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1968

Ephemerides

  • Insurrection in Poland. Thousands of students demand more freedom. They are supported by the workers. Controlling forces in Poland violently repress the demonstrations.
  • Soviet tanks enter Czechoslovakia to put an end to the "Spring of Prague", an attempt to impart a more human face to socialism.
  • Senator Robert Francis Kennedy, former justice minister under the presidency of his brother John, is assassinated in Los Angeles.
  • Reverend Martin Luther King, spokesman for the civil rights of Black Americans, is assassinated in Memphis while giving a speech.
  • The Summer Olympics take place in Mexico. During the games, two Black medal winners, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, raise a black-gloved fist in protest against racial segregation in the United States. As a result of this bold gesture, both men are banned from Olympic sports for life.
  • May 1968 in France. The French republic is subjected to a serious economic, socio-political and cultural crisis.

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