From ’68 to ’08: An essay by historian Michael Wagner of the University Nebraska Lincoln

An essay by political scientist Peter Longo of the University of Nebraska Kearney

1968 was one of the most tumultuous years in American history. Check out the big events both nationally and in Nebraska on our timeline! Timeline Loading...

After you start, cycle through the events with the "Next" button.

January 6 The Beatles album “Magical Mystery Tour” reaches #1 on the charts.

January 14 The Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl. It will be coach Vince Lombardi’s last game.

January 20 A group forms to convince Omaha voters to approve fluoridation of the city’s water.

January 23 Nebraskan native Alvin Plucker of Trenton is among the crew of the U.S.S. Pueblo, seized by North Korea. The ship’s commander, Lloyd Bucher, graduated from Boys Town. North Korean patrol boats capture the U.S.S. Pueblo, a Navy intelligence gathering ship.

January 31 North Vietnamese launch “Tet Offensive” is a bold effort to capture the South Vietnamese capitol of Saigon.

February 2 Republican former Vice President Richard Nixon officially becomes a candidate for President.

February 8 George Wallace announces he will set up a third political party and run for President of the United States.

February 18 The highest number of casualties from the Vietnam war. The U.S. loses 543 soldiers in one week.

February 21 A strike shuts down the Purex plant in Omaha.

February 27 Walter Cronkite broadcasts an essay that questions the role of the United States in Vietnam.

February 29 Kerner Commission issues its report on racial disturbances in America.

March 12 Anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy stuns the Democratic Party by winning the New Hampshire primary election.

March 16 In Omaha, demonstrations disrupt the local convention of the American Party as George Wallace speaks to delegates. Robert Kennedy announces he will seek the Democratic nomination to be president. Over 500 Vietnamese civilians are killed by rampaging U.S. soldiers in the village of My Lai. The incident will not come to public light for more than a year.

March 22 General William Westmoreland is relieved of his command over troops in Vietnam.

March 25 Protesting low market prices, Nebraska and Iowa farmers demonstrate by slaughtering their hogs rather than sending them to market.

March 28 Future U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel & his brother Tom, serving in the U.S. Army, are injured while on patrol in the jungles of South Vietnam.

March 31 President Lyndon Johnson announces he will not seek another term.

April 3 A huge fire destroys the Micklin Lumberyard in downtown Omaha.

April 4 After several earlier race disturbances in Omaha, local civil rights leaders maintain calm in the city following the death of Dr. King. Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis. Riots erupt across the country.

April 11 The union representing Communication Workers at the phone company, Northwestern Bell, begin a strike that effects phone service throughout Nebraska and Great Plains.

April 23 Protesting students occupy several building at Columbia University in New York.

April 24 Hebron Chief of Police Charles E. Henning was shot and critically injured during an arrest.

May 13 Democrats are stunned by the victory of former First Lady Maxine Morrison; winning the party’s nomination in 2nd Congressional district over John Cavanaugh, part of a long time political family. Peace talks to end the Vietnam war open in Paris. The war would not end for another six years.

May 14 Robert Kennedy (D) and Richard Nixon (R) win their party’s support in the Nebraska All-Star Presidential Primary.

May 17 The United State’s Supreme Court throws out the death penalty for Duane Pope, convicted of killing three people during a bank robbery in Big Springs, Nebraska. He would later be re-sentenced to life.

May 30 Omaha University merges with the NU system, becoming the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

June 4 Robert Kennedy is assassinated in Los Angeles after declaring victory in the California presidential primary.

June 8 Omaha Armored car robbery.

June 28 In another setback for the Omaha stockyards, Armor Meats closes its packing plant, costing the city thousands of jobs.

July 23 First human heart transplant performed in Omaha.

July 24 Plans for a North/South Interstate highway route from Grand Island to Sioux City is rejected by federal planners. Arlo Guthrie performs a 20 minute rendition of “Alice’s Restaurant” at the Newport Folk Festival.

August 8 Construction of state’s tallest building, the headquarters of Woodmen of the World, is underway. At the Republican National Convention in Miami, Richard Nixon becomes the party’s candidate for president and selects Spiro Agnew as his running mate.

August 20 Troops from the Soviet Union invade Czechoslovakia to crush a popular democracy movement underway.

August 25 Arthur Ashe becomes the first black to win a US Tennis championship.

August 28 While police and National Guardsmen in Chicago clash with demonstrators in the streets, the Democrat Party selects Hubert Humphrey as its nominee to become President.

September 7 The Miss America pageant is visited by dozens of women’s liberation protestors.

September 9 The Big Mac is first sold at a McDonald’s restaurant.

September 17 Steelworkers at the Paxton-Vierling plant in Omaha go on strike.

September 24 Epply Airfield Expansion. The news magazine “60 Minutes” debuts on CBS.

October 2 In the first game of the World Series, Bob Gibson of Omaha sets a series record with 17 strike outs in a single game while pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals. Mexican police and soldiers quell a student protest in the capitol city and hundreds are killed.

October 3 Former Nebraska resident and ex-commander of the Strategic Air Command, Curtis LeMay agrees to be the vice presidential running name for George Wallace. The American party officially names its only candidate, George Wallace, as its candidate for president.

October 11 Apollo 7 launches enroute to the first manned orbit of the moon.

October 12 The Summer Olympics open in Mexico City.

October 15 Omaha Native Bob Boozer begins his most successful season as a player in the National Basketball Association. As a forward with The Chicago Bulls he will score an average of 21.7 points per game. Bob Kerrey, later Nebraska’s Governor and a U.S. Senator, becomes a Navy Seal and is deployed to Vietnam.

November 5 Nebraska gives Nixon the highest percentage of the vote in the United States. In a separate ballot initiative, 18 year olds are given the right to vote. Voters overwhelmingly block an effort to repeal the state income tax in Nebraska. Richard Nixon is elected President of the United States.

November 7 The Henry Doorly Zoo opens its new ape house.

November 14 National Turn In Your Draft Card Day protests the Vietnam War.

November 19 During the second Special Session of the Legislature this year, senators dropped the state sales tax to 2% in defiance of a request by Governor Norbert Tiemann to maintain rates at 2.5%.

November 22 The Beatles “White Album” goes on sale.

November 23 University of Nebraska Loses to Oklahoma 0-47, ending a 6-4 season. It will be 35 years before Nebraska misses another bowl game. University of Nebraska chancellor Clifford Hardin becomes Richard Nixon’s choice as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

December 5 Propane gas explosion in Yutan kills 5. College football’s Heisman Trophy is awarded to O.J. Simpson.

December 11 The National Unemployment Rate drops to 3.3%, the lowest in fifteen years.

December 23 Nebraskan Alvin Plucker, a member of the U.S.S. Pueblo crew, tells of beatings and harsh conditions during his detention by North Koreans. North Korea releases the crew of the U.S.S. Pueblo, seized during maneuvers 11 months earlier.

December 24 The crew of Apollo 8, orbiting the moon, read aloud from the Book of Genesis while broadcasting the first ever images of ‘earth-rise’ over the lunar surface.