Year by year · 20th century

1963

1963 in world history: 28 events, 7 births, 17 deaths, 3 works, 3 states founded and 8 that came to an end. 286 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 2 January

    Viet Cong defeat a larger South Vietnamese force at Ap Bac

    Communist guerrillas in the Mekong Delta beat off a South Vietnamese attack backed by American helicopters and advisers. The battle exposed weaknesses in the Saigon army and US optimism about the war.

  2. 14 January

    De Gaulle vetoes Britain's entry into the Common Market

    At a press conference in Paris, Charles de Gaulle rejected Britain's application to join the EEC. He vetoed a second application in 1967, and Britain joined only in 1973.

    Charles de GaulleParis

  3. 8 May

    Troops fire on Buddhist protesters in Huế

    South Vietnamese forces fired on crowds protesting a ban on Buddhist flags, killing nine. The Buddhist crisis that followed undermined President Ngo Dinh Diem, who was overthrown in November.

  4. 11 June

    Thích Quảng Đức burns himself to death in Saigon

    The Buddhist monk set himself alight at a busy junction to protest the Diem government's treatment of Buddhists. Malcolm Browne's photograph shocked the world.

  5. 11 June

    George Wallace stands in the schoolhouse door

    Alabama's governor blocked the entrance to the University of Alabama to stop two Black students enrolling, then stood aside when federalised Guard troops arrived. Kennedy addressed the nation on civil rights that night.

  6. 16 June

    Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space

    Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova launched aboard Vostok 6 and orbited Earth 48 times in nearly three days. No other woman flew in space for 19 years.

  7. 20 June

    US and Soviet Union agree to set up a hotline

    Signed in Geneva after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the agreement created a direct teletype link between Washington and Moscow. Popularly called the 'red telephone', it was never a telephone.

    Soviet UnionMoscow

  8. 26 June

    Kennedy tells West Berlin 'Ich bin ein Berliner'

    Speaking at Rathaus Schöneberg to a crowd of about 450,000, President Kennedy declared solidarity with the people of the walled city two years after the Berlin Wall went up.

  9. 18 August

    James Meredith graduates from the University of Mississippi

    James Meredith became the first Black graduate of Ole Miss. His enrolment in 1962 had provoked a deadly riot and required thousands of federal troops to enforce.

  10. 22 August

    Joseph Walker flies the X-15 to the edge of space

    NASA pilot Joseph Walker took the X-15 rocket plane to 107.8 km, beyond the 100 km boundary of space. The record for a winged aircraft stood until SpaceShipOne in 2004.

  11. 28 August

    Martin Luther King gives his 'I Have a Dream' speech

    Speaking to some 250,000 people at the March on Washington, King described his dream of a nation free from racial injustice. The march helped build support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

  12. 30 August

    The Washington-Moscow hotline goes into service

    A direct teleprinter link between the White House and the Kremlin began operating. Set up after the Cuban missile crisis, it aimed to prevent war by misunderstanding; it was never a red telephone.

    Moscow

  13. 2 September

    CBS Evening News becomes America's first half-hour network newscast

    Walter Cronkite's evening news on CBS expanded from 15 to 30 minutes, opening with an interview with President Kennedy. NBC followed within a week, setting the format of US network news.

  14. 22 November

    President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas

    John F. Kennedy was shot dead while riding in an open motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One the same afternoon.

  15. 23 November

    Doctor Who is first broadcast

    The BBC broadcast the first episode of Doctor Who, about a time-travelling alien in a police box. It became the longest-running science fiction television series in the world.

  16. 24 November

    Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald on live television

    Nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, accused of killing President Kennedy, in the basement of Dallas police headquarters. Millions saw the shooting live on television.

  17. 29 November

    Johnson sets up the Warren Commission

    President Lyndon Johnson appointed a commission under Chief Justice Earl Warren to investigate Kennedy's assassination. Its 1964 report concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

  18. 12 December

    Kenya gains independence with Jomo Kenyatta as prime minister

    Kenya became independent from Britain. Jomo Kenyatta, jailed by the colonial authorities during the Mau Mau emergency, became prime minister and later the country's first president.

  19. Event

    March on Washington

    The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, held on 28 August 1963, was one of the largest political demonstrations in American history: some 250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to demand civil and economic rights for African Americans.

  20. Event

    White Revolution

    The White Revolution was a programme of reforms launched by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi of Iran and approved by referendum in January 1963.

ProfileState274 states with a known seat in 1963Open the atlas at 1963 →

In the profiles

  • South YemenThe NLF begins its armed uprising in the Radfan mountains
  • MalaysiaMalaysia is proclaimed on 16 September; Indonesia steps up its Confrontation
  • Sultanate of ZanzibarZanzibar becomes independent under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah
  • Bahá'í FaithThe Universal House of Justice, the faith’s governing body, is elected for the first time
  • Civil rights movementThe Birmingham campaign and the March on Washington, where King speaks of his dream
  • Pan-AfricanismThirty-two independent states found the Organisation of African Unity in Addis Ababa

Wars and longer events

Born in 1963 7

Died in 1963 17

Works 3

States founded 3

States that came to an end 8

Great speeches

Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a DreamMartin Luther King Jr.Kennedy in West BerlinJohn F. Kennedy

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1963. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1963
MLA
“1963.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1963. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1963.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1963.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1963’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1963 (Accessed: ).