1963
| Years: 1960 1961 1962 - 1963(MCMLXIII) - 1964 1965 1966 | |
| Decades: 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s | |
| Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1963 in topic: Lists of leaders: | |
1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar).
| Contents |
Events
January-February
- January 1 - CSIRO scientist Dr Gilbert Bogle and Mrs Margaret Chandler are found dead, believed to have been poisoned, in bushland near the Lane Cove River, Sydney. Known as the Bogle-Chandler case.
- January 11 - The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, is opened.
- January 14 - George Wallace becomes governor of Alabama.
- January 22 - Elysée treaty between France and Germany
- January 28 - Black student Harvey Gantt enters Clemson College in South Carolina, the last US state to hold out against racial integration
- January 29 - Charles De Gaulle vetos United Kingdom's entry into the EEC
- February 8 - Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy administration.
- February 11 - CIA Domestic Operations Division is created.
- February 21 - An earthquake in Libya destroys the village of Barce - 500 dead
- February 27 - Female suffrage in Iran
March-April
- March 1 - Yoko Ono's marriage to American Christian fundamentalist filmmaker Tony Cox is annulled
- March 4 - In Paris six people are sentenced to death for conspiring to assassinate President Charles de Gaulle.
- March 16 - Mount Agung erupts on Bali - 11,000 dead
- March 18 - Court decides poor must have lawyers (Gideon vs. Wainwright Supreme Court trial)
- March 21 - Alcatraz, a federal penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay, closes; the last 27 prisoners are transferred elsewhere
- March 27 - In Britain Dr Beeching issues report calling for huge cuts to the UK's rail network; See Beeching axe
- April 7 - Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a Socialist republic and Josip Broz Tito is named President for life
- April 10 - The US nuclear submarine Thresher sinks 220 miles east of Cape Cod with all hands - 129 dead
- April 15 - 70,000 marchers arrive in London from Aldermarston to demonstrate against nuclear weapons
- April 22 - Lester B. Pearson becomes Canada's fourteenth prime minister.
May-June
- May 2 - Berthold Seliger launches near Cuxhaven a rocket with three stages with a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.
- May 15 - Mercury program: NASA launches the last mission of the program, Mercury 9 (on June 12 NASA Administrator James E. Webb told Congress the program was complete)
- May 23 - Fidel Castro visits the Soviet Union
- May 25 - The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- June 1 - Kenya gains autonomy.
- June 2 - Slavery declared illegal in Saudi Arabia
- June 5 - Profumo Affair - British Secretary of State for War John Profumo resigns in a sex scandal
- June 11 – Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc publicly sets himself on fire in Saigon, Vietnam, to protest against Ngo Dinh Diem's policies
- June 11 - Prime Minister of Greece Constantine Karamanlis resigns in protest of king's visit to Britain
- June 12 - Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is fatally shot in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi.
- June 16 - Vostok 6: Valentina Tereshkova (USSR) becomes the first woman in space.
- June 17 - The United States Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against allowing the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools.
- June 21 - Pope Paul VI is elected by College of Cardinals.
- June 30 - Ciaculli Massacre - mafia car bomb explodes in Ciaculli, Sicily, killing 7 police officers
July-August
- July 1 - ZIP Codes introduced in the USA
- July 5 - Diplomatic relations between the Israeli and the Japanese governments are raised to embassies' level.
- July 26 - Earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia - 1800 dead
- July 26 - Syncom, the world's first geostationary (synchronous) satellite is orbited by NASA
- July 27 – Indonesian president-for-life Sukarno declares that he will crush Malaysia – official start of Indonesian Confrontation
- July 30 - Soviet newspaper Izvestia reports that Kim Philby has been given asylum in Moscow
- August 5 - United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
- August 8 - The Great Train Robbery takes place in Buckinghamshire, England
- August 18 - American civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi
- August 28 - Martin Luther King delivers his "I have a dream" speech on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.
September-October
- September 5 - Christine Keeler arrested for perjury. On December 6 she is sentenced to nine months in prison
- September 15 - American civil rights movement: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing results in 4 deaths and 22 injuries.
- September 16 – Federation of Malaysia 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 British embassy in Jakarta to protest formation of Malaysia
- September 23 - King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals was was established by a Saudi Royal Decree as the College of Petroleum and Minerals
- September 25 - Denning Report on Profumo affair
- September 29 - Opening of second period of Second Vatican Council in Rome.
- October 9 - Uganda becomes a republic.
- 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.
November
- November 2 - South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated following a military coup
- November 6 - Vietnam War: Coup leader General Duong Van Minh takes over leadership of South Vietnam
- November 7 - Wunder von Lengede: In Germany, 11 miners are rescued from a collapsed mine after 14 days
- November 9 - 1963 Miike coal-mine explosion: In Japan, a coal mine explosion kills 458 and sends 839 carbon monoxide poisoning victims to the hospital
- November 14 - A volcanic eruption under the sea near Iceland creates a new island, Surtsey
- November 16 - Newspaper strike begins in Toledo, Ohio
- November 18 - Dartford Tunnel opens
- November 22 - John F. Kennedy assassination: In Dallas, Texas, US President John F. Kennedy is assassinated, Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded, and US Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn-in as the 36th President of the United States
- November 22 - C.S. Lewis, Christian Author and Scholar, dies
- November 22 - Aldous Huxley, British writer dies
- November 23 - The first episode of the BBC television series Doctor Who is broadcast in the United Kingdom.
- November 24 - John F. Kennedy assassination: Alleged assassin Lee Harvey Oswald is mortally shot by Jack Ruby in Dallas, Texas on live national television
- November 24 - Vietnam War: Newly sworn in US President Lyndon B. Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam militarily and economically
- November 25 - John F. Kennedy assassination: The late US President John F. Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
- November 29 - John F. Kennedy assassination: US President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
- November 29 - A Douglas DC-8 carrying Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 831 crashes into a wooded hillside after taking-off from Dorval Airport near Montreal, killing all 118 on board (for many years this was the worst air disaster in Canada's history).
December
- December 4 - Closing of second period of Second Vatican Council.
- End of the Mercury program of United States manned spaceflight
- December 5 - The Seliger Forschungs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH shows military usable rockets to representants to military staff of non-NATO-countries near Cuxhaven. Although these rockets landed after their flight on parachutes and no allied laws were hurted, this action led to protests by the Soviet Union.
- December 12 – Kenya becomes independent with Jomo Kenyatta as a prime minister
- December 22 - Cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles north of Madeira with the loss of 128 lives.
- December 24 - Cyprus Emergency - A brief civil war in Cyprus between Greek and Turkish Cypriots erupts
- December 31 - Central African Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland formally dissolved
unknown date
- David. H. Frisch and J. H. Smith prove radioactive decay of mesons is slowed by their motion. (See Einstein's special relativity and general relativity).
- Full deployment of SAGE, the semi-automated ground environment.
- TAT-3 cable goes into operation.
- Geneticist J. B. S. Haldane coins the word "clone".
- Arecibo Observatory officially begins operation.
- Ostankino Tower in Moscow begins construction.
- The divorce case of the Duke and Duchess of Argyll causes scandal in the United Kingdom
- Harvey Ball invents the ubiquitous smiley
Year in topic
1963 is the year dubbed "Annus Mirabilis" by British poet Philip Larkin.
- 1963 in film
- Tom Jones
- Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
- Charade starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn
- McLintock! starring John Wayne
- 1963 in literature
- March 1 - First appearance of John Rockerduck (a character in the Scrooge McDuck Universe) in Italian story Zio Paperone e il kiwi volante ("Uncle Scrooge and the flying kiwi") by Giampaolo Barosso and Giorgio Bordini
- 1963 in music
- February 11 - The Beatles tape 10 tracks for their 1st album, including Please, Please Me (released on March 2).
- 1963 in rail transport
- 1963 in sports
- January 29 - First inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are announced
- 1963 in television
- May 15 - First television pictures transmitted from a U.S. manned space capsule ("Faith 7.") Due to the poor picture quality, only NBC carries the transmission, and on tape-delay, not live
- September 2 ? CBS becomes first network to expand its evening network news from 15 to 30 minutes.
- September 9 - NBC expands its evening network news program to 30 minutes
- November 22 - regular television programming is suspended following news of John F. Kennedy's assassination
- November 23 - first episode of Doctor Who is broadcast in the UK.
- November 24 - Jack Ruby murders John F. Kennedy's suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald live on television.
- The television remote control is authorized by the FCC.
Births
January-February
- January 2 - David Cone, American baseball pitcher
- January 14 - Steven Soderbergh, director
- January 21
- Hakeem Olajuwon, basketball player
- Detlef Schrempf, basketball player
- January 26
- José Mourinho, football manager
- Andrew Ridgely, musician
- January 30 - Thomas Brezina Austrian author
- February 9 - Travis Tritt, country music singer
- February 11 - Todd Benzinger, American baseball player
- February 17 - Michael Jordan, basketball legend
- February 19 - Seal, singer
- February 20 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
- February 21 - William Baldwin, actor
- February 22 - Vijay Singh, golfer
- March 1 - Dan Michaels, producer, saxophonist, member of the rock band The Choir and also The Swirling Eddies, owner of Galaxy21 Music.
- March 4 - Jason Newsted, former bassist of Metallica
- March 6 - D.L. Hughley, actor, comedian
- March 10 - Neneh Cherry, musician
- March 12 - Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner
- March 14 - Bruce Reid, Australian cricketer
- March 18 - Vanessa L. Williams, actress, singer, Miss America
- March 20 - Kathy Ireland, supermodel and actress
- March 27 - Quentin Tarantino, actor, director, writer, producer
- March 27 - Xuxa, Brazilian television personality
- April 4 - Jack Del Rio, American football player and coach
- April 4 - Graham Norton, talk show host
- April 9 - Joe Scarborough, American cable news host
- April 13 - Garry Kasparov, World Chess Champion 1985-2000
- April 18 - Conan O'Brien, American television entertainer
- April 21 - Ken Caminiti, baseball player (d. 2004)
- April 21 - Roy Dupuis, actor
- April 26 - Jet Li, martial arts fighter, actor
- April 27 - Cali Timmins, actress
May-August
- May 8 - Helena Blagne Zaman, Slovene singer
- May 9 - Barry Douglas Lamb, rock musician, author, Christian preacher
- May 11 - Natasha Richardson, actress
- May 12 - Vanessa A. Williams, actress
- May 24 - Joe Dumars, basketball star
- May 25 - Mike Myers, actor, comedian
- June 6 - Jason Isaacs, actor ( Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets )
- June 9 - Johnny Depp, actor (Edward Scissorhands, Pirates of the Caribbean)
- June 13 - Bettina Bunge, tennis player.
- June 17 - Greg Kinnear, actor (As Good As It Gets, Mystery Men)
- June 18 - Bruce Smith, American football player
- June 23 - Colin Montgomerie, golfer.
- June 25 - George Michael, singer
- June 27 - Meera Syal, comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress
- July 16 - Phoebe Cates, actress
- July 24 - Karl Malone, basketball
- July 30 - Lisa Kudrow, American actress
- August 3 - James Hetfield, Metallica frontman and co-founder
- August 6 - Kevin Mitnick, computer cracker
- August 19 - Joey Tempest, Europe frontman
- August 19 - John Stamos, actor
- August 23 - Kenny Wallace, NASCAR race car driver
- August 24 - Hideo Kojima, video game director
- August 30 - Paul Oakenfold, DJ
September-December
- September 10 - Randy Johnson, baseball pitcher, five-time Cy Young Award winner
- September 21 - Cecil Fielder, baseball player
- September 29 - Dave Andreychuk, NHL player
- September 29 - Les Claypool
- October 1 - Mark McGwire, baseball star
- October 10 - Daniel Pearl, journalist (d. 2002)
- October 22 - Brian Boitano, figure skater
- October 26 - Natalie Merchant, singer/songwriter/musician
- October 31 - Fred McGriff, baseball player
- November 4 - Lena Zavaroni, Scottish entertainer (d. 1999)
- November 13 - Vinny Testaverde, American football quarterback
- November 18 - Dante Bichette, baseball player
- November 19 - Terry Farrell, actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
- November 21 - Nicolette Sheridan, actress (Knots Landing, Desperate Housewives)
- December 16 - Benjamin Bratt, actor (Law & Order)
- December 18 - Brad Pitt, actor
- December 23 - Jim Harbaugh, American football player
Unknown Date
- Andrew Weatherall - English DJ
Deaths
- January 2 - Dick Powell, American actor (b. 1904)
- January 2 - Jack Carson, American actor (b. 1910)
- January 5 - Rogers Hornsby, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1896)
- January 18 - Edward Charles Titchmarsh, British mathematician (b. 1899)
- January 29 - Robert Frost, American poet (b. 1874)
- January 30 - Francis Poulenc, French composer (b. 1899)
- February 11 - Sylvia Plath, American poet and novelist (suicide) (b. 1932)
- February 28 - Eppa Rixey, Baseball Hall of Famer (b. 1891)
- March 4 - William Carlos Williams, American writer (b. 1883)
- March 5 - Patsy Cline, singer (Cowboy Copas) (b. 1932)
- April 6 - Otto Struve, astronomer (b. 1897)
- April 9 - Eddie Edwards, jazz musician (b. 1891)
- May 12 - Bobby Kerr, Canadian runner (b. 1882)
- May 31 - Edith Hamilton, educator and author (b. 1867)
- June 3 - Pope John XXIII (b. 1881)
- June 11 - Thich Quang Duc, Vietnamese Bhuddist monk (suicide)(b. 1897)
- June 18 - Pedro Armendariz, Mexican actor (suicide)(b. 1912)
- August 5 - Theodore Roethke, American poet (b. 1908)
- August 23 - Glen Gray, saxophonist and conductor (b. 1906)
- August 31 - Georges Braque, French painter (b. 1882)
- September 11 - Suzanne Duchamp, French painter (b. 1889)
- October 11
- Edith Piaf, French singer (b. 1915)
- Jean Cocteau, French writer (b. 1889)
- November 1 - Ngo Dinh Diem, President of South Vietnam (b. 1901)
- November 15 - Fritz Reiner, Hungarian conductor (b. 1888)
- November 22
- John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States (b. 1917)
- Aldous Huxley, English novelist (b. 1894)
- C.S. Lewis, English novelist and Christian apologist (b. 1898)
- November 24 - Lee Harvey Oswald, John F. Kennedy assassin (shot) (b. 1939)
- November - Luis Cernuda, Spanish writer (b. 1902)
- December 1 - Amy Elizabeth Thorpe, American spy in World War II
- December 2 - Thomas Hicks, American marathon runner (b. 1875)
- December 5 - Sri Deep Narayan Mahaprabhuji, Hindu saint (b. 1828)
- December 5 - Karl Amadeus Hartmann, German composer (b. 1905)
- December 28 - Paul Hindemith, German composer (b. 1895)
Nobel Prizes
- Physics - Eugene Paul Wigner, Maria Goeppert-Mayer, J. Hans D. Jensen
- Chemistry - Karl Ziegler, Giulio Natta
- Medicine - Sir John Carew Eccles, Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, Andrew Fielding Huxley
- Literature - Giorgos Seferis
- Peace - International Committee of the Red Cross, League of Red Cross Societies