1968

From ATWiki

Contents 1 Government & Advocacy 2 Sports & Recreation 3 Technology 4 Births 5 Deaths 6 References

Government & Advocacy

• The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 is passed. It "requires that buildings and facilities that are designed, constructed, or altered with Federal funds, or leased by a Federal agency, comply with Federal standards for physical accessibility. ABA requirements are limited to architectural standards in new and altered buildings and in newly leased facilities. They do not address the activities conducted in those buildings and facilities. Facilities of the U.S. Postal Service are covered by the ABA."^[1]

Sports & Recreation

• November 4 - The 3rd Paralympic Games open in Tel Aviv, Isreal. These were the first games not held concurrently with the Olympic Games.
• July 20 - Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Justice Anne Burke officially launched the Special Olympics at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois.^[2]

Technology

• In Haleyville, Alabama the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service. Before 9-1-1, emergency calls battled for attention with regular calls in call centers making response times extremely slow.^[3]

• April 22 - Tom Clemens files a patent for the first blood glucose meter known as the Reflectance Meter.^[4]

Births

• January 12 - Heather Mills - British Actress and philanthropist. Mills is the ex-wife of former Beatle, Paul McCartney. Mills lost her leg after a motorcycle accident in 1993 and currently wears a prosthetic leg.^[5]

Deaths

• February 21 - Howard Walter Florey - Australian pharmacologist, won Nobel Prize in Medicine for his role in the extraction and mass production of penicillin. During World War II, penicillin made a major difference in the number of deaths and amputations caused by infected wounds.

• March 27 - Jacobus tenBroek - American disability advocate. tenBroek founded the National Federation of the Blind in 1940.^[6]

• June 1 - Helen Adams Keller - Deaf author and advocate. he first deaf-blind person to graduate from college when she graduated from Radcliffe College, cum laude in 1904.^[7]

• November 5 - Paul B. Magnuson - American orthopedic surgeon. Magnuson was the founder of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC).^[8]

References

1. ↑ A Guide to Disability Rights Laws U.S. Department of Justice. September, 2005. Accessed on February 1, 2008.
2. ↑ "Special Olympics founder still working after 40 years." USA Today. July 16, 2008. Accessed on August 11, 2009.
3. ↑ Alabama National Emergency Number Association
4. ↑ "History of Blood Glucose Meters." Mendosa.com. February 15, 2006. Accessed on March 9, 2008.
5. ↑ "About Heather." HeatherMills.org. 2008. Accessed on May 19, 2008.
6. ↑ Blake, Lou Anne. "Who Was Jacobus tenBroek?." Braille Monitor. May 1996. National Federation of the Blind. Accessed on July 2, 2008.
7. ↑ Biography of Helen Keller. Helen Keller Services for the Blind. Accessed on February 6, 2008.
8. ↑ Mostofi, Seyed Behrooz. "Paul Budd Magnuson." Who's Who in Orthopedics. Springer; 1 edition (September 17, 2004) p. 215