1968

1968

(MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1968th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 968th year of the 2nd millennium, the 68th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1960s decade. This was the year of the Protests of 1968.


 * 2001: A Space Odyssey is a science-fiction narrative, produced in 1968 as both a novel, written by Arthur C. Clarke
 * An earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000
 * January 17 – Lyndon B. Johnson requests a bill ending the gold convertibility of the U.S. dollar
 * Apollo program: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 (Apollo 6) is launched, as the second and last unmanned test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
 * Martin Luther King Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards
 * The Central Intelligence Agency's Phoenix Program is officially established
 * Project Blue Book, Report (1968), which concluded there was nothing anomalous about UFOs, Project Blue Book was ordered shut down in December 1969
 * Project Armadillo responsible.
 * Armadillo Agents armed with kermac force beam weapons.
 * Star Trek, the Original Series was produced 1966–67 by Desilu Productions, and by Paramount Television 1968–69. Star Trek aired on NBC from September 8, 1966 to June 3, 1969
 * Einstein-Rosen bridge was postulated in 1968 by John Archibald Wheeler. Before Wheeler, these objects were often referred to as ‘black star
 * Erich von Däniken influences on early human culture, in books such as Chariots of the Gods?, published in 1968. Däniken is one of the main figures responsible for popularizing the idea of ancient astronauts
 * 1968 12th Soviet Antarctic Expedition — led by Pavel Senko