It Happened In 1968 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tet Offensive

The Têt Offensive was a succession of attacks on most of the major cities in Southern Vietnam from January 31-February 24 1968. Launched by the Viet Cong, its objective was to catch the South Vietnamese and US armies by surprise by starting the attack on the Vietnamese holiday of Têt Nguyên Dán.

Answer: Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 project began when Pan Am asked for a giant plane that could carry twice as many passengers as the 707. Believing that supersonic travel would soon take over the passenger industry, Boeing designed the 747 to be an efficient cargo transport by putting a loading door on the nose; this gave the plane its distinctive hump.

When supersonic travel was revealed to be uneconomical the 747, or "Jumbo Jet" as it was dubbed, became the major aircraft in the passenger industry. On February 8 1968 the 747 took to the air and became the biggest plane in passenger air travel, a title it would hold until the Airbus A380 flew in April 2005.

Answer: Yuri Gagarin

On March 27 1968 Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, the first human in space, died in a plane crash along with his co-pilot, Vladimir Seryogin, when they were flying a MiG-15 near Moscow. The exact reason for the crash is still unknown but the most accepted reason is that the MiG-15 hit turbulence caused by a Su-11 that had flown by minutes earlier.

This combined with bad weather made the plane fly out of control and crash. A new theory however hypothesizes that a faulty cabin vent caused the pilots to black out due to oxygen deprivation.

Answer: James Earl Ray

On April 4 1968, James Earl Ray shot Martin Luther King, Jr. who was standing on the balcony of his Lorraine Motel bedroom in Memphis, Tennessee. Ray was arrested two months later in London; he pleaded guilty to King's murder at a Tennessee court but later claimed that he was innocent.

In March 1969 Ray was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted in 1972 to life imprisonment. James Earl Ray died in prison in 1998, nineteen days after the thirtieth anniversary of Martin Luther King's death.

Answer: Conservative

On April 20 1968 Conservative MP for Wolverhampton South-West, Enoch Powell, made a speech in one of the most culturally diverse parts of Birmingham. In the speech Powell stated his belief that continued immigration into the country would damage British society.

He evoked Virgil when he said, referring to Britain's future, that he seemed to see "the Tiber foaming with much blood." Because of this, Powell's words are referred to as the "rivers of blood" speech. The speech caused an uproar in Britain and ended Powell's career as the next day Conservative leader Edward Heath fired him from the Shadow Cabinet.

Answer: Louis Armstrong

From April 24-May 22 1968 Louis Armstrong was number one in the British charts with "What a Wonderful World" written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. At the age of 66, Armstrong was the oldest artist to have a number one in Britain in the 1960s.

Answer: California

In the early hours of June 5 1968, following his victories in the South Dakota and Californian Democratic presidential nomination primaries, an exuberant Robert Kennedy addressed his supporters in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, California. Kennedy then went downstairs where, in a crowded pantry, he was shot.

The next day he died in hospital. Twenty four year old Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan was arrested for the murder and found guilty and imprisoned for life in 1972.

Answer: It condemned birth control

On July 25 1968 Humanae Vitae, literally meaning "human life," was released by the Vatican. The encyclical stated that abortion and all forms of contraception were immoral and should be banned as they either took life or implied that children were a burden that should be avoided. Two years earlier a commission of Catholic theologians released a report for Pope Paul VI stating that birth control was not evil and its use should be up to the individual couples.

However, the Pope rejected their findings and instead 'Humanae Vitae' more closely resembled the views of the more conservative theologian Karol Wojty³a.

The encyclical angered many Catholics who disagreed with the ruling.

Answer: One Life to Live

On July 15 1968 Agnes Nixon's "One Life to Live" premiered on the ABC television network. Set in the fictional Llanview surrounding the Wolek and Riley families, the soap broke new ground, depicting the lives of rich and poor in society, it was one of the first television series to deal with interracial relationships and drug addiction. Stories have included underground cities and time travel.

Answer: Chicago

From August 22-30 1968 police and antiwar protesters clashed outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The protests frequently turned into riots many people put this down to Chicago's Mayor Richard J. Daley's heavy-handed approach towards the protesters.

Answer: Will Smith

Willard Christopher Smith II was born on September 25 1968 in Wynnefield, Philadelphia. He started his career in music as a pop-rap star called the Fresh Prince, he then moved on to make a name for himself in both the television and movie industries staring in "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," "Men in Black" and "Independence Day."

Answer: Mexico City

The nineteenth modern Olympiad was held from October 12-27 1968 in Mexico City, Mexico. The United States won the most medals receiving 107 in total. There was controversy during the medals ceremony for the Men's 200m when gold medal winner Tommie Smith and bronze medal winner John Carlos, both of whom were African-American, raised their black gloved fists emulating the Black Power symbol. Both men were suspended from the Olympics.

Answer: Spiro Agnew

Governor Spiro Theodore Agnew of Maryland became Vice President-elect of the United States on November 5 1968 when Richard Milhous Nixon won the Presidential election. Agnew was force to resign in 1973 after he was charged with tax evasion; Gerald Rudolph Ford replaced him as Vice President. Had Agnew not resigned he almost certainly would have become President when Richard Nixon was forced to resign himself in 1974 over Watergate.

Answer: The Book of Genesis

On Christmas Eve 1968 Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders became the first Humans to orbit the Moon and see its far side. Whilst in orbit the crew in turn quoted Genesis 1:1-10, the story of creation. Before Frank Borman ended with, "Good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

Answer: May

Known as "French May" or simply "May 1968", student protests in Paris mushroomed into widespread disorder and strikes that almost brought down the de Gaulle government. It started on May 2 when, following a number of student strikes in opposition to altercations between university administrators and the police, the University of Paris at Nanterre was closed.

A series of protests followed in support of many different issues, to which the police were sent to brake up. This made the general public sympathetic towards the protesters and anti-government feeling swept through the country leading to yet more protests and a general strike that meant by May 17 ten million people refused to go to work. On May 29, President de Gaulle spoke on radio and ended the crisis by promising a general election in June.