Celebrate Our 40th Anniversary with History
In 1968 Jensen Precast began with one employee and one simple goal. "to save our customers time and money by providing the best possible products and services." In celebration of our fast approaching 40th anniversary, Jensen Precast is taking a look back in time and remembering what was happening in the United States and the world in the year of our company's inception.
Although our wide range of precast concrete products are quite different from the shamanism and other ideas about magical living, often associated with astrology we thought we'd see what the Chinese horoscope has to say about the year we began serving clients. According to Chinese astrology, not to be confused with the Mayan horoscope, 1968 was the year of the earth monkey. In laymen's terms, this translates to character traits associated with perseverance, enthusiasm, concentration, and ease. Another standout trait was an intense yearning for knowledge. This is a trait we have taken very seriously over the years.
Moving from astrology to history, 1968 marked the Vietnamese launch of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam war, which was turning point for America. In the same year, President Lyndon Johnson announced that he would not accept the presidential renomination. On January 23rd, North Korea seized the US Navy ship, Pueblo.
Martin Luther King Junior, an irreplaceable and beloved leader of the civil rights movement was gunned down outside the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. As our country mourned the loss of one of its great leaders, another one was about to fall under similarly tragic circumstances. On June 5th, Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot in a Los Angeles hotel after winning the California primary. James Earl Ray, the assassin in Martin Luther King's death was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
Switching to the economics of the United States, the median household income was $7,743; the unemployment rate was 3.8%; and the cost of a first class stamp was .06 cents.
NASA continued to display its ingenuity to the world with Apollo 8 and Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders going into the record books as the first people to orbit the moon.
For the sports fans, The Green Bay Packers defeated the Oakland Raiders to win the Super Bowl 33-14; and American athletes dazzled in the both summer and winter Olympics that were held in Mexico City, Mexico and Grenoble, France, respectively.
In entertainment, the motion picture association revealed its rating system. New films were given a rating of G,PG,R, or X, depending on the film's content. "In the Heat of the Night," starring Sidney Poitier, won five Oscars, including best picture. The longest running prime-times newsmagazine, 60 minutes, was first launched by CBS. To bring the year to a momentous end, The Beatles won a Grammy for album of the year for, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Although we won't be offering professional astrology services anytime soon, we hope you've enjoyed this quick trip into history!
