Date in year · 1968 · The 1960s

December 31, 1968

On December 31, 1968, the first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world. The year's #1 song was "Hey Jude" by The Beatles. Ashley Judd, Mswati III, Julia Morris would arrive in the same year.

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Year

1968

1960s

Around 1968

The year in brief

1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1968th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 968th year of the 2nd millennium, the 68th year of the 20th century, and the 9th year of the 1960s decade.

Read the full year of 1968 →

What happened

On December 31, 1968

  1. 1968 The first flight of the Tupolev Tu-144, the first civilian supersonic transport in the world.

    Soviet supersonic passenger airliner

    The Tupolev Tu-144 is a Soviet supersonic passenger airliner designed by Tupolev that operated commercially from 1975 to 1983, including 1977–1978 passenger service.

  2. 1968 MacRobertson Miller Airlines Flight 1750 crashes near Port Hedland, Western Australia, killing all 26 people on board.

    1968 aviation accident in Western Australia

    On 31 December 1968 a Vickers Viscount aircraft departed from Perth, Western Australia for a flight of 724 nautical miles (1341 km) to Port Hedland. The aircraft crashed 28 nautical miles (52 km) short of its destination with the loss of all twenty-six people on board. More than half of the right wing, from outboard of the inner engine to the wingtip, including the outer engine and its propeller, broke away from the rest of the aircraft in flight and struck the ground a significant distance from the main wreckage.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1968

The class of 1968

Others born in 1968

Ashley Judd 1968– American actress
Mswati III 1968– King (Ngwenyama) of Eswatini (Swaziland)
Julia Morris 1968– Australian entertainer
Dana Milbank 1968– American journalist and author
Jack de Gier 1968– Dutch footballer
Karl Wendlinger 1968– Austrian racing driver

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