What happened in 1963? - USA

Winter of 1962-3 — Lyndon B. Johnson took the oath of office on board Airforce One on the day John F Kennedy was shot Image: public domain (work of the US federal government)

We look at events, new products, films and music from 1963 in the USA.

In the news

June 26 - President Kennedy gave a speech in Berlin in Germany in which he expressed solidarity with West Berliners by using the phrase 'Ich bin ein Berliner' [It does not mean "I am a doughnut" in spite of the popular myth]
August 28 - The Rev Martin Luther King gave a speech to thousands of civil rights protesters at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC
November 22 - President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas
November 22 - Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in as President
May 1 - Coca-Cola introduced Tab Cola, its first diet drink
July 1 - The United States Postal Service introduced ZIP codes
August 5 - The United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
November 24 - Jack Ruby, shot dead Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of Kennedy's assassination. The incident was seen live on television

Facts

The population of the USA in 1963 was 189 million
The President was John F Kennedy (Democrat) before he was assassinated. The Vice President, Lyndon B Johnson, was sworn in as President on the day Kennedy died, November 22
In 1953, 58% of men and 36% of women smoked [1]
The best-selling cigarette was Pall Mall. Winston and Camel were a close second and third [2]
Americans on average received 347 letters and parcels per person in 1963 [3]
There were 84,453,000 telephones in the USA in 1963 [4]
There were 3,770 AM radio stations and 1,081 FM radio stations [5]
There were three television networks (NBC, CBS and ABC) and 556 television broadcast stations on the air in America in 1963 [5]
Americans bought 7,638,000 new cars in 1963. 35% were 4-door sedans. There were 69,034,000 passenger cars and taxis registered in the USA in 1963 [6]
80% of American adults owned cars in 1963 [6]
31% of cars on US road were less than four years old and 67% were less than seven years old [6]
43,564 Americans died in road traffic accidents in 1963 [7]

Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to a crowd from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC on August 28, 1963 Image: Public domain (published in the United States between 1927 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice)

Films

The top ten highest-grossing movies of 1963 were:

Cleopatra
How the West Was Won
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Tom Jones
Irma La Douce
Son of Flubber
Dr No
The VIPs
McLintock
Charade

Source: North America (US and Canada) Domestic Movie Chart for 1963 from 'The Numbers' website

Television

The most watched television programs of 1963 were:

The Beverly Hillbillies (season 1) (CBS)
Candid Camera (CBS)
The Red Skelton Hour (season 12) (CBS)
Bonanza (season 4) (NBC)
The Lucy Show (season 1) (CBS)
The Andy Griffith Show (season 3) (CBS)
Ben Casey (season 2) (ABC)
The Danny Thomas Show (season 10) (CBS)
The Dick Van Dyke Show (season 2) (CBS)
Gunsmoke (season 8) (CBS)

Source: Nielsen rankings for the 1962-3 season

Sport

Sonny Liston arriving to Finland in 1963. Liston was the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion throughout 1963 Image: Public Domain. It was a photograph published in Finland not considered a work of art, more than 50 years ago

Baseball: the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the 1963 World Series

American Football: the Chicago Bears beat the New York Giants to win the NFL (National Football League) championship game

Boxing: Sonny Liston was the World Heavyweight Champion in 1963. He defeated Floyd Patterson in a rematch on July 22, 1963, after also defeating Patterson to win the title the previous year.

Golf: Julius Boros won the US Open in 1963 for the second time

Horse racing: Chateaugay ridden by Braulio Baeza won the 1963 Kentucky Derby

Music

The best-selling pop records of 1963 in the USA were:

Sugar Shack - Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs
He's So Fine - Chiffons
Dominique - The Singing Nun
Hey Paula - Paul and Paula
My Boyfriend's Back - Angels
Blue Velvet - Bobby Vinton
Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Fingertips Pt 2 - Little Stevie Wonder
Walk Like A Man - The Four Seasons

Source: USA Top 1000 Singles compiled by Joe Whitburn, published by Guinness in 1986

Buick Riviera, 1963 — The Buick Riviera was launched in 1963. The Buick Riviera was a personal luxury car launched to compete with the successful Ford Thunderbird. Image by artistmac licensed under Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Cars

Significant new models launched 1963 included:

Buick Riviera
Jeep Wagoneer
Mercury Marauder
Studebaker Wagonaire

References

[1] The Guinness Book of Records, published by Guinness Superlatives Limited in 1964, page 152

[2] The Maxwell Report 1963

[3] Statistical Abstract of the United State 1965, page 512

[4] Statistical Abstract of the United State 1965, page 515

[5] Statistical Abstract of the United State 1965, page 521

[6] Statistical Abstract of the United State 1965, page 569

[7] Statistical Abstract of the United State 1965, page 573

By Steven Braggs, October 2022

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