Timeline March 1968

Events in March 1968 10

• 1934 – 1968 Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) Died 27 March 1968, aged 34 The first human to travel into space, having orbited the Earth aboard Vostok 1 in 1961, died when the MiG-15 jet fighter he was piloting on a routine training flight crashed near Kirzhach, Russia. The exact cause of the crash remains disputed. His death was mourned as a national loss in the Soviet Union.
• 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 Joni Mitchell releases Song to a Seagull Debut album Produced by David Crosby.
• 1968 Marries June Carter Franklin, Kentucky, March 1968 Married June Carter on 1 March 1968 in Franklin, Kentucky — reportedly with a ceremony connection to the family of Elvis Presley's father. The marriage would last for the rest of their lives and produce one of country music's most celebrated musical partnerships.
• 1968 1968 World Snooker Championship John Pulman Last Title The final challenge match before the modern era. Winner: John Pulman; Runner-up: Eddie Charlton. Score: 39–34.
• 1968 1968 Polish political crisis Student protests and state-sponsored antisemitic purge in Poland Student demonstrations in Warsaw, sparked by the banning of a classic play, were met with a harsh crackdown and were followed by a government-orchestrated antisemitic campaign that pressured thousands of Polish Jews to emigrate. The events marked a significant rupture in Poland's postwar communist society. Many of those who left never returned.
• 1968 The Byrds play the Grand Ole Opry Long-haired rockers in Nashville A rare rock band on the country stage, met with heckling.
• 1968 My Lai Massacre US soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians Members of a US Army company killed several hundred unarmed civilians, including women, children and the elderly, in the hamlet of My Lai. The killings were covered up for over a year before being exposed by journalist Seymour Hersh. The massacre became a defining atrocity of the Vietnam War and fueled anti-war sentiment in the United States.
• 1968 Otis Redding's Dock of the Bay reaches number one First posthumous number one The first posthumous number one single in US chart history.
• 1968 Yuri Gagarin dies in a MiG-15 crash Near Kirzhach, Soviet Union The first man in space is killed with his instructor Vladimir Seryogin when their MiG-15UTI trainer crashes during a routine training flight.