April 1968

The following events occurred in April 1968:

April 1, 1968 (Monday)

• Bombs explode at midnight in two department stores in Frankfurt-am-Main, West Germany; Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin are later arrested and sentenced for arson.
• 1968 Hyūga-nada earthquake: An earthquake with a magnitude of M_w 7.5 takes place in Japan, its epicenter located in Hyūga-nada Sea, off the islands of Kyushu and Shikoku, followed by a tsunami.^[1]
• The Abukuma Express Line is opened in Japan.
• Died: Lev Davidovich Landau, 60, Soviet physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, of complications of injuries sustained in a car accident six years earlier

April 2, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Stanley Kubrick's classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey receives its premiere at the Uptown Theater in Washington, D.C., USA.

April 3, 1968 (Wednesday)

• President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration restricts American bombing of North Vietnam to targets south of the 19th Parallel.^[2]
• The first round of the 22nd annual draft of the US National Basketball Association is held.

April 4, 1968 (Thursday)

• Apollo program: Apollo-Saturn mission 502 (Apollo 6) is launched, as the second and last unmanned test-flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
• Died: Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, US civil rights leader, shot dead by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. in major American cities, lasting for several days afterwards. Senator Robert F. Kennedy goes ahead with a rally in Indianapolis, where he gives a short but powerful speech that is sometimes credited with having had a limiting effect on the rioting that began in many US cities immediately following the assassination.^[3]

April 5, 1968 (Friday)

• Severe rioting breaks out in Chicago as a result of the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the previous day, resulting in severe damage, 11 deaths and over 2,000 arrests.^[4]
• Maryland National Guard troops are called up for state duty, at the instigation of Governor Spiro Agnew, in anticipation of disturbances in Baltimore and suburban portions of Maryland bordering Washington, DC.^[5]
• In protest against the lack of an aerial display to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Royal Air Force four days earlier, and as a gesture against the British government, Flight Lieutenant Alan Pollock of No. 1 Squadron RAF makes an unauthorised display flight in a Hawker Hunter during which he flies under the top span of Tower Bridge, the first time this has been done in a jet aircraft. He is arrested upon his return to base, and is subsequently retired from the RAF on health grounds.^[6]
• The Ulster Transport Authority (UTA), responsible for closing most of the northern part of the Irish railway system, is dissolved. Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) (formed as Ulster Transport Railways) takes over operation of railways in Northern Ireland.

April 6, 1968 (Saturday)

• La, la, la, performed by Massiel (music and lyrics by Manuel de la Calva and Ramón Arcusa), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 for Spain, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It is the first time the contest has been televised in colour.
• Pierre Trudeau wins 1968 Liberal Party leadership election on the fourth ballot, with the support of 51% of the delegates.
• Baltimore riot of 1968: Three hundred people hold a memorial service for Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, which lasts from noon until 2 pm without incident. Later, a crowd gathers on Gay St. in East Baltimore, and by 5 pm windows are being smashed and police move in. The city declares a 10 pm curfew and sales of alcohol and firearms are banned. The crowd moves north on Gay St. up to Harford Rd. and Greenmount Ave. Mayor Thomas L. J. D'Alesandro III is unable to respond effectively. Around 8 pm, Governor Agnew declares a state of emergency.^[7]
• East German constitutional referendum, 1968: A new constitution is approved by 96.4% of voters, with a reported turnout of 98.1%.^[8]
• A double explosion in downtown Richmond, Indiana kills 41 people and injures 150.
• Died: Bobby Hutton, 16, a member of the US Black Panther movement, killed in a shootout between Black Panthers and Oakland, California, police.

April 7, 1968 (Sunday)

• At the conclusion of the Lebanese general election, "independent" candidates win the majority of seats, with an estimated voter turnout of 49.6%.^[9]
• A national day of mourning for Rev Martin Luther King, Jr. takes place in the United States. Nina Simone dedicates her performance at Westbury Music Fair to Dr King. The song "Why? (the king of love is dead)" by Gene Taylor is performed for the first time.
• Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman win the first round of the 1968 British Sports Car Championship at Brands Hatch in a Ford GT40.]].^[10]
• Died: Jim Clark, 32, Scottish racing driver and double world champion, killed in a Formula 2 race at the Hockenheimring in West Germany. While competing in the 1968 Deutschland Trophäe, Clark's Lotus 48 veers off the track and crashes into trees, possibly because of a deflating rear tyre.^[11]

April 8, 1968 (Monday)

• A BOAC Boeing 707-465 G-ARWE, operating as Flight 712, loses an engine after takeoff from London Heathrow Airport in the UK, resulting in the wing being set on fire. Following a successful emergency landing, the fire spreads, killing five of the 127 people on board. Among the injured are diplomat Katriel Katz and singer Mark Wynter. Flight attendant Barbara Jane Harrison, who is killed in the fire, posthumously receives the George Cross; Chief Steward Nevile Davis-Gordon is awarded the British Empire Medal for Gallantry and air traffic controller John Davis becomes a Member of the Order of the British Empire.
• The Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs is created, under the United States Department of Justice.
• The final run of the Golden State passenger train on the Rock Island and Southern Pacific railroads leaves Los Angeles, California.
• Born: Patricia Arquette, US actress, in Chicago, the daughter of Lewis Arquette

April 9, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.: Two funeral services are held in Atlanta, Georgia, a private service for family and friends at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King and his father had both served as senior pastors. Those attending include Mahalia Jackson, who sings his favorite hymn, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord". There follows a three-mile procession, observed by an estimated 100,000 people, to Morehouse College, King's alma mater, for a public service.

April 10, 1968 (Wednesday)

• The New Zealand inter-island ro-ro ferry TEV Wahine strikes Barrett Reef at the mouth of Wellington Harbour, with the loss of 53 lives, in Cyclone Giselle, which created the windiest conditions ever recorded in New Zealand.

April 11, 1968 (Thursday)

• Josef Bachmann tries to assassinate Rudi Dutschke, leader of the left-wing movement (APO) in Germany, and tries to commit suicide afterwards, failing in both, although Dutschke dies of his brain injuries 11 years later.
• German left-wing students blockade the Springer Press HQ in Berlin and many are arrested (one of them Ulrike Meinhof).
• U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
• MGM's classic film The Wizard of Oz makes its NBC debut after having been telecast on CBS since 1956. It will remain on NBC for the next 8 years.

April 12, 1968 (Friday)

• The Kasumigaseki Building is opened in Tokyo, Japan; this was the first modern office skyscraper in Japan and remained the tallest building in Tokyo until 1970.^[12]
• The Beagle B.121 Pup aircraft goes into service for the first time, at Shoreham Flying School, UK.

April 13, 1968 (Saturday)

• April 1968 lunar eclipse: A total lunar eclipse takes place, the first of two total eclipses during the year.

April 14, 1968 (Sunday)

• The Soyuz test spacecraft Kosmos 212 is launched by the Soviet Union.
• Maryland Governor Spiro Agnew declares the state of emergency in Baltimore over and stands down the National Guard.^[13]

April 15, 1968 (Monday)

• The New York Mets and the Houston Astros play a classic baseball match at the Astrodome, summarized by the headline "24 Innings, Six Hours, One Run".^[14]

April 16, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Died: Albert Betz, 82, German physicist; Edna Ferber, 82, US writer

April 17, 1968 (Wednesday)

• A state election is held in South Australia. Steele Hall (Liberal and Country League) defeats Don Dunstan (ALP), and becomes Premier of South Australia.

April 18, 1968 (Thursday)

• Army officer John Amadu Bangura, in his role as Chairman of the National Interim Council, becomes acting Governor-General of Sierra Leone, following the "Sergeants' Coup" which re-instated civilian rule.
• John Rennie the Elder's 1831 New London Bridge is sold to Arizona entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch and is rebuilt in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to reopen three years later.

April 19, 1968 (Friday)

• US runner Amby Burfoot wins the 72nd Boston Marathon.

April 20, 1968 (Saturday)

• Pierre Elliott Trudeau is sworn in as the 15th Prime Minister of Canada.
• South African Airways Flight 228, the Boeing 707-344C Pretoria, crashes just after takeoff from J. G. Strijdom International Airport in Windhoek, South-West Africa (now Namibia), killing 123 of the 128 people on board. It remains the deadliest aviation accident in the history of Namibia.
• British Conservative MP Enoch Powell makes his so-called Rivers of Blood speech, criticising Commonwealth immigration and anti-discrimination legislation.

April 21, 1968 (Sunday)

• National Airlines stops operating [Lockheed L-188 Electra|Lockheed L-188A Electra]] propjets and becomes an all-jet airline, operating Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 727 aircraft.^[15]
• Enoch Powell is dismissed from the Shadow Cabinet by Opposition leader Edward Heath as a result of his "Rivers of Blood" speech of the previous day, despite several opinion polls suggesting that many of the public share Powell's fears.^[16]

April 22, 1968 (Monday)

• The Lebanese Liberty ship Alhelli springs a leak and is abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean. It sinks two days later at 33°15′N 45°50′W / 33.250°N 45.833°W / 33.250; -45.833.^[17]

April 23, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Surgeons at the Hôpital de la Pitié, Paris, perform Europe's first heart transplant, on Clovis Roblain.^[18]
• President Mobutu Sese Seko of the Democratic Republic of the Congo releases captured mercenaries.
• The United Methodist Church is established in the United States by the union of the former Methodist and Evangelical United Brethren churches.^[19]
• Columbia University protests of 1968: Students protesting against the Vietnam War in New York City, USA, take over administration buildings and effectively shut down Columbia University.
• Born: Timothy McVeigh, US terrorist, in Lockport, New York (executed 2001)

April 24, 1968 (Wednesday)

• Died: Tommy Noonan, 46, US actor (brain tumor)

April 25, 1968 (Thursday)

• Apollo 6's SIV-B staqe re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and the Apollo 6 command module is recovered.
• The 23rd Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) cycle race begins.

April 26, 1968 (Friday)

• Operation Crosstie: The United States nuclear weapon "Boxcar" is tested at the Nevada Test Site.

April 27, 1968 (Saturday)

• The Abortion Act 1967 comes into effect in the UK, legalising abortion on a number of grounds, with free provision through the National Health Service.

April 28, 1968 (Sunday)

• A Beechcraft 65 Queen Air crashes near Beaumont, Texas, USA, killing its six passengers – members of the Lamar Tech athletics team and the pilot.

April 29, 1968 (Monday)

• The musical Hair officially opens on Broadway, at the Biltmore Theatre.
• The Royal Netherlands Navy decommissions its last aircraft carrier, HNLMS Karel Doorman (R81).

April 30, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Jim Cairns unsuccessfully challenges Gough Whitlam for leadership of the Australian Labor Party.
• Dutch coaster Brandaris sinks in the Bay of Biscay 80 nautical miles (150 km) west of the mouth of the River Gironde. All crew are rescued by a Spanish trawler.^[20]
• Governor John Volpe of Massachusetts withdraws from the contest for the Republican Party presidential nomination, after being defeated in the state presidential primary by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller.

References