February 1968

February 1, 1968 (Thursday)

• The Royal Canadian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Army merged to form the unified Canadian Armed Forces. The 105,000 members all wore the same type of "dull-green uniform" to replace the distinct sailors, soldiers, and airmen standard issue; naval rank designations were retained, but the insignia for seagoing armed forces officers was similar to those used by those in the army or air force, with a common symbol for a navy captain and an army colonel, or an army captain and a navy lieutenant.
• The day after the Tet Offensive had seen a massive attack on South Vietnam's capital, Saigon's police chief, Brigadier General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan, displayed a captured Viet Cong officer, Nguyễn Văn Lém, to a group of reporters. As the journalists watched, the chief pulled out a.38 caliber revolver and executed the Viet Cong prisoner with a single shot to the head at point-blank range. Photographer Eddie Adams captured the moment in an iconic photo. In addition, a crew for the American NBC television network filmed the event and the footage was broadcast on the Huntley–Brinkley Report the following night.
• Two garbage men for the sanitation department of Memphis, Tennessee, Echol Cole and Robert Walker, were crushed to death when the compactor within the truck accidentally activated as the truck was driving along Colonial Road near Quince Road to the city dump. The accident was initially blamed on a shovel falling from the truck onto some wires and causing a short circuit. Eleven days later, sanitation workers went on a strike that would last for more than two months and would bring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. to the city on April 4.
• In the United States, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central Railroad merged to form "Penn Central", the service name for the new corporation officially called the "Pennsylvania New York Central Transportation Company". The merger took effect at 12:10 a.m. Eastern time, and, at $4.29 billion, was the biggest in corporate history at the time. The last obstacle to the combination was cleared when the United States Supreme Court concluded on January 15 that it would not violate antitrust laws.
• At the Columbus Zoo outside of Columbus in Powell, Ohio, a gorilla was born to Colo — who had, on December 22, 1956, been the first gorilla born in captivity — marking the first time in recorded history that a second generation of gorillas had been born in a zoo. Colo's offspring, a female, would be named "Emmy".
• The collided with the Soviet merchant ship Kapitan Vislobokov in the Sea of Japan, roughly east of the South Korean port of Pohang, leaving a wide hole in the Russian vessel's stern, but causing no injuries.
• Former U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon announced his candidacy for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States. Nixon had been the Republican candidate in 1960 but lost to John F. Kennedy.
• Vince Lombardi resigned as head coach of the Green Bay Packers following their win in Super Bowl II and retained his job as the team's general manager.
• Minimum wage in the United States was raised from $1.40 an hour to $1.60 an hour.
• Born:
• *Mark Recchi, Canadian ice hockey player and Hockey Hall of Fame member who spent 22 seasons in the National Hockey League; in Kamloops, British Columbia
• *Lisa Marie Presley, American singer and songwriter, and the sole heir of the fortune of her father, Elvis Presley; in Memphis, Tennessee
• *Pauly Shore, American comedian and actor; in Hollywood, California
• Died: Lawson Little, 57, American golfer who won the U.S. Open in 1940, died of a heart attack.

  February 2, 1968 (Friday)

• British musicians Ian Anderson, Jeffrey Hammond and John Evan, who had played under various billings such as "Navy Blue", "Ian Anderson's Bag o'Nails" and "Bag o'Blues", appeared in concert for the first time under the name that they would become their trademark, Jethro Tull. Their talent agent, Dave Robson, had suggested that they borrow the name of an 18th Century agriculturalist and inventor, the Viscount Jethro Tull, who had invented the horse-drawn seed drill that revolutionized agriculture. Robson's reasoning was that the name "had a nice grubby farmer sound to it".
• Hilmar Baunsgaard became the new Prime Minister of Denmark after King Frederik IX approved the forming a coalition government of Baunsgaard's leftist Social Liberal Party with the Conservative People's Party and the center-right Venstre Party encompassing a majority in Denmark's parliament, the Folketing. Baunsgaard replaced Jens Otto Krag, whose Social Democrats had won 62 seats, more than any of the other parties but far from a majority.
• In Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, President Jean-Bédel Bokassa, President Joseph Mobutu of the Congo, and President François Tombalbaye of Chad agreed to form the Union of Central African States. Ten months after setting up the alliance, Bokassa would announce the CAR's withdrawal.
• Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers performed the first, and only, "triple double double" in National Basketball Association history, with 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists in a 131 to 121 win at home over the Detroit Pistons.
• The United States 1st Cavalry Division was able to take back the city of Quang Tri from the Viet Cong two days after the provincial capital had been taken during the Tet Offensive.
• Deputy U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul H. Nitze inaugurated a program to curtail the growing use of marijuana among U.S. troops fighting in the Vietnam War.
• U.S. and North Korean officials met for the first time at Panmunjom regarding the recent seizure of the USS Pueblo by North Korean forces.
• Born: Kenny Albert, American sportscaster; in New York City

  February 3, 1968 (Saturday)

• Denmark held a royal wedding at Copenhagen, as Princess Benedikte, second in line to the throne as the daughter of King Frederik IX and the younger sister of Princess Margrethe, married Richard zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. The wedding was limited to 200 family guests and no diplomatic representatives were present.
• The Sanremo Music Festival, one of Europe's biggest music competitions, was won by Sergio Endrigo for "Canzone per te", performed by Roberto Carlos.
• Following many unpopular decisions including devaluation of the pound Harold Wilson's Labour Party slumped in the polls against the Conservatives.
• Born:
• *Vlade Divac, Serbian basketball player and executive who played in Yugoslavia for six seasons, followed by 17 seasons in the NBA; in Prijepolje, Serbian SR, Yugoslavia
• *Gregory S. Brown, American historian specializing in French and cultural history; in New York City

  February 4, 1968 (Sunday)

• Martin Luther King Jr., returned to the Ebenezer Baptist Church where he had been pastor, and delivered what would prove to be his final sermon there. Made two months before his assassination on April 4, his sermon was titled "The Drum Major Instinct", about the human desire for recognition of one's good works. Citing Mark 10:35, King would go on to say that one's ambition should be a life of service, and added, "I just want to leave a committed life behind." A recording of the sermon would be played at King's funeral.
• Porsche automobiles came in first, second and third place in the 24 Hours of Daytona motor event. The winning car, the new Porsche 907, was so far ahead of the second place team, that "five unnecessary driver changers were made in the last two hours, so each member of the Porsche team could share the honor of the triumph"; when the 24 hours came to an end, the three Porsches "swept across the finish line abreast, taking the checkered flag of victory together".
• Eleven students from the Jesuit University of Guadalajara died in a sudden snowstorm that overwhelmed their party of 29 who were attempting to climb the Iztaccihuatl volcano. The hikers had gotten as far as the level when they were trapped by the weather.
• The SR.N4, the world's largest hovercraft, was launched. It would enter commercial service on August 1, and would run for 22 years, ceasing on October 1, 2000.
• Nine residents, all transients, of the Hotel Roosevelt on Boston's skid row died in a fire, and another 15 were injured.
• Died: Neal Cassady, 43, American icon of the Beat Generation, was found in a coma beside a railroad track outside of San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and died in a hospital without regaining consciousness.

  February 5, 1968 (Monday)

• Greece passed legislation to end a practice that had been given the name "baby marketing", with parents legally selling their infants to brokers who would then resell them to purchasers in the United States and the Netherlands. According to the law's proponents, "A boy, purchased on the Greek market for around $US400 could fetch from $3,000 to $5,000 in America. Girls were said to sell for about half that figure." In 1966, the number of babies "exported" from Greece was claimed to be 1,000 per year. Under the new law, no Greek child, being adopted by a foreigner, would be allowed to leave the country until a social worker filed a report and a court gave its approval.
• The sinking of the British fishing trawler Ross Cleveland killed 18 of the 19 crew aboard. The ship capsized in a storm off of the coast of Isafjordur at Iceland. The only survivor was the ship's cook, who managed to escape before the ship was seen to go down. The Ross Cleveland was the third fishing vessel from the English port of Hull to have been lost in Iceland within less than a month. The St Romanus had disappeared with 20 crew on January 11, and the Kingston Peridot had vanished with a crew of 20 on January 26.
• Saturn V Orbital Workshop study teams began planning the first Apollo Applications Project missions, with the use of the powerful Saturn V rocket to create a space station with quarters for a crew of nine and a full orbiting laboratory, to operate for at least twoyears.
• A conference to reform the Constitution of Canada opened in Ottawa.
• Born:
• *Roberto Alomar, Puerto Rican Major League Baseball second baseman who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame; in Ponce
• *Marcus Grönholm, Finnish rally driver and world champion in 2000 and 2002; in Kauniainen
• *Han Ong, Philippine-born American playwright and MacArthur Grant recipient; in Manila
• *Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Turkish diplomat, Minister of Foreign Affairs; in Alanya
• Died: Luckey Roberts, 80, African-American pianist and composer known for "Moonlight Cocktail"