January 1968

The following events occurred in January 1968:

January 2, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Born: Cuba Gooding, Jr., Oscar-winning actor (Jerry Maguire)

January 3, 1968 (Wednesday)

• The Panton Chair is introduced on the market for the first time by the Herman Miller Corporation.

January 5, 1968 (Friday)

• Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as the leader of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia.^[1]
• Born: Carrie Ann Inaba, dancer and television host

January 6, 1968 (Saturday)

• Norman Shumway performs the first successful heart transplant in the United States.^[2]
• Born: John Singleton, African-American director (Boyz N The Hood)

January 8, 1968 (Monday)

• A collision between two Boston subways leaves 61 injured.^[3]
• Pierre Guillard, a mentally ill French man, gouged several holes with a knife in Rubens' The Virgin and Child Surrounded by the Holy Innocents at The Louvre.^[4]
• Otis Redding's single "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is released, less than a month after the plane crash that claimed his life.
• The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau debuts on ABC.

January 9, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Born: Joey Lauren Adams, American actress (Dazed and Confused, Chasing Amy)
• The National Football League Players Association formally establishes itself as an independent labor union; the players would strike 6 months later, leading to the league's first collective bargaining agreement.
• The Secret Service confiscated $4.1 million in counterfeit money at John F. Kennedy Airport, at the time the largest seizure in history.
• Surveyor 7 made its lunar landing.

January 10, 1968 (Wednesday)

• Born: Zoe Tay, Singaporean actress
• Born: Lyle Menendez, American murderer
• Died: Theophilus Donges, 69, South African President-elect

January 12, 1968 (Friday)

• Born: Rachael Harris, American actress

January 14, 1968 (Sunday)

• The Green Bay Packers defeat the Oakland Raiders by the score of 33-14 in Super Bowl II at the Miami Orange Bowl
• Born: LL Cool J, American rapper and actor

January 15, 1968 (Monday)

• An earthquake in Sicily kills 380 and injures around 1,000.^[5][6]
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. airs its final episode.

January 16, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Born: Stephan Pastis, American cartoonist (Pearls Before Swine)
• Born: Atticus Ross, Oscar-winning film composer (The Social Network)
• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie premiered on Broadway; the lead actress Zoe Caldwell would win a Tony for her role as the title character.

January 18, 1968 (Thursday)

• Born: David Ayer, American film director (Fury, Suicide Squad) and writer (Training Day)

January 19, 1968 (Friday)

• Born: Matt Hill, Canadian voice actor (Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy, Street Sharks)

January 21, 1968 (Sunday)

• Battle of Khe Sanh: One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins, ending on April 8.
• A U.S. B-52 Stratofortress crashes in Greenland, discharging 4 nuclear bombs.

January 22, 1968 (Monday)

• Born: Guy Fieri, American chef and TV personality
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuts on NBC.

January 23, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Born: Eric Metcalf, American football player
• North Korea seizes the USS Pueblo, claiming the ship violated its territorial waters while spying.

January 24, 1968 (Wednesday)

• The James Stewart/Henry Fonda Western Firecreek debuts in theaters.
• Born: Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
• Born: Chris Warren, American football player

January 25, 1968 (Thursday)

• The Israeli submarine INS Dakar sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 69.
• I Never Sang for My Father premieres on Broadway.

January 27, 1968 (Saturday)

• The French submarine Minerve sinks in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 52.
• Born: Mike Patton, American rock singer (Faith No More)
• Born: Tricky, British musician
• Born: Tracy Lawrence, American country singer
• Born: Matt Stover, American football placekicker

January 28, 1968 (Sunday)

• Born: Sarah McLachlan, Canadian singer
• Born: Rakim, American hip hop musician

January 29, 1968 (Monday)

• Born: Edward Burns, American actor and director
• Born: Aeneas Williams, American football player

January 30, 1968 (Tuesday)

• Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive begins, as Viet Cong forces launch a series of surprise attacks across South Vietnam.
• Born: King Felipe VI of Spain
• Died: Robert Wood Johnson II, American businessman

January 31, 1968 (Wednesday)

• Việt Cộng soldiers attack the US Embassy, Saigon.
• Nauru president Hammer DeRoburt declares independence from Australia.

References