Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuts in 1968

January 22,  1968 – Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In debuts on NBC.

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968 to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC. It originally aired as a one-time special on September 9, 1967 and was such a success that it was brought back as a series, replacing The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on Mondays at 8pm on NBC.

The title, Laugh-In, came out of events of the 1960s hippie culture, such as "love-ins" or "be-ins." These were terms that were, in turn, derived from "sit-ins," common in protests associated with civil rights and anti-war demonstrations of the time.

The show was characterized by a rapid-fire series of gags and sketches, many of which conveyed sexual innuendo or were politically charged. Rowan and Martin continued the exasperated straight man (Dan Rowan) and "dumb" guy (Dick Martin) act which they had established as nightclub comics. This was a continuation of the "dumb Dora" acts of vaudeville, best popularized by Burns And Allen. Rowan and Martin had a similar tag line, "Say goodnight Dick".

Laugh-In had its roots in the humor of vaudeville and burlesque, but its most direct influences were from the comedy of Olsen and Johnson (specifically, their free-form Broadway revue Hellzapoppin'), the innovative television works of Ernie Kovacs, and the topical satire of That Was The Week That Was.

David and Julie's wedding

David Eisenhower marries Julie Nixon, the daughter of U.S. President-elect Richard Nixon.

On December 22, 1968, after her father was elected president but before he took office, Julie married David Eisenhower, grandson of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The couple had known each other since meeting at the 1956 Republican National Convention. The Reverend Norman Vincent Peale officiated in the non-denominational rite at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.

The Eisenhowers have three children. Jennie Elizabeth, Alexander Richard and Melanie Catherine.

1968 Leader of Czechoslovakia

January 5 - Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is elected leader of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia.
Alexander Dubček (November 27, 1921 – November 7, 1992) was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968-1969), famous for his attempt to reform the Communist regime (Prague Spring). Later, after the overthrow of the Communist government in 1989, he was Speaker of the federal Czechoslovak parliament.

Mao Tse-tung 1968 Leader of China

Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), also known as "Chairman Mao", was the leader of the Communist Party of China from 1935 to 1976 and dictator of Communist China from 1949-1976.
Mao led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, he has been regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, and named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.

Mao Zedong remains a controversial figure to this day, with a contentious and ever-evolving legacy. Critics blame many of Mao's socio-political programs, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, for causing severe damage to the culture, society, economy, and foreign relations of China. Mao's policies and political purges in the first decades of the People's Republic are widely attributed to the deaths of between 40 to 70 million people.

During the Cultural Revolution, Mao became the focus of a personality cult. A number of the Chinese people regard Mao as the savior of the nation, who laid the military, political, economic, technological and cultural foundations of modern China.

Mao is officially held in high regard in China where he is known as a great revolutionary, political strategist, and military mastermind who defeated Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the Chinese Civil War, and then through his policies transformed the country into a major world power. Additionally, Mao is viewed by many in China as a poet, philosopher, and visionary. However, attitudes towards Mao have changed since Deng Xiaoping took power and initiated market-economic reforms in 1978, but the official party line makes a distinction between Mao's contributions to the Communist revolution and the "errors" he committed later in life.[5] His portrait continues to be featured prominently on Tiananmen Gate and on all Renminbi bills.

1968 - Martin Luther King Jr. Assasination

Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated - On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. is shot down while standing on a motel's balcony in Memphis, Tennessee by James Earl Ray. Following the news of King's murder, racial violence breaks out in cities nationwide. King was booked in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, owned by black businessman Walter Bailey (and named after his wife). King's close friend and colleague, Reverend Ralph David Abernathy, who was present at the assassination, told the House Select Committee on Assassinations that King and his entourage stayed in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel so often that it was known as the "King-Abernathy Suite." According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's last words were to musician Ben Branch, who was scheduled to perform that night at an event King was going to attend: "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty." At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, while he was standing on the motel's second-floor balcony, King was struck by a single bullet fired from a rifle. The bullet traveled through the right side of his neck, smashing his throat and then going down his spinal cord before lodging in his shoulder. King was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where doctors opened his chest and performed manual heart massage. He was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. According to biographer Taylor Branch, King's autopsy revealed that though he was only 39 years old, he had the heart of a 60-year-old man. Read the full story here. Photos courtesy of Wikipedia and pop-culture.us

1968 President of the Philippines

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralín Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949-1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959-1965). During World War II he fought against the Japanese as the leader of the "Ang Maharlika" guerrilla force in northern Luzon. In 1963 he became Senate President. As Philippine president and strongman, Marcos led his country in its post-war reconstruction. Initially, his intentions were laudable, to improve the economy and to increase agricultural productivity and to dismantle the oligarchy that had dominated the nation. His greatest achievements were in the areas of infrastructure development, safeguarding the country against communism, and international diplomacy.

However, his administration was marred by massive government corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression and human rights violations. In 1986 he was removed from power by massive popular demonstrations, which began as a reaction to the political assassination of his opponent Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. the previous year.

1968 Elected President of USA

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963. He served in all four federal elected offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President, and President.

Johnson, a Democrat, succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin in the 1964 Presidential election. Johnson was greatly supported by the Democratic Party and, as President, was responsible for designing the "Great Society" legislation that included laws that upheld civil rights, Public Broadcasting, Medicare, Medicaid, environmental protection, aid to education, and his attempt to help the poor in his "War on Poverty." Simultaneously, he greatly escalated direct American involvement in the Vietnam War.

Johnson served as a United States Representative from Texas, from 1937–1949 and as United States Senator (as his grandfather foretold when Johnson was just an infant) from 1949–1961, including six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election. Johnson's popularity as President steadily declined after the 1966 Congressional elections, and his re-election bid in the 1968 United States presidential election collapsed as a result of turmoil within the Democratic Party related to opposition to the Vietnam War. He withdrew from the race to concentrate on peacemaking.

Johnson was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his arm twisting of powerful politicians in order to advance legislation. He was a legendary "hands-on" manager and the last President to serve out his term without ever hiring a White House Chief of Staff or "gatekeeper" (a position invented by Kennedy's predecessor, Dwight Eisenhower).

Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War ruined much of his credibility as President. Johnson was wary of potential political attacks from the right for losing a portion of the world to communism. Johnson believed that if Vietnam fell to the Communists, his presidency would be considered soft on communism, at the same time undermining his grand domestic agenda. Johnson began bombing North Vietnam in 1965 and it continued for the next 7 years through the Nixon Administration. Over time, Johnson escalated the number of troops and active military involvement in Vietnam. Soldier casualties were mounting and soon chants were heard, "Hey, Hey LBJ, How many kids did you kill today?" By the end of his presidency, Johnson turned into a recluse, rarely leaving the White House.

Johnson died after suffering his third heart attack, on January 22, 1973. He was 64 years old.