1963 Newspaper Headlines Summary
Some of the most memorable 1963 newspaper headlines tell the stories of the Big Freeze, which saw temperatures drop dramatically for 3 months, the beginning of Beatle-mania, and the Great Train Robbery where robbers made off with $2.6 million. Other 1963 news stories which stand out are the coverage of president Kennedy’s assassination, with the suspected assassin Lee Harvey Oswald being shot dead.
It was a year filled with ups and downs, all of which are chronicled in our collection. If you’re curious about what happened in 1963, or know somebody who is, then an authentic newspaper is the perfect gift idea.
January 8, 1963
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the only time, being unveiled at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
February 8, 1963
Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy Administration.
February 19, 1963
The publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique launches the reawakening of the Women’s Movement in the United States as women’s organizations and consciousness-raising groups spread.
March 21, 1962
The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay closes. The last 27 prisoners are transferred elsewhere at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
March 22, 1963
The Beatles release their first album, “Please Please Me“.
May 1, 1963
The Coca-Cola Company debuts its first diet drink, TaB cola.
May 2, 1963
Thousands of African Americans are arresting while protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Many of them are children, and Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor later unleashes fire hoses and police dogs on the demonstrators.
May 8, 1963
Dr. No, the first James Bond film, is shown in U.S. theaters.
June 11, 1963
President John F. Kennedy delivers a historic Civil Rights Address, in which he promises a Civil Rights Bill, and asks for “the kind of equality of treatment that we would want for ourselves.”
July 1, 1963
ZIP codes are introduced in the U.S.
July 5, 1963
The Roman Catholic Church accepts cremation as a funeral practice.
August 5, 1963
The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign a nuclear test ban treaty.
August 28, 1963
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to an audience of at least 250,000, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
November 22, 1963
President John F. Kennedy is shot to death in Dallas. Texas Governor John B. Connally is also seriously wounded and Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson takes over as the 36th President. All television coverage for the next three days is devoted to the assassination, its aftermath, the procession of the horse-drawn casket to the Capitol Rotunda, and the funeral of President Kennedy. Shops and businesses shut down for all three days in tribute.
November 24, 1963
Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of John F. Kennedy, is shot dead by Jack Ruby on live television in America. The hastily arranged program “A Tribute to John F. Kennedy from the Arts“ is also broadcast on ABC, featuring dramatic readings and music performed by various actors, opera singers, and noted writers.
November 24, 1963
President Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam militarily and economically.
December 8, 1963
Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe.
December 25, 1963
The Sword in the Stone, Walt Disney’s 18th feature-length animated motion picture, is released.
December 26, 1963
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There” are released in America, marking the beginning of full-scale ‘Beatle-mania’.
More from this Decade
