All About 1968

1968 Planet of the Apes

2010-10-03T05:26:00.000-07:00

Planet of the Apes was released on February 8, 1968 in the United States and was a commercial success, gaining $32,589,624 at the international box office. The film was ground-breaking for its prosthetic makeup techniques by artist John Chambers, and was well received by critics and audiences, launching a film franchise,[4] including four sequels, as well as a short lived television show, animated series, comic books, various merchandising, and eventually a remake in 2001 and a new film to be released in 2011. Roddy McDowall, in particular, had a long-running relationship with the Apes series, appearing in the original series of five films (one only via stock footage from an earlier film), and also in the television series.

In 2001, Planet of the Apes was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Michael Jackson-I Got The Feelin 1968

2010-06-27T06:29:00.000-07:00

Lisa Marie Presley born February 1968

2010-06-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

Lisa Marie Presley - born February 1, 1968 is an American singer–songwriter, also known as the Princess of Rock 'n' Roll. She is the daughter and only child of Elvis Presley and daughter of Priscilla Presley.

Lisa Marie Presley was born in Memphis, Tennessee, exactly nine months after her parents' wedding. She lived at Graceland, Elvis' Memphis estate, until her parents' separated in 1972. Following their separation, and subsequent divorce, she divided her time between living at Graceland with her father and in Beverly Hills with her mother. This arrangement continued until her father died on August 16, 1977, after which she lived exclusively in Beverly Hills.

When her father died, Lisa became joint-heir to his estate with her grandfather, Vernon Presley, and her great grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley. Following the death of both Vernon and Minnie Mae, Lisa became the sole heir and inherited Graceland.

As a teenager, Lisa became a member of the Church of Scientology, where she met her first husband, Danny Keough. Her mother sent her to several boarding schools. She attended the 10th grade at an alternative boarding school in Ojai, California, called Happy Valley School. The last secondary school she attended was the Scientology-affiliated Apple School (later known as Los Feliz Hills School) in Los Angeles.

After the death of her father, Lisa and her mother had serious problems in their relationship. The key reason of this disharmony was her mother’s live-in boyfriend Michael Edwards. Her mother often left her with Michael due to her commitments as a TV actress. After Priscilla broke up with Edwards, he admitted his lust for Lisa in his book titled Priscilla, Elvis & Me

1968 President of Singapore

2010-06-25T05:50:00.000-07:00

Yusof bin Ishak (12 August 1910 – 23 November 1970) was an eminent Singaporean politician and the first President of Singapore. His portrait appears on the Singapore Portrait Series currency notes introduced in 1999.

Yusof was well known both as a journalist and the founder of the Malay newspaper Utusan Melayu prior to becoming head of state of Singapore. He was married to Noor Aishah.

He first served as Yang di-Pertuan Negara (head of state) between 1959 and 1965, remaining in office during the time that Singapore was part of the Federation of Malaysia between 1963 and 1965. Following Singapore's departure from Malaysia in 1965, he served as the first President of the Republic until his death in 1970.

Yusof is buried at Kranji State Cemetery.

1968 Students Protest Against Dow Chemical Recruiters

2010-06-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

On March 6, 1968, approximately 500 NYU students demonstrate the reappearance of Dow Chemical Company recruiters on campus. Dow Chemical was the principal manufacturer of napalm, the toxic chemical burning agent used against plant life and human beings by the U.S. military in Vietnam.

1968 French Republic President

2010-06-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969. The 18th President of French Republic and Co-Prince of Andora

As President, Charles de Gaulle ended the political chaos that preceded his return to power. A new French currency was issued in January 1960 to control inflation and industrial growth was promoted. Although he initially supported French rule over Algeria, he controversially decided to grant independence to that country, ending an expensive and unpopular war but leaving France divided and having to face down opposition from the white settlers and French military who had originally supported his return to power.

De Gaulle oversaw the development of French atomic weapons and promoted a pan-European foreign policy, seeking independence from U.S. and British influence. He withdrew France from NATO military command - although remaining a member of the western alliance - and twice vetoed Britain's entry into the European Community. He travelled widely in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world and recognised Communist China. On a visit to Canada he gave encouragement to Quebec Separatism.

During his term, de Gaulle also faced controversy and political opposition from Communists and Socialists. Despite having been re-elected as President, this time by direct popular ballot, in 1965, in May 1968 he appeared likely to lose power amidst widespread protests by students and orkers, but survived the crisis with an increased majority in the Assembly. However, de Gaulle resigned after losing a referendum in 1969. He is considered by many to be the most influential leader in modern French history.

Ashley Judd born April 1968

2010-04-18T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ashley Judd (born April 19, 1968) is an American actress, well known for playing a number of strong women characters in films such as Ruby in Paradise, Kiss the Girls, Double Jeopardy, Where the Heart Is and High Crimes.

Ashley was born as Ashley Tyler Ciminella in Granada Hills, California. She is the daughter of Naomi Judd, a country music singer and motivational speaker, and Michael Ciminella Jr., a marketing analyst for the horseracing industry. Ashley's elder half-sister Wynonna is also a country music singer. At the time of her birth, her mother was unemployed and did not become well-known as a singer until the early 1980s. Judd's parents divorced in 1972, and in 1973, her mother took her back to her native Kentucky, where Judd spent the majority of her childhood. She also lived in Marin County, California for two years during grade school.

Judd attended thirteen schools before college, including the Sayre School in Lexington, Kentucky and Franklin High School in Tennessee. She briefly tried modeling in Japan during one school break. An alumna of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma at the University of Kentucky, she majored in French and minored in anthropology, art history, theater and women's studies. She spent a semester studying in France as part of her major, a move that mirrored her role as Reed in the television series Sisters. She graduated from the UK Honors Program and was nominated to Phi Beta Kappa, but did not graduate with her class. Forgoing her commitment to join the Peace Corps, after college she drove to Hollywood, where she studied with well-respected acting teacher, Robert Carnegie, at Playhouse West. During this time, she worked as a hostess at The Ivy restaurant and lived in a Malibu rental house, which later burned down during the great Malibu fires of fall 1993. On May 9, 2007, it was announced Judd had completed her bachelor's degree in French from the University of Kentucky. In a May 2007 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Judd explained she had completed her degree requirements in 1990 with 27 more hours taken than the required 120 hours, but had mistakenly thought she was one class short. She only needed to "sign a piece of paper" in order to graduate. DeGeneres then surprised Judd by presenting her with her diploma, which DeGeneres had acquired from the university.

1968 La, la, la

2010-04-18T17:48:00.000-07:00

April 6, 1968 - La, la, la 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.

Cuba M. Gooding, Jr born January 1968

2010-02-05T20:08:00.000-08:00

Cuba M. Gooding, Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal as Rod Tidwell in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire (1996) and his critically acclaimed performance as Tré Styles in John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood (1991).

Cuba Gooding, Jr. was born and raised in The Bronx, New York, the son of Shirley, a singer with the Sweethearts, and Cuba Gooding, Sr., a lead vocalist of soul group The Main Ingredient. He has two brothers, musician Tommy Gooding and fellow actor Omar Gooding, and sister, April Gooding. His family moved to Los Angeles after Gooding, Sr.'s music group had a hit single with "Everybody Plays the Fool" in 1972; the elder Gooding abandoned his family two years later. During his appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Gooding revealed that after his father had left, his family lived in hotels throughout Los Angeles. Gooding was raised by his mother and attended four different high schools: North Hollywood High School, Tustin High School, Apple Valley High School, and John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills in Los Angeles. He served as class president in three of them. He became a born-again Christian at age 13.

1968 Winter Olympics

2010-02-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on February 6. Thirty-seven countries participated. Norway won the most medals, the first time a country other than the USSR had done so since the USSR first entered the Winter Games in 1956.

Frenchman Jean-Claude Killy won three gold medals in all the alpine skiing events. In women's figure skating, Peggy Fleming won the only United States gold medal. The games have been credited with making the Winter Olympics more popular in the United States, not least of which because of ABC's extensive coverage of Fleming and Killy, who became overnight sensations among teenage girls.

The year 1968 marked the first time the IOC first permitted East and West Germany to enter separately, and the first time the IOC ever ordered drug and gender testing of competitors.

1968 ruler of Abu Dhabi of UAE

2010-01-22T03:52:00.000-08:00

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Arabic: زايد بن سلطان آل نهيان‎)‎, (1918 – 2 November 2004), the principal architect of United Arab Emirates (UAE), was the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE for over 30 years (1971-2004).

Zayed was the youngest son of Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, the traditional ruler of Abu Dhabi from 1922 to 1926. He was named after his famous grandfather, Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, who ruled the emirate from 1855 to 1909. On August 6, 1966 he succeeded his brother, Sheikh Shakhbut Bin-Sultan Al Nahyan, as emir of Abu Dhabi after the latter was deposed in a bloodless palace coup. Zayed was first appointed (by the other six Sheikhs on the Supreme Council) to the presidency of the UAE in 1971 and was reappointed on four further occasions: 1976, 1981, 1986, and 1991. He was considered a relatively liberal ruler, and permitted private media. However, they were expected to practice self-censorship and avoid criticism of Zayed or the ruling families.

He was the ruler of the Eastern Region form 1946 before becoming the ruler of the whole Abu Dhabi.

1968 Prime Minister of Japan

2010-01-19T04:14:00.000-08:00

Eisaku Satō (Satō Eisaku?, March 27, 1901 – June 3, 1975) was a Japanese politician and the 61st, 62nd and 63rd Prime Minister of Japan, elected on November 9, 1964, and re-elected on February 17, 1967, and January 14, 1970, serving until July 7, 1972. He was the longest serving prime minister in the history of Japan.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuts in 1968

2010-01-19T03:47:00.000-08:00

January 22, 1968 – Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuts on NBC.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968 to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC. It originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967 and was such a success that it was brought back as a series, replacing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Mondays at 8pm on NBC.

The title, Laugh-In, came out of events of the 1960s hippie culture, such as "love-ins" or "be-ins." These were terms that were, in turn, derived from "sit-ins," common in protests associated with civil rights and anti-war demonstrations of the time.

The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which conveyed sexual innuendo or were politically charged. Rowan and Martin continued the exasperated straight man (Dan Rowan) and "dumb" guy (Dick Martin) act which they had established as nightclub comics. This was a continuation of the "dumb Dora" acts of vaudeville, best popularized by Burns And Allen. Rowan and Martin had a similar tag line, "Say goodnight Dick".

Laugh-In had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were from the comedy of Olsen and Johnson (specifically, their free-form Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs, and the topical satire of That Was The Week That Was.

McDonald's Big Mac was introduced in 1968

2010-01-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

In 1968 to be precise, the Big Mac was launched on to the French market. It was the same year as the McDonald's 1000th highly successful franchised outlet was opened in Des Plaines, Illinois, USA.

McDonald’s flagship sandwich, the Big Mac was introduced on McDonald’s national menu in 1968. Big Mac, the iconic burger, has a strong appeal among Asian consumers. The introduction of the Big Mac in Asia was so successful that a lot of Asian consumers viewed the Big Mac as the benchmark of all hamburgers – the Big Mac is how a classic, original hamburger should be. In fact, McDonald’s Big Mac was the first burger many Asian consumers tried. Ever since then, Big Mac has become a meal preference whenever they crave for burgers.

The Western Sicily Earthquake of 1968

2010-01-14T04:17:00.000-08:00

January 14, 1968– An earthquake in Sicily kills 231 and injures 262.

Summary of the 1968 Disaster in Sicily

The Sicilian earthquakes of 1968 were relatively modest for disaster-inducing earthquakes, the magnitudes ranging from 4.1 to 5.4. There were many of them, however, at least seventeen separate occurrences in this range of magnitude being recorded in twenty-three days. Perhaps it was the number of occurrences in arelatively short length of time, as much as their magnitude, that resulted in the great human disaster. Rescue workers came in rather quickly after the first few earthquakes (the afternoo and evening of January 14 and the early morning of January 15), but they were frequently caught in the further collapse of the buildings brought on by later quakes. Furthermore, the repetition of the earthquake at relatively short intervals of time had a strong psychological effect on the inhabitants akin to repeated physical torture. No sooner had the people partially forgotten their fears after one earthquakes then another occured. The effect was terrifying to a great many persons. There is good evidence to indicate that this was so even in the city of Palermo which is located a considerable distance from the center of the activity.

At least four other factors also contributed to the disaster. One was the unussually severe winter weather and the lack of safe shelter; another was the superstition, poverty and low level of education found among the villagers of interior Sicily; a third was the frequent lack of effective town government and adequate services even in the best of times, and fourth was the lack of advance planning.

Source: http://books.google.com/ : The Western Sicily Earthquake of 1968 by J. Eugene Hass, Proffesor of Sociology and Robert S. Ayre, proffesor and chairman of civil Engineering of the University of Colorado.

1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey

2010-01-12T15:57:00.000-08:00

2001: A Space Odyssey (occasionally referred to as simply 2001) released on April 6, 1968 is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. The film deals with thematic elements of human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life, and is notable for its scientific realism, pioneering special effects, ambiguous and often surreal imagery, sound in place of traditional narrative techniques, and minimal use of dialogue.

The film has a memorable soundtrack — the result of the association which Kubrick made between the rotary motion of the satellites and the dancers of waltzes, which led him to use the Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II, and the famous symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra, by Richard Strauss, to portray the philosophical evolution of Man theorized in Nietzsche's homonymous work.

Despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, 2001: A Space Odyssey is today recognized by many critics and audiences as one of the greatest films ever made; the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of critics ranked it among the top ten films of all time. It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and received one for visual effects. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in The National Film Registry.

Lucy Liu born December 1968

2010-01-12T04:14:00.000-08:00

Lucy Alexis Liu (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress. She became known for her role in the television series Ally McBeal (1998–2002) as the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo, and has also appeared in several notable film roles, including Charlie's Angels, Kill Bill and Kung Fu Panda.

Lucy Liu was born and was raised with her brother John in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, by Taiwanese immigrant parents. Liu has said that she grew up in a "diverse" neighborhood. Her family spoke Mandarin at home and she did not learn English until she was five years old. Her father, Tom, was a civil engineer and her mother, Cecilia, a biochemist, but they sacrificed those careers in Taiwan to come to the United States. Liu, at her parents' insistence, devoted her spare time to studying. She attended the Joseph Pulitzer Middle School (I.S.145) and she graduated from New York City's prestigious Stuyvesant High School in 1986. She attended New York University for one year, before transferring to the University of Michigan, where she joined the Chi Omega sorority and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Asian Languages and Cultures. At one point, Liu worked as a waitress in Michigan.

Civil Rights Act of 1968

2010-01-09T00:44:00.000-08:00

On April 11, 1968 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (commonly known as the Fair Housing Act, or as CRA '68), which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibited discrimination in housing, there were no federal enforcement provisions. The 1968 act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and as of 1974, gender; as of 1988, the act protects the disabled and families with children. It also provided protection for civil rights workers.

Victims of discrimination may use both the 1968 act and the 1866 act (via section 1982) to seek redress. The 1968 act provides for federal solutions while the 1866 act provides for private solutions (i.e., civil suits).

1968 Viet Cong execution

2010-01-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

February 1, 1968 – A Viet Cong officer named Nguyễn Văn Lém is executed by Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, a South Vietnamese National Police Chief. The event is photographed by Eddie Adams. The photo makes headlines around the world, eventually winning the 1969 Pulitzer Prize, and sways U.S. public opinion against the war.

1968 Indonesia's President

2010-01-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was the second President of Indonesia. He held the office from 1967 following Sukarno's removal up to his resignation in 1998.

Suharto was born in a small village near Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial controera. His Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and for much of his childhood he was passed between foster parents. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organised Indonesian security forces. During Indonesia's independence struggle, he joined the newly-formed Indonesian army. Following Indonesian independence, Suharto rose to the rank of Major General. An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops, was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. An army led anti-communist purge, killed over half a million people, and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno. He was appointed acting president in 1967 and President the following year. Support for Suharto's presidency eroded following the hardship of 1997–98 Asian financial crisis. He was forced to resign from the presidency in May 1998 and he died in 2008.

The legacy of Suharto's 32-year rule is debated both in Indonesia and abroad. Under his "New Order" administration, Suharto constructed a strong, centralised and military-dominated government. An ability to maintain stability over a sprawling and diverse Indonesia and an avowedly anti-Communist stance won him the economic and diplomatic support of the West during the Cold War. For most of his presidency, Indonesia experienced significant economic growth and industrialisation, dramatically improving health, education and living standards. Indonesia's 24-year occupation of East Timor during Suharto's presidency, resulted in at least 100,000 deaths. By the 1990s, the New Order's authoritarianism and widespread corruption was a source of discontent. In the years since his presidency, attempts to try him on charges of corruption and genocide failed because of his poor health.

Like many Javanese, Suharto had only one name. In religious contexts, he is sometimes called “Haji” or “el-Haj Mohammed Suharto”, but this Islamic title is not part of his formal name or generally used. The spelling "Suharto" reflects current Indonesian spelling, but people's names were always exempt from this. The English-language press generally uses the spelling 'Suharto', but Suharto and his family, as well as the Indonesian government and media, use 'Soeharto'.

1968 Prime Minister of Australia

2010-01-06T23:40:00.000-08:00

On 10 January 1968, Sir John Grey Gorton, (September 1911 – 19 May 2002), Australian politician, became the 19th Prime Minister in unusual circumstances. He was elected Liberal Party leader to replace Harold Holt, who had disappeared the previous month while swimming off the Victorian coast, and was presumed dead. Gorton also left the job in unusual circumstances – he declared himself out of office after a tied party vote of confidence in his leadership on 10 March 1971.

Prime Minister John Gorton with Indonesian President Soeharto in Djakarta during the Gorton’s visit in 1968.

Owen Wilson born November 1968

2010-01-01T17:46:00.000-08:00

Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor, comedian and writer.

Wilson was born in Dallas, Texas, to photographer Laura Cunningham Wilson and Robert Andrew Wilson, an advertising executive and operator of a public television station. He has an older brother, Andrew and a younger brother, Luke, both also involved in filmmaking. His family is Irish American and Roman Catholic. While living in Dallas, Wilson attended The Lamplighter School, and St. Mark's School of Texas, from which he was expelled when, in the tenth grade, he stole his teacher's textbook to aid him in his homework. Wilson attended his junior and senior years in high school at the New Mexico Military Institute.

The '68 Comeback Special

2009-12-31T21:09:00.000-08:00

December 3 – The '68 Comeback Special marks the concert return of Elvis Presley.

Recorded in late June, the special aired on December 3, 1968, as a Christmas telecast called simply Elvis. Later known as the '68 Comeback Special, the show featured lavishly staged studio productions as well as songs performed live with a band in front of a small audience—Presley's first live appearance as a performer since 1961. The live segments saw Presley clad in tight black leather, singing and playing guitar in an uninhibited style reminiscent of his early rock and roll days. Director and coproducer Steve Binder had worked hard to reassure the nervous singer and to produce a show that was not just an hour of Christmas songs, as Parker had originally planned. When the ratings were released the next day, NBC reported that Presley had captured 42 percent of the total viewing audience. It was the network's highest rated show that season. Jon Landau of Eye magazine remarked, "There is something magical about watching a man who has lost himself find his way back home. He sang with the kind of power people no longer expect of rock 'n' roll singers. He moved his body with a lack of pretension and effort that must have made Jim Morrison green with envy." The New Rolling Stone Album Guide calls the performance one of "emotional grandeur and historical resonance."

1968 Spain's Head of State

2009-12-22T16:39:00.000-08:00

Francisco Franco Bahamonde (4 December 1892 in Ferrol – 20 November 1975 in Madrid), commonly known as Francisco Franco (Spanish pronunciation: [fɾanˈθisko ˈfɾaŋko]), or simply Franco, was a military general and dictator of Spain from October 1936, and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in 1975. As head of state, Franco used the title Caudillo de España, por la gracia de Dios, meaning; Leader of Spain, by the grace of God. During his almost forty year reign, Franco's governance went through various different phases, although the most common ideological features present throughout included a strong sense of Spanish nationalism and protection of the country's territorial integrity, Catholicism, anti-communism, anti-masonry and traditional values.

"Up to the mountains and down to the villages" movement

2009-12-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

December 22, 1968 - Mao Zedong advocates that educated youth in urban China be re-educated in the country. It marks the start of the "Up to the mountains and down to the villages" movement.