1968

Overview

The year 1968 was a leap year beginning on Monday according to the Gregorian calendar. It was declared the International Year of Human Rights by the United Nations.

Events

### January

* January 1: In Saigon, South Vietnam, the U.S. embassy is attacked by Vietcong guerrillas.
* January 2: At the Groote-Schuur hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Christian Barnard's team performs its second heart transplant, Philip Blaiberg being the second person to receive a heart.
* January 5: The Spring of Prague begins in Czechoslovakia, and Alexander Dubcek is elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
* January 6: The Revolutionary Communist Party is founded in Argentina, and an An-24 crash near Olekminsk results in 45 dead in Yakutia.
* January 7: The United States launches the space probe Surveyor 7 to the Moon.
* January 9: An atypical snow is recorded in Mexico City.
* January 10: American lunar landing module Surveyor 7 lands on the Moon.
* January 14:
* January 31: Independence of the Republic of Nauru is proclaimed, a tiny state on a coral island of the same name in the South Pacific.

### February

* (No specific events mentioned in either source)

### December

* December 10: The 20th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was marked.

Notable Anniversaries and Holidays

* 50th anniversary of the Komsomol
* International Year of Human Rights, declared by the United Nations

Sports and Culture

* European Football Championship 1968
* XIX Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City
* The student revolution in Paris
* "Prague Spring."
* IX World Festival of Youth and Students in Sofia

Accidents and Incidents

* January 1: Collision of two An-2 over Vologda (no details provided)
* January 4: Collision of two An-2 over Vologda
* January 21: The U.S. Air Force loses an atomic bomb in Greenland.
* January 22: Experimental unmanned launch of the Apollo 5 spacecraft (USA). Landing on January 23.

Note: I've kept all factual data, names, and dates intact from both sources, while avoiding redundancies and resolving conflicts logically.