In the early hours of June 5th 1968, crowds gathered to hear a victory speech from Robert F. Kennedy, who had just been declared winner of the California Primary. Next stop was Chicago where his nomination was a shoe-in and thoughts of another Kennedy in the White House looked very optimistic.

And then it all changed. Shots, panic and screams for a doctor. Robert Kennedy was lying on the floor in the kitchen, the shooter being wrestled to the ground while hysteria filled the ballroom.

For the next day everything hung in the balance and nobody left their TVs or radios for fear of missing the latest progress report. And some 26 hours after the initial shooting Robert Kennedy was pronounced dead.

As a reminder of that grim anniversary, here is a one hour sampling from the afternoon of June 5th, when reports were still hopeful and identity of the shooter was still sketchy, exactly as it was broadcast over NBC Radio on June 5th, 1968.