What happened in 1963

“Sugar Shack”

Jimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs · 5 weeks at #1 in 1963

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1. Jan 5TelstarThe Tornadoes1 wk
2. Jan 12Go Away Little GirlSteve Lawrence2 wks
3. Jan 26Walk Right InThe Rooftop Singers2 wks
4. Feb 9Hey PaulaPaul and Paula3 wks
5. Mar 2Walk Like A ManThe 4 Seasons3 wks
6. Mar 23Our Day Will ComeRuby And The Romantics1 wk
7. Mar 30He's So FineThe Chiffons4 wks
8. Apr 27I Will Follow HimLittle Peggy March3 wks
9. May 18If You Wanna Be HappyJimmy Soul2 wks
10. Jun 1It's My PartyLesley Gore2 wks
11. Jun 15SukiyakiKyu Sakamoto3 wks
12. Jul 6Easier Said Than DoneThe Essex2 wks
13. Jul 20Surf CityJan & Dean2 wks
14. Aug 3So Much In LoveThe Tymes1 wk
15. Aug 10Fingertips - Pt 2Little Stevie Wonder3 wks
16. Aug 31My Boyfriend's BackThe Angels3 wks
17. Sep 21Blue VelvetBobby Vinton3 wks
18. Oct 12Sugar ShackJimmy Gilmer And The Fireballs5 wks
19. Nov 16Deep PurpleNino Tempo & April Stevens1 wk
20. Nov 23I'm Leaving It Up To YouDale & Grace2 wks
21. Dec 7DominiqueThe Singing Nun (Soeur Sourire)4 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1963; weeks count only those in 1963.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Feb 19Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, a non-fiction book credited with sparking the beginning of second-wave feminism in the United States, was first published.
2. Mar 5American country-music performers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed when their PA-24 crashed shortly after takeoff in Camden, Tennessee.
3. Mar 21The Federal Bureau of Prisons closed Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, California.
4. May 3Police in Birmingham, Alabama, used high-pressure water hoses and dogs against civil-rights protesters, bringing scrutiny on racial segregation in the southern United States.
5. May 27American singer Bob Dylan released The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, his first album to include a significant number of original songs.
6. Jun 11John F. Kennedy addresses Americans from the Oval Office proposing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which would revolutionize American society by guaranteeing equal access to public facilities, ending segregation in education, and guaranteeing federal protection for voting rights.
7. Jun 12The premiere was held in New York of the historical drama film Cleopatra, the most expensive film made to that point.
8. Jun 24The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government.
9. Aug 28American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the speech "I Have a Dream" during the March on Washington, calling for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.
10. Sep 15The 16th Street Baptist Church, an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama, was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan, killing four girls and injuring at least 14 other people.
11. Nov 22John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas; hours later, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as the 36th president of the United States.
12. Nov 24During a live television broadcast, businessman Jack Ruby shot and fatally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated U.S. president John F. Kennedy, fueling numerous conspiracy theories.
13. Dec 10Zanzibar gains independence from the United Kingdom as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.
14. Dec 12Kenya declares independence from Great Britain.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  John F. Kennedy → Lyndon B. Johnson

• UK Prime Minister

  Harold Macmillan → Alec Douglas-Home

• Prime Minister of Canada

  John Diefenbaker → Lester B. Pearson

• President of France

  Charles de Gaulle

• German Chancellor

  Konrad Adenauer → Ludwig Erhard

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Hayato Ikeda

• Soviet leader

  Nikita Khrushchev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1963, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• Rand PaulAmerican politician and physician · Jan 7
• Steven SoderberghAmerican director, producer, and screenwriter · Jan 14
• Michael JordanAmerican basketball player, executive, and businessman · Feb 17
• Larry the Cable GuyAmerican comedian and voice actor · Feb 17
• William BaldwinAmerican actor · Feb 21
• Jason NewstedAmerican musician and songwriter · Mar 4
• Joel OsteenAmerican pastor, author, and television host · Mar 5
• Rick RubinAmerican record producer · Mar 10
• Bret MichaelsAmerican singer-songwriter, musician, and television personality · Mar 15
• Vanessa L. WilliamsAmerican model, actress, and singer · Mar 18

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.