1968: The Year AHS First Opened

Design began on Andover High School in November 1963, the same month John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, TX. The school opened in 1968, a year some historians believe to be one of the biggest years of change in the United States.

Take a look back at what the world was like in 1968, the year Andover High first opened:

  • The Pontiac GTO was Motor Trend’s Car of the Year
  • Gas cost $0.34 per gallon
  • If you wanted to make French toast, a loaf of bread was $0.39, a gallon of milk was $1.07 and a dozen eggs were $0.53
  • A newspaper was $0.10 and it cost $0.06 for a stamp
  • The Dow Jones index hit a high of 985

Events you may remember from 1968

1968
January 20
First Nationally Televised NCAA Basketball Game
First national televised NCAA basketball game, dubbed the “Game of the Century.” The University of Houston ended UCLA’s 47-game winning streak, winning 71-69. Elvin Hayes (Houston) outscored Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA) 39-15.
January 22
Laugh-In Debuts

“Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” debuts as a regular TV series on NBC.

January 30
Tet Offensive

Beginning of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War

February 1
Memphis Sanitation Strike

Memphis sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker are crushed to death by a malfunctioning garbage truck. Their deaths lead a strike by 1,300 black men from the Memphis Department of Public Works, and became a civil rights movement.

March 31
LBJ Decides Not to Run for Re-election

President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he would not run for re-election.

April 4
MLK Assassinated

While in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers in that city, the civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated while he was standing on the balcony outside his room at a Memphis motel.

April 29
Hair Opened on Broadway

The musical Hair opened at the Biltmore Theater in New York City. It ran for four years and more than 1,700 performances.

June 5
RFK Assassinated

New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated as he left the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles the night of the California presidential primary. His victory in that day’s contests had made him the apparent Democratic presidential nominee.

July 1
LBJ signs Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

President Johnson signs the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which remains the world’s primary means of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear states and reducing nuclear weapons in the world.

July 26
Legendary Lineup at Newport Folk Festival

The Newport (Rhode Island) Folk Festival includes: Arlo Guthrie performing his 20 minute ballad “Alice’s Restaurant”, Joan Baez performing Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”, and Janis Joplin performing “Piece of My Heart”

August 26
Beatles Release Hey Jude

“Hey Jude,” the first Beatles single issued on their Apple label, was released in the U.S. It runs more than 7 minutes long including a 4 minute closing fade-out. The song spent 9 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, a record it held for 9 years.

August 27
Democratic National Convention in Chicago

The Democratic National Convention in Chicago brings violent clashes between police and students, antiwar activists and other demonstrators.

September 9
Ashe wins the U.S. Open

Arthur Ashe wins the U.S. Open, becoming the first black man to win a Grand Slam tennis tournament. He beat Tom Okker in the final, 14–12, 5–7, 6–3, 3–6, 6–3.

September 24
60 Minutes Debuts

The show “60 Minutes” debuted on CBS. It is now the longest continuously running prime-time program in history

October 16
Athletes Silently Protest at Summer Olympics

U.S. athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos bowed their heads and raised their black-gloved fists in a recognized salute to the Black Power movement during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at their medal ceremony for winning gold and bronze in the 200-meter dash at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

October 20
Jackie Kennedy Marries Aristotle Onassis

Jacqueline Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping magnate. The design of Andover High School began the same month her former husband, John F. Kennedy, was murdered in Dallas, TX (November 1963).

November 5
Nixon wins White House

Richard Nixon won the Presidential election, beating Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace. Shirley Chisholm of New York is elected to become the first black woman in the U.S. House of Representatives.

November 14
Yale Votes to Admit Women

Yale University decides to admit female undergraduates, 267 years after their founding.

November 26
O.J. Simpson Wins Heisman

O.J. Simpson wins the Heisman Trophy as a running back for the University of Southern California (USC).

December 9
Computer Mouse Debuted

Douglas C. Engelbart demonstrated the world’s first computer mouse in what came to be known as “The Mother of All Demos” at Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco.

December 24
Apollo 8 Orbits Moon

On Apollo 8, Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman became the first humans to orbit the moon.