Events Date 1968 July | History by KabAstro

Music History

Jul 1 John Lennon's 1st full art exhibition (You Are Here) opens at Robert Fraser Gallery in London

Jul 1 The CIA's Phoenix Program is officially established.
Jul 1 US, Britain, USSR & 58 nations sign Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
Jul 1 USSR performs underground nuclear test
Jul 2 American jazz musician Louis Armstrong leads his All-Star band in a performance at the BBC television studio in London, England; the thirteen song set is broadcast in September
Jul 2 An El Al Israeli airliner is hijacked and diverted to Algeria by three armed members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)
Jul 3 41°F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in July
Jul 3 As part of a series of protests against housing conditions in Derry, the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) hold a sit-down protest on the newly opened second deck of the Craigavon Bridge in the city, Northern Ireland
Jul 3 Cleveland pitcher Luis Tiant strikes out MLB record 19 Minnesota Twins in 1-0 win; record for 10 inning game; also record 32 Ks in consecutive games

Event of Interest

Jul 4 Arthur Kopit's "Indians" premieres in London

Jul 4 Radio astronomy satellite Explorer 38 launched
Jul 5 "Manifest of 1000 words" published in Prague
Jul 5 John Lennon sells his psychedelic painted Rolls-Royce

Wimbledon Men's Tennis

Jul 5 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Rod Laver beats Tony Roche 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to earn first ever prize money (£2,000) offered at Wimbledon

Jul 6 Sacharov publishes "Manifest of 10,000 words"

Wimbledon Women's Tennis

Jul 6 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Billie Jean King beats Judy Tegart 9-7, 7-5 to earn first ever prize money (£750) offered at Wimbledon

Jul 7 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Jul 7 Rock group "Yardbirds" disband

US Women's Golf Open

Jul 7 US Open Women's Golf, Moselem Springs GC: Susie Maxwell Berning beats Mickey Wright by 3 strokes

Jul 8 Israeli-Egyptian artillery duel along Suez Canal
Jul 9 15.68" (39.83 cm) of rainfall, Columbus, Mississippi (state 24-hour record)

Sports History

Jul 9 39th MLB All Star Game, Astrodome, Houston, TX: NL beats AL, 1-0; MVP: Willie Mays, SF Giants, CF

Jul 9 BBC-TV broadcasts "Farewell", folk-rock band The Seekers final performance, draws 10 million viewers

Sports History

Jul 9 Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first reigning NBA MVP to be traded the next season when he moves from Philadelphia 76'ers to LA Lakers

Jul 10 US Major League baseball announces it will split into 2 divisions for 1969

Sports History

Jul 11 Earl Weaver replaces Hank Bauer as manager of Orioles

Sports History

Jul 11 Start of Colin Cowdrey's 100th Test, 1st person to reach the milestone

Jul 12 Couve de Murville forms government in France
Jul 12 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan

British Golf Open

Jul 13 British Open Men's Golf, Carnoustie: South African Gary Player wins second of his 3 Open titles, 2 strokes clear of Bob Charles and Jack Nicklaus; 5th of Player's 9 major titles

Jul 13 French government-Couve de Murville forms

Baseball History

Jul 14 Brave Hank Aaron hits his 500th HR off SF Giant Mike McCormick

Jul 14 Houston Astro Don Wilson strikes out 18, beats Reds 6-1 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati
Jul 14 WSWO TV channel 26 in Springfield, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting
Jul 15 "One Life to Live", American soap opera, premieres on TV
Jul 15 Commercial air travel begins between US & USSR

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Jul 15 Fantasy Records releases the self-titled debut album "Creedence Clearwater Revival"; it feature's their cover of Dale Hawkin's "Susie Q"

Jul 15 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
Jul 15 NJ Americans moved to Comack & become NY Nets (ABA)
Jul 17 Bloodless coup in Iraq led by General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Jul 17 The Beatles' animated film "Yellow Submarine" premieres in London

Event of Interest

Jul 18 Intel Corporation is founded in Santa Clara, California

Semiconductor Pioneer and CEO of Intel Andrew Grove

Jul 20 First Special Olympics held in Chicago, Illinois for children and adults with intellectual disabilities
Jul 20 Iron Butterfly's "In-a-gadda-da-vida" becomes 1st heavy metal song to hit charts, it comes in at #117

Engagement of Interest

Jul 20 Jane Asher breaks her engagement with Beatle bassist, singer, and songwriter Paul McCartney, live on BBC-TV's "Dee Time" programme

Music Concert

Jul 20 Judy Garland headlines concert also featuring Count Basie and Jackie Wilson at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her last US concert

Jazz Pianist, Bandleader, and Composer Count Basie

Jul 21 55th Tour de France won by Jan Janssen of Netherlands

PGA Championship

Jul 21 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Pecan Valley GC: Julius Boros (48) becomes oldest winner of a major; wins by 1 from Bob Charles & Arnold Palmer

Jul 22 Sir John Newsome recommends public schools should take 50% of their intake from the state school system
Jul 23 Fred Blasie wins 5th wrestling world championship belt
Jul 23 PLO's 1st hijacking of an El Al plane
Jul 23 Race riot in Cleveland, 11 including 3 police officers killed

Sports History

Jul 24 Hoyt Wilhelm pitches in a record 907th major league game breaking Cy Young's record for pitching appearances

Baseball Player and Knuckleball Pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm

Catholic Encyclical

Jul 25 Pope Paul VI publishes encyclical "Humanae vitae (Of Human Life)" which rejects any artificial forms of birth control

Jul 27 Race Riot in Gary Indiana
Jul 29 Cincinnati Red George Culver no hits Phillies, 6-1
Jul 29 Gram Parsons refuses to play with the Byrds in South Africa
Jul 29 Mount Arenal, Costa Rica kills 80 in Pelee-type eruption
Jul 30 Washington shortstop Ron Hansen makes 8th unassisted triple-play in MLB history and first in 41 years as Senators lose, 10-1 to Cleveland Indians
Jul 31 The Beatles close Apple Boutique in London, giving clothes away for free