Editing 1968 (section)

=== 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]].