Here is a short list of other notable events, birth and deaths that happened in 1963. I only bring this up because the Kennedy assassination can’t be the only thing that defined this tragic year.
This is a short list of the items that ring a bell with me. There are a lot of events, births and deaths that happened in 1963 not included in my list. Visit Wikipedia for more information about 1963.
Events
- Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci is exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. – January 8
- George C. Wallace becomes governor of Alabama – January 14
- Travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens is made illegal by President Kennedy – February 8
- Iron Man debuts in Marvel Comics – March
- Mount Agung erupts on Bali and kills 11,000 people – March 16
- The federal penitentiary on Alcatraz Island closes – March 21
- The Beatles release their first album, Please Please Me – March 22
- General Hospital debuts on ABC – April 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested in Birmingham, Alabama – April 12
- Dr. No debuts in U.S. – May 8
- Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper launches into space – May 15
- Alabama Governor George C. Wallas tries prevent integration at the University of Alabama – June 11
- Pope Paul VI succeeds Pope John XXIII – June 21
- President Kennedy gives speech in West Berlin – June 26
- Zip codes are introduced in U.S. – July 1
- Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers I Have a Dream speech in Washington, D.C. – August 25
- Marvel Comics release first X-Men comic book – September
- Sports car company Lamborghini is founded – October 30
- President Johnson establishes the Warren Commission – November 19
- The Sword in the Stone debuts – December 25
- I Want to Hold Your Hand and I Saw Her Standing There by The Beatles are released in U.S. – December 26
Births
- David Cone, baseball player – January 2
- Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigerian basketball player – January 21
- Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel, British singer – February 19
- Charles Barkley, basketball player – February 20
- Joel Osteen, televangelist – March 5
- Bret Michael, rock singer for Poison – March 15
- Vanessa Williams, American beauty queen and actress – March 18
- Kathy Ireland, supermodel – March 20
- Elle Macpherson, Australian supermodel – March 29
- Julian Lennon, British musician and son of John Lennon – April 8
- Conan O’Brien, talk show host – April 18
- Natasha Richardson, actress – May 11
- Mike Myers, Canadian actor – May 25
- Johnny Depp, actor – June 9
- Helen Hunt, actress – June 15
- George Michael, British singer – June 25
- Christopher George Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy – July 4
- Phoebe Cates, actress – July 16
- Lisa Kudrow, actress – July 30
- Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of John F. Kennedy – August 7
- Whitney Houston, singer – August 9
- John Stamos, actor – August 19
- Tori Amos, singer – August 22
- Michael Chiklis, actor – August 30
- Randy Johnson, baseball player – September 10
- Mark McGwire, baseball player – October 1
- Elisabeth Shue, actress – October 6
- Norm MacDonald, Canadian comedian – October 17
- Lauren Holly, actress – October 28
- Sarah Brown, wife of British Prime Minister – October 31
- Rob Schneider, actor – October 31
- Rick Allen, drummer for Def Leppard – November 1
- Terri Schiavo, right-to-die cause – December 3
- Benjamin Bratt, actor – December 16
- Brad Pitt, actor – December 18
- Jennifer Beals, actress – December 19
- Jim Harbaugh, football player and coach – December 23
- Patrick Sean Payton, football coach – December 29
Deaths
- Jean Piccard, Swiss-American chemist, engineer, and balloonist – January 28
- Robert Frost, poet – January 29
- Sylvia Plath, poet and writer – February 11
- Patsy Cline, country singer – March 5
- Elmore James, Blues guitarist, singer and band leader – May 24
- Pope John XXIII, Roman Catholic Pope – June 3
- Jacques Villon, French Cubist painter – June 9
- Medgar Evers, civil rights victim – June 12
- Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of John F. Kennedy – August 9
- Georges Braque, Cubist painter – August 31
- Jean Cocteau, French writer and artist – October 11
- Edith Piaf, French singer – October 11
- Robert Franklin Stroud, “Birdman of Alcatraz” – November 21
- Aldous Huxley, British writer – November 22
- John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America – November 22
- J. D. Tippit, Dallas Patrolman – November 22
- Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin – November 24
- Dinah Washington, jazz and blues singer – December 14
- Gorgeous George Wagner, wrestler – December 26