THE YEAR 1963

Cost of Living

Yearly Inflation Rate ― 1.24%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average ― 762
Average Cost of new house ― $12,650
Average Income per year ― $5,807
Gas per Gallon ― 29 cents
Average Cost of a new car ― $3,233
Loaf of bread ― 22 cents
Bedroom Air Conditioner ― $149.95


1963 ― The biggest news from 1963 was the assassination of the US President Kennedy on November 22nd which thrust Lyndon Johnson into the role of president and the murder two days later of Lee Harvey Oswald by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. This was a difficult time to become president with the mounting troubles in Vietnam where the Viet Cong Guerrillas had now killed 80 American Advisers and the continued campaign for civil rights by the black community caused violent reactions from whites including Mississippi, Virginia and Alabama where the black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was arrested. Films included "The Birds" and "The Great Escape" and popular TV programmes "The Virginian" and "Lassie". ladies fashion clothes and hairstyles included fur boots and towering hair do's for evening wear. In music the beginning of Beatlemania after they release "I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There" and "Meet the Beatles".


Kennedy Assassination ― President John F Kennedy assassinated in the United States

1. John F. Kennedy assassinated on Friday, November 22nd , 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas
1a. 1:00 PM CST the 35th President of The United States John Fitzgerald Kennedy is declared dead at Parkland Hospital's Trauma Room
2. Suspects description is given to Dallas Police
3. 13:35 CST Dallas police officer, J. D. Tippit called Lee Harvey Oswald ( Matches Suspects description ) over to the patrol car.
4. Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed Dallas police officer, J. D. Tippit
5. 13:37 CST Oswald enters a nearby movie theater without buying a ticket
6. 13:40 CST Oswald is arrested by police officer, M.N. McDonald
7. Oswald is charged later that evening with the murder of President John F. Kennedy and Officer J. D. Tippit
8. Jack Ruby murders John F. Kennedy's suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald During the transportation of Oswald from Dallas Police Headquarters to the Dallas County Jail on November 24th live on television.
9.President Lyndon Baines Johnson sworn in as President on Air Force One at Love Field Airport in Dallas just over two hours after President Kennedy assassinated
The ten-month investigation by the commission set up by President Lyndon Baines Johnson, The Warren Commission, 1963 - 1964, concluded that the President was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone and that Jack Ruby acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial Conspiracy theories are still expounded and discussed in books and the media nearly 50 years after the Kennedy Assassination and range from the The Soviet KGB to the United States CIA,


Hurricane Flora

1. Hurricane Flora began as a tropical depression that formed on September 26th near the Cape Verde Islands.
2. By September 30th it achieved hurricane status and was officially named Flora.
3. After it became a hurricane it first hit Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. For a short moment the storm became a Category 5 hurricane with winds exceeding 170 miles per hour.
4. On October 2nd it hit Haiti as a Category 4 hurricane.
5. October 4th through October 8th the storm hit Cuba where it did a tremendous amount of damage.
6. The storm began dissipating on October 9th.
7. The reports of the death toll vary between about 6,000 and 8,000, making it one of the deadliest hurricanes to hit the Atlantic in the 20th Century. It also did millions of dollars worth of damage and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings throughout the Caribbean. 


Alcatraz Penitentiary Closes

1. Alcatraz, located in the San Francisco Bay, is first explored by Juan Manuel de Ayala who named it after the pelicans that inhabited the island in 1775.
2. The United States government bought the island in 1849.
3. It was turned into a fort which was used during the Civil War.
4. After that it was turned into a military prison, in 1909 the U.S. Army demolished the fort and began building a prison which was finished in 1912.
5. In 1933 control of the the island was transferred to the United States Department of Justice.
6. The Justice Department turned it into a maximum security prison which began operating on July 1, 1934.
7. The prison at Alcatraz, known as "The Rock," was intended to house the most unruly and dangerous prisoners from other facilities.
8. Some famous inmates included gangster Al Capone, George “Machine-Gun” Kelly, Robert Stroud (known as the Birdman of Alcatraz), and James “Whitey” Bulger.
9. Due to the high cost of daily maintenance and repairs, Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closes on March 21st, 1963.
10. In November of 1969, a group of Native American protesters claimed the island as native land and demanded that it be turned into a Native American cultural center. The occupation ended in June of 1971 after Federal Marshals removed remaining occupiers from the island.
11. In 1972, the United States Congress established the Golden Gate National Recreation Area which included Alcatraz and the following year it was opened to the public.
12. In 1986 it was declared a National Historic Landmark.


Beatlemania ― The Early Years ― Beatles Release I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There and Meet the Beatles

1a. October 5th 1962 Beatles release first single in UK "Love Me Do" reached Number 17 in UK charts
1b. April 27th 1964 Beatles release single in U.S.A. "Love Me Do" reached Number 1 in US charts
2a. January 11th Beatles release second single in UK "Please Please Me" reached Number 1 in UK New Musical Express Chart
2b. February 25th Beatles release second single in U.S.A. "Please Please Me" with "Ask Me Why" on the B-side, no impact on US Charts
2c. January 3rd 1964 Beatles re-released single in U.S.A. "Please Please Me" with "From Me to You" on the B-side, reached number 3 in the US Hot 100
3a. November 29th Beatles release single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with "This Boy" on the B-side which charts at Number 1 in UK
3b. November 29th 1963 Beatles release single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" with "I Saw Her Standing There" on the B-side which charts at Number 1 in the US Hot 100
4. Following TV shows, press interviews, and a weekly radio show in the UK the term Beatlemania is born
5. Beatlemania took hold in the United States after The Beatles performed live on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday February 9th, 16th and 23rd 1964
The Beatles could do no wrong from 1963 to when they split in late 1969 with fans accepting and embracing each change in music style, I was lucky enough to be a teenager in those years and looking back now 50 years later it was a great time in popular culture to be a teenager.
Beatles recorded their very first full-length album "Please Please Me"The iconic rock band the Beatles recorded their very first full-length album during February and early the entire album was recorded in one day. The album was titled Please Please Me after their single and featured a mix of original songs by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, as well as popular covers. Some of the most popular tracks from the album included "I Saw Her Standing There," "Love Me Do,"and "Twist and Shout." It was released in March of that year and topped the charts in the United Kingdom for thirty weeks until it was replaced by another Beatles album, "With The Beatles."



The First Woman in Space ― The Soviet Union launches the Vostok 6 spacecraft, carrying Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space.More Information for Vostok 6
The Soviet Union launches the Vostok 6 spacecraft during June . The mission carried cosmonaut Valentina V. Tereshkova as she became the first woman in space. During the mission medical experiments were conducted to test the effects of space travel on a female body and live video of Tereshkova was broadcast on television in the Soviet Union. The flight also involved the Vostok 5 spacecraft which was also in space at the time. The two crafts flew together and communicated with each other by using two-way radio throughout the mission. The Vostok 6 was in space for 3 days, after which it came to an end and Valentina Tereshkova safely returned to Earth.


The Profumo Scandal causing resignations from the cabinet caused by war minister John Profumo having an affair with Christina Wheeler who was also involved with a Soviet Navy officer

1. 1961 John Profumo meets Christine Keeler, a London call girl at a house party at Cliveden, the Buckinghamshire mansion owned by Lord Astor.
2. July 1961 John Profumo begins affair with Christine Keeler
3. 1961 Christine Keeler is also sleeping with drug dealer Johnny Edgecombe
4. 1961 Christine Keeler is also having an affair with Yevgeni Ivanov, a naval attache at the embassy of the Soviet Union
5. August 1961 Sir Roger Hollis head of MI5 asks Cabinet Secretary, Sir Norman Brook to talk to John Profumo to end relationship with Christine Keeler
6. 1962 Affair becomes public when press releases story
7. March 1963 John Profumo stated to the House of Commons that there was "no impropriety whatever" in his relationship with Keeler
8. On June 5th John Profumo resigns following his admission that he had lied to the House re: relationship with Christine Keeler
Reading through this now seems pretty tame compared with many other scandals over the years but because of Soviet Connection, his role as Secretary of State for War and Christine Keeler's other affairs with gangland figures and drug dealers it was a major news story.


 ZIP Codes are implemented in the U.S.
1. The United States Postal Service launches the ZIP Code System during July of 1963.
2. The name ZIP stood for "Zoning Improvement Plan" and was a system developed to make mail delivery more efficient within the United States.
3. Prior to the ZIP code's roll-out the Postal Service expanded distribution centers and began to assign a five digit code for every address in the United States.
4. Each digit in a ZIP code represents different geographical markers with the first digit representing a general region in the U.S., the second and third for a sectional center, and the last two digits for a local post office or postal zone.
Studebaker, the US Car Maker goes out of business and Ends production

1. 1852 Studebaker Founded in South Bend, Indiana to produce wagons for farmers, miners, and the military
2. 1857 Studebaker begins making horse drawn wagons for the US Army
3. 1902 Studebaker begins making Electric vehicles
4. 1904 Studebaker began making gasoline-engined five-passenger touring cars in partnership with Garford
5. 1920's Annual production capacity was 180,000 cars employing 23,000 staff
6. 1920's multiple plants in Detroit, South Bend and Walkerville Canada
7. Great Depression Studebaker like many other car makers struggled following the Wall Street Crash of 1929 till the later 30's
8. World War II Studebaker produced the Studebaker US6 truck and the M29 Weasel cargo and personnel carrier
9. World War II Studebaker produced the Studebaker US6 truck and the M29 Weasel cargo and personnel carrier
10. Early 1950s Industry price war between Ford and General Motors leaves smaller manufacturers like Studebaker struggling to compete
11. 1954 Packard takes over Studebaker
12. 1963 December 20th South Bend plant produced its last Studebaker car in the United States
13. 1966 the last Studebaker plant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada ends production
Following the dominance of Ford and GM with aggressive pricing, streamlined production and lower labor costs few independent car makers survived and Studebaker is one of many who were swallowed up or ended car production.


The final Project Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9, is launched by NASA during May . The Faith 7 spacecraft carried astronaut Gordon Cooper into space for about 34 hours during which he orbited the Earth 22 times. The purpose of the mission was to test the limits of the Mercury space capsule. Cooper's flight was about three times longer than any other human space flight that had been completed at that point in history. It also marked the final time that NASA launched a solo orbital mission. Near the end of the flight Cooper experienced several technical problems but was able to overcome them and successfully returned to Earth. 


The United States Senate approved ratification of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) during September . The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty banned all nuclear weapon testing that was not conducted underground, prohibiting atmospheric, outer space, and under water tests. It was originally signed by the United States, United Kingdom and Soviet Union. The ban helped to slow down the nuclear arms race and eventually 123 more countries ratified the treaty, making it nearly universal.


Yugoslavia declares President Tito President for Life.

The nation of Yugoslavia became the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in April and the country's leader, Josip Broz Tito, was named as the "President for Life." The changes to the European nation's name and Tito's authority were a part of several socialist reforms added into the country's constitution during that year. With his increased authority, Tito relaxed many religious and political restrictions and helped to improve the economy by encouraging foreign tourism and the expansion of private enterprise. Tito was generally liked by the people and was commended for going against Soviet-era communism and developing a successful form of socialism. Tito died in 1980 and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia broke up in 1992.


More News and Key Events

• South Korea returns to Civilian Rule
• American Express introduces Credit Cards Into The UK
• An earthquake in Libya destroys the village of Barce - 500 dead
• An Earthquake Strikes Skopje, Yugoslavia destroying 80% of the city
• Bloodless Military coup deposes President George Papadopoulos
• Typhoon Olive with 110MPH Winds destroyed most of the homes on the Island of Saipan
• Alcatraz federal penitentiary known as "The Rock" closes
• Hurricane Flora a massive storm kills 6,000 in Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad, and Tobago, Grenada,
• First Beeching Report suggests closing 25% of British Rail
• The Sabin oral Polio Vaccine which is taken with a lump of sugar is given nationwide in US and UK
• Kenya Gains Independence from Britain
• In the Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright rules that a fair trial "cannot be realized if the poor man charged with [the] crime has to face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him."
• Members of Ku Klux Klan dynamite Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama killing 4 young girls causing US Wide public outrage and Condemnation for the action.
• A hurricane and resulting Tsunami cause Flooding in East Pakistan Bangladesh kills 22,000
• Indiana State Fair Coliseum Explosion kills 74
• World Religions status: 890 million Christians, 200 million Buddhists, 365 million Hindus, 13 million Jews
• Nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Thresher sinks in the Atlantic Ocean
• Student riots break out all over Coro and Valencia, Venezuela.
• Pope John XXIII dies on June 3rd, Pope Paul VI is elected by College of Cardinals.
• The United States and the Soviet Union agree to establish a "hot line" onJune 20th a direct communication system between the two nations to prevent a possible Nuclear War.
• The Great Train Robbery takes place in Buckinghamshire, England
• First US State Lottery in New Hampshire
• Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his "I have a dream" speech
• James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi

Sports Champions

NFL ― Chicago Bears

AFL ― San Diego chargers

NCAA Football ― USC

MLB ― Los Angeles Dodgers

NBA ― Boston Celtics

NCAA Basketball ― Loyola of Chicago

NHL ― Toronto Maple Leafs

NCAA Hockey ― North Dakota

Golf
U.S. Open – Julius Boros

British Open – Bob Charles
U.S. Women's Open ― Mary Mills

Popular Culture

• This was the year an Insurance firm State Mutual Life Insurance invented the Smiley Face found on anything and everything around the world including T Shirts , it's popularity was at it's peak in the 1960's
• The Beatles release their first album Please Please Me.
• The first episode of the BBC television series Doctor Who is broadcast
• Bob Dylan walks off the Ed Sullivan show
• Beatles Release I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There and Meet the Beatles which is the beginning of Beatlemania.
• Beatle's Release "She Loves You" in UK which goes to Number 1 for 4 weeks August 23rd

Popular Films

• Cleopatra
• The Longest Day
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Mutiny on the Bounty
• To Kill a Mockingbird

Popular Musicians

• The Beatles
• Roy Orbison
• Buddy Holly
• The Drifters
• Jim Reeves

Popular TV Programs

• Coronation Street
• The Andy Griffith Show
• The Flintstones
• Mister Ed
• The Avengers
• The Dick Van Dyke Show

Born This Year

• Big Kenny (Big & Rich) ― November 1st 
• Tatum O'Neal ― November 5th 
• Michael Jordan ― February 17th 
• Johnny Depp ― June 6th

Technology

• AT&T introduces touch tone phones
• Flymo Sells first Hover Mower
• The first prototype Learjet takes off
• Zip codes implemented in US
• Lava Lamp or The Astro Lamp Launched by Edward Craven Walker
• Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
• Tape Cassette Netherlands ( Philips ) used to record and play audio 
• Pull Tab Can As Used For Soda U.S.A. Alcoa Company

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