1963 Fun Facts, Trivia, and HistoryTable of Contents |
Quick Facts from 1963 |
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Here are some significant events that took place in 1963
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Top Ten Baby Names of 1963Lisa, Mary, Susan, Karen, Linda, Michael, John, David, James, Robert |
The Hotties, Sex Symbols and Fashion IconsUrsula Andress, Brigitte Bardot, Carroll Baker, Honor Blackman, Claudia Cardinale, Doris Day, Angie Dickinson, Annette Funicello, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Jayne Mansfield, Ann-Margret, Julie Newmar, Kim Novak, Leslie Parrish, Elke Sommer, Stella Stevens, Elizabeth Taylor, Veruschka |
Sex Symbols and Hollywood HunksPaul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Sean Connery, Elvis Presley, Gregory Peck |
Oscars: 34th Academy Awards (1962)The 34th Academy Awards in 1962 celebrated cinematic mastery at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. Bob Hope served as the evening’s host. Lawrence of Arabia walked away as the night’s big winner, bagging seven Oscars, including Best Director for David Lean and Best Picture. Grammys: 4th Annual Grammy Awards (1962 Grammys)When it came to the 1962 Grammys, hosted on May 29, the ceremony celebrated some iconic pieces of music. Henry Mancini’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s soundtrack won Album of the Year, and Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” took home Record of the Year. Emmy Awards: 14th Primetime Emmy Awards (1962)The 14th Primetime Emmy Awards, held on May 22, 1962, were a night to remember. Bob Newhart was the host for the evening. The Bob Newhart Show was named Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor. At the same time, the legal drama The Defenders secured the award for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama. |
“The Quotes”“From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official… President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.” In 1963, Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, “They’ll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run.” On July 20, 1969, a few hours after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Perry hit his first and only home run. “Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Meyer wiener. That is what I truly want to be.” |
Time Magazine’s Man of the YearMartin Luther King, Jr |
Miss AmericaJacquelyn Mayer (Sandusky, OH) |
Miss USAMarite Ozers (Illinois) |
The TragediesAirplane Celebrity Death: Patsy Cline The Vajont Dam Disaster: after reporting numerous warning signs about the risks of a landslide, some journalists were sued by the Italian government for “undermining the social order.” A landslide eventually occurred, causing an overflow and killing between 1,900 and 2,500 people |
Presidential AssassinationJohn F Kennedy & Magic Bullet Theory |
US PoliticsJanuary 20, 1965 (Wednesday): Second inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson |
Pop Culture Facts & HistoryHarvey Ross Ball invented the yellow Smiley Face in 1963. It was intended to be morale-boosting for insurance companies. He was paid $45 for 10 minutes of work. June 17 – The Supreme Court ruled that laws requiring reciting The Lord’s Prayer or Bible verses in public schools were unconstitutional. In 1963, the Bronx Zoo exhibited “The Most Dangerous Animal in the World.” Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1963, one of the few non-English songs to have done so and the first in a non-European language. It was the only single by an Asian artist to top the Hot 100 until the 2020 release of Dynamite by BTS. The first American Artist to cover a Beatles song was Del Shannon’s 1963 cover of From Me to You. Del Shannon’s cover also became the first Lennon–McCartney composition to make the American charts when it entered the Billboard Hot 100 on June 29, 1963. The homecoming parade in the film Animal House was scripted as occurring on November 21, 1963, the day before JFK’s assassination. Producers considered the film’s setting “the last innocent year of America.” Charade spans three genres: suspense, thriller, romance, and comedy. Because Universal Pictures published the movie with an invalid copyright notice, the film entered the public domain in the United States immediately upon its release. Rowlf was the first known Muppet “star” as a recurring character on The Jimmy Dean Show, first appearing in a telecast on September 26, 1963. Valentia Tereshkova was the first woman in space on the Vostok 6. She orbited Earth 48 times. In 1963, the first message sent on the Moscow–Washington hotline was the test phrase “THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPED OVER THE LAZY DOG’S BACK 1234567890”. Later, the confused Russian translators responded, “What does it mean when your people say ‘The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’?” C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley both died on November 22, 1963. Their deaths weren’t as prominent in the news because of a more noteworthy death that occurred on that day: the assassination of John F. Kennedy. JFK watched From Russia With Love at the White House on November 20, 1963, making it his last film. Psychic The Amazing Criswell predicted that Kennedy would not run in the 1964 election because of something happening in November 1963. When Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in 1963, doctors predicted he had about two and a half years to live. Fortunately, the disease progressed much slower than the doctors expected, and Hawking lived up to 76 years before dying on March 14, 2018. Nebraska’s USPS abbreviation was originally “NB” but was changed to “NE” at the request of Canada to avoid confusion with New Brunswick in 1969. It is the only time a state/territory has changed its USPS abbreviation since the introduction of the system in 1963. Kodak introduced the Instamatic camera. Tab soda, Coca-Cola’s first brand of diet soda, was launched in 1963 and was discontinued in 2020. ‘Ma’ Bell Telephone introduced the push-button telephone. 7/11 was named after 7 a.m.-11 p.m. hours, unprecedented in 1946, and they didn’t experiment with 24-hour stores until 1963. Boxer Sonny Liston was the first to win a million dollars in a single bout when he beat Floyd Patterson in Chicago on September 25th. In 1963, San Francisco Giants Manager Alvin Dark joked, “They’ll put a man on the moon before [Giants pitcher] Gaylord Perry hits a home run.” On July 20, 1969, less than an hour after Neil Armstrong’s historic moonwalk, Perry hit his first career homer. Elizabeth Taylor was the first actress to earn $1,000,000 for a single film, Cleopatra. Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc publicly immolated himself on the street in Saigon to protest the anti-Buddhist policies of President Ngo Dinh Diem. The ancient Egyptians developed the first recorded early pregnancy test, whereby a woman would urinate on a bag of wheat or barley and if the bag started sprouting, it indicated a pregnancy. In 1963, researchers measured the test as being 70% accurate. Donald Currey cut down a tree to retrieve his drill bit after it got stuck when he tried to core it to study climate effects. After studying the tree’s core, he found that he’d just cut down the oldest known tree at that time (at least 4862 years old). On October 18, 1963, French scientists launched a rocket into space containing a cat named Felicette. She orbited nearly 100 miles above the Earth, then descended safely to the ground via a specially designed parachute. Mississippi physician James D. Hardy performed the first successful lung transplant. On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher submarine sank about 220 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts, during deep-diving tests, killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard. It is the second-deadliest submarine incident on record. |
Doomsday ClockTwelve minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. |
The HabitsTroll Dolls were everywhere. |
1st Appearances & 1963’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and PresentsMouse Trap, Allan Sherwood (Barbie and Ken’s friend), Easy-Bake Oven, Big Loo. |
Best Film Oscar WinnerLawrence of Arabia (presented in 1963) |
The Biggest Films of 1963 |
1. Cleopatra (Pop Culture Classic) |
2. How the West Was Won |
3. It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (Pop Culture Classic) |
4. Tom Jones |
5. Irma La Douce |
6. Son of Flubber |
7. The V.I.P.s |
8. McLintock! |
9. Charade |
10. Bye Bye Birdie (Pop Culture Classic) |
11. The Birds (Pop Culture Classic) |
12. Beach Party (Pop Culture Classic) |
13. Jason and the Argonauts |
14. The Damned (Pop Culture Classic) |
15. The Great Escape |
16. The Sword in the Stone |
17. Black Sabbath |
18. The Pink Panther (Pop Culture Classic) |
19. From Russia with Love |
20. Hud |
21. The Nutty Professor (Pop Culture Classic) |
22. The Raven |
23. It Happened at the World’s Fair (Elvis, Pop Culture Classic) |
24. Lord of the Flies |
25. PT 109 |
26. Come Blow Your Horn |
27. The Cardinal |
28. The Thrill of it All |
29. Dementia 13 |
30. 55 Days at Peking |
31. Move Over, Darling |
32. Donovan’s Reef |
33. Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed? |
34. Blood Feast |
35. Toys in the Attic |
36. Fun in Acapulco |
37. Lilies of the Field (Pop Culture Classic) |
38. My Life to Live |
39. PromisesQ Promises! |
40. The Man with the X-Ray Eyes |
*Movies beyond the Top Ten are based on (a somewhat subjective) ranking based on how much they had a long-lasting effect on Pop Culture. |
Broadway ShowBarefoot in the Park (Play) Opened on October 23, 1963 and closed on June 25, 1967 |
Popular and Best-selling Books From 1963Babies So Tall Board Book by Gyo Fujikawa |
1963 Most Popular TV Shows1. Beverly Hillbillies (CBS) |
1963 Billboard Number One SongsDecember 22, 1962 – January 11, 1963: January 12 – January 25: January 26 – February 8: February 9 – March 1: March 2 – March 22: March 23 – March 29: March 30 – April 26: April 27 – May 17: May 18 – May 30: June 1 – June 14: June 15 – July 5: July 6 – July 19: July 20 – August 2: August 3 – August 9: August 10 – August 30: August 31 – September 20: September 21 – October 11: October 12 – November 15: November 16 – November 22: November 23 – December 6: December 7, 1963 – January 3, 1964: |
SportsWorld Series Champions: Los Angeles Dodgers |
More 1963 Facts & History Resources:BabyBoomers.com (1963) |