On this day

April 4, 1968

Revisit the music, news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.

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Headlines from April 4, 1968

Congress Cheered By Hanoi Response; Broad Spectrum Congress Is Cheered by Hanoi's Response to Bombing Curb

By John W. Finney

Cong, with nearly unanimous voice, gives support to N Vietnam's call for discussion of bombing cessation; Cong doves foresee call as opening door to peace, hawks are more cautious; Fulbright describes N Vietnam's reply as favorable development; expresses hope Adm would welcome discussions; acknowledges he was 'over-pessimistic' when he said Johnson offer provides no inducement to N Vietnam; Sens Mansfield, Gore, Cooper and Pell hail accord; Sen Lausche says US should disregard N Vietnam's belligerent tone; Sen Hickenlooper says there is no suggestion N Vietnam will stop anything in S Vietnam; Sens Miller and Dominick caution against US being bogged down in fighting while discussions continue

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Music on My Birthday

Billboard 200

The Top 50 albums for the chart week of April 3, 1968, covering April 4, 1968.

  1. 1
    Album cover for The Graduate by Soundtrack

    The Graduate

    Soundtrack

    Last week
    2
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    4
  2. 2
    Album cover for Blooming Hits by Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra

    Blooming Hits

    Paul Mauriat And His Orchestra

    Last week
    1
    Peak
    1
    Weeks
    17
  3. 3
    Album cover for Aretha: Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin

    Aretha: Lady Soul

    Aretha Franklin

    Last week
    3
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    7
  4. 4
    Album cover for John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan

    John Wesley Harding

    Bob Dylan

    Last week
    5
    Peak
    2
    Weeks
    11
  5. 5
    Album cover for Parsley; Sage; Rosemary And Thyme by Simon & Garfunkel

    Parsley; Sage; Rosemary And Thyme

    Simon & Garfunkel

    Last week
    15
    Peak
    4
    Weeks
    74

Notable Births

1968Jesús Rollán, Spanish water polo player (died 2006)[†]

Jesús Miguel Rollán Prada was a water polo goalkeeper from Spain who was a member of the national team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.

Notable Deaths

Martin Luther King Jr.

1968Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and activist, Nobel Prize laureate (assassinated) (born 1929)[†]

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and nonviolent civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of legalized discrimination.

Historical Events

Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

1968Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee.[†]

Martin Luther King Jr., an American civil rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m at age 39.

Apollo program

1968Apollo program: NASA launches Apollo 6.[†]

The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in space. It was conceived in 1960 as a three-person spacecraft during President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. Apollo was later dedicated to President John F. Kennedy's national goal for the 1960s of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth" in an address to Congress on May 25, 1961. It was the third American human spaceflight program to fly, preceded by Project Gemini conceived in 1961 to extend spaceflight capability in support of Apollo.

Historical Context for April 4, 1968

In 1968, the world population was approximately 3,545,187,251 people[†]