At A Glance

16 January 1968 at a glance

Day of the week
16 January 1968 was a Tuesday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “Hello, Goodbye” by The Beatles.
Top Film of 1968
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1968 was 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Bestselling Novel of 1968
“Airport” by Arthur Hailey was No. 1 on Publishers Weekly's US fiction list for 1968.
Top-Rated TV Show
“Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In” (NBC) was No. 1 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1968–69 season.
Star sign
The star sign for 16 January is Capricorn.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 16 January 1968 fell in the Year of the Goat.
Birthstone
The birthstone for January is Garnet.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 16 January 1968 was Full Moon.

On this day: 16 January

  • 1945 World War II: Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
  • 1969 Space Race: Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 perform the first-ever docking of crewed spacecraft in orbit, the first-ever transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another, and the only time such a transfer was accomplished with a space walk.
  • 1979 Iranian Revolution: The last Iranian Shah flees Iran with his family for good and relocates to Egypt.
  • 1984 A radiation detector at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, United States, detects radioactivity after a truck carrying rebar accidentally passed through the laboratory's area, revealing a contamination incident that occurred in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, the previous month.
  • 1991 Coalition Forces go to war with Iraq, beginning the Gulf War.

Famous people born on January 16

  • Aaliyah, American singer and actress (1979–2001)
  • Lin-Manuel Miranda, American actor, playwright, and composer (born 1980)
  • Sade, Nigerian-English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1959)
  • Sidharth Malhotra, Indian actor (born 1985)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Choose your country: the charts, news and leaders change to match.

Events of 1968 in the United States

A selection from Wikipedia's '1968 in the United States'. Not a complete list.

  • January 30 – The Viet Cong of North Vietnam launch the Tet Offensive against South Vietnam, the United States and their allies.
  • February 11 – Madison Square Garden in New York City opens.
  • April 2 – The film 2001: A Space Odyssey premieres in Washington, D.C.

Life in the US in 1968

President

Lyndon B. Johnson

Gas (per gallon)

$0.34

Loaf of Bread

$0.23

Average House

$16,700

Weekly Wage

$122

Or

Browse by Year

Famous Faces Born in the 1960s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

About The Day You Were Born

Ever wondered what was happening in the world when you took your first breath? Our birthday lookup tool reveals the fascinating history of your special day.

About The Birthday Chronicle and where our data comes from →