1963 In The United States

Events from the year 1963 in the United States.

Incumbents

Federal government

* President:
:: John F. Kennedy ( D- Massachusetts) (until November 22)
:: Lyndon B. Johnson ( D- Texas) (starting November 22)
* Vice President:
:: Lyndon B. Johnson ( D- Texas) (until November 22)
::''vacant'' (starting November 22)
* Chief Justice: Earl Warren ( California)
* Speaker of the House of Representatives: John William McCormack ( D- Massachusetts)
* Senate Majority Leader: Mike Mansfield ( D- Montana)
* Congress: 87th (until January 3), 88th (starting January 3)

Events

January

* January 8 – Leonardo da Vinci's '' Mona Lisa'' is exhibited in the United States for the only time, being unveiled at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
* January 14 – George Wallace becomes governor of Alabama. In his inaugural speech, he defiantly proclaims "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever!"
* January 28 – African American student Harvey Gantt enters Clemson University in South Carolina, the last U.S. state to hold out against racial integration.

February

* February 8 – Travel, financial and commercial transactions by United States citizens to Cuba are made illegal by the John F. Kennedy Administration.
* February 11 – The CIA's Domestic Operations Division is created.
* February 12 – Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 crashes in the Florida Everglades, killing everyone aboard.
* February 19 – The publication of Betty Friedan's '' The Feminine Mystique'' launches the reawakening of the Women's Movement in the United States as women's organizations and consciousness-raising groups spread.
* February 28 – Dorothy Schiff resigns from the New York Newspaper Publisher's Association, feeling that the city needs at least one paper. Her paper, the '' New York Post'', resumes publication on March 4.

March

* March – Iron Man debuts in Marvel Comics's '' Tales of Suspense'' #39, cover-dated this month.
* March 5 – In Camden, Tennessee, country music star Patsy Cline (Virginia Patterson Hensley) is killed in a plane crash along with fellow performers Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and Cline's manager and pilot Randy Hughes, while returning from a benefit performance in Kansas City, Kansas for country radio disc jockey "Cactus" Jack Call.
* March 18 – '' Gideon v. Wainwright'': The Supreme Court rules that state courts are required to provide counsel in criminal cases for defendants who cannot afford to pay their own attorneys.
* March 21 – The Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay closes; the last 27 prisoners are transferred elsewhere at the order of Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
* March 31 – The 1962–63 New York City newspaper strike ends after 114 days.

April

* April 1 – The long-running soap opera ''General Hospital'' debuts on ABC Television in the United States.
* April 3 – Southern Christian Leadership Conference volunteers kick off the Birmingham campaign against racial segregation with a sit-in.
* April 8 – The 35th Academy Awards ceremony, hosted by Frank Sinatra, is held at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. David Lean's '' Lawrence of Arabia'' wins and receives the most respective awards and nominations with seven and ten, winning Best Picture and Lean's second Best Director win.
* April 10 – The U.S. nuclear submarine sinks east of Cape Cod; all 129 aboard (112 crewmen plus yard personnel) die.
* April 12 – Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth and others are arrested in a Birmingham protest for "parading without a permit".
* April 16 – Martin Luther King Jr. issues his ''Letter from Birmingham Jail''.
* April 20 – Martin Luther King Jr. posts bail and begins to plan more demonstrations (the Children's Crusade).

May

* May 1 – The Coca-Cola Company debuts its first diet drink, TaB cola.
* May 2 – Thousands of African Americans, many of them children, are arrested while protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull" Connor later unleashes fire hoses and police dogs on the demonstrators.
* May 8 – '' Dr. No'', the first James Bond film, is shown in U.S. theaters.
* May 15 – Mercury program: NASA launches Gordon Cooper on ''Mercury 9'', the last mission (on June 12 NASA Administrator James E. Webb tells Congress the program is complete).
* May 27 – '' The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan,'' singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's second studio album, and most influential, is released by Columbia Records.

June

* June 3 – Huế chemical attacks: Members of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam pour chemicals on the heads of Buddhist protesters. The U.S. threatens to cut off aid to Ngo Dinh Diem's regime.
* June 4 – President John F. Kennedy signs Executive Order 11110.
* June 10
** President John F. Kennedy delivers "A Strategy of Peace" speech at the American University in Washington, D.C., outlining a road map for the complete disarmament of nuclear weapons and world peace.
**The University of Central Florida is established by the Florida legislature.
* June 11
** Alabama Governor George Wallace stands in the door of the University of Alabama to protest against integration, before stepping aside and allowing African Americans James Hood and Vivian Malone to enroll.
**President John F. Kennedy delivers a historic Civil Rights Address, in which he promises a Civil Rights Bill, and asks for "the kind of equality of treatment that we would want for ourselves."
* June 12
** Medgar Evers is assassinated in Jackson, Mississippi. His killer, Byron De La Beckwith, is convicted in 1994.
** The film ''Cleopatra'', starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton, is released in the United States.
* June 13 – The cancellation of Mercury 10 effectively ends the Mercury program of U.S. crewed spaceflight.
* June 17 – '' Abington School District v. Schempp'': The U.S. Supreme Court rules that state-mandated Bible reading in public schools is unconstitutional.
* June 23
** Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room opens at Disneyland, premiering the first Audio-Animatronics in the park.
** Detroit Walk to Freedom occurs in Detroit drawing a crowd of roughly 125,000 people.
* June 26 – In a speech in West Berlin, President John F. Kennedy famously declares " Ich bin ein Berliner".

July

* July 1 – ZIP codes are introduced in the U.S.
* July 7 – Double Seven Day scuffle: Secret police loyal to Ngô Đình Nhu, brother of President Ngô Đình Diệm, attack American journalists including Peter Arnett and David Halberstam at a demonstration during the Buddhist crisis.
* July 26 – NASA launches Syncom, the world's first geostationary orbit, geostationary (geosynchronous orbit, synchronous) satellite.

August

* August 5 – The United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union sign a Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, nuclear test ban treaty.
* August 18 – James Meredith becomes the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
* August 21 – Cable 243: In the wake of the Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, the Kennedy administration orders the US Embassy, Saigon to explore alternative leadership in South Vietnam, opening the way towards a coup against Diem.
* August 28 – Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to an audience of at least 250,000, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
* August 30 – The Moscow–Washington hotline (a direct teleprinter link) is inaugurated by President Kennedy.

September

* September 7 – The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio, with 17 charter members.
*September 15 – The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, kills four children and injures 22.
*September 19 – Iota Phi Theta fraternity is founded.
* September 24 – The U.S. Senate ratifies the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space, and Under Water, nuclear test ban treaty.

October

* October 1 – The Presidential Commission on the Status of Women issues its final reports to President Kennedy.
* October 6 – The Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the New York Yankees, 4 games to 0, to win their third World Series title in baseball.
* October 8 – Sam Cooke and his band are arrested after trying to register at a "whites only" motel in Louisiana. In the months following, he records "A Change Is Gonna Come (song), A Change Is Gonna Come".
* October 22 – Chicago Public Schools boycott, Chicago Public Schools Boycott.
* October 28 – Demolition of the 1910 Pennsylvania Station (New York City), Pennsylvania Station begins in New York City, continuing until 1966.
* October 31 – 1963 Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum gas explosion: 81 die in a gas explosion during a Holiday on Ice show at the Fairgrounds Coliseum, Indiana State Fair Coliseum in Indianapolis.

November

* November 2–4 – 1963 Freedom Ballot, a mock election organized to protest and combat the systematic disenfranchisement of blacks in Mississippi.
* November 10 – Malcolm X makes his "Message to the Grass Roots" speech in Detroit.
* November 16 – A newspaper strike begins in Toledo, Ohio.
* November 18 – The first push-button telephone is made available to AT&T Corporation, AT&T customers in the United States.


* November 22 – John F. Kennedy assassination: In Dallas, President John F. Kennedy is shot to death, Texas Governor John B. Connally is seriously wounded, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson First inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, becomes the 36th president. All television coverage for the next three days is devoted to the assassination, its aftermath, the procession of the horsedrawn casket to the United States Capitol Rotunda, Capitol Rotunda, and the State funeral of John F. Kennedy, funeral of President Kennedy. Stores and businesses shut down for four days, in tribute.
* November 23 – The Golden Age Nursing Home fire kills 63 elderly people near Fitchville, Ohio.

* November 24
**Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of John F. Kennedy, is shot dead by Jack Ruby in Dallas on live national television. Later that night, a hastily arranged program, ''A Tribute to John F. Kennedy from the Arts'', featuring actors, opera singers, and noted writers, all performing dramatic readings and/or music, is telecast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC-TV.
**Vietnam War: President Johnson confirms that the United States intends to continue supporting South Vietnam militarily and economically.
* November 25 – President Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Schools around the nation do not have class on that day, and millions around the world watch the funeral on live television.
* November 29 – President Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy.

December

* December 1 – Wendell Scott becomes the first African-American driver to win a NASCAR race at Speedway Park
* December 8
**Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped at Harrah's Lake Tahoe.
**A lightning strike causes the crash of Pan Am Flight 214 near Elkton, Maryland, killing 81 people.
* December 10
**The X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled.
**Chuck Yeager becomes the first pilot to make an emergency ejection in the full pressure suit needed for high altitude flights.
* December 14 – Baldwin Hills Dam disaster floods South Los Angeles, causing five deaths.
* December 25 – Walt Disney releases his 18th feature-length animated motion picture, ''The Sword in the Stone (1963 film), The Sword in the Stone'', about the boyhood of King Arthur. It is Disney's final animated film to be released during his lifetime, before his death in 1966.
* December 26 – The Beatles' songs "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "I Saw Her Standing There" are released in the U.S., marking the beginning of full-scale Beatlemania.

Undated

* David. H. Frisch and James H. Smith (physicist), James H. Smith prove that the radioactive decay of mesons is slowed by their motion (see Albert Einstein, Einstein's special relativity and general relativity).

Ongoing

* Cold War (1947–1991)
* Space Race (1957–75)

Births

* January 2
** David Cone, baseball player
** Edgar Martínez, baseball player
* January 3
** Rebecca Broussard, actress and model
** New Jack, professional wrestler (d. 2021 in the United States, 2021)
* January 7 – Rand Paul, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 2011
* January 9 – Eric Erlandson, guitarist, songwriter and producer
* January 10 – Mark Pryor, U.S. Senator from Arkansas from 2003 to 2014
* January 13 – Tim Kelly (musician), Tim Kelly, guitarist (d. 1998 in the United States, 1998)
* January 14 – Steven Soderbergh, film director
* January 15 – Bruce Schneier, cryptographer and author
* January 18 – Martin O'Malley, List of Governors of Maryland, 61st Governor of Maryland and 47th Mayor of Baltimore
* January 20 – Firebreaker Chip, professional wrestler
* January 25
** Molly Holzschlag, author and web developer (d. 2023 in the United States, 2023)
** Don Mancini, screenwriter and film director
* January 26 – Guy Lawson, writer and journalist
* January 30 – Daphne Ashbrook, actress
* January 31 – John Dye, actor (d. 2011 in the United States, 2011)
* February 4 – Tracie Ruiz, Tracie Ruiz-Confroto, synchronized swimmer
* February 8
** Joshua Kadison, singer-songwriter
** Gene Steratore, American football official
* February 9
** Brian Greene, theoretical physicist
** Madusa, wrestler and monster truck driver
* February 11
** Dan Osman, extreme sport practitioner (d. 1998 in the United States, 1998)
** Diane Franklin, actress
* February 12
** Brian Haley, actor and stand-up comedian
** Brent Jones, American football player
** John Michael Higgins, actor and voice actor
** Allison Rosati, Journalist
* February 14 – John R. Dilworth, animator and producer
* February 15 – Steven Michael Quezada, actor
* February 16 – Faran Tahir, Pakistani-American actor
* February 17
** Michael Jordan, basketball player
** Rene Syler, television journalist
** Larry the Cable Guy, stand-up comedian and actor
* February 19 – Jessica Tuck, actress
* February 20 – Charles Barkley, basketball player
* February 21 – William Baldwin, actor, producer and writer
* February 22 – Don Wakamatsu, baseball player
* February 23
** Reza Abdoh, Iranian-born American director and playwright (d. 1995 in the United States, 1995)
** Bobby Bonilla, baseball player
* February 25 – Joseph Edward Duncan, serial killer (d. 2021 in the United States, 2021)
* February 26 – Chase Masterson, actress and singer
* February 28 – Joey Marella, wrestling referee (d. 1994 in the United States, 1994)
* March 1
** Bryan Batt, actor
** Russell Wong, actor
* March 4
** Jason Newsted, Metallica bassist from 1986 to 2001
** Daniel Roebuck, actor
* March 5
** Joe Exotic, zoo owner and convicted felon
** Joel Osteen, pastor and televangelist
* March 6
** Kathy Kelly (musician), Kathy Kelly, musician
** Gary Stevens (jockey), Gary Stevens, jockey
* March 8 – Jim Nelson (editor), Jim Nelson, journalist and editor
* March 10 – Rick Rubin, record producer
* March 11 – David LaChapelle, photographer
* March 12
** John Andretti, race car driver (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
** Christine Falling, serial killer of six children
** Candy Costie, synchronized swimmer
* March 13 – Michael Quercio, musician
* March 14
** Mike Rochford, Major League Baseball pitcher
** Andrew Fleming, film director
** Mike Muir, singer and musician
* March 15
** Bret Michaels, rock singer (Poison (American band), Poison)
** Greg Nicotero, SFX Artist, television producer, and director
* March 17 – Lise Simms, actress
* March 18
** Jeff LaBar, rock guitarist (d. 2021 in the United States, 2021)
** Vanessa Williams, African American model, singer, actress and fashion designer
* March 19 – Mary Scheer, American actress and comedian
* March 20
** Paul Annacone, tennis player and coach
** Kathy Ireland, model and actress
* March 21 – Shawn Lane, musician (d. 2003 in the United States, 2003)
* March 22 – Diana Merriweather Ashby, cancer activist (d. 1997 in the United States, 1997)
* March 24 – John T. Chisholm, prosecutor; District Attorney of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin (2007–present)
* March 25 – Robbie Fulks, alternative country singer-songwriter and instrumentalist
* March 27
** Dave Koz, jazz musician
** Quentin Tarantino, filmmaker, screenwriter and actor
* April 4 – Jack Del Rio, American football player and coach
* April 5 – Dawn Crosby, singer (d. 1996 in the United States, 1996)
* April 6
** Clark Spencer, film producer, businessman and studio executive
** Derrick May (musician), Derrick May, electronic musician
* April 8 – Dean Norris, actor
* April 9
** Mike Brumley (infielder), Mike Brumley, baseball player (d. 2024 in the United States, 2024)
** Marc Jacobs, fashion designer
** Joe Scarborough, newscaster
* April 10 – Warren DeMartini, rock guitarist
* April 12
** Michael English (American singer), Michael English, Christian musician
** Tracy Camilla Johns, actress
* April 13
** Valerie Plame, CIA Operations officer and novelist
** Nick Vanos, basketball player (d. 1987 in the United States, 1987)
* April 16 – Jimmy Osmond, American singer
* April 17 – Joel Murray, actor
* April 21
** Ken Caminiti, baseball player (d. 2004 in the United States, 2004)
** Brian Goldner, businessman and film producer (d. 2021 in the United States, 2021)
* April 30 – Michael Waltrip, race car driver
* May 1 – Benjamin LaGuer, prisoner proclaiming innocence for more than two decades (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
* May 2 – Ray Traylor, professional wrestler ("Big Boss Man") (d. 2004 in the United States, 2004)
* May 7 – Johnny Lee Middleton, bass player and songwriter
* May 8
** John Altobelli, baseball coach (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
** Melissa Gilbert, actress and president of the Screen Actors Guild
* May 9 – Ron Miles, musician and composer (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)
* May 12 – Jerry Trimble, actor and martial artist
* May 16 – Jon Coffelt, artist
* May 23 – Wally Dallenbach Jr., race car driver and announcer
* May 24
** Ken Flach, tennis player (d. 2018 in the United States, 2018)
** Michael Chabon, author
** Joe Dumars, basketball player
** Rich Rodriguez, American football coach
* May 29
** Lisa Whelchel, actress, singer and writer
** Tracey E. Bregman, actress and designer
** Tom Burnett, passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93 (d. 2001 in the United States, 2001)
* May 30 – Shauna Grant, porn actress (d. 1984 in the United States, 1984)
* May 31 – Wesley Willis, outsider musician (d. 2003 in the United States, 2003)
* June 1 – David Rudman, puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director and producer
* June 4
** Mossimo Giannulli, fashion designer
** Ira Valentine, American footballer (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)
* June 5 – Karl Sanders, singer-songwriter and guitarist
* June 6
** Anthony Starke, actor
** Ahmed Johnson, pro wrestler
** Eric Cantor, politician, lawyer, and banker
* June 9 – Johnny Depp, actor, producer and musician
* June 12
** Tim DeKay, actor
** Jerry Lynn, professional wrestler
* June 13 – Greg Daniels, television comedy writer, producer, and director
* June 16
** The Sandman (wrestler), The Sandman, professional wrestler
** Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, screenwriter
* June 18 – Bruce Smith (defensive end), Bruce Smith, American football player
* June 20
**Amir Derakh, guitarist
**Don West (sportscaster), Don West, sportscaster
* June 24 – Mike Wieringo, comic-book artist (d. 2007 in the United States, 2007)
* June 25 – John Benjamin Hickey, actor
* June 27 – David Drake (actor), David Drake, playwright, stage director, actor and author
* June 28 – Mike Fitzpatrick, lawyer and politician (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
* June 29 – Cathy Konrad, film and television producer
* July 1 – Roddy Bottum, musician
* July 4 – Michael Sweet, singer
* July 5 – Dorien Wilson, actor
* July 6 – Todd Burns, baseball player
* July 7 –
** Doug Dunakey, golfer
**Lance Johnson, baseball player
* July 17 – Regina Belle, singer–songwriter and actress
* July 18 –
** Sandy Fox, voice actress
** Mike Greenwell, baseball player and race car driver
** Al Snow, professional wrestler
* July 20 – Adoni Maropis, Greek-American actor
* July 22 – Rob Estes, actor
* July 24 – Karl Malone, professional basketball player
* July 30
** Lisa Kudrow, actress
** Chris Mullin, basketball player, coach, and executive
* August 1
** Coolio, rapper, record producer, and actor (d. 2022 in the United States, 2022)
** John Carroll Lynch, actor and film director
* August 2 – Laura Bennett, fashion designer
* August 3
** James Hetfield, Metallica vocalist and backing guitarist
** Lisa Ann Walter, actress and producer
* August 6
** Gwendolyn Graham and Cathy Wood, Gwendolyn Graham, serial killer
** Kevin Mitnick, computer expert (d. 2023 in the United States, 2023)
* August 7
** Ramon Estevez, actor
** Harold Perrineau, actor
* August 9 – Whitney Houston, African American R&B vocalist, wife of Bobby Brown (d. 2012 in the United States, 2012)
* August 11 – Stefon Adams, former NFL cornerback
* August 13 – Steve Higgins, writer, producer, announcer, actor and comedian
* August 19 – John Stamos, actor
* August 22 – Tori Amos, singer-songwriter
* August 23 – Kenny Wallace, race car driver
* August 27 – Bobby Griffith, gay suicide victim (d. 1983 in the United States, 1983)
* August 31 – Egyptian Lover, rapper, DJ and producer
* September 4 – Claudia Rankine, poet
* September 9 – Chris Coons, U.S. Senator from Delaware from 2010
* September 10 – Randy Johnson, baseball player
* September 11 – Joey Dedio, actor
* September 11, Thomas Miller
* September 12 – Norberto Barba, cinematographer and film director
* September 16
** Richard Marx, singer
** Leslie Wing, actress
* September 17
** Gian-Carlo Coppola, film producer (d. 1986 in the United States, 1986)
** James Urbaniak, actor
* September 18 – Dan Povenmire, animator, voice actor, director, writer, producer and storyboard artist
* September 25 – Tate Donovan, actor and director
* September 26 – Joe Nemechek, stock car driver
* September 28
** Steve Blackman, professional wrestler
** Susan Walters, actress and model
** Elliot Levine, keyboardist (Heatwave (band), Heatwave)
* September 29
** O'Landa Draper, gospel music artist (d. 1998)
** Les Claypool, bassist (Primus (band), Primus)
* October 1
** Darvin Moon, self-employed logger and amateur poker player (d. 2020 in the United States, 2020)
** Mark McGwire, baseball player
* October 6 – Elisabeth Shue, actress
* October 10 – Daniel Pearl, journalist (d. 2002 in the United States, 2002)
* October 12 – Lane Frost, bull rider (d. 1989 in the United States, 1989)
* October 14 – Lori Petty, actress, director and screenwriter
* October 22 – Brian Boitano, figure skater
* October 23 – Gordon Korman, American-Canadian author
* October 25 – Tracy Nelson (actress), Tracy Nelson, actress, dancer and writer
* October 26
** Ted Demme, director and producer (d. 2002 in the United States, 2002)
** Natalie Merchant, singer, songwriter and musician
* October 31
** Michael Beach, actor
** Fred McGriff, baseball player
** Dermot Mulroney, actor
** Rob Schneider, actor, comedian and film director
* November 1 – Josh Wicks, soccer player
* November 6
** Jonna Lee (actress), Jonna Lee, actress & artist/sculptor
** Rozz Williams, singer (died 1998 in the United States, 1998)
* November 8 – Paul Butcher (American football), Paul Butcher, American football linebacker
* November 10
** Tommy Davidson, comedian, film and television actor
** Mike McCarthy, American football coach
** Mike Powell (long jumper), Mike Powell, long jumper
* November 11 – Billy Gunn, professional wrestler
* November 13 – Vinny Testaverde, American football player
* November 18
** Len Bias, basketball player (died 1986 in the United States, 1986)
** Dante Bichette, baseball player
* November 22
** Winsor Harmon, actor
** Brian Robbins, actor, director, producer and screenwriter
* November 25
** Chip Kelly, American football player and coach
** Bernie Kosar, American football player
** Kevin Chamberlin, actor
* November 27
** Dave Prichard, guitarist (died 1990 in the United States, 1990)
** Linda Yaccarino, media executive
* December 8 – Wendell Pierce, African American actor
* December 12 – Liz Claman, journalist
* December 15 – Lenny Young, film producer
* December 16 – Benjamin Bratt, actor, producer and activist
* December 18 – Brad Pitt, film actor and producer
* December 20 – Joel Gretsch, actor
* December 23
** Jim Harbaugh, American football player and coach
** Jess Harnell, voice actor and singer
** Donna Tartt, novelist
* December 30 – Kim Hill (singer), Kim Hill, Christian singer
* December 31 – Eugene McDowell, basketball player (d. 1995 in the United States, 1995)

Deaths

* January 1 – Robert S. Kerr, businessman and politician (b. 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* January 2
** Jack Carson, Canadian-born American actor (b. 1910 in Canada, 1910)
** Dick Powell, actor (b. 1904 in the United States, 1904)
* January 5 – Rogers Hornsby, baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals) (b. 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* January 6
** Frank Tuttle, film director (b. 1892 in the United States, 1892)
** Stark Young, teacher, playwright, novelist, painter, literary critic and essayist (b. 1881 in the United States, 1881)
* January 8
** Boris Morros, film producer and FBI double agent (b. 1891 in the United States, 1891)
** Jack Okey, art director (b. 1889 in the United States, 1889)
** Kay Sage, poet (b. 1898 in the United States, 1898)
* January 9 – Enea Bossi Sr., aerospace engineer and aviation pioneer (b. 1888 in Italy)
* January 27 – John Farrow, Australian film director (b. 1904 in Australia, 1904)
* January 22 – Richard Spikes, inventor (b. 1878 in the United States, 1878)Richard B. Spikes, Inventor born
/ref>
* January 29 – Robert Frost, poet (b. 1874 in the United States, 1874)
* February 11 – Sylvia Plath, Poet, short story writer, and novelist (b. 1932 in the United States, 1932)
* March 4 – William Carlos Williams, poet (b. 1883 in the United States, 1883)
* March 5 – plane crash
** Patsy Cline, country music singer (b. 1932 in the United States, 1932)
** Cowboy Copas, country music singer (b. 1913 in the United States, 1913)
** Hawkshaw Hawkins, country music singer (b. 1921 in the United States, 1921)
* March 8 – Jack Anglin, country music singer (b. 1916 in the United States, 1916)
* March 11 – Joe Judge (baseball), Joe Judge, baseball player (b. 1894 in the United States, 1894)
* April 3 – Alma Richards, high jumper (b. 1890 in the United States, 1890)
* April 4 – Jason Robards Sr., actor (b. 1892 in the United States, 1892)
* April 9 – Eddie Edwards (musician), Eddie Edwards, jazz trombonist (b. 1891 in the United States, 1891)
* April 23 – Don Harvey (actor, born 1911), Don Harvey, actor (b. 1911 in the United States, 1911)
* May 2 – Van Wyck Brooks, literary critic and writer (b. 1886 in the United States, 1886)
* May 6 – Monty Woolley, character actor (b. 1888 in the United States, 1888)
* May 11 – Herbert Spencer Gasser, physiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (b. 1888 in the United States, 1888)
* May 18 – Ernie Davis, American football player, first African American to win the Heisman Trophy (b. 1939 in the United States, 1939)
* May 19 – Walter Russell, polymath (b. 1871 in the United States, 1871)
* May 24 – Elmore James, African American blues guitarist (b. 1918 in the United States, 1918)
* June 4 – Dorothy Short, actress (b. 1915 in the United States, 1915)
* June 7 – ZaSu Pitts, film actress (b. 1894 in the United States, 1894)
* June 10 – Anita King, actress and race-car driver (b. 1884 in the United States, 1884)
* June 12 – Medgar Evers, field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, assassinated in Mississippi due to civil rights activity (b. 1925 in the United States, 1925)
* June 28 – Home Run Baker, baseball player (b. 1886 in the United States, 1886)
* July 2 – Alicia Patterson, newspaper editor (b. 1906 in the United States, 1906)
* July 9 – Frank Mayo (actor), Frank Mayo, actor (b. 1889 in the United States, 1889)
* July 27 – Garrett Morgan, inventor, businessman, and community leader (b. 1877 in the United States, 1877)
* August 1 – Theodore Roethke, poet (b. 1908 in the United States, 1908)
* August 2 – Oliver La Farge, fiction writer and anthropologist (b. 1901 in the United States, 1901)
* August 3 – Phil Graham, newspaperman (b. 1915 in the United States, 1915)
* August 4 – Tom Keene (actor), Tom Keene, Western film actor (b. 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* August 9 – Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of President and Mrs. Kennedy (b. August 7)
* August 10 – Estes Kefauver, politician (b. 1903 in the United States, 1903)
* August 11 – Clem Bevans, character actor (b. 1879 in the United States, 1879)
* August 14 – Clifford Odets, playwright (b. 1906 in the United States, 1906)
* August 26 – Larry Keating, actor (b. 1899 in the United States, 1899)
* August 27 – W. E. B. Du Bois, leading African American sociologist, historian and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (b. 1868 in the United States, 1868)
* September 11 – Claude Fuess, 10th List of Phillips Academy Heads of School, Headmaster of Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts (b. 1885 in the United States, 1885)
* October 4
** Lloyd Fredendall, U.S. Army general (b. 1883 in the United States, 1883)
** Kate Gordon Moore, psychologist (b. 1878 in the United States, 1878)
* October 11 – John W. Nordstrom, Swedish-born American co-founder of the Nordstrom department store chain (d. 1963)
* October 20 – Everett Warner, impressionist painter and printmaker (b. 1877 in the United States, 1877)
* October 24 – Douglas Croft, actor (b. 1926 in the United States, 1926)
* October 29 – Adolphe Menjou, actor (b. 1890 in the United States, 1890)
* November 1 – Elsa Maxwell, gossip columnist, author, songwriter, screenwriter, and personality (b. 1883 in the United States, 1883)
* November 5 – Vernon Dent, American actor and comedian, main antagonist of the The Three Stooges, Three Stooges (b. 1895 in the United States, 1895)
* November 22
** Aldous Huxley, writer (b. 1894 in the United Kingdom)
** John F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States from 1961 to 1963 (b. 1917 in the United States, 1917)
** J. D. Tippit, Dallas police officer (b. 1924 in the United States, 1924)
* November 24 – Lee Harvey Oswald, sniper, Assassination of John F. Kennedy, assassinated John F. Kennedy (b. 1939 in the United States, 1939)
* November 25 – Joseph Sweeney (actor), Joseph Sweeney, actor (b. 1884 in the United States, 1884)
* November 26 – Amelita Galli-Curci, Italian-born operatic soprano (b. 1882 in Italy)
* November 28 – Karyn Kupcinet, Karyn Kupicnet, American actress (b. 1941 in the United States, 1941)
* November 30 – Phil Baker (comedian), Phil Baker, comedian and emcee (b. 1896 in the United States, 1896)
* December 14 – Dinah Washington, African American blues singer (b. 1924 in the United States, 1924)
* December 26 – Gorgeous George, professional wrestler (b. 1915 in the United States, 1915)
* December 28
** A. J. Liebling, journalist (b. 1904 in the United States, 1904)
** Joseph Magliocco, mobster (b. 1898 in Italy, 1898)

See also

* List of American films of 1963
* Timeline of United States history (1950–1969)

References

External links

*
*

{{Year in North America, 1963

1963 in the United States,
1960s in the United States
1963 by country, United States
1963 in North America, United States
Years of the 20th century in the United States