The 1968 Project aims to highlight some of the historic events of the year. From protests and famous battles to chart-topping popular hits and box office smashing film, 1968 was a huge historical year with reverberations that we still feel today. The 1968 Project looks to grab snippets of these events on a monthly basis and list them here with links for further exploration.
March 1st
Arthur Hailey’s book, Airport is published.
March 4th
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention release the album, We’re Only in It For the Money.
March 6th
The first performance of Edward Albee’s short play, Box and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung is performed at the Studio Arena Theater in Buffalo, NY.
March 11th
President Johnson mandates that all computers purchased by the federal government support ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange).
March 12th
President Johnson barely defeats antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
March 14th
Nerve gas leaks from the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground near Skull Valley, Utah.
March 15th
Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel is published.
Cover of book, Tikki Tikki Tembo, by Arlene Mosel.
March 16th
On this date, American troops massacre between 300 – 500 civilians in Vietnam. This was only later discovered in November of 1969 and would forever be known as the My Lai Massacre.
Sen. Robert F. Kennedy announces his entrance into the race for the Democratic candidate for President.
Italian composer, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco passes away in California.
March 18th
Mel Brook’s film, The Producers debuts in theaters.
March 20th
Danish film director, Carl Theodor Dreyer passes away in Denmark.
March 22nd
Daniel Cohn-Bendit and 7 other students occupy the administrative offices of the University of Nanterre. This was the beginning of political protest, which would come to a head later in the year bringing France to the edge of revolution.
March 23rd
Miles Davis releases his album, Nefertiti.
This is the cover art for “Nefertiti” by the artist Miles Davis. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, Columbia Records, or the graphic artist(s).
March 25th
Peter S. Beagle publishes The Last Unicorn, which later is developed into an animated film starring Mia Farrow.
March 27th
Tennessee Williams debuts his play, The Seven Descents of Myrtle, adapted from his short story “Kingdom of Earth,” at the Ethyl Barrymore Theater in New York, New York.
March 29th
Detective film, Madigan, starring Henry Fonda debuts.
March 31st
On national television, President Johnson announces, he will not run for re-election.
“I shall not seek and I will not accept the nomination of my party as your President.”
“What we have won when all our people were united must not be lost in partisanship. I have concluded that I should not permit the Presidency to become involved in partisan decisions.”
Be sure to come back at the end of next month when we look at what happened in April of 1968!
posted: , by Raminta Moore