1963 was a quite a tumultous year...it saw the first woman in space and a rash of political assassinations. MLK marched on Washington and George Wallace stood in that schoolhouse door. It was a year of hope & heartbreak, ripe with the promise of beginnings and scarred by tragic endings.
Jan. 14th- Alabama Governor George Wallace vows "segregation now, segregation forever" in his inaugural speech
Jan. 28th- School desegregation in South Carolina finally achieved when African-American student Harvey B. Gantt enrolls at Clemson. (Gantt later became mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina)
Lerner & Lowe's "Camelot" closes on Broadway after 873 performances at the Majestic Theatre
June 11th- Alabama Governor George Wallace blocks entrance of state university to African-American students. He later backs down in the face of National Guard troops called in by President Kennedy
June 11th- That same day, in a televised address, U.S. President John F. Kennedy says that segregation is morally wrong and it is "time to act..."
Pope John XXIII dies at the Vatican and Paul VI succeeds him
June 11th- 66 year old monk Thich Quang Due shocks the world by immolating himself on the streets of Saigon, in protest of South Vietnamese President Diem's oppression of Buddhists in that country
June 12th- Civil Rights leader Medgar Evers murdered outside his home in Mississippi
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6
June 26th- JFK, on 10-day European tour, gives his "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech at Berlin Wall
U.S. "Zone Improvement Plan" or ZIP codes initiated
July 25th- A limited nuclear test ban treaty prohibiting testing in the atmosphere, in space and under water is initialed in Moscow by the USA, UK and USSR. (it is signed by JFK Oct. 7th)
Great Train Robbery in Britain nets thieves over �2 million
James Meredith becomes the first African-American graduate of the University of Mississippi
Ngo Dinh Diem
In South Vietnam, President Ngo Dinh Diem responds to the protests of Buddhist monks against his government by jailing their leaders
Aug. 28th- The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech before a crowd of over 200,000 gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington,
D.C.
The New York Mirror ceases publication, a victim of the recently ended newspaper strike.
Hurricane Flora devastates Cuba, Haiti & the Dominican Republic, killing 7,200
Oct. 28th- Demolition begins on the 53 year old marble & granite Pennsylvania Station in New York City. The senseless loss of the beautiful structure spurs interest in architectural preservation in the city
Oct. 31st- Gas explosion at Indiana State Fairgrounds kills 68, wounds 340
Nov. 1st- South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother assassinated in coup d'etat.
November 6th- 17 year-old Laura Welch runs a stop sign at the intersection of State Road 349 and East Farm Road 868 outside Midland, Texas. Her vehicle strikes a car driven by fellow high school senior Michael Douglas (also 17), killing him. No charges are filed in the incident and Welch is not even given a citation for running the stop sign. Years later, Laura Welch marries George W. Bush and eventually serves as First Lady when her husband becomes the 43rd President of the United States.
Nov. 22nd- U.S. President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas,
Texas...Vice-President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeds him.
Nov. 24th- JFK's alleged assassain, Lee Harvey Oswald, murdered by nightclub owner Jack Ruby, in a killing seen by millions on television
Nov. 25th- JFK, the 35th U.S. President, laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary following a mass at St. Matthew's Roman Catholic Cathedral. The leaders of 92 nations attend the funeral, among them Charles de Gaulle of France and Prince Phillip of Great Britain
Nov. 29th- President Johnson establishes the Warren Commision, headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the death of JFK
Kenya (formerly British East Africa) gains independence
Dec. 8th-Frank Sinatra, Jr. (age 19) kidnapped in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He is released 3 days later unhurt in LA after his father pays $240,000 ransom. Most of money recovered when FBI arrests 3 suspects
U.S. Congress authorizes JFK half-dollar coin to honor the late president
Although fullscale troop involvement in the Southeast Asian conflict was still two years away, by the end of 1963 over 100 U.S. personnel had died in Vietnam.
Note: visitors to the Vietnam War Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. may locate those veterans who gave their lives during 1963 on panel 01 East, rows 15 to 39.
