1968 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1969 60s Sport

January   February   March   April   May   June   July   August   September   October   November   December     General 1968 Miss World 1968 Penny Plummer ( Miss Australia ) Miss Universe 1968 Martha Vasconcellos (Brazil) 1968 Olympics   Mexico British Olympic Gold Medal Winners David Hemery 400metres hurdles Chris Finnegan  Middleweight boxing Bob Braithwaite  Clay pigeon shooting Rodney Pattison and Ian Macdonald-Smith  Flying Dutchman yachting Derek Alhusen, Richard Meade and Reuben Jones  3 day event team 1968 Academy Awards - The 'Oscars' Best Actor: Cliff Robertson ( Charly ) Best Actress ( shared ): Katharine Hepburn ( The Lion In Winter ) Barbra Streisand ( Funny Girl ) Best Film: Oliver     1968 Eurovision Song Contest Winner: Spain Massiel  'La La La' 1968 - General The Average Wage: £22.19s.11d Virginia Wade wins the U.S. Tennis Open ladies singles American bombing of North Vietnam ceases Pop groups 'The Shadows' and 'The Seekers' both break up Princess Marina, Duchess of Gloucester dies aged 61 The Russian TU144 makes first supersonic passenger flights Wimbledon goes 'open' and admits professional players The 'Trinitron' colour TV tube is developed by Sony Unemployment quoted at 578,400 Olympic Games held in Mexico Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble The Trade Descriptions Act becomes law Author Enid Blyton dies Starvation sweeps Biafra Rolf Harris is awarded the M.B.E. Sony produce the first mini radio, half the size of a cigarette packet Black Power salutes are seen from Tommy Smith and John Carlos at the Olympic award ceremonies Bob Beamon becomes the only man to long jump over 29ft ( 2.5 ins ) at the Mexico Olympic Games Manchester United become the first English team to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4-1 Richard Nixon wins the U.S. presidential election to become the 37th President Two of Roy Orbison's sons, Roy and Tony, die in a fire at their family home Pope Paul publishes 'Humanae Vitae' which condemns use of 'The Pill' Dick Fosbury introduces his 'Fosbury flop' high jump technique at the Olympics Linda Thorson succeeds Diana Rigg in 'The Avengers' January 1968 The Beatles' Apple boutique opens in London 1st Cecil Day Lewis becomes Poet Laureate, succeeding John Masefield 1st Sislin Fay Allen, a Jamaican, becomes Britain's first coloured policewoman 5th Alexander Dubcek becomes First Secretary of Czechoslovakia 7th The unmanned 'Surveyor 7' lands on the moon 17th The British Leyland Motor Corporation is formed 25th Great Train robber Charles Wilson is recaptured at Rigaud in Quebec, Canada February 1968 4th Radio Nottingham launches the first phone-in programme 'What Are They Up To Now?' 10th The Beatles shut down all their business in the U.S.A. and turn everything over to Apple 15th The Royal Navy's first Polaris submarine is successfully tested 18th Permanent British Summer Time ( B.S.T. ) is adopted 18th London Bridge is sold to an American oil company for £1,015,000 20th The government announces plans to end free milk in secondary schools 20th England bowler Fred Titmuss loses four toes in a boating accident in Barbados 27th 25 year old pop singer Frankie Lymon dies of a heroin overdose March 1968 2nd In America Lockheed present the world's largest aircraft, the Galaxy 4th Joe Frazier becomes World Heavyweight Boxing Champion ( N.Y. State Title ) 6th Pop singer Sandie Shaw marries fashion designer Jeff Banks at Greenwich register office 7th Dr. Emil Savundra is sentenced to 8 years imprisonment and fined £50,000 for insurance fraud 21st The 'breathalyser' cuts road deaths by 23% in its first 3 months 27th 34 year old Yuri Gagarin is killed in a plane crash 29th Rolls-Royce wins a £150 million order, its largest ever, for RB2-11 engines, from Lockheed April 1968 4th Martin Luther King is assassinated by James Earl Ray 7th Jim Clark is killed in a Formula 2 race at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany Other Grand Prix drivers to lose their lives during the year were Ludovico Scarfiotti, Jo Schlesser and Mike Spence 11th President Lindon B.Johnson signs the U.S.A. Civil Rights Act 21st Enoch Powell makes his 'rivers of blood' speech in Birmingham 23rd The first decimal coins are introduced, the 5p and 10p coins 29th The musical 'Hair' is first seen on Broadway May 1968 Ten million workers come out in a general strike in France The U.S. atomic submarine 'Scorpion' is lost off the Azores with 99 crew 3rd The first British heart transplant operation is carried out 6th Student revolution closes the Sorbonne University for the first time in its 700 year history 9th Scottish actor Finlay Currie dies 16th A gas explosion causes Ronan Point tower block to collapse, killing only 4 people June 1968 Andy Warhol, working on a film, is shot by actress Valeria Solanis 5th Sirhan Sirhan shoots Senator Bobby Kennedy at The Ambassador hotel in Los Angeles after his victory speech in the California primary election. He dies early the following day 5th Post codes are launched in London W1 6th James Earl Ray is arrested at London Airport 7th Mrs E. Matthews becomes the first woman to receive a heart transplant 10th Prescription charges are re-introduced at 2s 6d per item 11th The Rolling Stones are involved in a studio fire while recording 'Sympathy For The Devil' 24th Comedian Tony Hancock commits suicide in Sydney, Australia July 1968 RAE1, the first radio astronomy satellite, is launched 4th Alec Rose completes his solo round the world voyage in 'Lively Lady' 5th Lone yachtsman Alec Rose is knighted 9th The Monopolies Commission vetoes a merger of Lloyds, Barclays and Martin's banks 10th Dr. Spock and three others are sentenced to two years jail in America for draft evasion 12th 'Monkee' Mickey Dolenz marries 'Top of the Pops' co-presenter Samantha Juste 25th Barclays Bank merges with Martin's Bank 31st Apple Records is formed but the Beatles' Apple boutique closes down after only 8 months August 1968 1st The first Mountbatten class SRN4 hover ferry, Princess Margaret, is used by Seaspeed on the Channel crossing 3rd The Countryside Act comes into force 21st Russian tanks move into Prague, Czechoslovakia 31st Gary Sobers becomes the first man to hit six sixes in one over in County cricket September 1968 1st The first part of the £80 million Victoria line opens between Walthamstow and Highbury 6th GEC announces a n £892 million merger with General Electric 13th Banks open on a Saturday for the last time 16th The two-tier post system comes into operation 26th Stage play censorship is abolished 27th 13 cast members appear nude when the musical 'Hair' opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London October 1968 13th British publisher Sir Stanley Unwin dies 14th The new Euston Station is opened by The Queen 16th The Foreign and Commonwealth offices merge 18th John Lennon appears in his first solo film role in 'How I Won The War' 18th The National Giro Bank opens at Bootle, Liverpool 20th Comedian Bud Flanagan of 'The Crazy Gang' dies aged 72 20th The Yardbirds make their last performance, playing at Liverpool University 21st Jackie Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis November 1968 5th Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits marries Mireille Strasser 6th 2300 jobs are lost as British Eagle airlines stop flying 8th The last uncaught Great Train robber Bruce Reynolds is arrested in Torquay 8th Actor Wendell Corey dies aged 54 14th Edward Heath appoints Margaret Thatcher as shadow Transport Minister 26th The Race Relations Bill becomes law 26th Cream hold their last concert, playing at The Royal Albert Hall 28th John Lennon is fined £150 for possession of cannabis December 1968 Peter Tork leaves The Monkees 6th Tory chiefs ban Enoch Powell from making a planned speech on Rhodesia 7th Nat Hiken, producer, director and writer of 'Bilko' and 'Car 54 Where Are You?' dies 12th Hammer horror actress Tallulah Bankhead dies of pneumonia aged 66 15th World Heavyweight boxing champion 1915-1919 Jess Willard 'The Pottawatomie Giant' dies 19th Colin Davis is chosen to succeed Georg Solti as Director of the Royal Opera House 20th In Spain, Franco banishes Prince Carlos, pretender to the Spanish throne 20th American 'Grapes of Wrath' and 'East of Eden' author John Steinbeck dies aged 66 29th Cunard postpone the first voyage of the QEII as she is still unfit to sail