1968Eduardo Cifuentes | U.S History | Period 6

Vietnam War January 21 - Vietnam War:

Battle of Khe Sanh begins - One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8.

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 United States Embassy in Saigon.

Vietnam War: Continued

February 24 - Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted - South Vietnam recaptures Hué.

March 16 - Vietnam War: My Lai massacre - American troops kill scores of civilians.

July 26 - Vietnam War: South Vietnamese opposition leader Truong Dinh 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.

Vietnam War: Continued

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 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 11 - 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 million tons of bombs are dropped on Laos, slowing but not seriously disrupting trail operations.

Against the War March 21 - Vietnam War: In ongoing

campus unrest, Howard University students protesting the Vietnam War, the ROTC program on campus and the draft, confront Gen. Lewis Hershey, then head of the U.S. Selective Service System, and as he attempts to deliver an address, shout him down with cries of "America is the Black man's battleground!"

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.

Politics March 16 - U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy

enters the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

March 18 - Gold standard: The Congress of the United States repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back U.S. currency.

March 31 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he will not seek re-

election.

April 11 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

August 5-August 8 - The Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida nominates Richard Nixon for U.S. President and Spiro Agnew for Vice President.

November 5 - U.S. presidential election, 1968: Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon defeats Vice President Hubert Humphrey and American Independent Party candidate George C. Wallace.

Sports November 17: The Oakland

Raiders score two consecutive touchdowns in the last minute of the fourth quarter to beat the New York Jets 43-32, in the infamous "Heidi Game".

February 6-February 18 - The 1968 Winter Olympics were held in Grenoble, France

January 14 Super Bowl II: Green Bay Packers won 33-14 over the Oakland Raiders After the game, Packer head coach Vince Lombardi announced his retirement as head coach of the Packers

Deaths April 4 - Martin Luther King,

Jr. is shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in major American cities for several days afterward. June 8 - James Earl Ray is

arrested for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.

June 5 - U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California by Sirhan Sirhan. Kennedy dies from his injuries the next day.

Space April 4 - Apollo Program: Apollo-Saturn

mission 502 (Apollo 6) is launched, as the second and last unmanned test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.

October 11 - Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission (Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele, Walter Cunningham). Mission goals include the first live television broadcast from orbit and testing the lunar module docking maneuver.

December 24 - Apollo Program: U.S. spacecraft Apollo 8 enters orbit around the Moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and William A. Anders become the first humans to see the far side of the Moon and planet Earth as a whole. The crew also reads from Genesis.

Music

August 28 - The Beatles release their famously political song Revolution

May 14 - The Beatles announce the creation of Apple Records in a New York press conference

Other songs they wrote that year were:

Hello Goodbye

And the one of the left, Hey Jude