1963: Rioting, the death of a president and beach parties would define this year.

Birmingham Riot

This riot happened in Birmingham, Alabama and was provoked by bombings on the night of May 11, 1963. Leaders of the Birmingham campaign were targeted such as Reverend A.D. King, the brother of Martin Luther King, Jr. The bombings were carried out by members of the Ku Klux Klan. As the black people rioted, the Birmingham Police Department intervened and eventually the federal government would involve the military. This decision to involve the military was controversial and was an important reason why President Kennedy would propose legislation that would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

John F. Kennedy’s Civil Rights Address

This address was delivered on radio and television oval office on June 11, 1963. JFK proposed enacting what would later become the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Martin Luther King, I Have a Dream, March on Washington

This would be one of the largest political rallies for human rights in the history of the United States. The rally demanded civil and economic rights for African Americans and took place in Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King’s speech was made on Wednesday, August 28, 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Assassination of JFK

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States and was assassinated at 12:30pm CST on Friday, November 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas. He was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy’s death marked the fourth and latest successful assassination of an American President. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became acting President upon Kennedy’s death.

Bob Dylan The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

This would be the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963 by Colombia Records. Freewheelin’ represented the beginning of Dylan’s writing contemporary words to traditional melodies. Eleven of the thirteen songs on the album are Dylan’s original compositions.

Beatles

The British Invasion began in this year. With intense media interest in the Beatles during 1963, the year was also taken up with TV shows, press interviews and a weekly radio show. Despite these demands the band found time for many sessions in the recording studio, releasing two albums and four singles during the year.

The Great Escape

This was a 1963 American World War II epic film based on an escape by British prisoners of war from German POW camps. It starred Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough.

Bye Bye Birdie

This was a musical comedy film and starred Dick Van Dyke, Maureen Stapleton, Janet Leigh, Paul Lynde, Bobby Rydell and Ann-Margret. The story was inspired by Elvis Presley being drafted in 1957.

Beach Party films

This was an American subgenre of films that would begin being produced in 1963 and continue on through 1968.

“Silent Spring” by Rachel Carson

The book detailed how damaging pesticides were to the environment and especially the birds. Silent Spring brought environmental concerns to the American public. Silent Spring was met with fierce opposition by chemical companies, but it spurred a reversal in national pesticide policy and would lead to a nationwide ban on DDT for agricultural usage. It also inspired the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Fugitive

This was an American drama series, created by Roy Huggins and would air on ABC beginning in 1963. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a physician who is falsely convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to receive the death penalty. He escapes prison and begins a cross-country search for the real killer.