On this day
Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Gov Hughes bars new or increased taxes unless Legis rejects his proposal for bond issues to finance capital construction, news conf; Sen Pres Forsythe does not want to close door on excise tax rises
Premier Sato assures Japanese Diet that Japanese forces will not become involved in the event of hostilities; Cabinet Sec Kimura says Japan has decided to support US position in crisis situation
village of Apba endures terror from Vietcong raids
Adm to open drive for comprehensive indus safety legis with Sec Wirtz testimony before HR subcom on bill to allow Fed Govt to set health and safety standards for workers employed by cos in interstate commerce; Deputy Asst Sec McGinley charges rising indus deaths and accidents cost natl econ $5-billion a yr; strong opposition by cos and some states seen; charges of Adm pol motivation noted; bill provisions revd
Illus
Music on My Birthday
The Top 50 albums for the chart week of January 31, 1968, covering February 1, 1968.
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Diana Ross & The Supremes
The Monkees
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
1968Lisa Marie Presley, American singer-songwriter and actress (died 2023)[†]
Lisa Marie Presley was an American singer and songwriter. She was the daughter of singer and actor Elvis Presley, who is referred to as "The King of Rock and Roll" and actress Priscilla Presley, as well as the sole heir to her father's estate after her grandfather and great-grandmother died. Her musical career consisted of three studio albums: To Whom It May Concern (2003), Now What (2005) and Storm & Grace (2012), with To Whom It May Concern being certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Presley also released non-album singles, including duets with her father using archival recordings.
1968Mark Recchi, Canadian ice hockey player and coach[†]
Mark Louis Recchi is a Canadian former professional ice hockey winger who played 22 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft, and he played for them, the Philadelphia Flyers, Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, Atlanta Thrashers, Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. Recchi won the Stanley Cup three times in his playing career: in 1991 with the Penguins, in 2006 with the Hurricanes, and in 2011 with the Bruins. During the 2010-11 season, Recchi was the last active player who had played in the NHL in the 1980s. Subsequently, in Game 2 of the 2011 Finals, Recchi became the oldest player ever to score in a Stanley Cup Finals game at age 43. On June 26, 2017, in his fourth year of eligibility, Recchi was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
1968Pauly Shore, American actor and comedian[†]
Paul Montgomery Shore is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring role in the comedy film Encino Man in 1992, which was a modest hit. He followed this with leading man vehicles, including Son in Law (1993), In the Army Now (1994) and Bio-Dome (1996). Shore provided the voice of Robert "Bobby" Zimuruski in A Goofy Movie (1995) and its direct-to-video sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000).
1968Echol Cole and Robert Walker - sparking the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike[†]
Echol Cole and Robert Walker were sanitation workers who died accidentally in Memphis, Tennessee at the corner of Colonial Rd. and Verne Rd. on February 1, 1968. While working that day, the pair sought refuge from a rainstorm in the compactor area of their garbage truck. The two African American men were prevented from seeking shelter from the rain inside a building due to segregation laws. They were killed when the compactor accidentally activated. Their deaths were a precursor to the Memphis sanitation strike, during which the prominent civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
1968Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is recorded on motion picture film, as well as in an iconic still photograph taken by Eddie Adams.[†]
The Vietnam War was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam and their allies. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union and China, while South Vietnam was supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations. The conflict was the second of the Indochina wars and a proxy war of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. The Vietnam War was one of the postcolonial wars of national liberation, a theater in the Cold War, and a civil war, with civil warfare a defining feature from the outset. Direct US military involvement escalated from 1965 until its withdrawal in 1973. The fighting spilled into the Laotian and Cambodian Civil Wars, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
1968Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces.[†]
The Royal Canadian Navy is the naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 Halifax-class frigates, 12 Kingston-class coastal defence vessels, 4 Victoria-class submarines, 4 Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessels, 8 Orca-class patrol vessels, and several auxiliary vessels. The RCN consists of 8,400 Regular Force and 4,100 Primary Reserve sailors, supported by 3,800 civilians. Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee is the commander of the Royal Canadian Navy and chief of the Naval Staff.
1968The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation.[†]
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midwest, along with the intermediate cities of Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Detroit, Rochester and Syracuse. The New York Central was headquartered in the New York Central Building, adjacent to its largest station, Grand Central Terminal.
In 1968, the world population was approximately 3,545,187,251 people[†]