Weekly timeline for 1968: A year of change and tumult
May 27: Philip and Daniel Berrigan with seven other Catholic activists enter a draft board office in Catonsville Md., and seize nearly 400 files of young men classified 1-A, then burn the files with homemade napalm,
May 28: Senator Eugene McCarthy wins the Democratic primary in Oregon.
May 28: “The Detective,†starring Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick, opens.
May 29: The Truth in Lending Act is signed into law.
May 29: The United Nations resolves sanctions on white-minority-ruled Rhodesia.
May 29: Teen-exploitation film “Wild in the Streets†opens.
May 30†French President de Gaulle dissolves France’s National Assembly and warns France that if necessary he will take measures to prevent a Communist “dictatorship.” France’s middle class rallies. In Paris, hundreds of thousands march in support of de Gaulle.
May 30: Gen. William C. Westmoreland reports to President Johnson that the forces of the enemy in Vietnam are “deteriorating in strength and quality.”
May 30: The Beatles begin recording what will become their double-LP “The White Album,†but which is officially titled, simply, “The Beatles.” Sessions will span more than four months, ending October 14.
June 1: “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon & Garfunkel reaches #1 on the pop singles chart.
June 1: “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by the Hugo Montenegro Orchestra peaks at #2 on the pop singles chart.
June 1: Author-lecturer Helen Keller, who earned a college degree despite being blind and deaf most of her life, dies in Westport, Conn. at 87.
Sources:
The Whole World Was Watching: An oral history of 1968. A joint project between South Kingstown High School and Brown University’s Scholarly Technology Group
Timelines of History
Timeline 1968
Rock Timeline
Wikipedia Music Timeline
Frank Eugene Smitha’s Macrohistory and World Report