1968
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7correct to beat the crowd
50 free 1968 trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Few years packed in as much as 1968. Americans lived through two assassinations, a bruising election and nightly news from Vietnam, while students and workers filled the streets on both sides of the Iron Curtain. The year ended with three astronauts circling the Moon. This quiz covers the whole of it: the politics and protests, the space race, the Summer and Winter Olympics, and the records, films and television shows people were talking about. It also has the lighter side of the year, such as the toys, snacks and gadgets that made their debut. It is written for anyone who remembers 1968, was born in it, or is planning a class reunion or a milestone birthday party. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you can play it straight through or print it for a group.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which landmark did American tycoon Robert McCulloch buy in 1968 and rebuild in the Arizona desert?
London Bridge
London Bridge could no longer carry the city's traffic, so London put it up for sale. McCulloch shipped its granite blocks to Lake Havasu City to draw land buyers to his new town.
Q 02Which famous photograph did Bill Anders take while orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968?
Earthrise
Earthrise shows a half-lit Earth hanging above the Moon's gray horizon. It has been called the most influential environmental photograph ever taken.
Q 03Which burger, created by a Pittsburgh-area franchisee, did McDonald's take nationwide in 1968?
Big Mac
The Big Mac had flopped under two earlier names, the Aristocrat and the Blue Ribbon Burger. A 21-year-old secretary at McDonald's headquarters came up with the one that stuck.
Q 04Which ruined landmark does Charlton Heston find on a beach at the end of 1968's Planet of the Apes?
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty, half buried in the sand, reveals that the 'alien' planet is Earth after a nuclear war. The twist survived from a script by Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.
Q 05Which singer relaunched his career in a black leather suit on an NBC special in December 1968?
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley sweated so much under the lights that the suit stuck to his skin. The show topped the week's TV ratings and became known as the '68 Comeback Special.
Q 06Which everyday computer device did Douglas Engelbart show the public at a December 1968 demo?
Mouse
The mouse let Engelbart move around the screen, highlight text and resize windows. The same 90-minute show also previewed hypertext and video conferencing.
Q 07Which spy novelist wrote the children's book behind the 1968 musical film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?
Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, invented the flying car as a bedtime story for his son Caspar. He died two months before the book was published.
Q 08Which line of die-cast toy cars did Mattel launch in 1968 to compete with Matchbox?
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels began after Mattel co-founder Elliot Handler watched his son play with Matchbox cars. He wanted wilder hot rods, with big rear tires and flame paint jobs.
Q 09Which Funny Girl star shared the Best Actress Oscar for 1968 in a tie with Katharine Hepburn?
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand accepted with 'Hello, gorgeous!', her opening line from the film. Presenter Ingrid Bergman had gasped 'It's a tie!' on reading the result.
Q 10Which three-digit phone number got its first-ever call in Haleyville, Alabama, in 1968?
911
911 was chosen by AT&T because it was quick to dial on a rotary phone, unlike Britain's 999. A small Alabama phone company then raced to switch it on first.
Q 11In which city was Martin Luther King Jr. shot on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in April 1968?
Memphis
Memphis had drawn King to support the city's striking sanitation workers. The night before, he gave his 'I've Been to the Mountaintop' speech, which proved to be his last.
Q 12Robert F. Kennedy was shot in June 1968 just after winning which state's Democratic primary?
California
California voted on June 4, and Kennedy was shot leaving his victory party through a hotel kitchen hallway. His death led the Secret Service to start protecting presidential candidates.
Q 13Which sitting vice president narrowly lost the 1968 presidential election to Richard Nixon?
Hubert Humphrey
Q 21Which 1968 Beatles single, written to comfort John Lennon's young son, spent nine weeks at number one?
Hey Jude
Hey Jude began as 'Hey Jules', Paul McCartney's song for five-year-old Julian Lennon during his parents' split. It was also the first release on the band's own Apple label.
Q 22Which prison did Johnny Cash sing about in 1955 and then record a live album inside in January 1968?
Folsom
Folsom gave Cash the album that revived his career after several years of limited success. Its live take on 'Folsom Prison Blues' was his first top-40 hit since 1964.
Q 23Which soul singer's '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' became a posthumous number-one hit in 1968?
Otis Redding
Hubert Humphrey led a bitterly divided Democratic Party and trailed badly at first. He narrowed the gap late by calling for Vietnam peace talks, but not by enough.
Q 14Which president stunned TV viewers in March 1968 by announcing he would not seek another term?
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson said 'I shall not seek, and I will not accept' his party's nomination. He quit weeks after antiwar senator Eugene McCarthy nearly beat him in New Hampshire.
Q 15Which city's police clashed with antiwar protesters outside the Democratic convention in August 1968?
Chicago
Chicago was run by Mayor Richard J. Daley, who was determined to stop the protests. The crowd control by police and the National Guard devolved into what was called a police riot.
Q 16Which country did Warsaw Pact tanks invade in August 1968 to end Alexander Dubček's reforms?
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia had enjoyed months of liberalisation known as the Prague Spring. About 250,000 troops crossed the border overnight in what was code-named Operation Danube.
Q 17Which French president vanished to a military base in West Germany during the strikes of May 1968?
Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle slipped away by helicopter to Baden-Baden, leaving his prime minister shouting 'He has fled the country!' About ten million workers were on strike at the time.
Q 18Which country seized the US spy ship USS Pueblo in January 1968 and held its crew for 11 months?
North Korea
North Korea later put the ship on show as a museum exhibit in Pyongyang. Its captive crewmen ruined staged propaganda photos by secretly giving 'the finger'.
Q 19Which CBS anchor told viewers in February 1968 that the Vietnam War was 'mired in stalemate'?
Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite had just returned from covering the fighting in Vietnam himself. He was often called 'the most trusted man in America' after an opinion poll named him so.
Q 20The Tet Offensive of January 1968 broke a truce that was called for which Vietnamese holiday?
Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year, or Tết Nguyên Đán, meant many of South Vietnam's soldiers were away on leave. One team of attackers even blasted its way into the US Embassy compound in Saigon.
Otis Redding recorded the song just three days before he died in a plane crash in December 1967. No single had ever topped the American chart after its singer's death before.
Q 24Which 'tribal love-rock musical' reached Broadway in April 1968 and caused a stir with its nude scene?
Hair
Hair follows a tribe of hippies in New York City resisting the Vietnam draft, and it gave pop radio the anthem 'Aquarius'. It ran for 1,750 performances.
Q 25Which guitarist's 1968 cover of Bob Dylan's 'All Along the Watchtower' became a Top 20 hit single?
Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix started recording it in January 1968 for his album Electric Ladyland. The song is now more strongly identified with his version than with Dylan's original.
Q 26Which CBS newsmagazine, later famous for its ticking stopwatch, made its debut in September 1968?
60 Minutes
60 Minutes did not show its trademark stopwatch on the first broadcast; it turned up several episodes later. Creator Don Hewitt built the show around reporter-centered investigation.
Q 27Which soft-spoken children's TV host in a cardigan and sneakers made his national debut in February 1968?
Fred Rogers
Fred Rogers chose sneakers because they were quieter than work shoes when he moved around behind the set. His Neighborhood stayed on American public television until 2001.
Q 28Which Star Trek officer kissed Captain Kirk in a November 1968 episode that worried NBC executives?
Lieutenant Uhura
Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, kissed Kirk in 'Plato's Stepchildren'. NBC feared angering stations in the Deep South, but the fan mail was large and very positive.
Q 29Which NBC sketch comedy show, launched as a series in January 1968, made 'Sock it to me' a catchphrase?
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In usually followed the line by dropping Judy Carne through a trap door or dousing her with water. Even Richard Nixon turned up to say it on camera.
Q 30Where were the 1968 Summer Olympics held, the first Games ever staged in Latin America?
Mexico City
Mexico City sits 2,240 metres above sea level, and the thin air shaped many events. These were also the first Olympics run on an all-weather track instead of cinders.