Remembering 1968

• On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupted in major American cities for several days afterward.

• On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

• On April 23, 1968, surgeons at the Hôpital de la Pitié in Paris performed Europe's first heart transplant on Clovis Roblain.

• On April 29, 1968, the musical Hair officially opened on Broadway.

• On June 5, 1968, U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy died from his injuries the next day.

• On June 8, 1968, James Earl Ray was arrested for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

• On November 5, 1968, Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon defeated Vice President Hubert Humphrey and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace in the U.S presidential election.

• On December 24, 1968, U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 entered orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William A. Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole. The crew also read from Genesis.

1. Beatles - "Hey Jude"

2. Paul Mauriat - "Love Is Blue (L'Amour Est Bleu)"

3. Simon & Garfunkle - "The Graduate "

4. Otis Redding - "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay"

1. The Graduate

2. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

3. Gone with the Wind (re-release)

4. Bonnie and Clyde

5. Valley of the Dolls

6. The Odd Couple

7. Planet of the Apes

8. Rosemary's Baby

9. The Jungle Book

10. Yours, Mine and Ours

The Andy Griffith Show was the highest rated show for this season.

Other shows among the Top 10 are:

The Lucy Show
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
Bonanza
Gunsmoke
Family Affair
The Red Skelton Hour
The Dean Martin Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
NBC Saturday Night at the Movies

Also, during this season, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuted on NBC on January 22, 1968.  Laugh-In went on to be the highest rated program of the 1968-69 season.

• Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, giving them their 10th NBA Championship since 1957 (they would go on to win one more in 1969 also against the LA Lakers, giving them a total of eleven Championships in thirteen seasons).

• On February 17, 1968 the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opens in Springfield, Massachusetts.

• The Detroit Tigers were the 1968 World Series Champions, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3.

• On January 14, 1968 the Green Bay Packers won Super Bowl II, defeating the Oakland Raiders 33-14.  After the game, Vince Lombardi announced his retirement as head coach of the Packers.

• The 1968 Summer Olympics were held in Mexico City, Mexico.  The US won the most medals (107), and the most gold medals (45).

• The 1968 Winter Olympics were held in Grenoble, France.  Norway won the most medals (14), and the most gold medals (6).