Timeline January 1968

Events in January 1968 26

• 1938 – 1968 Bill Masterton (1938-1968) Died 15 January 1968, aged 29 The Minnesota North Stars forward died two days after suffering a severe head injury in a National Hockey League game against the Oakland Seals, having been checked and falling backward onto the ice without a helmet. He remains the only player to die from injuries sustained during an NHL game. His death spurred the eventual introduction of mandatory helmets in the league.
• 1968 Australian Open 1968 Men: Bill Bowrey · Women: Billie Jean King
• 1968 David Gilmour joins -- Barrett replaced David Gilmour -- Barrett's Cambridge friend and an accomplished guitarist -- is recruited in January 1968, initially with the intention of allowing Barrett to remain as a non-touring songwriter. The arrangement is unworkable: Barrett's condition makes him unable to contribute consistently. On the way to a gig in April 1968, the band simply decides not to pick Barrett up. He is never formally fired. Gilmour's arrival transforms Pink Floyd's sound: where Barrett's guitar was idiosyncratic and effects-driven, Gilmour's is fluid, melodic and emotionally expressive -- the voice that will define Pink Floyd for the next two decades.
• 1968 1968: Graham Hill Lotus Hill won his second title in a season marked by the death of team leader Jim Clark. He stepped up as Lotus's lead driver and delivered in Clark's absence.
• 1968 – 1971 Frankfurt Opera Signed a contract with the Frankfurt Opera, where she performed for three years while also making debuts at the Vienna State Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Berlin State Opera and the Salzburg Festival.
• 1968 Hair — London Cast Landed his first professional role in the original London cast of the musical Hair. It was here that he met Richard O'Brien, who would later write the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter specifically for him.
• 1968 Just Because I'm a Woman Released Just Because I'm a Woman, the title song of her first RCA album, challenging the double standard applied to women's sexuality. The song was a feminist statement years before the movement reached the mainstream.
• 1968 Kusama's Self-Obliteration Film Her collaborative experimental film Kusama's Self-Obliteration, showing her painting polka dots on everything around her, won prizes at film festivals in Belgium and the United States. In the same year, she opened a fashion boutique at Bloomingdale's and presided over one of the first gay weddings in New York.
• 1968 Moved to Chicago Moved to Chicago when her husband Edgar got a house musician gig at the London House jazz club. Joined the Free Street Theater as an actress and singer, and appeared in the Chicago premiere of Hair.
• 1968 – 1972 Olympic Sailing Career Competed in sailing at three consecutive Olympic Games: Tokyo 1964, Mexico City 1968 and Munich 1972. He also competed in numerous world championships and was a passionate sailor throughout his life.
• 1968 – 1969 Prague Spring and Aftermath Supported the liberalising reforms of the Prague Spring. After the Soviet-led invasion of 1968, his books were banned and he was stripped of his teaching position.
• 1968 – 1970 Promises, Promises Revival The Broadway musical Promises, Promises, with lyrics by Hal David, ran for over 1,200 performances and earned Bacharach a Tony nomination.
• 1968 – 1970 Promises, Promises on Broadway Composed the score for the Broadway musical Promises, Promises, based on Billy Wilder's The Apartment, which ran for over 1,200 performances.
• 1968 Robert F. Kennedy Campaign Worked on Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, an experience that sparked his own political ambitions.
• 1968 – 1975 Waseda University Studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo. Participated in student protests of the late 1960s but grew disillusioned with radical politics. In 1971, while still a student, married fellow student Yoko Takahashi, who would become his closest companion, first reader and most trusted critic.
• 1968 Prague Spring reforms begin Alexander Dubcek launches liberalization of Czechoslovak communism Alexander Dubcek became First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party and initiated a program of political liberalization known as "socialism with a human face," easing censorship and travel restrictions. The reforms drew alarm from the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact states. The period ended abruptly with the August invasion.
• 1968 – 2019 John Singleton (1968-2019) Died 28 April 2019, aged 51 John Singleton was an American film director whose debut feature, Boyz n the Hood, earned him Academy Award nominations for directing and screenwriting at age 24, making him the youngest and first Black director nominated for the award. He went on to direct films including Poetic Justice and Baby Boy. He died in Los Angeles after suffering a stroke.
• 1968 Records "At Folsom Prison" 13 January 1968 Performed live at Folsom State Prison in California on 13 January 1968 in front of approximately 2,000 inmates — a performance widely seen as a career-defining risk by record executives, which became the album "At Folsom Prison" and triggered a dramatic career resurgence.
• 1968 The Byrds release The Notorious Byrd Brothers Studio experiments Made amid line-up chaos, later seen as their best.
• 1968 – present Artur Dmitriev Olympic Figure Skater Soviet and Russian pair figure skater who remains the only man in Olympic history to win pairs gold with two different partners. He won gold with Natalia Mishkutionok at the 1992 Albertville Olympics and again with Oksana Kazakova at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, both under the coaching of Tamara Moskvina. He also won Olympic silver in 1994, two World Championship titles and three European Championship titles. After retiring, he worked as a coach and performer in ice shows.
• 1968 Artur Dmitriev born in Bila Tserkva Born Artur Valerievich Dmitriev in Bila Tserkva, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine). Grew up in Norilsk, one of the northernmost cities in the world, deep inside the Arctic Circle.
• 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh Prolonged siege of a US Marine base in Vietnam North Vietnamese forces besieged the US Marine combat base at Khe Sanh for over two months in one of the longest and most closely watched battles of the Vietnam War. American air power eventually broke the siege, inflicting heavy North Vietnamese casualties. The base was nonetheless abandoned by US forces later in the year.
• 1968 USS Pueblo seized by North Korea American intelligence ship captured off the North Korean coast North Korean naval vessels boarded and captured the USS Pueblo, killing one crewman and taking 82 sailors prisoner. The crew was held for eleven months and subjected to torture before their release in December 1968. The ship itself was never returned and remains in North Korean hands.
• 1968 – present Felipe VI Current King The current King of Spain, who ascended the throne in 2014.
• 1968 Tet Offensive Coordinated North Vietnamese and Viet Cong assault on South Vietnamese cities On the Vietnamese New Year, communist forces launched surprise attacks on more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including Saigon and Hue. The offensive was a military defeat for the attackers but shattered American public confidence that the war was being won. It marked a turning point in US domestic support for the war.
• 1968 The Velvet Underground release White Light/White Heat Sister Ray A noisy album with the 17-minute Sister Ray.