1963 CE

U.S. President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas; Martin Luther King Jr. gives his "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom; the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama kills four girls; the Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam sparks protests and self-immolations; the Ramadan Revolution overthrows Qasim's regime in Iraq; the Soviet Vostok 6 sends Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman in space; Pope Paul VI succeeds John XXIII and continues the Second Vatican Council; the 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion kills 81 in Indianapolis; and Hurricane Flora devastates the Caribbean, killing thousands.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 19 – Soviet spy Gheorghe Pintilie is removed from his position as Deputy Interior Minister of the Romanian People's Republic, 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."source
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.source
February 27 – Juan Bosch takes office as the 41st president of the Dominican Republic.source
March 30 – Indigenous Australians are legally allowed to drink alcohol in New South Wales.source
April 7 – Yugoslavia is proclaimed to be a socialist republic, and Josip Broz Tito is named President for Life.source
April 22 – Lester Bowles Pearson becomes the 14th Prime Minister of Canada.source
April 28 – 1963 general election is held in Italy.source
June 26 – David Ben-Gurion is replaced by Levi Eshkol as prime minister of Israel.source
July 30 – The Soviet newspaper Izvestia reports that British diplomat and double agent Kim Philby has been given asylum in Moscow.source
August 5 – The United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.source
August 30 – The Moscow–Washington hotline (a direct teleprinter link) is inaugurated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy.source
September 1 – Establishment of language areas and facilities in Belgium comes into effect. This will become the foundation for further state reform in Belgium.source
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.source
September 24 – The United States Senate ratifies the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.source
October 2 – Nigeria becomes a republic; The 1st Republican Constitution is established.source
October 2 – The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in the United States issues its final reports to President Kennedy.source
October 10 – Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed on August 5, takes effect.source
October 16 – Ludwig Erhard replaces Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor of West Germany.source
October 19 – Alec Douglas-Home succeeds Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.source
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.source
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.)source
December 10 – Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom, as a constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.source
December 12 – Kenya gains independence from the United Kingdom, with Jomo Kenyatta as prime minister.source
December 31 – Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolves.source

Conflict & Security

January 2 – Vietnam War – Battle of Ap Bac: The Viet Cong win their first major victory.source
January 13 – 1963 Togolese coup d'état: A military coup in Togo results in the installation of coup leader Emmanuel Bodjollé as president.source
January 26 – The Australia Day shootings rock Perth; 2 people are shot dead and 3 others injured by Eric Edgar Cooke.source
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.source
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.source
June 11 – In Saigon, Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức commits self-immolation to protest the oppression of Buddhists by Ngô Đình Diệm's government.source
June 12 – Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers is assassinated by white supremacist Byron De La Beckwithsource
June 26 – John F. Kennedy gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in West Berlin, Germany.source
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.source
July 11 – South Africa: police raid Liliesleaf Farm to the north of Johannesburg, arresting a group of African National Congress leaders.source
August 15 – Trois Glorieuses: President Fulbert Youlou is overthrown in the Republic of Congo after a three-day uprising in the capital, Brazzaville.source
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.source
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.source
September 15 – American civil rights movement: The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, in Birmingham, Alabama, kills 4 and injures 22.source
September 18 – Rioters burn down the British Embassy in Jakarta, to protest the formation of Malaysia.source
September 25 – In the Dominican Republic, Juan Bosch is deposed by a coup d'état led by the military with civilian support.source
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.source
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.source
October 14 – A revolution starts in Radfan, South Yemen, against British colonial rule.source
November 2 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Arrest and assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem, the South Vietnamese President.source
November 6 – 1963 South Vietnamese coup: Coup leader General Dương Văn Minh takes over as leader of South Vietnam.source
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.source
November 29 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John F. Kennedy.source
December 3 – The Warren Commission begins its investigation into the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.source

Exploration & Expansion

August 15- King of Prussia Mall opens to the public in the Philadelphia Metropolitan area and is one of the top ten largest malls in the U.S.source

Religion & Belief

April 11 – Pope John XXIII issues his final encyclical, Pacem in terris, entitled On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty, the first papal encyclical addressed to "all men of good will", rather than to Roman Catholics only.source
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.source
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.source
June 17 – In Abington School District v. Schempp, the US Supreme Court ruled that compulsory prayer and Bible-reading violated the First Amendment.source
June 21 – Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) succeeds Pope John XXIII as the 262nd pope.source
September 29 – The second period of the Second Vatican Council in Rome opens.source
December 4 – The second period of the Second Vatican Council closes.source

Economy & Finance

January 29 – French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes the United Kingdom's entry into the European Common Market.source

Technology & Infrastructure

April 29 – Buddy Rogers becomes the first WWWF Champion.source
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.source
June 13 – The New York Commodity Exchange begins trading silver futures contracts.source
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.source
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.source
July 1 – ZIP codes are introduced by the United States Postal Service.source
August 28 – Philips introduces the Compact Cassette primarily for dictation and voice recording purposes. By 1965, hardware improvements eventually allow for it to reliably function as a music format.source
October 1 – Construction company GK Međimurje, one of the largest Croatian construction and civil engineering companies (with more than 8,000 employees in 1980s), founded in Čakovec.source
October 30 – The car manufacturing firm Lamborghini is founded in Italy.source
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.source
December 20 – The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials begin.source
The TAT-3 transatlantic communications cable goes into operation.source
The classic Porsche 911 is first produced.source
Ivan Sutherland writes the revolutionary Sketchpad program and runs it on the Lincoln TX-2 computer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.source

Science & Discovery

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.source
January 17 – A last quarter moon occurs between the penumbral lunar eclipse and the annular solar eclipse, only 12 hours, 29 minutes after apogee.source
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.source
May 2 – Berthold Seliger launches near Cuxhaven a 3-stage rocket with a maximum flight altitude of more than (the only sounding rocket developed in Germany).source
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).source
May 23 – Fidel Castro visits the Soviet Union.source
June 13 – The cancellation of Mercury-Atlas 10 effectively ends the United States' crewed spaceflight Project Mercury.source
June 16 – Vostok 6 carries Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman into space.source
June 19 – Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, returns to Earth, landing in the Soviet Union.source
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.source
July 26 – NASA launches Syncom 2, the world's first geostationary (synchronous) satellite.source
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).source
November 1 – Arecibo Observatory, a radio telescope, officially begins operation in Puerto Rico.source
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.source
Harvey Ball invents the ubiquitous smiley face symbol.source
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).source

Health & Medicine

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.source
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.source
May 1 – The Coca-Cola Company introduces its first diet drink, Tab cola.source
May 13 – A smallpox outbreak hits Stockholm, Sweden, lasting until July.source
Miike coal mine explosion: A coal mine explosion kills 458 and sends 839 carbon monoxide poisoning victims to the hospital.source

Crime & Justice

April 16 – Martin Luther King, Jr. issues his "Letter from Birmingham Jail".source
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.source
June 20 – Swedish Air Force Colonel Stig Wennerström is arrested as a spy for the Soviet Union.source
August 8 – The Great Train Robbery takes place in Buckinghamshire, England.source
September 10 – Sicilian Mafia boss Bernardo Provenzano is indicted for murder (he is captured 43 years later, on April 11, 2006).source

Disasters & Accidents

February 12 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing all 43 aboard.source
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.source
April 10 – The U.S. nuclear submarine Thresher sinks 220 smi nmi km east of Cape Cod; all 129 aboard (112 crewmen plus yard personnel) die.source
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.source
May 4 – The Le Monde Theater fire in Dioirbel, Senegal, kills 64 people.source
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.source
October 24 – Fire at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome in an R-9 Desna underground missile silo; seven people are killed.source
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.source
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").source
November 8 – Finnair aircraft OH-LCA crashes before landing at Mariehamn Airport on Åland.source
November 23 – The Golden Age Nursing Home fire kills 63 elderly people near Fitchville, Ohio, United States.source
November 29 – 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.source
Tsurumi rail accident: A triple train disaster in Yokohama kills 161.source
December 8 – A lightning strike causes the crash of Pan Am Flight 214 near Elkton, Maryland, United States, killing 81 people.source
December 10 – 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.source
December 22 – The cruise ship TSMS Lakonia burns 180 mi km north of Madeira, with the loss of 128 lives.source

Climate & Environment

February 21 – The 5.6 Marj earthquake affects northern Libya with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), causing 290–375 deaths and 375–500 injuries.source
March 17 – Mount Agung erupts on Bali, killing approximately 1,500.source
July 26 – An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (present-day North Macedonia) leaves 1,800 dead.source
October 4 – Hurricane Flora, one of the worst Atlantic storms in history, hits Hispaniola and Cuba, killing nearly 7,000 people.source
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.source
November 9 – Two disasters in Japan:source
November 14 – A volcanic eruption under the sea near Iceland creates a new island, Surtsey.source
December 21 – Cyprus Emergency: Inter-communal fighting erupts between Greek and Turkish Cypriots.source

Culture & Society

March 22 – The Beatles first album Please Please Me was released in the UK and became a huge commercial success.source
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.source
March 28 – Civil rights movement: Over one hundred high school students conduct a sit-in protest in Rome, Georgia.source
April 6 – The Kingsmen record their influential cover of "Louie Louie" in Portland, Oregon, released in June.source
April 8 – The 35th Academy Awards ceremony is held. Lawrence of Arabia wins Best Picture.source
April 14 – The Institute of Mental Health (Belgrade) is established.source
May 22 – A.C. Milan beats Benfica 2–1 at Wembley Stadium, London and wins the 1962–63 European Cup (football).source
May 25 – The Organisation of African Unity is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.source
June 5 – The first annual National Hockey League Entry Draft is held in Montreal, Canada.source
June 20 – War film The Great Escape (starring Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough) is premiered in London.source
August 24 – First games played in the Bundesliga, the primary professional Association football league in West Germany, replacing the Oberliga.source
September 6 – The Centre for International Intellectual Property Studies (CEIPI) is founded.source
September 19 – Iota Phi Theta fraternity is founded at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Marylandsource
September 23 – King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals is established by a Saudi Royal Decree as the College of Petroleum and Minerals.source
October 1 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy toasts Emperor Haile Selassie at a luncheon in Rockville, Maryland.source
November 7 – The star-studded movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World premieres in Los Angeles.source
November 10 – Malcolm X makes a historic speech in Detroit, Michigan ("Message to the Grass Roots").source
November 23 – The long-running sci-fi television series Doctor Who premieres on BBC TV in the United Kingdom.source
November 29 – Foundation stone for Mirzapur Cadet College is laid in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).source
The IEEE Computer Society is founded.source

Births

February 17 – Jensen Huang, Taiwanese-American businessman, electrical engineer and philanthropist, co-founder of NVIDIAsource
February 20 – Jon Christensen (politician), American politician and member of the US House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999source
March 2 – Anthony Albanese, 31st Prime Minister of Australiasource
March 22 – Martín Vizcarra, Peruvian engineer and politician, 67th President of Perusource
March 27 – Quentin Tarantino, American actor, director, writer and producersource
April 6 – Rafael Correa, President of Ecuadorsource
April 18 – Conan O'Brien, American television entertainer and talk show hostsource
May 8 – Anthony Field, Australian singer, musician and actor (The Wiggles)source
May 31 – Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungarysource
August 24 – Hideo Kojima, Japanese director, screenwriter, video game designer and video game producersource
October 1 – Iriana Joko Widodo, 7th First Lady of Indonesia, wife of Joko Widodosource
October 2 – Maria Ressa, Filipina American campaigning journalist, Nobel Prize laureatesource
November 2 – Brian Kemp, American politician, 83rd Governor of Georgiasource
December 18 – Brad Pitt, American actor and film producer, co-founder of Plan B Entertainmentsource

Deaths

January 18 – Hugh Gaitskell, British politician, leader of the Labour Party (b. 1906)source
January 23 – Mohammad Ali Bogra, Pakistani statesman, politician and diplomat, 3rd Prime Minister of Pakistan (b. 1909)source
March 18 – Sir Hubert Gough, British general (b. 1870)source
April 14 – Abdel Messih El-Makari, Egyptian Coptic Orthodox monk, priest and saint (b. 1892)source
May 28 – Ion Agârbiceanu, Romanian writer, journalist, politician and priest (b. 1882)source
June 17 – Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, British Field Marshal (b. 1883)source
June 28 – Frank Baker, American baseball player (Philadelphia Athletics) and a member of the MLB Hall of Fame (b. 1886)source
July 4 – Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, British army general and Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)source
August 27 – W. E. B. Du Bois, American civil rights activist (b. 1868)source
August 30 – Guy Burgess, British spy, one of the Cambridge Five (b. 1911)source
November 2 – Ngô Đình Diệm, South Vietnamese politician, 1st President of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) (assassinated) (b. 1901)source
November 2 – Ngô Đình Nhu, South Vietnamese politician, State Counsellor of South Vietnam (assassinated) (b. 1910)source
November 22 – C. S. Lewis, Irish-born British critic, novelist (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Christian apologist (b. 1898)source
November 22 – Aldous Huxley, English-born novelist (Brave New World) (b. 1894)source