• President: Lyndon B. Johnson
  • Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey
  • Population: 200,706,052
  • Life expectancy: 70.2 years
  • Median Household Income:  $7,743
  • Martin Luther King, Jr., civil rights leader, is slain in Memphis (April 4th, 1968).
  • James Earl Ray, indicted in King murder, is sentenced to 99 years
  • Sen. Robert F. Kennedy is shot and critically wounded in Los Angeles
    hotel after winning California primary (June 5)—dies June 6.
  • The successful flight of Apollo 8 makes Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders the first people to orbit the moon.
  • Charlie Hall, Hashbury, invents the waterbed as a school project.
  • From January - May 1968 40,000 students participate in 221 major demonstrations on 101 campuses
  • Ivan E. Sutherland at University of Utah, invents first head-mounted Virtual Reality display, but powerful enough computer to use with it does not yet exist
  • Many hippies register to vote for the first time.
  • Average price of a car in 1968 - $2450.00
  • Average price of a gallon of milk in 1968 - $1.21
  • Average price of a loaf of bread in 1968 - $0.22
  • Average price of a home in 1968 - $26,600.00
  • Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.05 ($0.06 as of 1/7/68)
 

Television

Most Popular Shows
Laugh-in 
Gomer Pyle 
Bonanza 
Mayberry, RFD 
Gunsmoke 
Julia 
Dick Van Dyke Show 
Dean Martin Show 
Here's Lucy 
Beverly Hillbillies 
Mission: Impossible 
Bewitched 
Red Skelton Hour 
My Three Sons 
Glen Cambell 
Good Time Hour 
Ironside 
Virginian 
The FBI 
Green Acres 
Dragnet 
Daniel Boone 
Walt Disney 
Ed Sullivan 
Carol Burnett Show 
Jackie Gleason Show

Also the debut season for Adam-12, The Mod Squad, 60 Minutes, and The Doris Day Show. The Lucy Show becomes Here's Lucy. The Smothers Brothers are canned by CBS and it is the last year for Star Trek and Batman.
 
1968 Emmy Awards
Outstanding Dramatic Series ~ Mission: Impossible
Outstanding Leading Actor ~ Bill Cosby, I Spy
Outstanding Leading Actress ~ Barbara Bain, Mission: Impossible
Outstanding Supporting Actor ~ Milburn Stone, Gunsmoke
Outstanding Supporting Actress ~ Barbara Anderson, Ironside
Outstanding Comedy Series ~ Get Smart!
Outstanding Leading Actor ~ Don Adams, Get Smart!
Outstanding Leading Actress ~ Lucille Ball, The Lucy Show
Outstanding Supporting Actor ~ Werner Klemperer, Hogan's Heroes
Outstanding Supporting Actress ~ Marion Lorne, Bewitched
 
 
 
Movies
Academy Awards (Oscars)
(winner in italics)
Best Picture
Funny Girl
The Lion in Winter
Oliver!
Rachel, Rachel
Romeo and Juliet
Best Actor
Alan Arkin, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Alan Bates, The Fixer
Ron Moody, Oliver!
Peter O'Toole, The Lion in Winter
Cliff Robertson, Charly
Best Actress (tie)
Katherine Hepburn, The Lion in Winter
Patricia Neal, The Subject was Roses
Vanessa Redgrave, Isadora
Barbara Streisand, Funny Girl
Joanne Woodward, Rachel, Rachel
Best Supporting Actor
Jack Albertson, The Subject Was Roses
Seymore Cassel, Faces
Daniel Massey, Star!
Jack Wild, Oliver!
Gene Wilder, The Producers
Best Supporting Actress
Lynn Carlin, Faces
Ruth Gordon, Rosemary's Baby
Sandra Locke, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Kay Medford, Funny Girl
Estelle Parsons, Rachel, Rachel
Best Director
Anthony Harvey, The Lion in Winter
Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey
Gillo Pontecorvo, The Battle of Algiers
Carol Reed, Oliver!
Franco Zeffirelli, Romeo and Juliet
Cannes Film Festival was canceled because of the unstable political climate in Paris

Music

The 1968 Grammy Awards
Record of the Year "Mrs. Robinson," Simon and Garfunkel
Album of the Year By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Glen Cambell
Song of the Year "Little Green Apples", Bobby Russell
Best New Artist José Feliciano
Best Contemporary Pop "Light My Fire", José Feliciano
Vocal Performance, Male Otis Redding and Steve Cropper
Best Contemporary Pop "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"
Vocal Performance, Female Dionne Warwick
Best Rhythm & Blues Song "The Dock of the Bay", Otis Redding & Steve Cropper
Best Rhythm and Blues "The Dock of the Bay", Otis Redding
Best Rhythm and Blues "Chain of Fools", Aretha Franklin
Best Country Song "Little Green Apples", Bobby Russell
Best Country Vocal "Folsom Prison Blues", Johnny Cash
Best Country Vocal "Harper Valley P.T.A.", Jeannie C. Riley
Best Selling Singles of 1968
What A Wonderful World ~ Louis Armstrong
I Pretend ~ Des O'Connor
Those Were The Days ~ Mary Hopkin
Help Yourself ~ Tom Jones
Young Girl ~ Gary Puckett and The Union Gap
Delilah ~ Tom Jones
Little Arrows ~ Leapy Lee
Baby Come Back ~ The Equals
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly ~ Hugo Montenegro
Jesamine ~ The Casuals
She Wears My Ring ~ Solomon King
Hey Jude ~ The Beatles
If I Only Had Time ~ John Rowles
This Guy's In Love With You ~ Herb Alpert
Simon Says ~ The 1910 Fruitgum Co.
Honey ~ Bobby Goldsboro
A Man Without Love ~ Engelbert Humperdinck
Fire ~ The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown
I Gotta Get A Message To You ~ The Bee Gees
Do It Again ~ The Beach Boys
Cant Take My Eyes Off You ~ Andy Williams
Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp ~ O.C. Smith

Sports 

Professional Football
1968 Season
scores in ( )
AFL Playoffs
Western Division Playoff 
Kansas City (6) @ Oakland (41)
AFL Championship Game
Oakland (23) @ NY Jets (27)
NFL PlayoffsEastern Conference
Dallas (20) @ Cleveland (31)
Western Conference
Minnesota (14) @ Baltimore (24)
NFL Championship
Baltimore (34) @ Cleveland (0)
Super Bowl III
Orange Bowl, Miami
NY Jets (16) v. Baltimore (7)
MVP: NY Jets QB Joe Namath 
(17 for 28, 206 yards)

1968 Baseball 
All-Star Game
National League (1) v. American League (0)
MVP: Willie Mays, San Francisco OF
National League Champion
St. Louis Cardinals 97 - 65
American League Champion
Detroit Tigers 103 - 59
World Series
Detroit wins World Series 4 – 3
MVP: Mickey Lolich, P Det