The following events occurred in October 1968:
October 1, 1968 (Tuesday) Night of the Living Dead premiered in the United States. Originally titled Night of the Flesh Eaters, and filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the movie's first showing was in that city at the Fulton Theatre, at 8:00, with admission by invitation only."Pittsburgh Movie In Premiere Here", by Thomas Blakley, Pittsburgh Press, September 29, 1968, p. 6-1. An advertisement for the first week of showings said that "If 'Night of the Living Dead' frightens you to death.... You are covered for $50,000", with the disclaimer that the guarantee was valid only for death from a "heart attack only during performances October 2 thru 8, 1968" and that the insurance company reserved the right to require a medical examination before the viewing."Advertisement, Pittsburgh Press, October 1, 1968, p. 27. One author later noted that the film "was nothing short of a permanent shift in modern horror cinema. Zombies were no longer dullards wandering through mist and fog.. They were people you knew, friends and family... and they had no mercy."Jason Paul Collum, Assault of the Killer B’s: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses (McFarland, 2004), p. 3. An attempt failed in the U.S. Senate to end a Republican party filibuster that was delaying action on the nomination of Abe Fortas as Chief Justice of the United States. While the vote was 45 in favor of cloture, and 43 against, the votes of a two-thirds majority of the 88 senators present (59 out of 88) was required."Senate Stings LBJ on Fortas – Vote to End Talkathon Falls Short", Pittsburgh Press, October 1, 1968, p. 1. Fortas, who was already on the court as an associate justice, withdrew his name from consideration the next day, providing time for U.S. President Lyndon Johnson to submit the name of another nominee before the November presidential election."Fortas Pulls Out, Johnson Concurs", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 3, 1968, p. 1. Johnson, however, declined to nominate a successor to Chief Justice Earl Warren."Won't Name New Justice, LBJ Decides", Pittsburgh Press, October 10, 1968, p. 1. Dr. Arnulfo Arias was sworn in as President of Panama for the third time in his career"Panama Installs Arias; Robles Moves to the U.S.", The Courier-Journal (Louisville KY), October 2, 1968, p. 2. after winning the May 12 election over David Samudio, the candidate sponsored by outgoing president Marco Aurelio Robles, a victory that came only after General Bolívar Vallarino, commander of the Panamanian National Guard, had worked to guarantee a fair count of the election.Giancarlo Soler Torrijos, In the Shadow of the United States: Democracy and Regional Order in the Latin Caribbean (Universal-Publishers, 2008), p. 130. Arias, however, "chose not to respect the deals he had made with the National Guard", a historian later wrote, and was removed after just 10 days in office."Panama for the Panamanians: The Populism of Arnulfo Arias Madrid", by William Francis Robinson, in Populism in Latin America, ed. by Michael L. Conniff (University of Alabama Press, 2012), pp. 196-197. Born: Kevin Griffin, American singer and lead vocalist of the rock band Better Than Ezra; in Atlanta Died: Romano Guardini, 83, German Roman Catholic theologian
October 2, 1968 (Wednesday) The "Tlatelolco massacre" took place 10 days before the 1968 Summer Olympics were scheduled to begin in Mexico City, as Mexican police began firing into a crowd of thousands of protesters at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas at the Mexico City neighborhood of Tlatelolco. The Mexican government listed the death toll at only 32"Ex-president gives explanation of 1968 massacre in Mexico", by Andrew Downie, Houston Chronicle, February 4, 1998, p. 14. and claimed that most of the victims were killed by students who were firing machine guns from surrounding buildings."Olympics' Board OKs Opening In Riot-Torn Mexico— 40 Feared Killed, Hundreds Wounded, Thousands Arrested in Latest Battles; Student Snipers Hunted in Apartments", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 4, 1968, p. 1. Foreign journalists who were present at the scene, and survivors, estimated that between 150 and 500 protesters were killed. The National Trails System Act was signed into law in the United States. The federal law has placed more than 50,000 of miles of scenic, historic and recreational hiking trails under the protection of the U.S. Department of the Interior,"50th Anniversary of the National Trails System Act" , Partnership for the National Trails System website the longest of which are the historic California Trail and the scenic North Country Trail. Miguel Mujica Gallo was sworn into office at noon as the new Prime Minister of Peru, replacing Oswaldo Hercelles García. Mujica served less than 24 hours; shortly after midnight, he and other Peruvian government officials were arrested during a military coup d'état."Peru, Republic of", in Harris M. Lentz, Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 (Routledge, 1994). The Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, first achieved criticality, with a less expensive nuclear fuel, a uranium tetrafluoride ("green salt") processed with the uranium-233 isotope rather than uranium-235.Richard Martin, SuperFuel: Thorium, the Green Energy Source for the Future (St. Martin's Press, 2012), p. 129. Born: Jana Novotná, Czech professional tennis player, winner of 12 women's doubles titles and four mixed doubles titles in Grand Slam events, and the 1998 Wimbledon women's finals (d. 2017); in Brno, Czechoslovakia Victoria Derbyshire, English journalist and broadcaster; in Ramsbottom, Lancashire Died: Marcel Duchamp, 81, French painter and sculptor
October 3, 1968 (Thursday)
Peruvian Army General Juan Velasco Alvarado led a coup d'état and overthrew the South American nation's President, Fernando Belaúnde Terry. The predawn change of power was accomplished without bloodshed, and Belaúnde was flown by a Peruvian Air Force plane to exile in Buenos Aires in neighboring Argentina. Velasco's presidency was described later as "one of the most unusual experiences of military rule in Latin American history", with the "Revolutionary Government of the Armed Forces" forcing redistribution of farmlands and increasing the standard of living for Peru's impoverished citizens. U.S. presidential candidate George C. Wallace, who was running as the American Independent Party selection against Republican Richard M. Nixon and Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey, introduced his running mate, retired U.S. Army General Curtis E. LeMay. The new AIP vice-presidential candidate told a press conference that although he did not believe that nuclear weapons would be necessary in the Vietnam War, he would not be opposed to their use. "It doesn't make any difference to the soldier whether he is killed by a rusty knife or a nuclear explosion," LeMay commented, adding, "In fact, I'd lean toward the nuclear weapon."
October 4, 1968 (Friday) The prototype of the Tupolev Tu-154, a jet airliner with a capacity of 164 passengers and the most common method of air travel in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe during the 1970s and 1980s, made its first flight."Tu-154, Tupolev", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Commercial Aircraft, by Bill Gunston, (Exeter Books, 1980), p. 86. The British hard rock band Led Zeppelin, still billed as the New Yardbirds, started their first tour of the UK, appearing at the Mayfair Ballroom at Newcastle, with vocalist Robert Plant replacing Keith Relf and drummer John Bonham taking the place of Jim McCarty.Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary Three weeks later, they adopted their new name, Led Zeppelin (a parody of the phrase "lead balloon"),Davis, Stephen (1985). Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga. London: Pan. ISBN 978-0-330-34287-2 for an October 25 concert at the University of Surrey, although posters advertising this concert continued to bill them as the "New Yardbirds". The Tau Gamma Phi fraternity was founded by four students at the University of the Philippines in Quezon City."Tau Gamma Phi pioneers condemn death of WMSU student by hazing", Inquirer.not, October 3, 2015. Died: Baba Harbhajan Singh, 22, Indian Army soldier whose death has become the subject of supernatural legend"The Young Army Recruit Who Became an Exemplary Ghost Soldier" , Motherland magazine Francis Biddle, 82, former U.S. Attorney General and former judge at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials Hitoshi Imamura, 82, Japanese general and convicted war criminal
October 5, 1968 (Saturday) "The Troubles", almost 30 years of violence between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland, began when policemen of the Royal Ulster Constabulary at Derry attacked a group of demonstrators marching for the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and Derry Housing Action Committee to protest against discrimination against the Roman Catholic minority by Protestants in the portion of Ireland still part of the United Kingdom."North Irish Nationalists Battle Police— Protesters Seek Union With Irish Republic", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 7, 1968, p. 15. Gay O'Brien, a cameraman for the RTÉ television network in neighboring Ireland, and sound technician Eamon Hays filmed the scenes of constables attacking unarmed protesters with clubs, and the footage was shown on the BBC programme Twenty-Four Hours and then worldwide."Civil Rights in Northern Ireland: Derry 5 October 1968, RTÉ Archives.The Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish History, ed. by Alvin Jackson (Oxford University Press, 2014)
October 6, 1968 (Sunday) At Huntington Park, California, the initial worship services were held for the Metropolitan Community Church, which described itself later as "the world's first church group with a primary, positive ministry to gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender services". Reverend Troy Perry, who had been a Pentecostal Christian minister who had resigned after revealing that he was gay, held a service for 12 people in his living room. Within 40 years, the church had "44,000 members and adherents in 300 congregations in 22 countries."Jack Rogers, Jesus, the Bible, and Homosexuality, Revised and Expanded Edition: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), p. 138. Died: Stephen Leslie Bradley, 42, Australian child murderer who kidnapped and murdered 8-year-old Graeme Thorne in 1960, died at the minimum security Goulburn Correctional Centre "after a strenuous game" of table tennis.Larry Writer, The Australian Book of True Crime: Crimes that Shocked Australia (Allen & Unwin, 2008)
October 7, 1968 (Monday)