Significant Events
- May 27 Jomo Kenyatta elected 1st Prime Minister of Kenya
- Jun 5 State of siege proclaimed in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini arrested
- Jun 10 US Equal Pay Act signed into law by President John F. Kennedy
- Jun 11 US President JFK says segregation is morally wrong and that it is "time to act"
- Jul 22 Sarawak achieves independence from British colonial rule
- Aug 28 Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream speech" addressing civil rights march at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
- Sep 16 Federation of Malaysia formed by Malaya, Singapore, British North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak
- Nov 22 American President John F. Kennedy assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas
1963 in Film & TV
- Aug 24 24th Venice Film Festival: "Hands Over the City" directed by Francesco Rosi wins Golden Lion
1963 in Music
- Jan 11 Los Angeles night club and music venue The Whiskey A-Go-Go opens (inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2006)
- Feb 16 Beatles top British rock charts with "Please, Please Me"
- Feb 23 Luciano Pavarotti makes his debut at the Vienna State Opera in "La traviata"
- Mar 22 Beatles release 1st album, "Please Please Me"
- May 10 Decca signs Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison
Did You Know?
Hotline communication link between the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and the Kremlin in Moscow installed. Often known as the "red telephone" no phones were ever used, relying instead on Teletype equipment, fax machines and most recently secure email.
On August 30, 1963
World Leaders in 1963
John F. Kennedy
35th US President
Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet First Secretary
Famous People in 1963
Martin Luther King Jr.
Time Person
of the Year
Patricia Neal
Oscar for Best Actress
Sidney Poitier
Oscar for Best Actor
Conan O'Brien
George Michael
Johnny Depp
Mark McGwire
Michael Jordan
Whitney HoustonWould You Believe?
John Lennon utters his infamous line at a Royal Variety Performance "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And for the rest of you, if you’ll just rattle your jewelry…" in London
On November 4, 1963
Famous Weddings
- Jan 12 Country singer Willie Nelson (29) weds singer Shirley Collie (31) in Las Vegas
- Jan 12 Actor and comedian Bob Newhart (33) weds Virginia "Ginnie" Quinn
- Feb 2 Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (23) weds documentary filmmaker Eleanor Jessie Neil (26) in Las Vegas, Nevada
- Mar 20 Sikkim crown prince Paldan Thondup Namgyal marries Hope Cooke
- Mar 21 Singer and actress Barbra Streisand (20) marries actor Elliott Gould (24)
C. S. Lewis
Edith Piaf
John XXIII
Lee Harvey Oswald
Sylvia Plath