At A Glance

23 August 1968 at a glance

Day of the week
23 August 1968 was a Friday.
Billboard Hot 100 No. 1
The Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 was “People Got to Be Free” by The Rascals.
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 23 August is Virgo.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 23 August 1968 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for August is Peridot.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 23 August 1968 was New Moon.

On this day: 23 August

  • 1966 Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.
  • 1970 Organized by Mexican American labor union leader César Chávez, the Salad Bowl strike, the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history, begins.
  • 1975 The start of the Wave Hill walk-off by Gurindji people in Australia, lasting eight years, a landmark event in the history of Indigenous land rights in Australia, commemorated in a 1991 Paul Kelly song and an annual celebration.
  • 1975 The Pontiac Silverdome opens in Pontiac, Michigan, 30 miles (48 km) northwest of Detroit, Michigan.
  • 1977 Waylon Jennings arrested in a drug raid.

Famous people born on August 23

  • River Phoenix, American actor (1970–1993)
  • Kobe Bryant, American basketball player and businessman (1978–2020)
  • Scott Caan, American actor (born 1976)
  • Louis XVI (1754–1793)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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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

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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)

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