What Happened in 1963 — Events, Births & Deaths

Vietnam War: The Viet Cong wins its first major victory, at the Battle of Ap Bac.

Coup d'état in Togo results in the assassination of president Sylvanus Olympio.

The Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad ends operation.

The Élysée Treaty of cooperation between France and West Germany is signed by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad Adenauer.

The Guinea-Bissau War of Independence officially begins when PAIGC guerrilla fighters attack the Portuguese Army stationed in Tite.

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 most important, if not the most important, decisions in the development of European Union law.

The regime of Prime Minister of Iraq Abd al-Karim Qasim is overthrown by the Ba'ath Party.

The Beatles record their first album, Please Please Me.

Construction begins on the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes into the Everglades shortly after takeoff from Miami International Airport, killing all 45 people on board.

The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique reawakens the feminist movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness raising groups spread.

The Dominican Republic receives its first democratically elected president, Juan Bosch, since the end of the dictatorship led by Rafael Trujillo.

American country music stars Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas and their pilot Randy Hughes are killed in a plane crash in Camden, Tennessee.

Aeroflot Flight 191 crashes while landing at Aşgabat International Airport, killing 12.

The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a coup d'état.

Mount Agung erupts on Bali killing more than 1,100 people.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes.

The Beatles release their debut album Please Please Me.

Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia.

Bye Bye Birdie, a musical romantic comedy film directed by George Sidney, was released.

One hundred twenty-nine American sailors die when the submarine USS Thresher sinks at sea.

Pope John XXIII issues Pacem in terris, the first encyclical addressed to all Christians instead of only Catholics, and which described the conditions for world peace in human terms.

The Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-33 collides with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S Finnclipper in the Danish straits.

U.S. civil rights campaigner Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writes his open letter from Birmingham Jail, sometimes known as "The Negro Is Your Brother", while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, for protesting against segregation.

The first election of the Universal House of Justice is held, marking its establishment as the supreme governing institution of the Baháʼí Faith.

Marriage of Princess Alexandra of Kent to Angus Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London.

In Libya, amendments to the constitution transform Libya (United Kingdom of Libya) into one national unity (Kingdom of Libya) and allow for female participation in elections.

The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom.

Berthold Seliger launches a rocket with three stages and a maximum flight altitude of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) near Cuxhaven. It is the only sounding rocket developed in Germany.

The police force in Birmingham, Alabama switches tactics and responds with violent force to stop the "Birmingham campaign" protesters. Images of the violent suppression are transmitted worldwide, bringing new-found attention to the civil rights movement.

South Vietnamese soldiers under the Roman Catholic President Ngo Dinh Diem open fire on Buddhists defying a ban on the flying of the Buddhist flag on Vesak, killing nine and sparking the Buddhist crisis.

Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone.

The New York Post Sunday Magazine publishes Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Greek left-wing politician Grigoris Lambrakis is clubbed over the head, causing his death five days later.

The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis is held outside South Vietnam's National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year presidency of Ngo Dinh Diem.

Soldiers of the South Vietnamese Army attack protesting Buddhists in Huế with liquid chemicals from tear-gas grenades, causing 67 people to be hospitalized for blistering of the skin and respiratory ailments.

The British Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, resigns in a sex scandal known as the "Profumo affair".

Movement of 15 Khordad: Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In several cities, masses of angry demonstrators are confronted by tanks and paratroopers.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex, is signed into law by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program.

American Civil Rights Movement: Governor of Alabama George Wallace defiantly stands at the door of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in an attempt to block two black students, Vivian Malone and James Hood, from attending that school. Later in the day, accompanied by federalized National Guard troops, they are able to register.

Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.

NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers is murdered in front of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, by Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith during the civil rights movement.

The film Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, is released in US theaters. It was the most expensive film made at the time.

Soviet Space Program: Vostok 6 mission: Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space.

In an attempt to resolve the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam, a Joint Communique is signed between President Ngo Dinh Diem and Buddhist leaders.

The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools.

A day after South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem announced the Joint Communiqué to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed.

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union and the United States sign an agreement to establish the so-called "red telephone" link between Washington, D.C., and Moscow.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini is elected as Pope Paul VI.

The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.

Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, underlining the support of the United States for democratic West Germany shortly after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall.

Ciaculli bombing: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.

ZIP codes are introduced for United States mail.

The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.

Buddhist crisis: Police commanded by Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of South Vietnam President Ngo Dinh Diem, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest.

Pauline Reade, 16, disappears in Gorton, England, the first victim in the Moors murders.

Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.

Crown Colony of Sarawak gains self-governance.

The ship Bluenose II is launched in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The schooner is a major Canadian symbol.

Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous satellite, is launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta B booster.

An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,100 dead.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development votes to admit Japan.

The Puijo observation tower is opened to the general public at Puijo Hill in Kuopio, Finland.

Cold War: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

Great Train Robbery: In England, a gang of 15 train robbers steal £2.6 million in bank notes.

The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), the current ruling party of Zimbabwe, is formed by a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union.

Execution of Henry John Burnett, the last man to be hanged in Scotland.

President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of the Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital.

Civil rights movement: James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

Xá Lợi Pagoda raids: The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of President Ngo Dinh Diem, vandalizes Buddhist pagodas across the country, arresting thousands and leaving an estimated hundreds dead.

X-15 Flight 91 reaches the highest altitude of the X-15 program (107.96 km (67.08 mi) (354,200 feet)).

Buddhist crisis: As a result of the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, the US State Department cables the United States Embassy, Saigon to encourage Army of the Republic of Vietnam generals to launch a coup against President Ngô Đình Diệm if he did not remove his brother Ngô Đình Nhu.

An explosion at the Cane Creek potash mine near Moab, Utah kills 18 miners.

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his I Have a Dream speech.

The Moscow–Washington hotline between the leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union goes into operation.

Crown Colony of North Borneo (now Sabah) achieves self-governance.

CBS Evening News becomes U.S. network television's first half-hour weeknight news broadcast, when the show is lengthened from 15 to 30 minutes.

Swissair Flight 306 crashes near Dürrenäsch, Switzerland, killing all 80 people on board.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio with 17 charter members.

Baptist Church bombing: Four children are killed in the bombing of an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

Malaysia is formed from the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. However, Singapore is soon expelled from this new country.

Lord Denning releases the UK government's official report on the Profumo affair.

On its third anniversary as an independent nation, Nigeria became a republic.

A violent coup in Honduras begins two decades of military rule.

Hurricane Flora kills 6,000 in Cuba and Haiti.

The United States suspends the Commercial Import Program in response to repression of the Buddhist majority by the regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem.

President Kennedy signs the ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

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.

In Italy, a large landslide causes a giant wave to overtop the Vajont Dam, killing over 2,000.

France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.

The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty comes into effect.

After nearly 23 years of imprisonment, Reverend Walter Ciszek, a Jesuit missionary, was released from the Soviet Union.

Félicette, a black and white female Parisian stray cat, becomes the first cat launched into space.

A BAC One-Eleven prototype airliner crashes in UK with the loss of all on board.

An oxygen leak from an R-9 Desna missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome triggers a fire that kills seven people.

Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion: A gas explosion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis kills 81 people and injures another 400 during an ice show.

The Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, with the largest radio telescope ever constructed, officially opens.

The 1963 South Vietnamese coup begins.

South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm is assassinated following a military coup.

Nguyễn Ngọc Thơ is appointed to head the South Vietnamese government by General Dương Văn Minh's junta, five days after the latter deposed and assassinated President Ngô Đình Diệm.

Finnair's Aero Flight 217 crashes near Mariehamn Airport in Jomala, Åland, killing 22 people.

At a coal mine in Miike, Japan, an explosion kills 458 and hospitalises 839 with carbon monoxide poisoning.

The Tsurumi rail accident on the Tōkaidō Main Line in Yokohama kills 162 people.

The Bell Telephone Company introduces the first push-button telephone.

U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated and Texas Governor John Connally is seriously wounded by Lee Harvey Oswald, who also kills Dallas Police officer J. D. Tippit after fleeing the scene. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 36th President of the United States afterwards.

Five Indian generals are killed in a helicopter crash, due to collision with two parallel lines of telegraph cables.

The first episode of Doctor Who ("An Unearthly Child") is broadcast by the BBC, which is now the world's longest running science fiction drama.

Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin of President John F. Kennedy, is killed by Jack Ruby on live television. Robert H. Jackson takes a photograph of the shooting that will win the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Photography.

State funeral of John F. Kennedy; after lying in state at the United States Capitol, a Requiem Mass takes place at Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle and the President is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crashes shortly after takeoff from Montreal-Dorval International Airport, killing all 118 people on board.

"I Want to Hold Your Hand", recorded on October 17, 1963, is released by the Beatles in the United Kingdom.

Nagaland, became the 16th state of India.

Instant replay makes its debut during the Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.

Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.

Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.

An assassination attempt on the British High Commissioner in Aden kills two people and wounds dozens more.

Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.

The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir bursts, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in Los Angeles, California.

"Bloody Christmas" begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.

The cruise ship Lakonia burns 290 kilometres (180 mi) north of Madeira, Portugal with the loss of 128 lives.

Turkish Cypriot Bayrak Radio begins transmitting in Cyprus after Turkish Cypriots are forcibly excluded from Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.

The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the United States, marking the beginning of Beatlemania on an international level.

The Central African Federation officially collapses, subsequently becoming Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.

Meyer Jacobstein, American academic and politician (born 1880)

William Baziotes, American painter and academic (born 1912)