of 34 adult institutions operated by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabi ...
in California, selected by his manager because of Cash's 1955 hit song " Folsom Prison Blues". The concert was not the first that Cash had performed at a penal institution, nor was Cash the only artist to appear that day (the
Statler Brothers The Statler Brothers (sometimes simply referred to as The Statlers) were an American country music, gospel, and vocal group. The quartet was formed in 1955 performing locally, and from 1964 to 1972, they sang as opening act and backup singers fo ...
,
Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...
, The Carter Family, and
The Tennessee Three The Tennessee Three was the backing band for singer Johnny Cash for nearly 25 years; he was known especially for his country/rockabilly style, although he won awards in numerous categories. In 1980, he reorganized the group, expanding it and namin ...
were also present), but it was the first time that Cash had recorded a live album inside a prison. ''
Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison ''Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison'' is the first live album by American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records on May 6, 1968. After his 1955 song "Folsom Prison Blues", Cash had been interested in recording a performance at a p ...
'' would become the number one country music album in the United States after going on sale in May. * Bill Masterton, a center for the Minnesota North Stars of the National Hockey League, was fatally injured during a game against the Oakland Seals when he received a body check by two defenders while skating toward the Oakland goal with the puck. The incident happened in the early minutes of the game in front of a crowd of 12,119 spectators; after Masterton was taken from the rink and blood cleaned from the ice, play continued in a game that would end in a 2-2 tie. Masterton (who was known for scoring the North Stars' very first goal when the team began play on October 11, 1967) would die 30 hours later from brain hemorrhaging caused by severe head trauma. * Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), a multinational naval force with ships from the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States, was activated for the first time, with a base at England's
Portland Harbour Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest man-made harbour in the world, and rema ...
. Within six months, Canada,
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and Portugal would each contribute ships and crews as well. *U.S. Ambassador to Saigon Ellsworth Bunker provided U.S. President Lyndon Johnson with his review of the areas of progress in Vietnam during 1967. *Born: Pat Onstad, Canadian soccer goalkeeper and national team member; in Vancouver


January 14, 1968 (Sunday)

*The Green Bay Packers defeated the Oakland Raiders, 33-14 in Super Bowl II before 75,546 fans at the Orange Bowl in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. Vince Lombardi retired as the Packers head coach after the event, which was still referred to officially as the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. *The Battle of Nam Bac, between the Royal Lao Armed Forces, Royal Armed Forces of Laos and attackers from the
North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
and the Communist Pathet Lao group, ended with the 3,000 remaining Nam Bac defenders being killed or captured. *Born: LL Cool J, American rapper and actor, as James Todd Smith in Bay Shore, New York


January 15, 1968 (Monday)

* An 1968 Belice earthquake, earthquake in Sicily, known in Italy as ''Il Terremoto del Belice'', killed 380 people and injured around 1,000. Occurring in the valley along the Belice River, the 6.4 magnitude quake struck at 2:01 in the morning and destroyed the villages of Gibellina, Montevago and Salaparuta, and causing heavy damage to Santa Margherita di Belice, Poggioreale, Santa Ninfa and Salemi. *In Belgium, the campus of the Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968), Catholic University of Leuven erupted in violence that spilled into the city of Leuven, after the clergy administering the 440-year-old institution announced that they would continue to hold classes in French (spoken by the Walloons, Walloon minority in the school) in addition to Flemish Dutch language. Hundreds of students were arrested, and the revolt would spread to other universities and towns in the northern part of the kingdom, leading to the resignation of the Belgian government on February 7. At the end of the spring semester, the university would split into two institutions, with the Flemish-speaking students and professors continuing at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and the opening of a new campus away at Louvain-la-Neuve for the French-speaking ''Université Catholique de Louvain''.Gerd-Rainer Horn, ''The Spirit of '68: Rebellion in Western Europe and North America, 1956–1976'' (Oxford University Press, 2007) pp73-74 * ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' aired its final episode, the second part of a two-parter ''The Seven Wonders of the World Affair''
imdb.com
*Born: Chad Lowe, American TV actor; in Dayton, Ohio *Died: Bill Masterton, 29, Canadian ice hockey player, became the first and only NHL player to die of injuries received in a game. The league now awards the Masterton Trophy annually to the player "who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey".


January 16, 1968 (Tuesday)

*A team of 31 armed guerrillas from
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
crossed the 38th parallel north, 38th parallel into
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
on a mission to attack the Blue House, the residence of the President of South Korea. *
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
's President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. Army commander
William C. Westmoreland William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army general, most notably commander of United States forces during the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1968. He served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from ...
met at Thiệu's office and decided that they would end the scheduled Tet holiday truce with North Vietnam, four days ahead of schedule, though the announcement of the decision would not be made until January 30. According to the memoirs of a North Vietnamese spy who had infiltrated the Thiệu offices, North Vietnam's military leaders decided to move the date of the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
from February 5 to January 31. *British Prime Minister Harold Wilson addressed the House of Commons and announced his government's decision to remove its military presence from the Persian Gulf and from all of Asia (with the exception of Hong Kong) by January 31, 1971. The reaction from those who remembered the height of the British Empire varied; an editorial in the ''New Statesman'' said of the decision, "It is comparable in importance to Mr Attlee's granting of Indian independence and the Tory government's evacuation of British Africa", while others pointed out that the cost of keeping a British presence in the Persian Gulf, "some £12 million yearly, was negligible compared to the immense revenues in oil." *Urho Kekkonen won 1968 Finnish presidential election, re-election to a third term as President of Finland, receiving the votes of his own Centre Party, as well as those of the Finnish People's Democratic League and the Social Democratic Party, for 201 of the 300 electoral votes. Two rival candidates (Matti Virkkunen of the National Coalition Party and Veikko Vennamo of the Finnish Rural Party) got 66 and 33 electoral votes apiece. Kekkonen won 56% of the popular votes (1,152,700 of 2,049,002). * ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', based on the The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (novel), novel by Muriel Spark, premiered on Broadway; the lead actress Zoe Caldwell would win a Tony for her role as the title character. *Born: **Stephan Pastis, American cartoonist known for the comic strip ''Pearls Before Swine (comics), Pearls Before Swine''; in San Marino, California **Atticus Ross, Oscar-winning film composer (''The Social Network''), in London *Died: Bob Jones Sr., American evangelist and religious broadcaster who founded Bob Jones University


January 17, 1968 (Wednesday)

*Auto manufacturers British Motor Holdings and Leyland Motor Corporation announced their merger to become British Leyland. The new entity became the largest car company in the United Kingdom and the sixth largest in the world (after General Motors, Ford Motor, Chrysler, Fiat, and Volkswagen). Models under the British Leyland umbrella included Jaguar, MG, Triumph, and Land Rover. *The
Kampuchean Revolutionary Army The Revolutionary Army of Kampuchea ( km, កងទ័ពរំដោះកម្ពុជា, RAK) were the Armed Forces of Democratic Kampuchea. History During the Democratic Kampuchea days, the 68,000-member Khmer Rouge-dominated CPNLAF ...
launched its first attack, with three Khmer Rouge guerrillas storming a police post at Bay Damram in
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...
's Battambang Province to steal weapons. Getting away with several guns, the men had overlooked getting ammunition; when they came back a second time to get it, they got the wrong ammunition. The next day, the uprising saw the seizure of weapons in other villages and the killing of three policemen in ambushes, followed by a deadly attack a week later at a guard post in Thvak; the Kampuchean revolutionaries would take control of Cambodia seven years later and begin a reign of terror. *Born: Svetlana Masterkova, Russian athlete and holder, since 1996, of the women's world record for fastest mile (4 minutes, 12.56 seconds) and kilometer (2:28.98), as well as winner of the 800m and 1500m races in the 1996 Olympics; in Achinsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union


January 18, 1968 (Thursday)

*Singer and actress Eartha Kitt was a guest at the White House at a luncheon hosted by Lady Bird Johnson to honor a group of "Women Doers", influential women invited by the First Lady to talk about specific issues. When President Johnson entered the dining room, Kitt asked him what appeared to be a routine question about "delinquent parents", and didn't like the answer that she had been given. Although Kitt didn't vent her anger on the President himself, her confrontation with the First Lady about the Vietnam War became an embarrassing incident. "I have a baby and then you send him off to war", Kitt reportedly said, "No wonder the kids rebel and take pot. And, Mrs. Johnson, in case you don't understand the lingo, that's marijuana!" Afterward, Kitt would experience "a slow decline in her career". Two days later in a telephone call Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley, Richard Daley expressed his support for Ladybird and revealed that a 500 strong woman's group in Chicago had declared their support for Ladybird in the incident including a lady whose 20-year-old son had recently died in Vietnam. Hanoi immediately used Kitt's outburst for their own propaganda purposes. *The first Red Lobster seafood restaurant was opened, with a single location at 1330 East Memorial Boulevard in Lakeland, Florida, operated by Bill Darden and Charley Woodsby."Red Lobster turns 50: Celebrate with Cheddar Bay Biscuits and a year of free food"
www.today.com
"9 Things You Didn’t Know About Red Lobster"
TheDailyMeal.com
Fifty years later, the company would have more than 700 Red Lobster restaurants in 11 countries. Darden had started his first restaurant, "The Green Frog", in Waycross, Georgia, in 1939. *King Hussein of Jordan alerted U.S. State Department officials about a serious threat by Arab terrorists to assassinate Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. Hussein had learned of the plot while on a visit to Saudi Arabia. *Born: David Ayer, American film director (''Fury'', ''Suicide Squad'') and writer (''Training Day''); in Champaign, Illinois *Died: Bert Wheeler, 72, American comedian who was part of the vaudeville act of Wheeler & Woolsey until Robert Woolsey's death in 1938


January 19, 1968 (Friday)

*Operation Crosstie, "Project Faultless", an experiment to see if an earthquake could be triggered by detonating an underground nuclear weapon along a fault (geology), fault line. After the residents of the closest towns to the Central Nevada Test Site (Tonopah, Nevada, Tonopah and Eureka, Nevada) were briefed about what to expect, an atomic bomb was detonated in Nye County, Nevada, Nye County at a depth of . The blast, described by the Atomic Energy Commission as being one megaton, was believed to be the most powerful nuclear weapon ever exploded in the United States, and caused upheavals and dropping of the ground in a wide area, breaking windows away at a high school in Ely, Nevada, Ely. Because of the surface damage, the test site would eventually be declared unsuitable. According to reports the next day, "Buildings swayed in Salt Lake City and San Francisco", particularly in the Southern Pacific building in the California city; the tremor caused by the blast was estimated by the University of California at Berkeley to be 6.0 on the Richter scale. *U.S. President Johnson completed the installation of a tape recording system in the Cabinet Room (White House), Cabinet Room of the White House to preserve his discussions of meetings with the leaders of government departments that comprised the Cabinet of the United States, presidential cabinet and with other advisers. Roughly 200 hours worth of recordings would be delivered to the Johnson presidential library after Johnson's death in 1973. Despite Johnson's own wish that the recordings be sealed for 50 years after his passing (until January 22, 2023), most were released after 1992. *Thousands of people protested in Japan as the American aircraft carrier made the first visit to that nation by a nuclear-powered ship, docking at the United States Fleet Activities Sasebo, U.S. Navy base at Sasebo, Nagasaki, Sasebo. The port was about from Nagasaki, which on August 9, 1945, had seen the second and last site of nuclear warfare. Permission had been granted by Prime Minister Eisaku Satō, who had made the decision without consultation with his Foreign Minister or with any other members of his cabinet. *Born: Matt Hill, Canadian voice actor known for portraying "Ed" on ''Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy''; in North Vancouver (city), North Vancouver, British Columbia *Died: Ray Harroun, 89, American race car driver who, in 1911, won the very first Indianapolis 500


January 20, 1968 (Saturday)

*North Vietnam once again denied the Red Cross access to U.S. prisoners who were being held in Hanoi in an attempt to conceal the torture tactics they were utilizing in violation of international law. *In South Vietnam, a defector from the
North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
surrendered to U.S. Marines at the Khe Sanh Combat Base and warned them that the NVA was preparing to launch a massive attack there the next day, starting with an assault after midnight against Hill 861 overlooking the area. *Actress Sharon Tate married film director Roman Polanski at a ceremony in London, a little more than a year before they moved to 10050 Cielo Drive, their home in Los Angeles where she would be Tate murders, murdered by members of the Manson family. *In the first regular-season college basketball game to be shown live on national television, the second-ranked 1967–68 Houston Cougars men's basketball team, University of Houston Cougars defeated the top-ranked 1967–68 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team, UCLA Bruins, 71 to 69, at the Houston Astrodome. Played inside a domed baseball stadium, the meeting set a record for attendance at a college basketball with 52,693 paying customers (more than 4,000 of whom were standing up because the seats were filled), and was billed as Game of the Century (college basketball), "The Game of the Century". Both teams were unbeaten (UCLA had a 13-0 record and a 47-game winning streak, and Houston had a 16-0 record). Each had a superstar player, with Houston being fronted by Elvin Hayes and UCLA's Lew Alcindor (who would later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) having been cleared to play after having to miss two games because of an eye injury. The spectators and viewers watched a thriller that came down to the final minute; Hayes scored 39 points, including two free throws that proved to be the winning points with 0:28 left on the clock; UCLA's chance to send the game into overtime ended when a Bruins player inadvertently tipped the ball out of bounds with 0:12 left.


January 21, 1968 (Sunday)

*The Battle of Khe Sanh began at 5:30 in the morning as the North Vietnamese Army began shelling a U.S. Marine combat base from positions in South Vietnam and across the border in Laos, while operating under the cover of a morning fog. On the first day, shells destroyed the American base's main ammunition dump, where 98% of its firepower had been stored. The battle would last for 77 days, with the besieged compound being freed in April, but at a cost of 274 U.S. deaths and the diversion of American forces in advance of the Tet Offensive. *North Vietnamese Army (NVA) General Võ Nguyên Giáp gave the go-ahead orders to NVA and Viet Cong commanders in South Vietnam to begin the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
on the eve of the Vietnamese New Year celebration, five days ahead of the original plan, after the Tet holiday ceasefire was shortened. *A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress 1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash, crashed in Greenland, losing its cargo of four Mark 28 nuclear bombs. The disaster happened while the bomber was monitoring the U.S. Air Force's Thule Air Base, flying back and forth at an altitude of over the base's early warning system. Four "cloth-covered, foam-rubber cushions" had been placed beneath an uncomfortable seat and were blocking a vent; when the co-pilot switched on a backup heating system that relied on warm air that had been pulled in through the plane's intake manifold, the cushions caught fire. The seven-man crew ejected, and the plane "slammed into the ice of Bylot Sound" near the base. The high-level conventional explosives inside the four thermonuclear weapons exploded on impact, contaminating three square miles of ice with radioactive plutonium. However, because of the Nuclear weapon design#Warhead design safety, "one-point safety" design that had been perfected in the mid-1950s during Project 56 (nuclear test), Project 56, a larger catastrophe was averted. A historian would note later that, "If the Mark 28 hadn't been made inherently one-point safe, the bombs that hit the ice could have produced a nuclear yield. And the partial detonation of a nuclear weapon, or two, or three— without any warning, at the air base considered essential for the defense of the United States— could have been misinterpreted" at the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command. *Blue House raid: an attack on the Blue House, residence of the President of South Korea in Seoul, was attempted by a 31-member assault team from the 124th Army unit of
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
's Korean People's Army.Narushige Michishita, ''North Korea's Military-Diplomatic Campaigns, 1966–2008'' (Routledge, 2009) The North Korean squad, on a mission to assassinate President
Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...
, came within of the Blue House before a firefight ensued with South Korean police. All but one of the commandos was killed, and the survivor would tell investigators that the objective had been to "agitate the South Korean people to fight with arms against their government and the American imperialists." Eight South Koreans were killed in the fight. *The Israeli Labor Party was created by the merger of three other political parties, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol's Mapai; Yitzhak-Meir Levin's Ahdut HaAvoda; and David Ben-Gurion's Rafi (political party), Rafi. *Born: Charlotte Ross, American TV actress, in Winnetka, Illinois *Died: Will Lang Jr., 53, American war correspondent


January 22, 1968 (Monday)

*''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', which would become the number one rated television show in the United States by its second season, was launched as a weekly program on NBC. Hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin (comedian), Dick Martin, the fast-paced variety show featured a regular cast of comedians including Eileen Brennan, Judy Carne, Henry Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Arte Johnson, and Jo Anne Worley, and introduced a number of catch phrases, including "Sock it to me!" and "Very interesting!" *Apollo 5 was launched as an unmanned mission to test the Apollo Lunar Module, Lunar Module (LM-2) that would take two astronauts from orbit to the lunar surface, and then back again for a return to Earth. The LM-2 was loaded (without its landing gear) into the nose cone of a Saturn 1B rocket, and was sent up from Cape Kennedy at 5:48 p.m. local time. After it reached a orbit, the LM-1 separated from the rocket stage and tests were made of its descent engine (which would guide the astronauts to a soft landing on the Moon) and its ascent engine (which was required not only to return the module to orbit, but also to fire through the descent engine if necessary to abort a failure). *The deadline in Nigeria for exchanging old Nigerian pound banknotes for newly printed currency expired, and the notes that had circulated since 1958 became worthless. The decision to replace the notes had been made in August after the secession of Biafra as a means of preventing Biafra from trading its holdings of Nigerian pounds on foreign exchanges. In the days leading up to the deadline, tons of the old banknotes were purchased only at a heavy discount. Biafra would introduce its own coins and currency, the Biafran pound, one week later. *Born: Guy Fieri, American chef and TV personality, in Columbus, Ohio *Died: **Duke Kahanamoku, 77, Hawaiian athlete who won gold medals in the 1912 and 1920 Summer Olympic Games; Kahanamoku is best remembered for popularizing the sport of surfing **U.S. Air Force Captain Lance Sijan, 25, died in North Vietnam's Hỏa Lò prison camp from pneumonia, malnutrition and multiple injuries. He had spent 40 days eluding his captors after his F-4C fighter had been shot down over Laos on November 9; he had been captured, had escaped, and had then been recaptured. Captain Sijan would posthumously be awarded the Medal of Honor; his remains would be returned to the United States on March 13, 1974.


January 23, 1968 (Tuesday)

*
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
seized the , claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying. At 12:27 p.m. local time, a North Korean SO-1 patrol craft approached the American surveillance ship and gave the International Code of Signals flag combination (I)ndia-(D)elta, meaning "Heaving to, Heave to or I will open fire"; Captain Lloyd M. Bucher ordered the ''Pueblo'' to signal back that it was in international waters and that it intended to remain at its location until the next day. Three North Korean P-4 torpedo boats then arrived from Wonsan harbor; the SO-1 boat signaled for the ''Pueblo'' to follow. At 1:27, the SO-1 fired its guns, and the P-4 shot gunfire as the slower ''Pueblo'' attempted to escape. At 1:45, Bucher surrendered the ship. On December 23, following an American apology, the North Koreans would release the 82 members of the ''Pueblo'' crew but would keep the American ship, which is now on display in Pyongyang near the "Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum". *1968 Danish general election, Elections were held for Denmark's parliament, the ''Folketing'', bringing down the government of Prime Minister Jens Otto Krag. Krag's Social Democratic Party retained the largest share of the 179 seat ''Folketing'' but dropped seven seats to only 62. *The government of the Madras State in southern India became the first to drop a requirement that students learn Hindi language, Hindi, the most commonly spoken language in the nation. Students had the option to take Hindi, but required instruction was in the Tamil language spoken by a majority of people in Madras, which is now called the Tamil Nadu state. The only remaining required language for students in Madras was English. *The student strike that had started a week earlier, at Belgium's Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968), Catholic University of Leuven, was picked up other Flemish language, Flemish speakers, and high school students in Flanders walked out of their classrooms. *Born: Eric Metcalf, American track athlete and NFL running back; in Seattle


January 24, 1968 (Wednesday)

*France made its first test of the experimental Aérospatiale Ludion, ''Ludion'', a jet pack, propelled by isopropyl nitrate and designed to lift a soldier and a small amount of equipment for a short distance. The first test, like all but five of the 64 made of the ''Ludion'' before the project was abandoned, was a tethered flight. * The Western film ''Firecreek'', starring James Stewart and Henry Fonda, debuted in theaters. *Born: Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast and 1984 Olympic gold medalist; in Fairmont, West Virginia *Died: Yvor Winters, 67, American poet


January 25, 1968 (Thursday)

*The
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
i submarine INS ''Dakar'' sank in the Mediterranean on its first voyage since being purchased from the United Kingdom, killing the 69 crew on board. The wreckage would be located more than 30 years later, on May 28, 1999, apparently the victim of a structural failure in one of the torpedo tubes. *Charlie Wilson (criminal), Charlie Wilson, one of the perpetrators of the Great Train Robbery (1963), Great Train Robbery of 1963, was recaptured more than three years after he had escaped from prison on August 1964, August 12, 1964, when police found him near Montreal in the Canadian town of Rigaud, Quebec. Wilson had been living in Rigaud for two years under the alias "Ronald Alloway". Wilson would be released in 1978 after spending 10 more years imprisoned in England, would retire to Spain, and would be murdered on April 23, 1990, at his home in Marbella in a contract killing. *''I Never Sang for My Father'' premiered on Broadway. It was a moderate success, running for 124 performances at the Shubert Theatre. It starred Hal Holbrook and Lillian Gish, and would be made into a film in 1970.


January 26, 1968 (Friday)

*Rioting broke out in the French city of Caen after police broke up a protest march by about 10,000 protesters and striking workers form the Saviem truck factory, "liberally dousing them with tear gas" in an unprovoked attack. Angered, the marchers began throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails and the riot would go through the night until 5:00 the next morning; 100 people were hurt, 36 of them badly enough to be hospitalized, and another 85 were arrested. *Flying a Lockheed A-12 Blackbird reconnaissance jet at over
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, CIA pilot Jack Weeks located the missing USS Pueblo (AGER-2), USS ''Pueblo'', anchored at Wonson. In the same mission, however, Weeks also took photos that showed that North Korea was not massing troops near the demilitarized zone, easing fears of a new Korean War. *The first Kerala State Lotteries grand prize (and the first government lottery prize ever awarded in India) was drawn at Trivandrum, with the winner receiving 50,000 Indian rupees (equivalent to $6,700 U.S. dollars at the time). Tickets for the first lottery had been sold since November 1. * Born: **Ravi Teja, Indian film star in Telugu cinema ("Tollywood"); in Jaggampeta, Andhra Pradesh **Eric Davis (American football), Eric Davis, American NFL cornerback, in Anniston, Alabama **Novala Takemoto, Japanese fashion designer, in Uji, Kyoto *Died: Merrill C. Meigs, 84, American journalist and publisher of the ''Chicago Herald and Examiner''


January 27, 1968 (Saturday)

*Two days after the disaster of the Israeli submarine ''Dakar'', the French submarine ''French submarine Minerve (S647), Minerve'' sank in the Mediterranean Sea, killing all 52 of its crew. The last contact that the ''Minerve'' had made was when it was in the Mediterranean Sea, approaching its home port at Toulon and only away. At the time, the submarine was below the surface, in waters deep; its hull was not designed to survive pressures at depths greater than . *At midnight Indochina Time, the official Tet holiday ceasefire began in South Vietnam and North Vietnam, in the days leading up to the New Year's Eve celebrations to welcome the start of Mau Than, the Year of the Monkey. *In the Indian state of Bihar, the government of Chief Minister Mahamaya Prasad Sinha was brought down by a censure motion that passed 163 to 150. *Born: **Mike Patton, American rock music singer (Faith No More); in Eureka, California **Tricky (musician), Tricky, British hip hop musician, as Adrian Thaws in Bristol **Tracy Lawrence, American country music singer, in Atlanta, Texas **Matt Stover, American football placekicker and the third most accurate kicker in NFL history; in Dallas


January 28, 1968 (Sunday)

*Anibal Escalante and 36 other members of Cuba's Communist Party were arrested and charged with being a "microfaction" (''La "Microfracción'') within Cuba that was working with the Soviet Embassy. In reaction, the Soviets, who provided the support to the Cuban government's programs, "began to establish diplomatic and commercial relations with governments that Cuba had pledge to topple or had denounced", and decreased the amount of oil that it provided to Cuba. *Born: **Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer, in Halifax, Nova Scotia **Rakim, American hip hop musician, as William Griffin, Jr., in Wyandanch, New York


January 29, 1968 (Monday)

*Eight days after the loss of four hydrogen bombs in the B-52 crash in Greenland, the Strategic Air Command had nuclear weapons removed from all of its patrol bombers in order to prevent further accidents. *NASA confirmed nomenclature for the Orbital Workshop (OWS) included in the AAP presented in the FY 1969 budget. The ground-outfitted OWS to be launched with Saturn V would be designated the "Saturn V Workshop." (This had sometimes been called the "Skylab#Dry workshop, dry Workshop.") The OWS that would be launched by a Saturn IB would be referred to as the "Saturn I Workshop." (Colloquially it had been referred to as the "wet workshop.") Terminology "Uprated Saturn I" would not be used officially. This launch vehicle would be referred to as the "Saturn IB." *Born: **Edward Burns, American actor and director, in Queens, New York City **Aeneas Williams, American NFL cornerback, in New Orleans *Died: L. P. Jai, 65, Indian test cricket star


January 30, 1968 (Tuesday)

*The
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
, a turning point in the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, began as Viet Cong forces launched a series of surprise attacks across
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
, beginning with an assault at 15 minutes after midnight on the Nha Trang Air Base and the headquarters of the U.S. Army's I Field Force, Vietnam, I Field Force. Attacks followed next at I Corps and II Corps bases at Ban Mê Thuột, Kon Tum, Hội An, Tuy Hòa, Da Nang, Qui Nhơn, and Pleiku. The North Vietnamese Army plan was for the operation to begin on January 31, and Viet Cong forces in the South started prematurely. *Ford's Theatre, located at 511 10th St, NW in Washington, D.C., held its first entertainment program since April 14, 1865, when the comedy ''Our American Cousin'' had been interrupted by Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. For the reopening, Henry Fonda, Harry Belafonte, Helen Hayes, and Andy Williams were among the performers on stage in an evening of music and dancing. Television viewers were able to watch a videotaped performance that night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time, titled ''Inaugural Evening at Ford's Theater''. *Assistant Postmaster General Richard Murphy ruled that hippies could continue to work for the United States Postal Service "but they must have neat haircuts and get rid of their beards and sandals" and wear proper attire; according to Murphy, the largest number of hippies worked at post offices in San Francisco and some had been "walking their routes barefooted with shaggy beards, hair down to their shoulders, and wearing everything from bearskin coats to dungarees." *Born: King Felipe VI of Spain, head of state of Spain since 2014; in Madrid *Died: Robert Wood Johnson II, American businessman who built the Johnson & Johnson Company into one of the world's largest health care suppliers *Died: Pete Calac, 77, Native American Indian NFL player from the Mission Indians tribe of
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
who played for five NFL teams during the 1920s, including the Oorang Indians.


January 31, 1968 (Wednesday)

*After some sporadic attacks on bases the day before, the
Tet Offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. It was launched on January 30, 1968 by forces of the Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) against the forces o ...
was unleashed on nearly all of South Vietnam's military bases and major cities simultaneously, with the Viet Cong and the
North Vietnamese Army The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed win ...
coordinating a massive assault that was larger than U.S. intelligence had forecast. An estimated 84,000 troops had infiltrated provincial and district capitals and took advantage of the Tet holiday ceasefire to strike in what would become the turning point of the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. More American soldiers would be killed in action during that day than on any other day of the Vietnam War, with 245 deaths of people whose names are etched upon the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. *At 2:45 in the morning, a truck and a taxi cab pulled out of a repair shop near the US Embassy, Saigon, U.S. Embassy in
Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
and drove to the Embassy compound. At 3:00, fifteen commandos set up explosives and blew a large hole in the compound's wall, then scrambled through and killed the two U.S. military police guarding the six-story embassy building. Antitank guns and rockets were fired at the doors, and U.S. Ambassador Ellsworth Bunker was awakened and taken to a secret hiding place. U.S. Army soldiers counterattacked and retook the compound by 9:15; fortunately, the embassy had been fortified less than a year earlier at a cost of $2,600,000 to put in shatterproof windows and the thick, 8-foot tall wall. *The 1,000 guerrillas who had infiltrated
Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
also seized the government radio station and surrounded, but did not capture, the presidential palace. The old imperial capital at Huế was taken over by 3:40 in the morning and more than 2,000 residents would be executed over the next three weeks; another 6,000 would be killed in the bombing and shelling of the city in the American counterattack, which would destroy 18,000 of Hue's 20,000 houses.George N. Katsiaficas, ''Vietnam Documents: American and Vietnamese Views of the War'' (M.E. Sharpe, 1992) pp85-86 In all, 36 of the 44 provincial capitals and 64 of the 245 district government seats were attacked; one of the capitals, Bến Tre, was virtually destroyed in the process of being taken over and recaptured. *The small island nation of Nauru, with a population of 5,560 people (2,734 of whom were natives) was granted independence from Australia, with Hammer DeRoburt as its first President. *Television in Turkey, Television broadcasting was introduced to the nation of Turkey, with test transmissions for the national network Türkiye Radyo Televizyon Kurumu (TRT, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation).Berfin Emre Çetin, ''The Paramilitary Hero on Turkish Television: A Case Study on Valley of the Wolves'' (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015) p60


References

{{Events by month links January, 1968 1968, *1968-01 Months in the 1960s, *1968-01