1963 - Wikiwand

1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1963rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 963rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 63rd year of the 20th century, and the 4th year of the 1960s decade.

From top to bottom, left to right: U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas, shocking the world and marking a turning point in American history; civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his iconic "I Have a Dream" speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama kills four young girls, galvanizing the civil rights movement and drawing national outrage; the Buddhist crisis escalates in South Vietnam, with mass protests and self-immolations in opposition to religious persecution under President Ngô Đình Diệm; the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is signed by the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom, prohibiting nuclear tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater; the Soviet Union launches Vostok 6, sending Valentina Tereshkova into space as the first woman to orbit the Earth; Pope Paul VI succeeds John XXIII following his death, continuing the Second Vatican Council and ushering in a new era of modernization within the Catholic Church; Pan Am Flight 214 crashes near Elkton, Maryland after being struck by lightning, killing all 81 people on board and leading to major reforms in lightning protection for aircraft; Hurricane Flora devastates the Caribbean, becoming one of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes of the century and causing thousands of deaths across multiple countries.

Quick Facts

1963 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1963 MCMLXIII
Ab urbe condita	2716
Armenian calendar	1412 ԹՎ ՌՆԺԲ
Assyrian calendar	6713
Baháʼí calendar	119–120
Balinese saka calendar	1884–1885
Bengali calendar	1369–1370
Berber calendar	2913
British Regnal year	11 Eliz. 2 – 12 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2507
Burmese calendar	1325
Byzantine calendar	7471–7472
Chinese calendar	壬寅年 (Water Tiger) 4660 or 4453 — to — 癸卯年 (Water Rabbit) 4661 or 4454
Coptic calendar	1679–1680
Discordian calendar	3129
Ethiopian calendar	1955–1956
Hebrew calendar	5723–5724
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2019–2020
- Shaka Samvat	1884–1885
- Kali Yuga	5063–5064
Holocene calendar	11963
Igbo calendar	963–964
Iranian calendar	1341–1342
Islamic calendar	1382–1383
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 38 (昭和３８年)
Javanese calendar	1894–1895
Juche calendar	52
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4296
Minguo calendar	ROC 52 民國52年
Nanakshahi calendar	495
Thai solar calendar	2506
Tibetan calendar	ཆུ་ཕོ་སྟག་ལོ་ (male Water-Tiger) 2089 or 1708 or 936 — to — ཆུ་མོ་ཡོས་ལོ་ (female Water-Hare) 2090 or 1709 or 937

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Events

January

January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove River, Sydney, Australia.^[1]
January 2 – Vietnam War – Battle of Ap Bac: The Viet Cong win their first major victory.^[2]
January 9 – A total penumbral lunar eclipse is visible in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, and is the 56th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 114. Gamma has a value of −1.01282. It occurs on the night between Wednesday, January 9 and Thursday, January 10, 1963.
January 13 – 1963 Togolese coup d'état: A military coup in Togo results in the installation of coup leader Emmanuel Bodjollé as president.^[3]
January 17 – A last quarter moon occurs between the penumbral lunar eclipse and the annular solar eclipse, only 12 hours, 29 minutes after apogee.
January 19 – Soviet spy Gheorghe Pintilie is removed from his position as Deputy Interior Minister of the Romanian People's Republic,^[4] as a step in ensuring Romania's political independence; the Workers' Party Politburo discusses way of neutralizing "Soviet intelligence networks [...] which Gheorghe Pintilie had coordinated."^[5]
January 22 – France and West Germany sign the Élysée Treaty.
January 25 – A large annular solar eclipse covers 99.5% of the Sun and a narrow path (at most 19.6 km (12.2 mi)). It is visible in Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Madagascar, and is the 26th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 140. Gamma has a value of -0.48984.
January 26 – The Australia Day shootings rock Perth; 2 people are shot dead and 3 others injured by Eric Edgar Cooke.
January 29 – French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes the United Kingdom's entry into the European Common Market.

February

February 5 – The European Court of Justice's ruling in Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen establishes the principle of direct effect, one of the basic tenets of European Union law.
February 8 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy Administration.
February 10 – Five Japanese cities located on the northernmost part of Kyūshū are merged and become the city of Kitakyūshū, with a population of more than 1 million.
February 12 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing all 43 aboard.
February 14 – Harold Wilson becomes leader of the opposition Labour Party in the United Kingdom;^[6] in October 1964 he becomes prime minister.
February 21 – The 5.6 M_w Marj earthquake affects northern Libya with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing 290–375 deaths and 375–500 injuries.
February 27 – Juan Bosch takes office as the 41st president of the Dominican Republic.

March

March 4 – In Paris, six people are sentenced to death for conspiring to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle. De Gaulle pardons five, but the other conspirator, Jean Bastien-Thiry, is executed by firing squad several days later.
March 5 – Country music star Patsy Cline is killed in a plane crash along with country performers Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, and manager Randy Hughes, during a flight from Kansas City, Missouri, back to Nashville.
March 17 – Mount Agung erupts on Bali, killing approximately 1,500.
March 23 – "Dansevise" by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann (music by Otto Francker, text by Sejr Volmer-Sørensen) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 (staged in London) for Denmark.
March 30 – Indigenous Australians are legally allowed to drink alcohol in New South Wales.^[7]

April

April 6 – The Kingsmen record their influential cover of "Louie Louie" in Portland, Oregon, released in June.^[8]
April 7 – Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a socialist republic, and Josip Broz Tito is named President for Life.
April 8 – The 35th Academy Awards ceremony is held. Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture.
April 10 – The U.S. nuclear submarine Thresher sinks 220 mi (190 nmi; 350 km) east of Cape Cod; all 129 aboard (112 crewmen plus yard personnel) die.
April 11 – Pope John XXIII issues his final encyclical, Pacem in terris, entitled On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty,^[9] the first papal encyclical addressed to "all men of good will", rather than to Roman Catholics only.
April 12 – The Soviet nuclear powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish Straits. Although severely damaged, both vessels make it to port.
April 14 – The Institute of Mental Health (Belgrade) is established.
April 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. issues his "Letter from Birmingham Jail".
April 20 – In Quebec, Canada, members of the terrorist group Front de libération du Québec bomb a Canadian Army recruitment center, killing night watchman Wilfred V. O'Neill.
April 21–23 – The first election of the Supreme Institution of the Baháʼí Faith (known as the Universal House of Justice, whose seat is at the Baháʼí World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel) is held.
April 22 – Lester Bowles Pearson becomes the 14th Prime Minister of Canada.
April 28 – 1963 general election is held in Italy.^[10]
April 29 – Buddy Rogers becomes the first WWWF Champion.

May

May 1 – The Coca-Cola Company introduces its first diet drink, Tab cola.
May 2 – Berthold Seliger launches near Cuxhaven a 3-stage rocket with a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 km (62 mi) (the only sounding rocket developed in Germany).
May 4 – The Le Monde Theater fire in Dioirbel, Senegal, kills 64 people.
May 8 – Huế Phật Đản shootings: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam opens fire on Buddhists who defy a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, the birthday of Gautama Buddha, killing 9. Earlier, President Ngô Đình Diệm allowed the flying of the Vatican flag in honour of his brother, Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục, triggering the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam.
May 13 – A smallpox outbreak hits Stockholm, Sweden, lasting until July.
May 14 – Kuwait becomes the 111th member of the United Nations.
May 15 – Project Mercury: NASA launches Gordon Cooper on Mercury-Atlas 9, the last Mercury mission (on June 12 NASA Administrator James E. Webb tells Congress the program is complete).
May 22 – A.C. Milan beats Benfica 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, London and wins the 1962–63 European Cup (football).
May 23 – Fidel Castro visits the Soviet Union.
May 25 – The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

June

June 3 – Huế chemical attacks: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam rains liquid chemicals on the heads of Buddhist protestors, injuring 67 people. The United States threatens to cut off aid to the regime of Ngô Đình Diệm.
June 4 – President of the United States John F. Kennedy signs Executive Order 11110, authorizing the Secretary of the Treasury to continue issuing silver certificates.
June 5 – The first annual National Hockey League Entry Draft is held in Montreal, Canada.

June 11 – In Saigon, Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức commits self-immolation to protest the oppression of Buddhists by Ngô Đình Diệm’s government.
June 12 – Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers is assassinated by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwith
June 13
- The cancellation of Mercury-Atlas 10 effectively ends the United States' manned spaceflight Project Mercury.
- The New York Commodity Exchange begins trading silver futures contracts.
June 15 – The AC Cobra makes its first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It will go on to win its class the following year.
June 16 – Vostok 6 carries Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman into space.
June 17 – In Abington School District v. Schempp, the US Supreme Court ruled that compulsory prayer and Bible-reading violated the First Amendment.
June 19 – Valentina Tereshkova the first woman in space, returns to Earth, landing in the Soviet Union.
June 20
- Establishment of the Moscow–Washington hotline (officially, the Direct Communications Link or DCL; unofficially, the "red telephone"; and in fact a teleprinter link) is authorized by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in Geneva by representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States.^[11]
- Swedish Air Force Colonel Stig Wennerström is arrested as a spy for the Soviet Union.
- War film The Great Escape (starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough) is premiered in London.^[12]
June 21 – Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) succeeds Pope John XXIII as the 262nd pope.
June 26
- John F. Kennedy gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin, Germany.^[13]
- David Ben-Gurion is replaced by Levi Eshkol as prime minister of Israel.

July

July 1 – ZIP codes are introduced by the United States Postal Service.
July 5 – Diplomatic relations between the Israeli and the Japanese governments are raised to embassy level.
July 7 – Double Seven Day scuffle: Secret police loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm, attack American journalists including Peter Arnett and David Halberstam at a demonstration during the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam.
July 11 – South Africa: police raid Liliesleaf Farm to the north of Johannesburg, arresting a group of African National Congress leaders.
July 19 – American test pilot Joe Walker, flying the X-15, reaches an altitude of 65.8 miles (105.9 kilometers), making it a sub-orbital spaceflight by recognized international standards.
July 26
- An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,800 dead.
- NASA launches Syncom 2, the world's first geostationary (synchronous) satellite.
July 30 – The Soviet newspaper Izvestia reports that British diplomat and double agent Kim Philby has been given asylum in Moscow.

August

August 5 – The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.^[14]
August 8 – The Great Train Robbery takes place in Buckinghamshire, England.
August 14 – A huge and devastating forest fire hits the region around Paraná State, Brazil. According to government documents, two million hectares (4.94 million acres) are lost to burning and 110 persons perished.^[15]
August 15 – Trois Glorieuses: President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of Congo after a three-day uprising in the capital, Brazzaville.
August 21 – Xá Lợi Pagoda raids: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm, vandalise Buddhist pagodas across South Vietnam, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead. In the wake of the raids, the Kennedy administration by Cable 243 orders the United States Embassy, Saigon to explore alternative leadership in the country, opening the way towards a coup against Diệm.
August 22 – American test pilot Joe Walker again achieves a sub-orbital spaceflight according to international standards, this time by piloting the X-15 to an altitude of 67.0 miles (107.8 kilometers).
August 24 – First games played in the Bundesliga, the primary professional Association football league in West Germany, replacing the Oberliga.^[16]
August 28 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to an audience of at least 250,000, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It is, at that point, the single largest protest in American history.
August 30 – The Moscow–Washington hotline (a direct teleprinter link) is inaugurated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy.^[17]

September

September 1 – Establishment of language areas and facilities in Belgium comes into effect. This will become the foundation for further state reform in Belgium.
September 6 – The Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) is founded.
September 10 – Sicilian Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano is indicted for murder (he is captured 43 years later, on April 11, 2006).
September 15 – American civil rights movement: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, in Birmingham, Alabama, kills 4 and injures 22.
September 16 – Malaysia is formed through the merging of the Federation of Malaya and the British crown colony of Singapore, North Borneo (renamed Sabah) and Sarawak.
September 18 – Rioters burn down the British Embassy in Jakarta, to protest the formation of Malaysia.
September 19 – Iota Phi Theta fraternity is founded at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland
September 23 – King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals is established by a Saudi Royal Decree as the College of Petroleum and Minerals.
September 24 – The United States Senate ratifies the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
September 25 – In the Dominican Republic, Juan Bosch is deposed by a coup d'état led by the military with civilian support.
September 29 – The second period of the Second Vatican Council in Rome opens.

October

October 1 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy toasts Emperor Haile Selassie at a luncheon in Rockville, Maryland.
October 2
- Nigeria becomes a republic; The 1st Republican Constitution is established.
- The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in the United States issues its final reports to President Kennedy.
October 3 – 1963 Honduran coup d'état: A violent coup in Honduras pre-empts the October 13 election, ends a period of reform under President Ramón Villeda Morales and begins two decades of military rule under General Oswaldo López Arellano.
October 4 – Hurricane Flora, one of the worst Atlantic storms in history, hits Hispaniola and Cuba, killing nearly 7,000 people.
October 7 – Buddhist crisis: Amid worsening relations, outspoken South Vietnamese First Lady Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu arrives in the US for a speaking tour, continuing a flurry of attacks on the Kennedy administration.^[18]
October 9 – In northeast Italy, over 2,000 people are killed when a large landslide behind the Vajont Dam causes a giant wave of water to overtop it.
October 10 – Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed on August 5, takes effect.^[14]
October 14 – A revolution starts in Radfan, South Yemen, against British colonial rule.
October 16 – Ludwig Erhard replaces Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor of West Germany.^[19]
October 19 – Alec Douglas-Home succeeds Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.^[20]
October 24 – Fire at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome in an R-9 Desna underground missile silo; seven people are killed.^[21]
October 30 – The car manufacturing firm Lamborghini is founded in Italy.
October 31 – 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion: 81 die in a gas explosion during a Holiday on Ice show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis, United States.

November

November 1 – Arecibo Observatory, a radio telescope, officially begins operation in Puerto Rico.
November 2 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnamese President.
November 6 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Coup leader General Dương Văn Minh takes over as leader of South Vietnam.
November 7
- 11 German miners are rescued from a collapsed mine after 14 days in what becomes known as the "Wunder von Lengede" ("miracle of Lengede").
- The star-studded movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premieres in Los Angeles.
November 8 – Finnair aircraft OH-LCA crashes before landing at Mariehamn Airport on Åland.
November 9 – Two disasters in Japan:
- Miike coal mine explosion: A coal mine explosion kills 458 and sends 839 carbon monoxide poisoning victims to the hospital.
- Tsurumi rail accident: A triple train disaster in Yokohama kills 161.
November 10 – Malcolm X makes a historic speech in Detroit, Michigan ("Message to the Grass Roots").
November 14 – A volcanic eruption under the sea near Iceland creates a new island, Surtsey.

November 22 – Assassination of John F. Kennedy: In a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, U.S. President John F. Kennedy is fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, and Governor of Texas John Connally is seriously wounded at 12:30 CST. Upon Kennedy's death, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the 36th president of the United States. A few hours later, President Johnson is sworn in aboard Air Force One, as Kennedy's body is flown back to Washington, D.C. Stores and businesses shut down for the next four days, in tribute.
November 23
- The Golden Age Nursing Home fire kills 63 elderly people near Fitchville, Ohio, United States.
- The long-running sci-fi television series Doctor Who premieres on BBC TV in the United Kingdom.
November 24
- Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of John F. Kennedy, is shot dead by Jack Ruby in Dallas, an event seen on live national television.
- Vietnam War: New U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam militarily and economically.
November 25 – State funeral of John F. Kennedy: President Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Schools around the nation cancel classes that day; millions watch the funeral on live international television. Lee Harvey Oswald's funeral takes place on the same day.^[22]
November 29
- U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
- Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831, a Douglas DC-8 crashes into a wooded hillside after taking-off from Dorval International Airport near Montreal, killing all 118 on board, the worst air disaster for many years in Canada's history.
- Foundation stone for Mirzapur Cadet College is laid in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).
November 30 – 1963 Australian federal election: Robert Menzies' Liberal/Country Coalition Government is re-elected with an increased majority to an unprecedented eighth term in office, defeating the Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. (This would be the final lower house election won by Menzies, who would retire from office during the term as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Australian history; he would be replaced by Harold Holt.)

December

December 3 – The Warren Commission begins its investigation into the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.
December 4 – The second period of the Second Vatican Council closes.
December 5 – The Seliger Forschungs-und-Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH demonstrates rockets for military use to military representatives of non-NATO-countries near Cuxhaven. Although these rockets land via parachute at the end of their flight and no allied laws are violated, the Soviet Union protests this action.
December 7 – The first instant replay system to use videotape instead of film is used by Tony Verna, a CBS-TV director, during a live televised sporting event, the Army–Navy Game of college football played in Philadelphia, United States.
December 8 – A lightning strike causes the crash of Pan Am Flight 214 near Elkton, Maryland, United States, killing 81 people.
December 10
- Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom, as a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
- Chuck Yeager narrowly escapes death while testing an NF-104A rocket-augmented aerospace trainer when his aircraft goes out of control at 108,700 feet (nearly 21 miles up) and crashes. He parachutes to safety at 8,500 feet after vainly battling to gain control of the powerless, rapidly falling craft. In this incident he becomes the first pilot to make an emergency ejection in the full pressure suit needed for high altitude flights.
December 12 – Kenya gains independence from the United Kingdom, with Jomo Kenyatta as prime minister.
December 20 – The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials begin.
December 21 – Cyprus Emergency: Inter-communal fighting erupts between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
December 22 – The cruise ship TSMS Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira, with the loss of 128 lives.
December 25 – İsmet İnönü of the Republican People's Party (CHP) forms the new government of Turkey (28th government, coalition partners; independents, İnönü has served ten times as a prime minister, this is his last government).
December 31 – Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolves.

Date unknown

David H. Frisch and J.H. Smith prove that the radioactive decay of mesons is slowed by their motion (see Einstein's special relativity and general relativity).
The TAT-3 transatlantic communications cable goes into operation.
Ivan Sutherland writes the revolutionary Sketchpad program and runs it on the Lincoln TX-2 computer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Slavery in Dubai is abolished.
Construction of Moscow's Ostankino Tower begins.
The IEEE Computer Society is founded.
The Urdu keyboard is standardised by the Central Language Board in Pakistan.
Harvey Ball invents the ubiquitous smiley face symbol.
The classic Porsche 911 is first produced.
The Reformed Druids of North America is founded.
Hergé's The Castafiore Emerald is published.
Marvel releases their Superhero assembly team The Avengers.

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