1968 was a sub par year in many regards.  There was the Vietnam war, MLK was shot on the balcony of his hotel room, even the movie Planet of the Apes was released.  Robert Kennedy was assassinated, there was a flu pandemic in Hong Kong, an earthquake in Sicily (killing almost 250), and it was a leap year.  One of the only good things in 1968 might have been that gas was a low 34 cents per gallon.