1963 Revisited
Besides being my favorite year of Cadillac--the fins really were just perfect--1963 is also a fascinating, momentous, turbulent and poignant year in history. There were tremendous highs and heart-wrenching lows; clouds of war darkened the immediate horizon; and yet signs of universal peace shone beyond those clouds.
I hope you enjoy taking a moment to reflect about these bygone days!
The Beatles score their first #1 hit in the US with "I Want to Hold Your Hand," which tops the Billboard charts from February 1 to March 14.
Betty Friedan's landmark The Feminine Mystique is published.
British War Minister Lord John Dennis Profumo lies to the House of Commons March 22 about his affair with a young prostitute who was also involved with a Soviet spy. Profumo is forced to resign June 4.
The nuclear submarine USS Thresher sinks during diving exercises off the Atlantic coast on April 10. 129 officers, enlisted crew and civilian technicians are lost.
The world governing body of the Bahá'í Faith, the Universal House of Justice, is elected for the first time on April 22 at the World Centre of the Faith, in Haifa, Israel.
Project Mercury concludes with the launch of astronaut Gordon Cooper in Faith 7 on May 15. He makes 22 orbits.
Congress passes the Equal Pay Act on June 10, guaranteeing women equal pay for equal work.
President Kennedy presents the Civil Rights Bill to Congress for its consideration on June 19.
Mrs. Carey takes delivery on her new Cadillac DeVille Park Avenue in Wichita, Kansas, on June 25.
The Test Ban Treaty is initialed by representatives of the US, Britain and the Soviet Union on July 25. Above ground nuclear tests are ended by the three nations. French President DeGaulle vows to continue above ground nuclear testing.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech before more than 200,000 civil rights marchers in Washington, DC, on August 28.
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, is bombed by white supremacists on September 15. Four girls are killed.
The South Vietnamese government is overthrown by a military coup on November 1.
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas on November 22 by Lee Harvey Oswald. Oswald is later shot on live TV by Jack Ruby. Lyndon Johnson becomes President.
Courtesy of WABC Musicradio 77
The number one song when Mrs. Carey took delivery of her new Cadillac was "Sukiyaki," by Kyu Sakamoto. "Sukiyaki" topped the Billboard charts for two weeks, from June 15-29. But, WABC Musicradio 77 lists this song as only #46 for the year.
Best Drama: The Defenders (CBS)
Program of the Year: The Tunnel (NBC)
Best Comedy: The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS)
Best Variety Show (remember those?): The Andy Williams Show (NBC)
Best News: The Huntley-Brinkley Report (NBC)
Best Actor: E.G. Marshall, The Defenders
Best Actress: Shirley Booth, Hazel
Best Supporting Actor: Don Knotts, The Andy Griffith Show
Best Supporting Actress: Glenda Farrell, Ben Casey: "A Cardinal Act of Mercy"
Record of the Year: "The Days of Wine and Roses," Henry Mancini
Album of the Year: The Barbara Streisand Album
Best New Artist: The Swingle Singers
Best Male Vocal Performance: "Wives and Lovers," Jack Jones
Best Female Vocal Performance: The Barbara Streisand Album
Best Performance by a Vocal Group: "Blowin' in the Wind," Peter, Paul and Mary
Best Rock and Roll Recording: "Deep Purple," Nino Tempo and April Stevens
Best Rhythm and Blues Recording: "Busted," Ray Charles
Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Soloist or Small Group: Conversations with Myself, Bill Evans
Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Large Group: Encore: Woody Herman, 1963, Woody Herman Band
Best Country and Western Recording: "Detroit City," Bobby Bare
Best Folk Recording: "Blowin' in the Wind," Peter, Paul and Mary
Best Picture: Tom Jones
Best Actor: Sidney Poitier, Lilies of the Field (A landmark--first African American to win an Oscar!)
Best Actress: Patricial Neal, Hud
Best Supporting Actor: Melvyn Douglas, Hud
Best Supporting Actress: Margaret Rutherford, The V.I.P.s
Best Play: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Best Musical: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Best Actor: Arthur Hill, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Best Actress: Uta Hagen, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Best Actor in a Musical: Zero Mostel, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Best Actress in a Musical: Vivien Leigh, Tovarich
National Football League: Chicago defeats the New York Giants 14-10 to win the championship.
Major League Baseball: The Los Angeles Dodgers sweep the Yankees to win the World Series.
Hockey: Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4 games to 1 to win the Stanley Cup.
National Basketball Association: Boston defeats the LA Lakers 4 games to 2 to win the championship.
Tennis: Margaret Smith and Chuck McKinley win the singles titles at Wimbledon.
Golf: Jack Nicklaus wins the Masters.
The days of your life flee away as a breath of wind, and all your pomp and glory shall be folded up as were the pomp and glory of those gone before you. Reflect, O people! What hath become of your bygone days, your lost centuries? Happy the days that have been consecrated to the remembrance of God, and blessed the hours which have been spent in praise of Him Who is the All-Wise. By My life! Neither the pomp of the mighty, nor the wealth of the rich, nor even the ascendancy of the ungodly will endure. All will perish, at a word from Him. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling, the Almighty. What advantage is there in the earthly things which men possess? That which shall profit them, they have utterly neglected. Erelong, they will awake from their slumber, and find themselves unable to obtain that which hath escaped them in the days of their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Did they but know it, they would renounce their all, that their names may be mentioned before His throne. They, verily, are accounted among the dead. --From the Writings of the Bahá'í Faith