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1968 - Day By Day

First broadcast from 20080317 to 20080831.

John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 40 years ago.

Each weeks episodes (daily at 16:56) were collected into a omnibus each Sunday evening.

168 episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Description
01	20080317	Robert Kennedy announces his candidacy for President of the United States, the UK is in the midst of a financial crisis and London witnesses anti-Vietnam protests.
02	20080318	Central London cleans up after Sunday's anti-Vietnam riots, the London stock market opens amidst a financial crisis and the search for gold continues in Devon.
03	20080319	The Chancellor raises taxes by almost a billion pounds, Andy Warhol's first UK exhibition opens in London and England win the Fourth Test against the West Indies in Port of Spain.
04	20080320	The Duke of Edinburgh becomes the first member of the Royal family to allow himself to be interviewed live on television. Retired US general David Shoup tells the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that a military victory cannot be won in South Vietnam alone.
05	20080321	Trouble flares in the Middle East, troop numbers in Vietnam are dramatically increased, and a research team in Birmingham attempts to determine a woman's social status through the shape of her legs.
06	20080322	Prime Minister Harold Wilson faces student protests, the March 22nd Movement is formed in France and heavy fighting continues in Biafra.
07	20080323	Yippies take over Grand Central Station in New York, Leeds United beat Manchester City to stay at the top of the first division and France win Rugby's Grand Slam.
08	20080324	Alistair Cooke broadcasts his 1,000th Letter from America, Harlem senator Adam Clayton Powell warns of racial civil war in the US, the Roman Catholic Church challenges the suppression of students in Poland and London sees a fresh wave of anti-war protests.
09	20080325	Aer Lingus flight 712 crashes in the Irish Sea killing 61 people, The Monkees TV series comes to an end, bubonic plague breaks out in Vietnam, and the river Ouse breaks its banks in a shock flood.
10	20080326	Paul Mccartney returns from meditating in the Himalayas, Joan Baez marries draft resistance leader David Harris, the Americans unleash the F111 plane in Vietnam and Czechoslovakia reveals new democratic reforms.
11	20080327	Celebrations and protests mark 50 years of female suffrage in the UK, campaigning takes place for tomorrow's by-elections, the US lifts travel restrictions to some Communist countries, and Yuri Gagarin dies.
12	20080328	Martin Luther King leads a protest in Memphis that ends in disaster, an F111 plane goes missing in Vietnam, student uprisings break out in Poland, Spain and Japan, and a new production of Oedipus is staged.
13	20080329	The UK sees a landslide Tory victory in the by-elections, a revolutionary new surgical material is used, the Liverpool bus strike rages on, and a take-over bid for Aintree is unveiled.
14	20080330	Yuri Gagarin is buried, the Yardbirds record a legendary gig, Czechoslovakia's new president is sworn in, and Pinky and Perky come to an end.
15	20080331	Lyndon Johnson signals the end to his presidency, riots break out in Japan and newspaper magnate Cecil King criticises the Wilson government.
16	20080401	Robert Kennedy reacts to Lyndon Johnson's decision not to seek another term as president, the gold market reopens in London and Portsmouth grocer Alec Rose rounds Cape Horn.
17	20080402	Snow covers much of Britain, spinsters are put under the spotlight on the BBC and two bombs placed by the Baader-Meinhof group explode in Frankfurt.
18	20080403	Clyde the elephant flies into Vietnam, England win the series in the West Indies and Dr Martin Luther King delivers a speech in Memphis, Tennessee.
19	20080404	The assassination of civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King in Memphis marks a dark day in American history.
20	20080405	Riots rage in America following the death of Dr Martin Luther King, Barbara Castle becomes Minister of Labour and the BBC is accused of television fakery.
21	20080406	Cliff Richard aims for the top spot in the Eurovision Song Contest, Sammy Davis Jnr pleads for the rioting to stop in America and the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth is sold.
22	20080407	Palm Sunday is declared a day of mourning for Martin Luther King as rioting continues in America. Motor racing hero Jim Clark dies.
23	20080408	Hanoi and Washington enter into talks, a Boeing 707 plane crashes at Heathrow and archaeological excavations at Silbury Hill commence.
24	20080409	Martin Luther King's funeral takes place. Dubcek's Czechoslovakian government publish their statement of intent. Labour details the forthcoming Race Relations Bill and a glass car is seen on the streets of London.
25	20080410	The TUC ignores the government pay ceilings and accusations of racism are levelled at London Transport.
26	20080411	Militant German student leader Rudi Dutschke survives an assassination attempt. America's Civil Rights Bill is signed by President Lyndon B Johnson, and the leader of Biafra speaks out.
27	20080412	A human rights pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral continues and Blackpool holidays are under threat.
28	20080413	The first of a series of major Mafia trials begins in Sicily, German students riot after Rudi Dutschke survives an assassination attempt, and Julie Felix sings at the CND march.
29	20080414	On Easter Sunday, further rioting in Germany follows the shooting of Rudi Dutschke, the Pope condemns the war in Vietnam and the BBC go behind the scenes at London's Playboy club.
30	20080415	Aldermaston marchers reach Trafalgar Square, conflict in Israel escalates and the FBI close in on Martin Luther King's killer.
31	20080416	America announces the beginning of the slow process of returning Vietnam to the Vietnamese. Britain withdraws from the European space programme and foot-and-mouth restrictions are lifted.
32	20080417	Decimalisation of the UK's currency begins, conductor Sir John Barbirolli retires and Sir Learie Constantine is appointed as the first black rector of St Andrews University.
33	20080418	Greeks around the world protest at the ruling junta as the first anniversary of their coup approaches. Wales prepares to welcome a new prince and Tory MP Humphrey Berkeley resigns over his party's policies on race.
34	20080419	PM Harold Wilson takes a tough line with the unions, school children protest and present petitions to Parliament, and London Bridge is sold to an American company.
35	20080420	Race is the issue on both sides of the Atlantic. Enoch Powell delivers his notorious Rivers of Blood speech and Chicago's Mayor Daley defends his shoot-to kill-policy.
36	20080421	In Trafalgar Square, 5,000 people protest against the military junta in Greece. Despite snow earlier in the month, it is the hottest April day since 1949.
37	20080422	Steel workers strike in support of Enoch Powell
38	20080423	Dockers march on Parliament in support of Enoch Powell. Decimal coins are introduced.
39	20080424
40	20080425
41	20080426	Divisions at the Columbia University protest begin to show. The American base at Khe Sanh in Vietnam is shown not to be as safe as previously thought.
42	20080427	The Abortion Act comes into force, the Sherlock Holmes Society begin their pilgrimage to the Reichenbach Falls, and Martin Luther King's widow delivers his 10 Commandments on Vietnam.
43	20080428	Thousands march through London to protest against Enoch Powell, students in New York continue their occupation of Columbia University and a piano is dropped from a great height in Washington State.
44	20080429	Ralph Abernathy delivers his first speech since taking over from Martin Luther King, Enoch Powell returns from Canada and the musical Hair makes its debut on Broadway.
45	20080430	Police break up the student uprising at Columbia University, the first European heart transplant patient dies and more than forty members of the Sherlock Holmes Society head for Switzerland.
46	20080501	May Day brings the traditional marches. On its fortieth anniversary, the Flying Scotsman runs non-stop from London to Edinburgh. Bill Haley and the Comets play the Albert Hall.
47	20080502	In France, Nanterre University is closed. The Duke of Edinburgh has a close encounter with an orang-utan. Israel celebrates its 20th anniversary.
48	20080503	Students protest in Paris, obesity is reported to be more damaging than smoking and the US and North Vietnam finally agree where to hold peace talks.
49	20080504	Britain's first heart transplant patient comes round, shocking images emerge from Vietnam and people in Beirut take to the streets.
50	20080505	Parisian students take to the streets. Buffalo Springfield play their last ever gig. Harold Wilson talks about race relations in Birmingham.
51	20080506	Spain closes its border with Gibraltar. The Virgin Mary is seen by thousands in Cairo. The Viet Cong attack Saigon.
52	20080507	Sikh candidates from both Labour and Conservative parties canvass in local elections for the first time. Robert Kennedy wins the Indiana primary. Rome holds the first European International Festival of Pop Music.
53	20080508	The Krays are arrested. SNP trounce Labour in Scottish council elections. England defeat Spain in the European Championship qualifier.
54	20080509	Labour suffers heavy losses in local elections. Sir John Barbirolli announces his last performance.
55	20080510	Press baron Cecil King attacks Harold Wilson. 2001: A Space Odyssey is released in the UK. Analysis suggests that recent Tory victories may be an anti-immigration vote.
56	20080511	The Sorbonne is reopened in Paris. Students riot in Bonn. The Rolling Stones film their Jumpin' Jack Flash promo.
57	20080512	In the US, the Poor People's March reaches Washington. Noele Gordon quits Crossroads. The hit TV series The Railway Children begins.
58	20080513	A general strike brings Paris to a halt. Crucial Vietnam peace talks begin. American football coaches come to England looking for kickers.
59	20080514	US presidential candidates try to woo farmers. A newspaper strike hits the UK. Bob Hope tries to work out how much he is worth.
60	20080515	Reporters witness the devastating aftermath of the Battle of Saigon. Trouble continues in Paris. Apparently, horoscopes were sorely missed during yesterday's newspaper strike.
61	20080516	Four die when part of a high-rise block collapses at Ronan Point in London. A TV documentary tries to work out why everyone is always going on strike. Prince Philip apologises for offending Australians.
62	20080517	The clear-up begins after the Ronan Point disaster.
63	20080518	Forged tickets cause havoc at the FA Cup Final.
64	20080519	The Cannes Film Festival is abandoned due to protests.
65	20080520	Strikes spread across France. No public transport is running and tourists are heading home.
66	20080521	Reporters witness bitter fighting as the Nigerian army captures the Biafran stronghold of Port Harcourt.
67	20080522	Half of all French workers are on strike, with violence erupting between Nationalists and Communists.
68	20080523	French student leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit is sent back to his native Germany.
69	20080524	Turmoil in France continues. The Kray brothers are charged with conspiracy to murder and the Liverpool bus strike finally ends.
70	20080525	Reporters witness the aftermath of violent street battles across France. Welsh nationalists detonate a bomb in Cardiff. 11-year-old murderer Mary Bell's first victim is discovered.
71	20080526	Anarchists in London try to storm the French embassy.
72	20080527	There is student unrest in Germany, but French protest leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit is the star attraction. Welsh nationalist extremists set off another bomb.
73	20080528	Douglas Bader returns to Bomber Command. Students take over Hornsey College of Art.
74	20080529	A Kennedy loses for the first time. Daniel Cohn-Bendit sneaks back into France.
75	20080530	General De Gaulle is in a defiant mood. Manchester United win the European Cup.
76	20080531	Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe gets married. Thirty-four men, one woman and a dog get ready to set sail from Plymouth.
77	20080601	One of the last public executioners shows his sensitive side. Biafran peace talks collapse.
78	20080602	Anti-Vietnam War protests erupt in Delhi. British diplomats plead with Yugoslavia for the freedom of coach driver Philip Dobson. Andy Williams performs in the UK for the first time.
79	20080603	Andy Warhol is shot. Peter Sellers and Britt Ekland split up.
80	20080604	Scientologists are turned away from the UK. Teachers start supporting the protest by Hornsey students. De Gaulle is forced to borrow 310 million dollars from the IMF.
81	20080605	Robert Kennedy is shot. Police hold gunman Sirhan Sirhan.
82	20080606	Robert Kennedy dies. The Rolling Stones re-write a line in Sympathy for the Devil to reflect the assassination. Chay Blyth embarks upon a circumnavigation of the world.
83	20080607	ETA carry out their first assassination.
84	20080608	Martin Luther King's killer is caught at Heathrow. Convicted coach driver Philip Dobson is pardoned by President Tito. Edward Kennedy delivers Bobby's eulogy.
85	20080609	John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 40 years ago. President Tito concedes to protesting students. Jimmy Savile improves Anglo-French relations. Soldiers try to clean up France.
86	20080610	General Westmoreland leaves Vietnam with a bleak prediction for the war's future. Italy win the European Championships. Controversy erupts over Rhodesian sanctions.
87	20080611	A drowned boy becomes a martyr for Paris students. Henry Cooper is involved in controversy at Eton. The Beatles show signs of tension in the studio.
88	20080612	Daniel Cohn-Bendit arrives in London. The UN approves the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The French government bans demonstrations.
89	20080613	Dr Spock is tried for helping evade conscription. The BBC airs its controversial Students In Revolt programme. Johnny Cash releases his seminal album Live at Folsom Prison.
90	20080614	Women at Ford's Dagenham plant go on strike. Greek Communist leader Tony Ambatielos is granted asylum in the UK. Paris students kick Congolese mercenaries out of the Sorbonne.
91	20080615	Roy Jenkins warns the House of Lords not to oppose the Commons. John Arlott becomes president of the Cricketers' Association.
92	20080616	French police retake the Sorbonne from the students. Planes are grounded as a pilots' strike begins at Heathrow. Edward Kennedy speaks to the American nation.
93	20080617	Fred West, Britain's first heart transplant patient, is critical. Louis Armstrong begins a two-week residency in Yorkshire. The women machinists' strike at Ford's plant in Dagenham begins to spread.
94	20080618	Three British protestors are released from a Moscow jail. France counts the cost of months of unrest. John Lennon's play In His Own Write opens at the National Theatre.
95	20080619	Nelson Rockefeller throws his hat into the ring in the Republican race for the US Presidency. Enoch Powell faces more student protests. The future of the House of Lords hangs in the balance.
96	20080620	Vice President Hubert Humphrey launches his campaign for the US presidency. James Earl Ray's defence lawyer arrives in London. Industrial unrest deepens in the UK.
97	20080621	French election campaigns draw to a close. Wimbledon allows professionals onto the courts for the first time.
98	20080622	Women from Ford's Dagenham plant, currently striking, hold emergency talks with Employment Secretary Barbara Castle.
99	20080623	The first round of elections takes place in France.
100	20080624	A work-to-rule by unions brings chaos to Britain's railways. In Washington, Resurrection City is shut down by police.
101	20080625	Foot and mouth restrictions are lifted in the UK. Violence erupts on the streets of Glasgow.
102	20080626	Civil service reforms are announced.
103	20080627	Labour loses the Nelson and Colne by-election.
104	20080628	Welsh extremists strike again.
105	20080629	John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 40 years ago.
106	20080630	John Tusa looks back at the events making the news 40 years ago. A landmark victory for President de Gaulle's party in the second round of the French elections.
107	20080701	Red rain falls over much of Britain.
108	20080702	Yorkshire County Cricket club beat the touring Australians by an innings and 69 runs.
109	20080703	Mixed marriages come under the spotlight.
110	20080704	The round-the-world yachtsman Alec Rose returns from his 354-day journey.
111	20080705	Rod Laver beats Tony Roche to win Wimbledon in straight sets.
112	20080706	As 150,000 face starvation, ten tons of relief supplies are airlifted into Biafra.
113	20080707	Anti-racism marchers clash with Enoch Powell supporters in Whitehall, leading to 23 arrests. In London's Hyde Park, 5,000 protest in favour of legalising cannabis.
114	20080708
115	20080709	Australian police continue to lay siege to Sydney gunman Wally Mellish.
116	20080710	Guitarist and vocalist Eric Clapton announces the break-up of Cream because of a loss of direction.
117	20080711	Singer Frankie Vaughan becomes an unlikely mediator between violent Glasgow youth gangs.
118	20080712	Southampton busmen protest against pay freezes with a go-slow campaign.
119	20080713	Seatbelt laws come into effect, leaving 100,000 car owners driving illegally.
120	20080714	Bastille Day sees protestors returning to the streets of Paris.
121	20080715	Sir Hugh Greene announces his retirement as the BBC's Director General.
122	20080716	Americans reinvent football.
123	20080717	President Abdel-Rahman Aref of Iraq is overthrown in a coup that brings Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party to power.
124	20080718	Labour hold off a strong challenge from Plaid Cymru's Phil Williams in the Caerphilly by-election.
125	20080719	Vietnam peace talks take place in Honolulu.
126	20080720	Jane Asher announces that she has split from Paul Mccartney
127	20080721	A protest against the Vietnam war erupts into violence in London's Grosvenor Square.
128	20080722	An inquiry by Sir John Newsome into the education system publishes its recommendations.
129	20080723	An El Al flight en route to Tel Aviv is hijacked by three Palestinian militants.
130	20080724	Widespread rioting erupts in Cleveland, Ohio, after two unarmed police officers are shot.
131	20080725	A man is found crucified on a seven-foot cross on Hampstead Heath. Strangely, there is no bleeding.
132	20080726	Mick Jagger celebrates his 25th birthday with a preview of the new Rolling Stones album Beggars Banquet.
133	20080727	Preliminary peace talks between Nigeria and breakaway Biafra end inconclusively.
134	20080728	Eldridge Cleaver, civil rights activist, Black Panther and US presidential candidate, makes a speech.
135	20080729	The BBC screens the futuristic drama The Year of the Sex Olympics, which predicts the advent of reality TV.
136	20080730	The Archbishop of Canterbury disagrees with the Pope's recent ruling against artificial means of contraception.
137	20080731	The first ever episode of Dad's Army is aired on BBC TV.
138	20080801	Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan calls for an honourable peace in Vietnam.
139	20080802	As talks continue between Czech and Soviet leaders, demonstrators in Prague call for greater Czech sovereignty.
140	20080803	Sirhan Sirhan appears in court, accused of the murder of Senator Bobby Kennedy.
141	20080804	US sprinter Tommy Smith backs a proposed boycott of the Mexico Olympics by black American athletes.
142	20080805	Peace talks commence in Addis Ababa between Nigeria and breakaway Biafra.
143	20080806	Canning Town Residents Associations fight attempts to rehouse victims of the Ronan Point disaster in tower blocks.
144	20080807	Ukranian students demonstrate against political arrests in the USSR outside the Soviet embassy in London.
145	20080808	Richard Nixon wins the Republican Party's nomination for the presidential election.
146	20080809	48 passengers die as a British airliner carrying holiday-makers to Austria crashes near Munich.
147	20080810	A stand collapses at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Kempton Park, injuring dozens of teenagers.
148	20080811	Leonard Cohen appears on the BBC's Top Gear radio programme.
149	20080812	Riots in Los Angeles leave three dead.
150	20080813	Georgios Papadopoulos, leader of the ruling military junta in Greece, survives an assassination attempt.
151	20080814	Two deputy editors of the Czech Communist party newspaper are suspended.
152	20080815	Record producer Mickie Most explains the secret of his success.
153	20080816	Sixty Roman Catholic Priests join a revolt against the Pope's ban on the pill.
154	20080817	A BBC programme examines democracy in America.
155	20080818	Opposition to the Pope's ruling against artificial birth control mounts.
156	20080819	Two planes collide over the Norfolk town of Holt.
157	20080820	Soviet troops begin their invasion of Czechoslovakia.
158	20080821	Czechoslovakia wakes to the news that Soviet troops are occupying its major cities.
159	20080822	Demonstrations take place in London as opposition to the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia mounts.
160	20080823	Czechoslovak workers strike in protest against the Soviet invasion.
161	20080824	Concern grows over the whereabouts of Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubcek
162	20080825	Thousands attend a rally for Czechoslovakian freedom in London's Hyde Park.
163	20080826	The Democratic Party convention opens in Chicago.
164	20080827	Czechoslovak leader Alexander Dubcek returns from Moscow and broadcasts an emotional plea to the nation.
165	20080828	Cricketer Basil D'Oliveira is controversially left out of the squad to tour South Africa.
166	20080829	Hubert Humphrey is chosen as the Democratic candidate for the White House.
167	20080830	Several of Eugene McCarthy's staff are beaten after Chicago police raid their headquarters.
168	20080831	Nigerian leader Yakubu Gowon signals that the Biafran conflict could soon be over.