Editing 1968 (section)

== Events ==
=== January&ndash;February ===
{{Main|January 1968}}
{{Main|February 1968}}
[[File:USS Pueblo (AGER-2).jpg|thumb|125px|right|January 23: North Korea seizes ''USS Pueblo'' (AGER-2)]]
[[File:Captain Franklin P. Eller during Tet Offensive Vietnam.jpg|thumb|125px|right|January 30: Tet Offensive begins]]
* [[January 1968|January]] – The [[I'm Backing Britain|I'm Backing Britain campaign]] starts spontaneously.
* [[January 5]] – "[[Prague Spring]]": [[Alexander Dubček]] is chosen as leader of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Navazelskis|first=Inabhfghh|title=Alexander Dubcek|publisher=Chelsea House Publications|year=1990|isbn=1-55546-831-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderdubcek0000nava}}</ref>
* [[January 10]] – [[John Gorton]] is sworn in as 19th [[Prime Minister of Australia]], taking over from [[John McEwen]] after being [[1968 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election|elected leader]] of the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] the previous day, following the [[disappearance of Harold Holt]]. Gorton becomes the only [[Australian Senate|Senator]] to become Prime Minister, though he immediately transfers to the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] through the [[1968 Higgins by-election]] in Holt's vacant seat.
* [[January 15]] – The [[1968 Belice earthquake]] in [[Sicily]] kills 380 and injures around 1,000.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Italy: The Day the Earth Shook|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837724,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306025845/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,837724,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 6, 2008|newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=January 26, 1968|access-date=August 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://emidius.mi.ingv.it/CPTI99/CPTI_finestre.html|title=CPTI – catalogo (per finestre temporali)|website=emidius.mi.ingv.it}}</ref>
* [[January 21]]
** [[Vietnam War]]: [[Battle of Khe Sanh]] – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on [[April 8]].
** [[1968 Thule Air Base B-52 crash]]: A U.S. [[B-52 Stratofortress]] crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 [[nuclear bomb]]s.
* [[January 23]] – [[North Korea]] seizes the {{USS|Pueblo|AGER-2|6}}, claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying.
* [[January 25]] – [[Israel]]i submarine {{INS|Dakar}} sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 69.
* [[January 28]] – [[France|French]] submarine ''[[French submarine Minerve (S647)|Minerve]]'' sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 52.
* [[January 30]] – [[Vietnam War]]: The [[Tet Offensive]] begins as [[Viet Cong]] forces launch a series of surprise attacks across [[South Vietnam]].
* [[January 31]]
** [[Viet Cong]] soldiers attack the [[Embassy of the United States, Saigon]].
** [[Nauru]] president [[Hammer DeRoburt]] declares independence from [[Australia]].
* [[February 1]]
** [[Vietnam War]]: [[Execution of Nguyễn Văn Lém]] – A [[Viet Cong]] officer is [[Summary execution|summarily executed]] by [[Nguyễn Ngọc Loan]], a [[South Vietnam]]ese National Police Chief. The event is photographed by [[Eddie Adams (photographer)|Eddie Adams]]. The photo makes headlines around the world, eventually winning the [[1969 Pulitzer Prize]], and sways U.S. public opinion against the war.
** The [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] and the [[New York Central Railroad]] merge to form [[Penn Central]], the largest ever corporate [[Mergers and acquisitions|merger]] up to this date.
* [[February 6]]–[[February 18|18]] – The [[1968 Winter Olympics]] are held in [[Grenoble]], France.
* [[February 8]] – [[Civil rights movement]] in the United States: [[Orangeburg Massacre]] – A civil rights demonstration on a college campus to protest [[Racial segregation in the United States|racial segregation]] in [[South Carolina]] is broken up by highway patrolmen; three African American students are killed, the first instance of police killing student protestors at an American campus.
* [[February 12]] – [[Vietnam War]]: [[Phong Nhị and Phong Nhất massacre]].
* [[February 24]] – [[Vietnam War]]: The [[Tet Offensive]] is halted; [[South Vietnam]] recaptures [[Huế]].
* [[February 25]] – [[Vietnam War]]: [[Hà My massacre]].

=== March&ndash;April ===
{{Main|March 1968}}
{{Main|April 1968}}
[[File:Martin Luther King, Jr..jpg|thumb|125px|right|April 4: Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in Memphis]]
* [[March 1]]
** [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968]] further reduces right of entry for citizens from the [[British Commonwealth]] to the United Kingdom. 
** First performance of an [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]]–[[Tim Rice]] musical, ''[[Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat]]'' in its original form as a "pop [[cantata]]", by pupils of a private school in London.<ref>{{cite book|title=Vocal Selections: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=1994|location=Milwaukee, WI|isbn=978-0-7935-3427-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reallyuseful.com/shows/joseph/history-inspiration|title=About The Show|publisher=The Really Useful Group|access-date=2008-12-29| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081225062752/http://www.reallyuseful.com/shows/joseph/history-inspiration| archive-date=2008-12-25|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat|url=http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/shows/joseph-and-dreamcoat/|work=AndrewLloydWebber.com|year=1991|access-date=2010-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023103837/http://www.andrewlloydwebber.com/shows/joseph-and-dreamcoat/|archive-date=2010-10-23|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[March 2]] – [[Baggeridge Colliery]] closes marking the end of over 300 years of [[coal mining]] in the [[Black Country]] of England.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/articles/baggeridge2.htm|title=The Closing Of Baggeridge Colliery|publisher=The Black Country Society|access-date=2018-04-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719020401/http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/articles/baggeridge2.htm|archive-date=July 19, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[March 3]] – [[Air France Flight 212 (1968)|Air France Flight 212]], a [[Boeing 707]], crashed in [[Guadeloupe]] while approaching an airport. As a result, 63 people die.
* [[March 6]] – Un-recognized [[Rhodesia]] executes 3 black citizens, the first executions since [[Unilateral Declaration of Independence|UDI]], prompting international condemnation.
* [[March 7]] – [[Vietnam War]]: The [[First Battle of Saigon]] ends.
* [[March 8]]
** The first student protests spark the [[1968 Polish political crisis]].
** The [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[ballistic missile submarine]] [[Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)|''K-129'']] sinks with all 98 crew members, about 90 [[nautical mile]]s (104 miles or 167&nbsp;km) southwest of [[Hawaii]].<ref>Paul E. Fontenoy, ''Submarines: An Illustrated History of Their Impact'' (ABC-CLIO, 2007) p60</ref><ref name=Times171092>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=CIA tells Russia of Soviet sea disaster |date=October 17, 1992 |page=10 |issue=64466 |column=F-G }}</ref>
* [[March 10]]–[[March 11|11]] – [[Vietnam War]]: [[Battle of Lima Site 85]], the largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members (12) during the (at this time) secret war later known as the [[Laotian Civil War]].
* [[March 11]] – U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] mandates that all computers purchased by the federal government support the [[ASCII]] [[character encoding]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=11 March 1968| author= Lyndon B. Johnson | title=Memorandum Approving the Adoption by the Federal Government of a Standard Code for Information Interchange Online |editor1= Gerhard Peters|editor2= John T. Woolley| work=The American Presidency Project | url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/237376}}</ref>
* [[March 12]]
** [[Mauritius]] achieves independence from British rule.
** U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] barely edges out antiwar candidate [[Eugene McCarthy]] in the [[New Hampshire Democratic primary]], a vote which highlights the deep divisions in the country, and the party, over [[Vietnam]].
* [[March 13]] – The first [[Rotaract]] club is chartered in [[North Charlotte]], North Carolina.
* [[March 14]]
** The [[London Gold Pool]] is suspended by the U.K. government at the request of the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1968/mar/14/london-gold-market-closing|work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|date=14 March 1968|title=House of Commons Sitting, ''London Gold Market Closing'', HC Deb vol 760 cc1855-62}}</ref> [[George Brown, Baron George-Brown|George Brown]] is forced to resign as British [[Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom)|Foreign Secretary]] after appearing drunk at a meeting to discuss the issue.
** [[Nerve gas]] leaks from the U.S. Army [[Dugway Proving Ground]] near [[Skull Valley (Utah)|Skull Valley, Utah]].
* [[March 16]]
** [[Vietnam War]] – [[My Lai Massacre]]: American troops kill scores of civilians. The story will first become public in November 1969 and will help undermine public support for the U.S. efforts in Vietnam.
** U.S. Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]] enters the race for the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] presidential nomination.
* [[March 18]] – [[Gold standard]]: The [[United States Congress]] repeals the requirement for a [[gold]] reserve to back U.S. currency.
* [[March 19]]–[[March 23|23]] – [[Afrocentrism]], [[Black Power]], [[Vietnam War]]: Students at [[Howard University]] in Washington, D.C., signal a new era of militant student activism on college campuses in the U.S. Students stage rallies, protests and a 5-day [[sit-in]], laying siege to the administration building, shutting down the university in protest over its [[ROTC]] program and the Vietnam War, and demanding a more Afrocentric curriculum.
* [[March 22]] – [[Daniel Cohn-Bendit]] ("Danny the Red") and 7 other students occupy the administrative offices of the [[University of Nanterre]], setting in motion a chain of events that lead France to the brink of revolution in May.
* [[March 24]] – [[Aer Lingus Flight 712]] crashes en route from [[Cork Airport|Cork]] to London near [[Tuskar Rock, Ireland|Tuskar Rock, Wexford]], killing 61 passengers and crew.
* [[March 28]] – [[Brazil]]ian high school student [[Edson Luís de Lima Souto]] is shot by the police in a protest for cheaper meals at a restaurant for low-income students. The aftermath of his death is one of the first major events against the [[Brazilian military regime|military dictatorship]].
* [[March 31]] – In a televised address, U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] announces that he will not be a candidate for re-election.
* [[April 2]] – Bombs explode at midnight in two department stores in [[Frankfurt-am-Main]]; [[Andreas Baader]] and [[Gudrun Ensslin]] are later arrested and sentenced for [[arson]].
* [[April 4]]
** [[Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.]]: [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] is shot dead at the [[Lorraine Motel]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] by [[James Earl Ray]]. [[King-assassination riots]] erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards.
** [[Apollo program]]: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 ([[Apollo 6]]) is launched, as the second and last uncrewed test-flight of the [[Saturn V]] launch vehicle.
** [[AEK Athens B.C.|AEK Athens]] wins the [[1967–68 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup|FIBA European Cup Winners Cup]] Final in [[basketball]] against [[USK Praha|Slavia Prague]], in front of a record attendance of 80,000 spectators. It is the first major European trophy won at club level of any sport in Greece.
* [[April 6]]
** [[Eurovision Song Contest 1968|13th Eurovision Song Contest]] is held in the [[Royal Albert Hall]], London. The winning song, [[Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest|Spain]]'s "[[La La La (Massiel song)|La, la, la]]" (music and lyrics by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa) is sung in Spanish by [[Massiel]] after Spanish authorities refuse to allow [[Joan Manuel Serrat]] to perform it in Catalan. The [[United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest|United Kingdom]] finishes in second place, one point behind, with the song "[[Congratulations (Cliff Richard song)|Congratulations]]" sung by [[Cliff Richard]], which goes on to outsell the winning Spanish entry throughout Europe.
** A shootout between [[Black Panthers]] and police in [[Oakland, California]], results in several arrests and deaths, including 17-year-old Panther [[Bobby Hutton]].
** [[Richmond, Indiana explosion]]: A double explosion in downtown [[Richmond, Indiana|Richmond]] caused by a [[methane leak]] kills 41 and injures 150.
* [[April 7]] – British racing driver [[Jim Clark]] is killed in a [[Formula 2]] race at [[Hockenheimring|Hockenheim]].
* [[April 10]] – The ferry {{ship|TEV|Wahine}} strikes a [[reef]] at the mouth of [[Wellington Harbour]], New Zealand, with the loss of 53 lives, in Cyclone Giselle, which has created the windiest conditions ever recorded in New Zealand.
* [[April 11]]
** [[Josef Bachmann]] tries to assassinate [[Rudi Dutschke]], leader of the left-wing movement ([[Ausserparlamentarische Opposition|APO]]) in Germany, and tries to commit suicide afterwards, failing in both, although Dutschke dies of his brain injuries 11 years later.
** German left-wing students blockade the [[Axel Springer AG|Springer Press]] headquarters in Berlin and many are arrested (one of them [[Ulrike Meinhof]]).
* [[April 18]] – [[London Bridge]] is sold to U.S. entrepreneur [[Robert P. McCulloch]] for reconstructiion at [[London Bridge (Lake Havasu City)|Lake Havasu City, Arizona]].<ref name="Pocket On This Day">{{cite book|title=Penguin Pocket On This Day|publisher=Penguin Reference Library|isbn=978-0-14-102715-9|year=2006}}</ref>
* [[April 20]]
** [[Pierre Elliott Trudeau]] becomes the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.<ref>"Pierre Elliott Trudeau." Prime Minister of Canada. August 26, 2013. Accessed April 8, 2015.</ref>
** Conservative British politician [[Enoch Powell]] makes a controversial [[Rivers of Blood speech|"Rivers of Blood" speech]] in Birmingham deploring the effects of immigration; he is dismissed from the Shadow Cabinet the following day.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/20/newsid_2489000/2489357.stm|title=1968: Powell slates immigration policy|work=BBC News|access-date=2008-02-05|date=20 April 1968|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307124645/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/20/newsid_2489000/2489357.stm|archive-date=2008-03-07|url-status=live}}</ref>
** [[South African Airways Flight 228]] an [[Boeing 707]] crashed shortly after take-off killing 123 people on board
* [[April 23]]
** President [[Mobutu]] releases captured [[mercenary|mercenaries]] in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]].
** Surgeons at the Hôpital de la Pitié, Paris, perform Europe's first heart transplant, on Clovis Roblain.
** The [[United Methodist Church]] is created by the union in [[Dallas]], Texas, of the former Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches.
* [[April 23]]–[[April 30|30]] – [[Vietnam War]]: [[Columbia University protests of 1968]] – Student protesters at [[Columbia University]] in New York City take over administration buildings and shut down the university.
* [[April 26]] – The [[nuclear weapon]] "Boxcar" is [[nuclear weapons testing|tested]] at the [[Nevada Test Site]] in the biggest detonation of [[Operation Crosstie]].

=== May&ndash;June ===
{{Main|May 1968}}
{{Main|June 1968}}
[[File:1968-05 Évènements de mai à Bordeaux - Rue Paul-Bert 2.jpg|150px|thumb|May 2–June 23: Protests in France grow and demonstrators barricade the streets]]
* [[May 2]] – The [[Israel Broadcasting Authority]] commences television broadcasts.
* [[May 3]] – [[Braniff Flight 352]] crashes near [[Dawson, Texas]], United States, killing all 85 people on board.
* [[May 13]]
** [[May 1968 protests in France|Paris student riots]]: One million march through the streets of Paris.
** [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] wins the [[1967–68 Football League First Division]] by 2 clear points, over English club rivals Manchester United.
* [[May 16]] – [[Ronan Point]], a 23 floor tower block in Canning Town, east London, partially collapses after a gas explosion, killing 5.
* [[May 17]] – The [[Catonsville Nine]] enter the [[Selective Service]] offices in [[Catonsville, Maryland]], take dozens of selective service draft records, and burn them with [[napalm]] as a protest against the [[Vietnam War]].
* [[May 18]]
** [[Mattel]]'s ''[[Hot Wheels]]'' toy cars are introduced in the United States.
** [[West Bromwich Albion]] win the English Football Association Cup, defeating Everton 1–0 after extra time. The winning goal is scored by [[Jeff Astle]].
* [[May 19]]
** [[1968 Italian general election]].
** Nigerian forces capture [[Port Harcourt]] and form a ring around the [[Nigerian Civil War|Biafrans]]. This contributes to a humanitarian disaster as the surrounded population already suffers from hunger and starvation.
* [[May 22]] – The U.S. nuclear-powered [[submarine]] [[USS Scorpion (SSN-589)|''Scorpion'']] sinks with 99 men aboard, 400 miles southwest of the [[Azores]].
* [[May 29]] – [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] wins the [[European Champion Clubs' Cup|European Cup Final]], becoming the first English team to do so.
* [[May 30]] – [[Bobby Unser]] wins the [[Indianapolis 500]].
* [[June 2]] – [[1968 student demonstrations in Yugoslavia|Student demonstrations in Yugoslavia]] start in [[Belgrade]].
* [[June 3]] – [[Radical feminist]] [[Valerie Solanas]] shoots [[Andy Warhol]] at his New York City studio, [[The Factory]]; he survives after a 5-hour operation.
* [[June 4]] – The [[S&P 500|Standard & Poor's 500]] index in the United States closes above 100 for the first time, at 100.38.
* [[June 5]] – [[Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy]]: Senator [[Robert F. Kennedy]], a leading [[1968 Democratic Party presidential primaries|1968 Democratic presidential candidate]], is shot at the [[Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)|Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles]]. Palestinian-born [[Sirhan Sirhan]] is arrested.
* [[June 7]] – [[Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968|Ford sewing machinists strike]] for [[equal pay]] starts at the [[Ford Dagenham]] plant in London.
* [[June 10]] – [[Italy national football team|Italy]] beats [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]] 2–0 in a replay to win the [[UEFA Euro 1968|1968 European Championship]] in Association football. The original final on [[June 8]] ended 1–1.
* [[June 12]] – The horror film ''[[Rosemary's Baby (film)|Rosemary's Baby]]'' premieres in the U.S.
* [[June 17]] – The [[Malayan Communist Party]] launches a [[Second Malayan Emergency|second insurgency]] and the state of emergency is again imposed in [[Malaysia]].
* [[June 20]] – [[Austin Currie]], Member of the [[Parliament of Northern Ireland]], along with others, squats in a house in [[Caledon, County Tyrone|Caledon]] to protest discrimination in housing allocations.
* [[June 21]] – A [[student demonstration]] in front of the [[Jornal do Brasil]] ("JB") building in Rio de Janeiro ends with 28 dead and over a thousand arrested.
* [[June 23]]
** [[The Tragedy of Gate 12|Puerta 12 tragedy]]: A football stampede in [[Buenos Aires]] leaves 74 dead and 150 injured.
** The first round of voting takes place in the [[1968 French legislative election|French legislative elections]] scheduled following the public unrest of [[May 1968 in France|May]].
* [[June 26]]
** The [[Bonin Islands]] are returned to Japan after 23 years of occupation by the United States Navy.
** The "[[March of the One Hundred Thousand]]" takes place in [[Rio de Janeiro]] as crowds demonstrate against the [[Brazilian military government]].

=== July&ndash;August ===
{{Main|July 1968}}
{{Main|August 1968}}
[[File:František Dostál Srpen 1968 3.jpg|thumb|125px|right|August 20–21: Warsaw Pact invades Czechoslovakia]]
* [[July 1]] – The [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] opens for signature.
* [[July 4]] – British yachtsman [[Alec Rose]], 59, receives a hero's welcome as he sails into [[Portsmouth]], after his 354-day solo round-the-world trip.
* [[July 17]] – [[Saddam Hussein]] becomes Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in [[Iraq]] after a ''[[coup d'état]]''.
* [[July 18]] – The semiconductor company [[Intel]] is founded in what becomes known as the [[Silicon Valley]] of California.
* [[July 20]] – The first International [[Special Olympics]] Summer Games are held at [[Soldier Field]] in Chicago, Ill, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.
* [[July 23]]–[[July 28|28]] – Black militants led by Fred (Ahmed) Evans engage in a fierce gunfight with police in the [[Glenville Shootout]] of [[Cleveland, Ohio]], in the United States.
* [[July 25]] – [[Pope Paul VI]] publishes the [[encyclical]] ''[[Humanae vitae]]'', reaffirming the Catholic Church's opposition to artificial [[birth control]].
* [[July 26]] – Vietnam War: [[South Vietnam]]ese opposition leader [[Trương Đình Dzu]] is sentenced to 5 years [[hard labor]] for advocating the formation of a [[coalition government]] as a way to move toward an end to the [[war]].
* [[July 29]] – [[Arenal Volcano]] erupts in [[Costa Rica]] for the first time in centuries.
*[[August 1]] – The [[Universidade Municipal de São Caetano do Sul|Municipal University of São Caetano do Sul]] is established in [[São Caetano do Sul]], [[São Paulo]].
*[[August 2]] – The magnitude ({{M|w|link=y}}) 7.6 [[1968 Casiguran earthquake|Casiguran earthquake]] affects the [[Aurora (province)|Aurora province]] in the Philippines with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), killing at least 207 and injuring 261.
* [[August 5]]–[[August 8|8]] – The [[Republican National Convention]] in [[Miami Beach, Florida]] nominates [[Richard Nixon]] for U.S. president and [[Spiro Agnew]] for vice president.
* [[August 11]] – The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of [[British Rail]] [[steam locomotive]]s make the 120-mile journey from [[Liverpool Lime Street railway station|Liverpool]] to [[Carlisle railway station|Carlisle]] and return – the journey is known as the [[Fifteen Guinea Special]].
* [[August 18]] – Two charter buses are forced into the [[Hida River]] on National Highway Route 41 in Japan in an accident caused by heavy rain; 104 are killed.
* [[August 20]]–[[August 21|21]] – [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]]: The '[[Prague Spring]]' of political liberalization ends, as 750,000 [[Warsaw Pact]] troops and 6,500 [[tank]]s with 800 aircraft invade [[Czechoslovakia]], the largest military operation in Europe since the end of World War II.
* [[August 24]] – [[Canopus (nuclear test)]]: France explodes its first [[hydrogen bomb]] in a test at [[Fangataufa]] atoll in [[French Polynesia]].
* [[August 22]]–[[August 30|30]] – [[1968 Democratic National Convention protests]]: Police clash with [[Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War|anti-Vietnam War protesters]] in [[Chicago]] outside the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]], which nominates [[Hubert Humphrey]] for U.S. president and [[Edmund Muskie]] for vice president. The riots and subsequent trials are an essential part of the activism of the [[Youth International Party]].
* [[August 29]] – [[Harald V of Norway|Crown Prince Harald]] of Norway marries [[Sonja Haraldsen]], the commoner he has dated for 9 years.

=== September&ndash;October ===
{{Main|September 1968}}
{{Main|October 1968}}
[[File:1968 Mexico emblem.svg|220px|thumbnail|right|October 12–27: 1968 Summer Olympics held in Mexico City]]
* [[September 6]] – [[Swaziland]] (later known as Eswatini) becomes independent of the United Kingdom.
* [[September 7]] – The crash of [[Air France Flight 1611]] kills 95 people, including French Army General [[René Cogny]], as the [[Sud Aviation Caravelle|Caravelle]] jetliner plunges into the [[Mediterranean]] Sea following a fire while making its approach to [[Nice]] following its departure from the island of [[Corsica]].
* [[September 11]] – The [[International Association of Classification Societies]] (IACS) is founded.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bhattacharjee|first=Shilavadra|date=2019-07-03|title=What is International Association of Classification Societies (IACS)?|url=https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/what-are-international-classification-society-international-association-of-classification-societies-iacs/|access-date=2023-08-02|website=Marine Insight|language=en-US}}</ref>
*   September 11   – [[John Eliot Gardiner]] conducts Monteverdi's ''[[Vespro della Beata Vergine]]'' with the [[Monteverdi Choir]] at the [[BBC Proms|Proms]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/en2fxj "Prom 49"], [[BBC]], London. Archive from 11 September 1968.</ref>
* [[September 13]] – [[Albania]] officially withdraws from the Warsaw Pact upon the Soviet Union-led [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]], having already ceased to participate actively in Pact activity since 1962.
* [[September 17]] – The [[D'Oliveira affair]]: The [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] tour of South Africa is cancelled when the South Africans refuse to accept the presence of [[Basil D'Oliveira]], a [[Cape Coloured]], in the England side.
* [[September 21]] – The Soviet [[Zond 5]] uncrewed lunar flyby mission returns to Earth, with its first-of-a-kind biological payload intact.
* [[September 23]] – [[Vietnam War]]: The [[Tet Offensive]] comes to an end in [[South Vietnam]].
* [[September 27]] – [[Marcelo Caetano]] becomes [[prime minister]] of Portugal.
* [[September 29]] – A [[referendum]] in Greece gives more power to the military junta.
* [[October 2]] – [[Tlatelolco massacre]]: A student demonstration ends in bloodbath at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas in [[Tlatelolco (Mexico City)|Tlatelolco]], Mexico City, Mexico, 10 days before the inauguration of the [[1968 Summer Olympics]]. 300-400 are estimated to have been killed.
* [[October 3]] – In [[Peru]], [[Juan Velasco Alvarado]] takes power in a revolution.
* [[October 8]] – [[Vietnam War]]: [[Operation Sealords]] – United States and [[South Vietnam]]ese forces launch a new operation in the [[Mekong Delta]].
* [[October 11]]
** [[Apollo program]]: [[NASA]] launches [[Apollo 7]], the first crewed Apollo mission ([[Wally Schirra]], [[Donn Eisele]], [[Walter Cunningham]]). Mission goals include the first live [[television]] broadcast from [[orbit]] and simulating [[lunar module]] rendezvous and docking, using the [[S-IVB]] rocket stage as a test target.
** In [[Panama]], a military ''coup d'état'', led by Col. Boris Martinez and Col. [[Omar Torrijos]], overthrows the democratically elected (but highly controversial) government of President [[Arnulfo Arias]]. Within a year, Torrijos ousts Martinez and takes charge as de facto [[Head of Government]] in Panama.
* [[October 12]]–[[October 27|27]] – The [[1968 Summer Olympics]] are held in Mexico City, Mexico.
* [[October 12]] – [[Equatorial Guinea]] receives its independence from Spain.
* [[October 14]] – [[Vietnam War]]: The [[United States Department of Defense]] announces that the [[United States Army]] and [[United States Marines]] will send about 24,000 troops back to [[Vietnam]] for involuntary second tours.
* [[October 16]]
** [[1968 Olympics Black Power salute]]: In Mexico City, African-American athletes [[Tommie Smith]] and [[John Carlos]] raise their fists in a [[Black Power]] salute after winning, respectively, the gold and bronze medals in the Olympic men's 200 metres (with the support of Australian silver medallist [[Peter Norman]]).
** [[Kingston, Jamaica]] is rocked by the [[Rodney Riots]], provoked by the banning of Guyanese-born academic and activist [[Walter Rodney]] from the country.
* [[October 18]] – U.S. athlete [[Bob Beamon]] breaks the long jump world record by 55&nbsp;cm / 21{{frac|3|4}}&nbsp;ins at the [[1968 Summer Olympics|Olympics]] in [[Mexico City]]. His record stands for 23 years, and remains the second longest jump in history.
* [[October 25]] – Rock band [[Led Zeppelin]] make their first live performance, at [[Surrey University]] in England<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rockandrollgarage.com/back-time-led-zeppelin-members-talk-beatles/|title=Back In Time: Led Zeppelin members talk about The Beatles|first=Rafael|last=Polcaro|date=November 22, 2017}}</ref>
* [[October 31]] – [[Vietnam War]]: Citing progress in the Paris peace talks, U.S. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of [[North Vietnam]]" effective [[November 1]].

=== November&ndash;December ===
{{Main|November 1968}}
{{Main|December 1968}}
[[File:NIXONcampaigns.jpg|thumb|150px|right|November 5: Richard Nixon elected United States President]]
* [[November 5]]
** [[1968 United States presidential election]]: [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidate [[Richard Nixon]] defeats the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate, Vice President [[Hubert Humphrey]], and [[American Independent Party]] candidate [[George Wallace]].
** [[Luis A. Ferré]] of the newly formed [[New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico)|New Progressive Party]] is elected [[Governor of Puerto Rico]] by beating incumbent governor [[Roberto Sánchez Vilella]] of the [[People's Party (Puerto Rico)|People's Party]], [[Luis Negrón López]] of the [[Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico)|Popular Democratic Party]] and Antonio J. Gonzalez of the [[Puerto Rican Independence Party]]; he also becomes the first "statehooder" governor of the Island.
* [[November 7]] – Start of the [[1968 movement in Pakistan]], which leads to the resignation of General [[Ayub Khan]], and ultimately the split of the country and formation of [[Bangladesh]].
* [[November 8]] – The [[Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals]] is signed and ratified. 
* [[November 11]] – A second [[republic]] is declared in the [[Maldives]].
* [[November 15]] – [[Vietnam War]]: [[Operation Commando Hunt]] is initiated to interdict men and supplies on the [[Ho Chi Minh trail]], through [[Laos]] into [[South Vietnam]]. By the end of the operation, 3&nbsp;million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations.<ref>"Commando Hunt, Operation", in ''Historical Dictionary of the War in Vietnam'', by Ronald B. Frankum Jr. (Scarecrow Press, 2011) p123-124</ref><ref>"Ho Chi Minh Trail", by William M. Leary, in ''The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History'' (ABC-CLIO, 2010) p506</ref>
* [[November 17]]
** [[British European Airways]] introduces the [[BAC One-Eleven]] into commercial service.
** The "[[Heidi Game|''Heidi'' Game]]": [[NBC]] cuts off the final 1:05 of an [[Oakland Raiders]]–[[New York Jets]] football game to broadcast the pre-scheduled ''[[Heidi (1968 film)|Heidi]]''. Fans are unable to see Oakland (which had been trailing 32–29) score 2 late touchdowns to win 43–32; as a result, thousands of outraged football fans flood the NBC switchboards to protest.
* [[November 19]] – In [[Mali]], President [[Modibo Keïta]]'s regime is overthrown in a bloodless [[military coup]] led by [[Moussa Traoré]].<ref>{{citation|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Mali.pdf|title=Mali country profile|publisher=[[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]]|location=Washington, D.C. |page=3 |date=January 2005}}</ref>
* [[November 20]] – The [[Farmington Mine disaster]] in Farmington, West Virginia, kills seventy-eight men.
* [[November 22]]
** ''[[The Beatles (album)|The Beatles]]'' ("The White Album") and ''[[The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society]]'' are released.<ref>{{cite book|first=Andrew|author-link=Andrew Marr|last=Marr|title=A History of Modern Britain|location=London|publisher=Macmillan|year=2007|isbn=978-1-4050-0538-8|page=281}}</ref>
** [[Japan Air Lines Flight 2]], flying from [[Tokyo Haneda Airport|Tokyo]] to [[San Francisco International Airport]] ditches in [[San Francisco Bay]] due to pilot error; all 107 on board survive without injury.
* [[November 24]] – 4 men [[Aircraft hijacking|hijack]] [[Pan Am Flight 281]] from [[JFK International Airport]], New York to [[Havana]], [[Cuba]].
* [[December 9]] – [[Douglas Engelbart]] publicly demonstrates his pioneering [[hypertext]] system, [[NLS (computer system)|NLS]], in [[San Francisco]], together with the [[computer mouse]], at what becomes retrospectively known as "[[The Mother of All Demos]]".
* [[December 10]] – Japan's biggest heist, the never-solved "[[300 million yen robbery]]", occurs in Tokyo.
* [[December 11]] – The film ''[[Oliver! (film)|Oliver!]]'' based on the hit London and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] musical, opens in the U.S. after being released first in the UK. It goes on to win the [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].
* [[December 13]] – Prompted by growing unrest and a perceived proliferation of "pro-communist" violent actions, [[Brazil]]ian [[President of Brazil|president]] [[Artur da Costa e Silva]] enacts the so-called [[AI-5]], the fifth of a series of non-constitutional emergency decrees allegedly to help "stabilize" the country after the turmoils of the early 1960s.
* [[December 22]] – [[Mao Zedong]] advocates that educated urban youth in China be sent for re-education in the [[Rural area|countryside]]. It marks the start of the [[Down to the Countryside Movement|"Up to the mountains and down to the villages" movement]].
* [[December 24]] – [[Apollo program]]: The crewed U.S. spacecraft [[Apollo 8]] enters orbit around the [[Moon]]. Astronauts [[Frank Borman]], [[Jim Lovell]] and [[William Anders]] become the first humans to see the [[Far side (Moon)|far side]] of the [[Moon]] and planet [[Earth]] as a whole, as well as having traveled further away from Earth than any people in history. Anders photographs ''[[Earthrise]]''. The crew also give a [[Apollo 8 Genesis reading|reading from the Book of Genesis]].
* [[December 28]] – [[1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon]]: Israeli forces fly into [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] airspace, launching an attack on the airport in [[Beirut]] and destroying more than a dozen aircraft.<!--Some references say 13, others 14.-->

=== Dates unknown ===
* The [[Khmer Rouge]] is officially formed in [[Cambodia]] as an offshoot movement of the [[Vietnam People's Army]] from [[North Vietnam]] to bring communism to the nation. A few years later, they will become bitter enemies.
* Drainage of the [[Flevopolder]] in the Netherlands is completed, creating by some definitions the largest [[artificial island]] in the world.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EkglVH6GM0|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/5EkglVH6GM0|archive-date=2021-12-21|url-status=live|title=How a Nazi Blockade Triggered a Food Revolution|work=[[Bloomberg News]]|via=YouTube|date=2018-11-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tourism-review.com/travel-tourism-magazine-flevoland-worlds-largest-artificial-island--article2372|title=Dutch Flevoland - The Largest Man-Made Island|date=2014-04-28|website=www.tourism-review.com|access-date=2015-11-22}} [[René-Levasseur Island]] in the Canadian province of [[Quebec]] is considerably larger; however, this was a natural landform that became an island after the completion of the [[Daniel-Johnson dam]] in the late 1960s created [[Manicouagan Reservoir]].</ref>
* An oil field is confirmed in Northern Alaska: the [[Prudhoe Bay Oil Field]].