The ‘60s was a decade defined by change. Society worldwide was rallying against war through mass protests and movements, promoting peace. It was a time self-expression too, where individuals experimented with music, fashion and freedom. The ‘60s witnessed some of the world’s greatest events and icons, all catalogued in our 1968 newspaper archives.
8th January 1968
Prime Minister Harold Wilson endorses the ‘I’m Backing Britain’ campaign for working an additional half hour each day without pay.
13th January 1968
Johnny Cash records “Live at Folsom Prison“.
6-18th February 1968
The 1968 Winter Olympics are held in Grenoble, France.
12th March 1968
Mauritius achieves independence from British rule.
4th April 1968
Martin Luther King, Jr. is shot dead at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in major American cities for several days afterwards.
7th April 1968
Scottish racing driver Jim Clark is killed in an unscheduled Formula Two race at Hockenheim.
20th April 1968
English politician Enoch Powell makes his controversial Rivers of Blood Speech about immigration and anti-discrimination.
29th May 1968
Manchester United become the first English team to win the European Cup Final.
10th June 1968
Italy beats Yugoslavia 2-0 in a replay to win the 1968 European Football Championship. The original final was played on 8th June and had ended 1-1.
4th July 1968
Alec Rose, 59, receives a hero’s welcome as he sails into Portsmouth following his 354-day round-the-world trip.
17th July 1968
Saddam Hussein becomes Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Council in Iraq after a coup d’état.
30th July 1968
Thames Television begins transmission in London.
11th August 1968
The last steam passenger train service runs in Britain. A selection of British Rail steam locomotives make the 120-mile return journey from Liverpool to Carlisle, before having their fires dropped for the final time.
5th October 1968
Police baton charge civil rights demonstrators in Derry, marking the beginning of The Troubles; a period of religious-political conflict in Northern Ireland.
12-27th October 1968
The Summer Olympics take place in Mexico City. The event is officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad.
22nd November 1968
The Beatles release “White Album“.
3rd December 1968
Elvis Presley returns to live performances in a special Christmas television programme that would later be dubbed the “’68 Comeback Special”.
10th December 1968
Japan’s biggest heist, the still-unsolved “300 Million Yen Robbery”, takes place in Tokyo.
What kind of 1968 newspaper headlines could you find in the archive? A lot can happen over a year. In the UK, Anti-Vietnam war demonstrations were taking place in London; across the pond, Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated. It was also the year the Beatles released their iconic “The White Album” and Arthur Ashe became the first black tennis player to be ranked #1.
Though the world remembers this decade as the Swinging Sixties, it’s impossible not to associate the period with tragedy. In our archive, we could stock a Martin Luther King JR newspaper article, or if you want an exact newspaper on particular events or persons, you can contact research@historic-newspapers.co.uk for in-depth articles available on the Civil Rights Movement.
Some of the world’s most important events took place during this year, many of which have come to define the decade. You’ll find 1968 newspaper articles, features, adverts and interviews, available for a wide range of national and regional titles, including The Times, The Daily Mirror, The Guardian and many more.