Top News Stories from 1963

World Events

• France and West Germany sign treaty of cooperation ending four centuries of conflict (Jan. 22).
• Pope John XXIII dies (June 3), and is succeeded June 21 by Cardinal Montini, who becomes Paul VI.
• British Secretary of War John Profumo resigns in the wake of an affair with Christine Keeler, a teenage showgirl who was also involved with the Soviet naval attaché (June).
• Washington-to-Moscow "hot line" communications link opens, designed to reduce risk of accidental war (Aug. 30). Background: cold war
• Kenya achieves independence.
• There are 15,000 US military advisers in South Vietnam. Background: Vietnam War
• 32 independent African nations establish the Organization for African Unity.

U.S. Events

• Michael E. De Bakey implants artificial heart in human for first time at Houston hospital (April 21).
• US Supreme Court rules no locality may require recitation of Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools (June 17). Background: Church and State
• "March on Washington," civil rights rally held by 200,000 blacks and whites in Washington, D.C.; Martin Luther King delivers "I have a dream" speech (Aug. 28).
• President Kennedy shot and killed in Dallas, Tex. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes President same day (Nov. 22). Background: Timeline of Kennedy tragedies
• Lee Harvey Oswald, accused Kennedy assassin, is shot and killed by Jack Ruby (Nov. 24).

Economics

Sports

World Series

NBA Championship

Stanley Cup

Wimbledon

Kentucky Derby Champion

NCAA Basketball Championship

NCAA Football Champions

Entertainment

Events

• Viewers tuned into NBC witness Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on camera – the first live telecast of a murder.
• Beatlemania hits the U.K. The Beatles, a British band composed of John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, take Britain by storm.
• The Rolling Stones emerge as the anti-Beatles, with an aggressive, blues-derived style.
• The French Chef with Julia Child debuts on educational television.

Movies

• Tom Jones, Lilies of the Field, America, America

Books

• James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
• e e cummings, 73 Poems
• Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique
• Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
• Thomas Pynchon, V
• John Rechy, City of Night
• Charles M. Schulz, Happiness is a Warm Puppy
• John Updike, The Centaur
• Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

Science

• Quasars are discovered by Marten Schmidt (US).
• The first liver transplant is performed by F.D. Moore and T.E. Starzl. Background: Health & Nutrition
• The first commercial nuclear reactor goes online at the Jersey Central Power Company. Background: nuclear energy
• The sedative Valium (chlordiazepoxide) is developed by Roche labs.

Death

• John Fitzgerald Kennedy 11/22/1963
• W.E.B. Du Bois
• Robert Frost
• Rogers Hornsby
• Aldous Huxley

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