August 1968

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This article covers current news and events at the time - in August 1968 .

Events that have been running for a long time, including this month

• Nigeria : The Biafra War , a civil war from 1967 to 1970

• Prague : After a change in leadership in the CP in the previous year, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (ČSSR) remained unclear for a few weeks about a new direction, a reform course, the Czechoslovak ruling party (CP) under Alexander Dubček , which was held during the so-called “Prague Spring” (socialism with a human face) and its suppression by Warsaw Pact troops under the leadership of the Soviet Union this month.
• Period in the Vietnam War in South Vietnam - the Tet Offensive against South Vietnam. and American allies lasted from 29./30. January to September 23, 1968. It had already peaked in January and February.

Daily events

August 1, 1968, Thursday

• Bandar Seri Begawan : Coronation of the new Sultan of Brunei Hassanai
• Caracas : Former dictator Marcos P. Jimenez is sentenced to prison
• Čierna nad Tisou , July 29th to August 1st: End of a meeting between Leonid Brežnev and Alexander Dubček

August 2, 1968, Friday

• USA: Sirhan Sirhan pleads for himself “not guilty” in the trial of the assassination attempt on US Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968.

August 3, 1968, Saturday

• Bratislava : At the end of the conference there between five other Warsaw Pact states and the ČSSR leadership, the Communist Party leaders emphasized the necessary unity of the socialist bloc in the Bratislava declaration .
• There a so-called letter of invitation was handed over from Vasiľ Biľak to the Soviet leadership. Handover of the letter from Vasiľ Biľak (Vasil Bilak) to the CPSU leadership.

• Died: Konstanty Rokossowski (born 1896; Operation Bagration , including Marshal of Poland )

August 10: Demonstration in Chicago ahead of the Democratic National Convention

August 10, 1968, Saturday

• Charleston, USA : Airplane accident while approaching Flight 230; 35 dead

A. Dubcek
(photo from Sept. 1968)

August 11, 1968, Sunday

• Liverpool : The Fifteen Guinea Special of the British Rail began as the last steam train in England his trip - the next day a ban enters into force (steam ban), and ends a chapter of industrial history

August 12, 1968, Monday

• A delegation from the Central Committee of the SED , led by Walter Ulbricht , meets with the Central Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party (led by Dubcek) in Karlsbad .

August 15, 1968, Thursday

• Celebes , Indonesia : earthquake kills around 68,200

August 20, 1968, Tuesday

• Prague: Dubcek's plan to hold the 14th party congress is confirmed in its regular party board meeting
• from 11 p.m .: Troops of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact march into Czechoslovakia (or as a longer event: troops march in from four Warsaw Pact states , airborne troops , tank units )
• Semipalatinsk , Kazakhstan : the USSR performs a nuclear test explosion at the nuclear test site by

August 21, 1968, Wednesday

• Warsaw Pact troops continue to invade
• 2 am: Radio Prague announces the invasion. Members of the party presidium gather. They are soon arrested by the occupying forces.
• Bucharest : Nicolae Ceaușescu (President of Romania) publicly condemns the intervention
• Chicago : Opening of the Democratic National Convention
• Washington DC: Private James Anderson Jr. was the first to receive African American. Soldier awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his service in the Vietnam War .

August 22, 1968, Thursday

• Bogota : The Catholic Pope Paul VI. (made famous by Second Vatican Council, CIC) begins a state visit to Colombia
• Beginning of the CPC party congress in a suburb of Prague, which Dubcek confirms again

August 24, 1968, Sunday

• Mururoa , French Polynesia : France's Nuclear Weapon Test (Nuclear Power )

August 25, 1968, Monday

• Venice : Alexander Kluge receives Golden Lion (film award) for the artists in the big top: perplexed

August 26, 1968, Tuesday

• Moscow : End of the forced "negotiations" between the Soviet and the imprisoned Czechoslovak leadership with the signing of a " Moscow Protocol ".
• Chicago: from August 26th to August 28th the National Convention of the Democrats (nomination party convention for the presidential election) will take place there. a. Students protest against US involvement in the Vietnam War . Chicago's Democratic Mayor Richard J. Daley implements very repressive police tactics and street battles last for days in the city . Hubert H. Humphrey is nominated as a presidential candidate.
• London: Hey Jude by Paul McCartney is released as a single under the Beatles' new label, Apple. With around 7.5 million copies sold, the record is considered the band's most successful single.

August 29, 1968, Friday

• Oslo : marriage of the Norwegian Crown Prince Harald to Sonja Haraldsen .

August 30, 1968, Friday

• Saigon : Nine-day riot among African-American inmates begins in U.S. military prison (1 dead, over 100 injured)

August 31, 1968, Saturday

• Iran: devastating earthquake in the Khorasan province (7.4 Richter scale; estimate of over 15 thousand deaths)
• Houston : First multi-organ transplantation at almost the same time , from one donor, to four recipients (lead surgeon Michael DeBakey )

See also

• History of Czechoslovakia (1967-69)
• Normalization (Czechoslovakia)
• August (for the month name)
• Nekrolog August 1968 for the dead that month
• List of annually recurring commemorative and action days in August
• Category for commemorative days, holidays or action days in August

• Wolf Biermann , his first long-playing record was released in 1968 at Chausseestraße 131 . For this album he received the Fontane Prize in 1969 .
• September 1968 (next month)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Stefan Karner (ed.): Prager Frühling: Contributions. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne 2008, p. 39
2. ↑ František Janáček, Marie Michálková, Příběh zvacího dopisu (The Story of the Letter of Invitation), in: Soudobé dějiny 1/1993 (Journal of the Academy of Sciences), online at: www.68.usd.cas.cz (PDF; 6.0 MB), Czech, accessed July 21, 2010
3. ↑ After 33 years, the Moscow Protocol for the Prague Spring is published , NZZ from Aug. 24, 2001, link there

Web links

Commons : August 1968  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• Commons images of the invasion
• Chronicle Aug. 1968 (Living virtual museum online at dhm.de, lemo)
• onthisday.com - Events, August 1968 , engl.