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1968 In both Europe and America Japanese imported cars and other goods were continuing to rise and trouble the governments of UK and USA as they worried about industries in their own countries being effected and jobs lost. In the spring of 1968 on 4th April The Rev Martin Luther King was assassinated and Robert Kennedy was mortally wounded when he is shot by Sirhan Sirhan. The peace movement had continued to grow and more and more Americans were against the war in Vietnam, and once again more riots occurred throughout cities in America. The music scene was once again set by the "Beatles" and the "Rolling Stones" , and fashion flirted with see through blouses and midis and maxis skirts joined the Mini Skirt as part of the fashion trends. There is a Flu Pandemic in Hong Kong and the first Black power salute is seen on Television worldwide during an Olympics medal ceremony Cost Of Living, - News, Facts and Events, - Movies, TV and Music, - Technology, - Born This Year, World Leaders,


Cost of Living 1968

How Much things cost in 1968
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 4.27%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 4.7%
YearEnd Dow Jones Industrial Average 943
Average Cost of new house $14,950.00
Average Income per year $7,850.00
Average Monthly Rent $130.00
Gas per Gallon 34 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,822.00
Movie Ticket$1.50
The Federal Hourly Minimum Wage is $1.60 an hour
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Stirling

Average House Price 4,344
Gallon of Petrol 5 shillings 5 pence or 28 new pence


What Events Happened in 1968

World
  • Anti Vietnam War protests throughout the western world
Vietnam
  • North Vietnam and Viet Cong troops launch the Tet offensive
Vietnam
  • Vietnam US soldiers massacre men, women and children in My lai
Vietnam
  • President Lyndon Johnson orders an end to the bombing of North Vietnam
U.S.
  • Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Leader of Negro Civil Rights Movement is killed by James Earl Ray which leads to Violence and Race Riots in US Cities
U.S.
  • Following the Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968
UK
  • RMS Queen Elizabeth - retired from service
UK
  • Dutch Elm Disease continues to increase with tens of thousands of trees now destroyed
UK
  • British Post office introduces First Class Post
China
  • China celebrates 20 years of communist rule by Mao Tse-tung
U.S.
  • Senator Robert Kennedy is assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles
Sicily
  • Earthquake in Sicily - 231 dead, 262 injured.
UK
  • Enoch Powell's delivers his "Rivers of Blood" anti immigration speech
UK
  • The new wide ranging race relations act goes into force
South Africa
  • The Third Heart transplant is performed in South Africa By Dr Christian N Barnard
UK
  • London Bridge sold for 1 million. and later re-erected in Arizona .
U.S.
  • President Johnson announces on nationwide television he would not run for another term of office
U.S.
  • The Redwood National Park is created in California to protect the Giant Redwoods.
Vatican
  • Pope Paul VI bans Catholics from using the contraceptive pill for birth control
U.S.
  • 50,000 people participated in " The Poor Peoples March " on June 19th Washington, D.C.
World
  • Population in Europe reaches 455 million ( excluding USSR )
UK
  • The Kray twins, arrested for the murders of George Cornell and Jack 'The Hat' McVitie, members of the London underworld.
U.S.
  • The Zodiac serial murderer begins his reign of terror in California in what has been described as the perfect crime ( He claimed in letters sent to the newspapers to have murdered 37, but police files put the number at 11. ( He has never been caught )
World
  • Televisions Installed increases 25 million US , 20.5 million Japan , 19 Million Great Britain
France
  • France becomes the world's fifth nuclear power
UK
  • Alec Rose completes his single-handed 354-day round-the-world trip.
Canada
  • Pierre Elliott Trudeau becomes the Prime Minister of Canada
U.S.
  • Student Occupation at Columbia University over Universities affiliation with the Institute for Defense.
Greece
  • Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy marry
New Zealand
  • The Ferry "TEV Wahine" capsizes in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand
U.S.
  • The nuclear-powered U.S. submarine Scorpion sank in the Atlantic Ocean with the loss of 99 crew members.
Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong Flu pandemic begins in Hong Kong.
Mexico
  • Student riots threaten Mexico Olympics when thousands of students protest against the military occupation of the National Polytechnic Institute.
U.S.
  • Black power salute is seen on Television worldwide after the gold and bronze medalists in Olympics show salute during medal ceremony in Mexico City, Mexico
Czechoslovakia
  • The Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia was to provide political liberalization but was crushed by Warsaw Pact countries
Czechoslovakia
  • The Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia and arrests President Dubcek "Prague Spring"
Egypt
  • The Aswan Dam in Egypt is completed
U.S.
  • The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is dedicated
U.S.
  • Truth In Lending Act is passed to protect consumers during credit transactions.
Gibralta
  • The border between Spain and Gibraltar is closed
Papua New Guinea
  • Equatorial Guinea Gains Independence From Spain
France
  • The Winter Olympic Games are held in Grenoble, France
France
  • 800,000 teachers, workers and student protestors marched through the French capital during a one day general strike




Technology

  • Boeing 747 made its maiden flight.


  • NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission


  • Apollo 8 orbits the Moon, becoming the first manned space mission to achieve the feat.


  • Dr. Christian Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant.


  • US Explodes experimental hydrogen Bomb.


  • The Emergency 911 Telephone service is started in the USA which provides a single number for reporting emergencies and is manned 24 hrs per day 365 days per year
  • ATM First Philadelphia Bank installs the first automated teller machine in the U.S.



Popular Culture 1968

The first Big Mac goes on sale in McDonalds costing 49 cents
The Beatles create Apple Records and record "Hey Jude" as the first single on the label
The CBS television newsmagazine program "60 Minutes" shown for the first time
Musical Hair opens at Shaftesbury Theatre in London featuring nudity and drug-taking

Popular Films

  • The Graduate
  • Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
  • Bonnie and Clyde
  • Valley of the Dolls
  • The Odd Couple
  • Planet of the Apes
  • Rosemary's Baby

Check out our Television Programmes From The 60s whenever possible we have included a trailer to jog your memory. Series trailers and more information are found on the decade they started.

Popular Musicians

  • The Rolling Stones
  • The Supremes
  • The Beatles with " Hey Jude "
  • Fleetwood Mac
  • Aretha Franklin
  • Gary Puckett and The Union Gap
  • The Grateful Dead
  • The Monkees
  • Simon and Garfunkel " Mrs Robinson "
  • The Beach Boys
  • The Bee Gees
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  • Cream
  • The Doors " Hello I Love You "
  • Pink Floyd
  • Moody Blues
  • Bobby Goldsboro " Honey "
  • Marvin Gaye " I heard it through the Grapevine "
  • David Bowie






Major World Political Leaders 1968

Australia Prime Minister John McEwen Till December 19th
Australia Prime Minister John Gorton From 19th December

Brazil President Costa e Silva

Canada Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson till April 20th,
Canada Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from April 20th,

China Chairman of the People's Republic of China Liu Shaoqi

France President Charles de Gaulle

Germany Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger

India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi

Italy Prime Minister Aldo Moro Till June 24th
Italy Prime Minister Giovanni Leone From 24th June
Italy Prime Minister Giovanni Leone Till December 12th
Italy Prime Minister Mariano Rumor From 12th December

Japan Prime Minister Eisaku Sato

Mexico President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz

Russia / Soviet Union
First Secretary of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev

South Africa Prime Minister Balthazar Johannes Vorster

United States President Lyndon B. Johnson

United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Wilson


Political Elections 1968



United States Presidential Election 1968 Richard Nixon (Republican) defeats Hubert Humphrey (Democratic) and George Wallace (American Independent)


Canadian Federal Election 1968 Pierre Trudeau ( Liberal ) defeats Robert Stanfield ( Progressive Conservatives )


The Information above is taken from our new page that gives world leaders from 1920 to current.
WorldLeaders