1968

Song: "Mrs. Robinson" Simon and Garfunkel

Movie: "The Graduate"

Rioting in France French students took to the streets, bringing Paris to a virtual standstill. Fighting broke out between the students and the police. The students had allied themselves with workers who went out on a general strike to protest wages. They seized factories, paralyzing the country. When the minimum wage was raised by 35 percent, the workers were satisfied and the government was able to restore order.

Spring, Summer in Czechoslovakia Alexander Dubcek became First Secretary of the Communist Party in Czechoslovakia. Dubcek instituted a new program, what he called "Communism with a Human Approach." Dubcek's reforms included freedom of speech and of the press. The period became known as the "Prague Spring." The "Spring" came to a sudden end when Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia and arrested Dubcek and his government.

Martin Luther King Assassinated On April 4, a lone assassin killed Dr. Martin Luther King, America's leading civil rights activist. Dr. King had been on the forefront of the non-violent struggle to obtain civil rights for Blacks. James Earl Ray was later convicted of the assassination.

Robert Kennedy killed Robert Kennedy, brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, was killed on June 5, after winning the Democratic primary for the Presidency in California. Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman, Sirhan Sirhan, in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel.