Baby Boomers - What Happened in 1963?

If you are a baby boomer born in 1963, you will find this information extremely interesting. Hope you enjoy learning more about the year you were born! If you have a friend or a family member born in 1963, send them a link to this page. They will appreciate it!

Major Events

• Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president of the United States
• President John F. Kennedy is assassinated as he rides in a motorcade through downtown Dallas
• Two days after President Kennedy is assassinated, his accused killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, is shot and killed by Jack Ruby
• A civil rights rally held by 200,000 blacks and whites features Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech
• Civil rights protests continue throughout the South - nonviolent activists are frequently met with beatings and arrests
• Congress expands its investigation of organized crime
• The Warren Commission is established to investigate the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
• The Supreme Court rules that reading verses from the Bible in public schools is unconstitutional
• New York renames its Idlewild airport in memory of the assassinated president.
• "Hot line" between Moscow and Washington, D.C. installed to prevent a possible Nuclear War
• U.S., Soviet Union, and Britain sign a nuclear test ban treaty
• France and West Germany sign treaty of cooperation ending four centuries of conflict
• Kenya achieves independence from Britain
• Scandals in British Parliament leads to resignations of key officials
• There are 15,000 US military advisers in South Vietnam
• Great train robbery in Britain
• Pope John XXIII dies - Cardinal Montini elected Pope and takes name of Paul VI

Business and Economy

• U.S. GDP (1998 dollars): $617.4 billion
• Federal spending: $111.32 billion
• Federal debt: $310.3 billion
• Consumer Price Index: 30.6
• Unemployment: 5.5%

Science and Technology

• Michael E. DeBakey implants artificial heart in human for first time at Houston hospital
• The sedative Valium (chlordiazepoxide) is developed by Roche labs
• The first liver transplant is performed by F.D. Moore and T.E. Starzl
• The first commercial nuclear reactor goes online at the Jersey Central Power Company
• The Sabin oral polio vaccine that is taken with a lump of sugar is given nationwide in the U.S. and UK
• AT&T introduces touch tone phones
• The first prototype Learjet takes off
• Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space

Sports

• Los Angeles Dodgers defeats NY Yankees to win the World Series (4-0)
• Boston defeats LA Lakers to win the NBA Championship (4-2)
• Chicago Bears win the NFL championship
• Willie Mays (SF Giants) signs a record $100,000 per year contract
• Jack Nicklaus wins his first Masters golf tournament with over $125,000 in winnings
• Arnold Palmer becomes golf's all-time top money winner

Famous Baby Boomers Born in 1963

• Brad Pitt
• Conan O'Brien
• Helen Hunt
• Jennifer Beals
• Johnny Depp
• Julian Lennon
• Marla Maples
• Michael Jordan
• Tatum O'Neal
• Vanessa Williams
• Whitney Houston
• William Baldwin

Arts and Entertainment

• Books: The Shoes of the Fisherman; The Group; Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, and Seymour; Caravans; Elizabeth Appleton; Grandmother and the Priests; City of Night; The Glass-Blowers; The Sand Pebbles
• Movies: It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World; The Birds; The Great Escape; Dr. No; From Russia With Love; The Haunted Palace; Tom Jones; Lilies of the Field; America, America; Cleopatra; The Longest Day; Lawrence of Arabia; Mutiny on the Bounty; To Kill a Mockingbird
• Songs: Louie Louie; She Loves You; I Want To Hold Your Hand; Be My Baby; I Saw Her Standing There; Surfin' USA; Glad All Over; It's All Right; Blowin' In The Wind; Please Please Me
• Popular Musicians: Kingsmen, Beatles, Ronettes, Beach Boys, Dave Clark Five, Impressions, Bob Dylan, Peter Paul & Mary, Please Please Me
• TV Shows: The Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, The Andy Griffith Show, The Lucy Show, Candid Camera, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Danny Thomas Show, My Favorite Martian
• Beatles meet Rolling Stones for the first time
• Decca signs Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison
• The Rolling Stones emerge as the anti-Beatles with an aggressive, blues-derived style
• Stevie Wonder (age 13) releases "Fingertips"
• Kingsmen release "Louie, Louie" - radio stations label it obscene
• Patsy Cline died in an airline crash
• American Bandstand moves to California and airs once a week on Saturday
• Soap operas "General Hospital" and "Doctors premier on TV
• The TV comedy show, "Leave it to Beaver," ends
• 6-year-old Donny Osmond singing debut on Andy Williams Show
• Viewers tuned into NBC witness Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald on camera, the first live telecast of a murder
• Beatlemania hits the United Kingdom. The Beatles band was composed of John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney
• The French Chef with Julia Child debuts on educational television

Everyday Life

• U.S. Population: 189,241,798
• Life expectancy: 69.9 years
• Average yearly income: $6,249
• Cost of a new home: $12,650
• Cost of a new car: $3,233
• Federal hourly minimum wage: $1.25
• Cost of a first-class stamp: $.05 (price increase as of 1/7/1963)

Popular Culture

• Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique, launching a middle-class feminist movement
• The television remote control is authorized by the FCC
• Touch-tone telephones are introduced
• FM radio is now available for cars
• Marlboro cigarettes ends using tattooed sailors and athletes in their ads and begins using cowboys. Phillip Morris research shows that sales increased when cowboys are used in campaign ads.
• L.A. ends streetcar service after 90 years
• American Heart Association is the first agency to campaign against cigarettes
• US postal service institutes zip code
• Audio cassettes introduced
• Congress authorizes Kennedy half dollar
• Dear Abby show premieres on CBS radio
• Alcatraz federal penitentiary closes
• Studebaker goes out of business and ends production
• First U.S. state lottery in New Hampshire