1968
A Year of Militancy and Protest
In 1968 Edward Abbey’s most famous book, Desert Solitaire, was published.
“A civilization which destroys what little remains of the wild, the spare, the original, is cutting itself off from its origins and betraying the principle of civilization itself. If industrial man continues to multiply its numbers and expand his operations he will succeed in his apparent intention, to seal himself off from the natural and isolate himself within a synthetic prison of his own making. He will make himself an exile from the earth.”
The average cost of a new house was $15K
The average cost of a new car was $2,800
A gallon of gas cost 00.34 cents
Top Grossing film was 2001: A Space Odessey
The Beatles release “Hey Jude” (hottest single of the year) and “Revolution”:
“You say you want a revolution, well, you know
We all wanna change
the world
You tell me that it's evolution, well, you know
We all wanna change
the world”
The Vietnam War
Battle of Khe Sanh Marine Base
The Tet Offensive
The Massacre at Hué (Viet Cong massacre 4K to 6K civilians with clubs)
Walter Cronkite on the evening news calls for negotiations
Anti-war sentiment becomes widespread across the US, especially college campuses
MyLai Massacre, US forces massacre 300 to 500 civilians in the MyLai village
Millions of students turn out for war protests in the US and Europe
Martin Luther King, Jr assassinated (Race Riots and demonstrations across the US)
Robert F. Kennedy assassinated (JFK’s brother, would have been elected president)
The 1968 Civil Rights Act (prohibited discrimination based on race)
Multiple Militant Ethnic and Racial movements across the US (i.e. Black Power)
Women’s and Gay Rights groups turn militant
Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood premiers on television
Mexico City Summer Olympics (two African American athletes raise their fists on podium)
1968 Presidential Election, Nixon elected
Chicago Riots (Chicago site of National Democratic Convention)
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