The following events occurred in June 1968:
June 1, 1968 (Saturday) The Six Flags AstroWorld theme park opened in Houston, 8 months after its development was announced by Roy Hofheinz. The park would last for 37 years, closing permanently on October 30, 2005, at the end of the season."AstroWorld", by Delicia Daniels, Encyclopedia of Texas, Texas State Historical Association The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, promoted by London's Sunday Times as a round-the-world yacht race for a £5,000 prize, began with the departure from the Ireland island of Kilronan by John Ridgway on his sloop, English Rose IV.Chris Eakin, A Race Too Far (Random House, 2009) p56 Austria became the first Western nation to agree to purchase natural gas from the Soviet Union, signing a long-term lease for an extension of a pipeline from Bratislava in Czechoslovakia."Austria and the End of the Prague Spring: Neutrality in the Crucible?", by Stefan Karner and Peter Ruggenthaler, in The Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2010) p419 Italy's government fell on the 22nd anniversary of the founding of the republic, as the Socialist Party decided not to form another coalition with the Christian Democrats."Italy's Coalition Falls Amidst Political Crisis", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 3, 1968, p1 The flag of Alberta was officially adopted by the government of the Canadian province.Franco, Guida (2006). Canadian Almanac & Directory 2006. Toronto: Micromedia ProQuest. . p 4 Born: Jason Donovan, Australian actor and singer; in Melbourne
Died: Helen Keller, 87, American author, political activist, and lecturer, and the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor of arts degree; at her estate near Easton, Connecticut."Helen Keller Dies at 87 in Connecticut", Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1968, p1
June 2, 1968 (Sunday) A lack of seating at a theatrical performance in Yugoslavia triggered violent student protests in Belgrade. A blackout struck the "Student City" (Studentski grad) dormitories on the day before final examinations were to start at the University of Belgrade, and students went across the street to the adult education center of Novi Beograd to watch a dress rehearsal of a variety show, "Caravan of Friendship". Security guards at the center tried to turn the students away, a scuffle broke out and a 40-man unit of riot police was called to use a water cannon to send the demonstrators back to their dormitories. By midnight, 3,000 students would begin a march toward government buildings in Belgrade and a riot began.Branislav Jakovljevic, Alienation Effects: Performance and Self-Management in Yugoslavia, 1945–91 (University of Michigan Press, 2016) pp124-126 A student strike followed with 10,000 students occupying classroom and administration buildings and closing down the university. One week later, Yugoslavia's President Josip Broz Tito would make a surprise response to the demonstrations.Elaine Carey, Protests in the Streets: 1968 Across the Globe (Hackett Publishing, 2016) p75 Leaders of the Basque separatist organization ETA decided to carry out their first assassinations of officials of the government of Spain, targeting Melitón Manzanas, the head of the Brigada Político-Social secret police organization in San Sebastián, and another BPS chief in Bilbao. The attempt on the life of Manzanas would be foiled on June 7."The origins of ETA: between Francoism and democracy, 1958—1981", by Gaizka Fernandez, in ETA's Terrorist Campaign: From Violence to Politics, 1968–2015 (Routledge, 2016) p25 The first peace talks to end violence in Cyprus began as Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş met at a neutral site (Beirut in Lebanon) as guests of the United Nations."United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus", by Jan Asmussen, in The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (Oxford University Press, 2015) In the Turkish senate elections, the Justice Party (AP) won 49.9% of the vote.Türkiye'nin 75 yılı Hürgüç Gazetecilik, İstanbul, 1998 p 202 In this election, 53 members of the senate were elected, with 50 members for 1/3 of the senate and 3 empty seats. José María Velasco Ibarra was re-elected for a fifth term as President of Ecuador.Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p401 Velasco Ibarra would assume dictatorial powers in 1970 and would be overthrown in a coup on February 15, 1972."Ecuador", in The Statesman's Year-Book 1973–74 (Macmillan, 1973) p872 Born: Beetlejuice (stage name for Lester Green), American entertainer, comedian and actor; in Browns Mills, New Jersey
June 3, 1968 (Monday) Valerie Solanas shot and almost killed pop artist Andy Warhol after following him into his studio, "The Factory", in New York City. With a .32 caliber automatic pistol, she shot Warhol several times while he was talking on the telephone."Actress Shoots Pop-Artist Warhol", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 4, 1968, p1 Warhol underwent hours of surgery after the bullets tore through his chest, abdomen, spleen and both lungs. Art critic Mario Amaya was slightly wounded; Warhol survived the attack and would recover. Solanas, a self-described radical feminist who had founded the "Society for Cutting Up Men" (SCUM), and told police that she shot Warhol because "he had too much control of my life.""Andy Warhol, Pop Artist, Shot; Woman Is Held", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 4, 1968, p1 Warhol would spend two months recovering in a hospital, and Solanas would serve a three-year sentence at the New York State Prison for Women.Robert Niemi, History in the Media: Film and Television (ABC-CLIO, 2006) p306 "The Atheist Point of View", the first regularly scheduled broadcast in the United States to promote atheism went on the air on KTBC, a radio station in Austin, Texas, owned by the family of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson."Atheist Begins Series on LBJ Radio Station", Indianapolis Star, June 4, 1968, p27 Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the president of the Society of Separationists, purchased time for a 15-minute program that would run from 10:00 to 10:15 p.m. every Monday. In accordance with the Federal Communications Commission's Fairness Doctrine, KTBC allowed a 15-minute program at 10:15, hosted by Pastor John Barclay of Austin's Central Christian Church.Bryan F. Le Beau, The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair (New York University Press, 2003) p183 Police in Italy recaptured the University of Rome administration building, three days after it had been taken over by students."Riot Police Seize Rome University From Students", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 4, 1968, p1
June 4, 1968 (Tuesday) U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York narrowly defeated Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota to win all 172 delegates in California's Democratic presidential primary. The results would not be confirmed until after midnight. As CBS News projected that he would be the winner, the result was described as "a major boost in his nomination race against the man he sees as the real opponent: Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey". President Lyndon B. Johnson joked about the primary in remarks during a state dinner at the White House and said, "We might pick up some tremors later tonight from a disturbance out in California." NASA released a new Apollo Applications Program (AAP) launch readiness and delivery schedule. The schedule decreased the number of Saturn flights to 11 Saturn IB flights and one Saturn V flight. It called for three Workshops. One of the Workshops would be launched by a Saturn IB, and another would serve as a backup. The third Workshop would be launched by a Saturn V. The schedule also included one Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM). Launch of the first Workshop would be in November 1970. Lunar missions were no longer planned in the AAP. The S&P 500 stock market index, considered by many a bellwether for the U.S. economy, closed above 100 for the first time, at 100.38. Born: Al B. Sure! (stage name for Albert Joseph Brown III), American singer, record producer, and former record executive; in Boston, Massachusetts Died: Dorothy Gish, 70, American stage and screen actress who, along with her older sister Lillian, were major stars of the silent era of film; from bronchial pneumonia Walter Nash, 86, 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1957 to 1960
June 5, 1968 (Wednesday) Moments after thanking supporters for his win in the California primary, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and fatally wounded while walking through a corridor at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.Shane O'Sullivan, Who Killed Bobby?: The Unsolved Murder of Robert F. Kennedy (Union Square Press, 2008) pp13-19 After the 12:20 a.m. shooting, police arrested Sirhan Sirhan, a citizen of Jordan who had been a U.S. resident for 12 years. Kennedy was rushed to Central Receiving Hospital, where doctors worked on trying to save his life,"RFK 'Extremely Critical' After Shooting, Surgery", Pittsburgh Press, June 5, 1968, p1 and then transferred to the Hospital of the Good Samaritan for surgery. A team of six surgeons began operating at 3:12 a.m. after x-rays showed that bullet fragments had penetrated his brain stem, and finished at 6:52 a.m.; Kennedy never regained consciousness.Jerry Oppenheimer, The Other Mrs. Kennedy: An Intimate and Revealing Look at the Hidden Life of Ethel Skakel Kennedy (Macmillan, 1995) p446, 453 Although Kennedy had been facing Sirhan when the shots were fired, the three bullets that had hit him "traveled back to front", wounding him in the neck, the shoulder and his head."Kennedy, Robert F. "Bobby", Assassination of (1968)", by Lydie R. Loth, in Crimes of the Centuries: Notorious Crimes, Criminals, and Criminal Trials in American History, ed. by Steven Chermak and Frankie Y. Bailey (ABC-CLIO, 2016) p434 Five other people were wounded in addition to Kennedy, and required hospitalization: ABC News reporter William Weisel, union official Paul Schrade, radio reporter Ira Goldstein, and two campaign volunteers, Elizabeth Evans and teenager volunteer Irwin Stroll."5 Others Shot by Gunman Are Recovering", Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1968, p11 Fifty years later, as Sirhan began his 51st year in prison, Schrade and the Senator's son, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., would both express their belief that Sirhan had not been the gunman."Panel denies parole to Sirhan, assassin of Robert F. Kennedy", By Elliot Spagat, Associated Press, February 11, 2016"Who killed Bobby Kennedy? His son RFK Jr. doesn't believe it was Sirhan Sirhan", by Tom Jackman, Washington Post, June 5, 2018 CIA test pilot Jack Weeks disappeared while conducting the last test of the Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance jet during the CIA's "Oxcart" program. The A-12s were already scheduled for retirement when Weeks departed from USAF Kadena Air Base in Japan and, 41 minutes later, the onboard telemetry system signaled that an engine was overheating, followed by a drop of fuel flow and a rapid decrease in altitude. Weeks's last known position had been over the Philippine Sea, east of Manila. No trace of the wreckage would be located.Paul F. Crickmore, Lockheed SR-71 Operations in the Far East (Bloomsbury, 2013) pp23-24
June 6, 1968 (Thursday) Pakistan announced that it would be the first of the five member signatories to the 1955 Baghdad Pact to withdraw from CENTO, the Central Treaty Organisation. The mutual security pact had been signed by Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. After the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the other Middle Eastern nations would withdraw as well."Baghdad Pact", in An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945–1996, ed. by John E. Jessup (Greenwood Publishing, 1998) p52