April 1963
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The following events occurred in April 1963:


April 1 Events Pre-1600 * 33 – According to one historian's account, Jesus Christ's Last Supper is held. * 527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne. *1081 – Alexios I Kom ...
, 1963 (Monday)

*The long-running American TV
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
'' made its debut on the ABC network. On the same afternoon, the first episode of NBC's hospital soap opera, '' The Doctors'', premiered. ''General Hospital'', set in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York, would begin its 60th year in 2022, while ''The Doctors'', set in the fictional New England town of Madison, would end on December 31, 1982. *The Titan II-Gemini Coordination Committee was established to direct efforts to reduce longitudinal vibration ( pogo oscillation) in the Titan II and to improve engine reliability. *''
On Her Majesty's Secret Service On Her Majesty's Secret Service may refer to: * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (novel), a 1963 novel by Ian Fleming * ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (film), a 1969 film adaptation of the novel ** ''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'' (sou ...
'',
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...
's eleventh ''
James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
'' novel, was first published by
Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...
. *Died:
Quinim Pholsena Quinim Pholsena (18 November 1915 – 1 April 1963) was a leftist minister and the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Laos from 1962 to 1963, under Prime Minister Souvanna Phouma. Early life Pholsena was born 18 November 1915, Pakse, Champasak ...
, 47, the Foreign Minister of Laos, was assassinated by a soldier assigned to guard him. Quinim and his wife had returned home from a reception with the King, when Lance Corporal Chy Kong fired a machine gun at the couple. Minister Quinim was hit by 18 bullets, after which the guard "finished him off with a shot through the head".


April 2 Events Pre-1600 *1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
, 1963 (Tuesday)

*
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
signed an almost half-billion-dollar contract with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation for the
Gemini spacecraft Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...
, with a cost-plus-fixed-fee estimate of $456,650,062 ($428,780,062 plus fixed fee of $27,870,000). The contract called for 13 flight-rated
spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle or machine designed to fly in outer space. A type of artificial satellite, spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, Earth observation, meteorology, navigation, space colonization, p ...
, 12 to be used in space flight, as well as a docking simulator trainer, five boilerplates, and three static articles for vibration and impact ground tests. *Testifying before the Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Astronautics, D. Brainerd Holmes, Director of Manned Space Flight, sought to justify a $42,638,000 increase in
Project Gemini Project Gemini () was NASA's second human spaceflight program. Conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, Gemini started in 1961 and concluded in 1966. The Gemini spacecraft carried a two-astronaut crew. Ten Gemini crews and 16 individual ...
's actual 1963 budget over that previously estimated. *The Navy of Argentina began a revolt against the government of President
José María Guido José María Guido (29 August 1910 – 13 June 1975) was President of Argentina, from 30 March 1962 to 12 October 1963. Biography Early life José María Guido was born in Buenos Aires on August 29, 1910. He was one of two sons of J.M.E. ...
, with the insurrection starting at
Puerto Belgrano Port Belgrano Naval Base ( es, Base Naval Puerto Belgrano - BNPB) is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires. It is named after the brigantine ''General Belgr ...
. The rebellion would quietly end the next day. *Singapore television channel Saluran 5 Television Singapura began the regular service in the Asian nation, with four hours of programming every evening. *The Soviet Union launched
Luna 4 ''Luna 4'', or E-6 No.4 (Ye-6 series), sometimes known in the West as Sputnik 26, was a Soviet spacecraft launched as part of the Luna program to attempt the first soft landing on the Moon. Following a successful launch, the spacecraft failed to ...
at 8:04 a.m. UT toward the Moon, using a curving path rather than a straight trajectory. *
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
began their Spring 1963 UK tour in Sheffield, England.


April 3, 1963 (Wednesday)

*The Delaware Supreme Court upheld their state's law, unique in the United States, permitting the flogging of criminals. Although the penalty, dating from colonial days, had not been carried out for several years, a 20-year-old man had been given a probated sentence of 20 lashes for auto theft, then violated the probation. *
Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civi ...
(SCLC) volunteers kicked off the Birmingham campaign in
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
, against
racial segregation in the United States In the United States, racial segregation is the systematic separation of facilities and services such as Housing in the United States, housing, Healthcare in the United States, healthcare, Education in the United States, education, Employment in ...
, with a
sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...
.Roger S. Powers, ''Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action from ACT-UP to Women's Suffrage'' (Taylor & Francis, 2012) p45


April 4 Events Pre-1600 * 503 BC – Roman consul Agrippa Menenius Lanatus celebrates a triumph for a military victory over the Sabines. * 190 – Dong Zhuo has his troops evacuate the capital Luoyang and burn it to the ground. * 611 – ...
, 1963 (Thursday)

*The cost of making a long-distance telephone call was lowered throughout the continental United States, with a maximum charge of one dollar for three-minute "station-to-station" calls made between 9:00 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. The equivalent 50 years later for a 1963 dollar would be $7.50. *
Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
, the third television network in Australia, began with the granting of a corporate operating license to United Telecasters Sydney Limited. Broadcasting would begin on ATV-0 in
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
on April 1, 1964, and on Channel
Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...
in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
on April 5, 1965. *
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
performed at
Stowe School , motto_translation = I stand firm and I stand first , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent school, day & boarding , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster ...
in Buckinghamshire, UK, for a fee of £100, having accepted a personal request from schoolboy
David Moores David Richard Moores (15 March 1946 – 22 July 2022) was a British football executive, chairman of Liverpool F.C. from 1991 to 2007 and later the club's honorary life president. Liverpool F.C. He became chairman of Liverpool F.C. on 18 Septem ...
, a fellow Liverpudlian (and later chairman of Liverpool F.C.). *The Henry Miller novel ''
Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward ...
'' went on sale legally in the United Kingdom for the first time, after having been banned for thirty years because it had been deemed obscene. *All 67 people on board
Aeroflot Flight 25 Aeroflot Flight 25 ( ''Reys 25 Aeroflota'') was a scheduled domestic passenger flight that crashed on 4 April 1963 in the region of Rybnaya Sloboda, Tatar ASSR, Russian SFSR the while en route from Moscow-Sheremetyevo to Krasnoyarsk Airport, Russ ...
were killed, one hour after the Ilyushin-18 plane had taken off from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, bound for Krasnoyarsk. *Died:
Gaetano Catanoso Gaetano Catanoso (14 February 1879–4 April 1963) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Suore Veroniche del Santo Volto (1934). Catanoso served as a parish priest in two different parishes for his entire ecclesial life and was an ...
, 84, Italian parish priest canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2005


April 5 Events Pre-1600 * 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I. * 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
, 1963 (Friday)

*The Soviet Union accepted an American proposal to establish a
Moscow–Washington hotline The Moscow–Washington hotline (formally known in the United States as the Washington–Moscow Direct Communications Link; rus, Горячая линия Вашингтон — Москва, r=Goryachaya liniya Vashington–Moskva) is a system t ...
so that the leaders of the two nations could communicate directly with each other in order to avoid war. Originally, the hot line was a teletype system rather than a direct voice line. *
Mercury 9 Mercury-Atlas 9 was the final crewed space mission of the U.S. Mercury program, launched on May 15, 1963, from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft, named ''Faith 7'', completed 22 Earth orbits before splashing down in t ...
pilot Gordon Cooper and backup Alan Shepard visited the Morehead Planetarium in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
to review the
celestial sphere In astronomy and navigation, the celestial sphere is an abstract sphere that has an arbitrarily large radius and is concentric to Earth. All objects in the sky can be conceived as being projected upon the inner surface of the celestial sphere, ...
model, practice star navigation, and observe a simulation of the flashing light beacon experiment planned for the mission. *
Luna 4 ''Luna 4'', or E-6 No.4 (Ye-6 series), sometimes known in the West as Sputnik 26, was a Soviet spacecraft launched as part of the Luna program to attempt the first soft landing on the Moon. Following a successful launch, the spacecraft failed to ...
, the first successful spacecraft of the USSR's "second generation" Luna program, missed the Moon by at 13:25 UT and entered a barycentric Earth orbit. *
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...
became President of the Senate of the Philippines. *Died:
Sonja McCaskie Sonja McCaskie (19 February 1939 – 5 April 1963) was a British alpine skier who participated in the 1960 Winter Olympics. McCaskie lived in Reno, Nevada, with her son and worked at a nearby ski resort as an instructor prior to her death in ...
, 24, British skier and 1960 Olympics competitor


April 6, 1963 (Saturday)

*The
South African Soccer League The South African Soccer League (SASL) was an association football league based in South Africa. It was formed in 1961 and folded in 1967. It was established by the South African Soccer Federation which represented the black African, Coloured and ...
, formed in 1961, was banned from further use of public stadiums because its teams included white, black and mixed race players, in violation of the Group Areas Act, and a game at Alberton, a suburb of
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
, was cancelled on the day of the match. Fans climbed the fence surrounding the locked Natalspruit Indian Sports ground and 15,000 people watched the Moroka Swallows defeat Blackpool United, 6–1. Afterwards, the SASL was permanently denied access to playing fields, and disbanded in 1967 after years of financial losses. *
Boots Randolph Homer Louis "Boots" Randolph III (June 3, 1927 – July 3, 2007) was an American musician best known for his 1963 saxophone hit "Yakety Sax" (which became Benny Hill's signature tune). Randolph was a major part of the "Nashville sound" for most o ...
, better-known as an accompanist for many performers in rock, pop, and country music, had his only U.S. hit, reaching #1 on the ''Billboard'' chart with "
Yakety Sax "Yakety Sax" is a pop novelty instrumental jointly composed by James Q. "Spider" Rich and Boots Randolph. Saxophonist Randolph popularized the selection in his 1963 recording, which reached number 35 on the pop charts. Comedian Benny Hill later ...
". *The Germany national rugby union team played a friendly international against a France XV at Frankfurt, losing 9–15. *Born: **
Phan Thị Kim Phúc Phan Thị Kim Phúc (; born April 6, 1963), referred to informally as the girl in the picture and the Napalm girl, is a South Vietnamese-born Canadian woman best known as the nine-year-old child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize–winning photog ...
, more commonly referred to as "The Girl in the Picture" or "Napalm Girl", she is best known as the nine-year-old child depicted in the
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
–winning photograph, titled "''
The Terror of War Huỳnh Công Út, known professionally as Nick Ut (born March 29, 1951), is a Vietnamese-American photographer who worked for the Associated Press (AP) in Los Angeles. He won both the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography and the 1973 W ...
''", taken at
Trảng Bàng Trảng Bàng is a town in Tây Ninh Province, in the Southeast region of Vietnam. It has a traditional artisan industry, and recently has opened an industrial zone for foreign investment. This town has a famous food called '' bánh canh Trản ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
on June 8, 1972; in Trảng Bàng,
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
** Rafael Correa, 45th President of Ecuador from 2007 to 2017; in
Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
*Died: **
Allen Whipple Allen Oldfather Whipple (September 2, 1881 – April 6, 1963) was an American surgeon who is known for the pancreatic cancer operation which bears his name (the Whipple procedure) as well as Whipple's triad. Whipple was born to missionary parent ...
, 81, pioneering American cancer surgeon ** Otto Struve, 65, Russian astronomer


April 7, 1963 (Sunday)

*In
Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
, a bus returning from an African church meeting in Mitaboni township with 82 people ran off of the edge of a bridge and plunged into the Tiva River. Only the driver and nine other people were able to escape. Police recovered 58 bodies while 14 other people had been trapped in the wreckage under water. *
Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in S ...
, at that time the Treasurer of Australia, announced that Australia would introduce
decimal currency Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10. Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...
in February 1966. The
Australian pound The pound ( Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol ...
, worth 20 shillings (or 240 pence), would be replaced by the
Australian dollar The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...
, worth 100 cents, on February 14, 1966. *At
Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...
, 23-year-old
Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...
won the 27th Masters Tournament, becoming the youngest player to win the Masters. Nicklaus finished one stroke ahead of Tony Lema, 286 to 287. *At more than 700 pages, the first full Sunday edition of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' since the end of the printer's strike set a record for the size of a newspaper. The ''Times'' edition weighed . *
Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
was proclaimed to be a "socialist federative republic", and
Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his deat ...
was named President for Life. Tito would remain President until his death in 1980.


April 8 Events Pre-1600 * 217 – Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus. * 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids. *1139 – Ro ...
, 1963 (Monday)

*In race to represent the Pontiac–Témiscamingue district of
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in Canada's House of Commons, the two candidates, Progressive Conservative Paul Martineau and Liberal Paul-Oliva Goulet both received 6,448 votes. Under the system at the time for breaking a tie, the district's returning officer in charge of counting the votes decided in favor of Martineau. *In the Canadian federal election, the Liberal Party, led by
Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...
, won 128 of the 265 seats in Canada's House of Commons, while Prime Minister
John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
's Progressive Conservatives lost 21 seats and its control of the House. Pearson would replace Diefenbaker as Prime Minister on April 22. *At the
35th Academy Awards The 35th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1962, were held on April 8, 1963, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, hosted by Frank Sinatra. Ceremony The Best Actress Oscar occasioned the last act of t ...
ceremony, ''
Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
'' won the
Best Picture Oscar The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
.
Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...
won Best Actor for ''
To Kill a Mockingbird ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' has become ...
'', while Anne Bancroft won Best Actress for portraying Helen Keller's teacher in ''
The Miracle Worker ''The Miracle Worker'' refers to a broadcast, a play and various other adaptations of Helen Keller's 1903 autobiography '' The Story of My Life''. The first of these works was a 1957 ''Playhouse 90'' broadcast written by William Gibson and st ...
''. *Born:
Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia, and he is named after his paternal grandmother, Julia Lennon. Julian in ...
, British musician, songwriter, actor and photographer; in
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, to John and Cynthia Lennon


April 9 Events Pre-1600 * 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, s ...
, 1963 (Tuesday)

*Sir
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, the former
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
, became the first person to be made an
honorary citizen of the United States A person of exceptional merit, a non-United States citizen, may be declared an honorary citizen of the United States by an Act of Congress or by a proclamation issued by the president of the United States, pursuant to authorization granted by Cong ...
by act of the U.S. Congress. President Kennedy signed the legislation for the 88-year-old statesman, whose mother
Jennie Jerome Churchill Jennie Spencer-Churchill (; 9 January 1854 – 29 June 1921), known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was an American-born British socialite, the wife of Lord Randolph Churchill, and the mother of British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill. Early ...
, had been a United States native. The House of Representatives had approved the legislation on March 12 by a 377–21 vote, and the U.S. Senate approved on April 2 by voice vote. Churchill was unable to travel from the UK to the U.S., and his son, Randolph Churchill, accepted in his place in ceremonies that were televised. *
Langley Research Center The Langley Research Center (LaRC or NASA Langley), located in Hampton, Virginia, United States of America, is the oldest of NASA's field centers. It directly borders Langley Air Force Base and the Back River on the Chesapeake Bay. LaRC has fo ...
personnel provided assistance to NASA for the Mercury 9 tethered balloon experiment at
Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...
, installing force measuring beams, soldered at four terminals, to which the lead wires were fastened. *Despite his party's loss in the elections for the House of Commons, Canada's Prime Minister Diefenbaker said that he would not resign until the new Parliament was called into session.


April 10 Events Pre-1600 * 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople. * 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles). * 1407 ...
, 1963 (Wednesday)

*The U.S. nuclear submarine '' Thresher'' sank during sea trials east of
Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
, killing the 112 U.S. Navy personnel and 17 civilians on board. The wreckage of ''Thresher'' would be located on October 1, 1964. *An unknown gunman narrowly missed killing former U.S. Army General
Edwin A. Walker Edwin Anderson Walker (November 10, 1909 – October 31, 1993) was the only U.S. Army general officer to resign his commission amid his tour of duty in the 20th century. After serving in World War II and the Korean War Walker became better know ...
, who had been working on his taxes at his home in
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
. The would-be killer would later be claimed to have been Lee Harvey Oswald, who would allegedly use the same rifle to assassinate U.S. President
John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...
in November. *The owners and passengers of the yacht '' Cythera'' became the first modern victims of piracy (under Australian law) when their boat was stolen by two crew members. The yacht was salvaged over a month later, and the incident would result in various legal complications, including prosecution of the pirates under an act of 1858. * Frol Kozlov, the 54-year-old Second Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and Deputy Prime Minister, considered the likely successor to
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
, had a stroke and was forced to retire. Kozlov would die on January 30, 1965.


April 11, 1963 (Thursday)

*
Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. (February 28, 1924 – July 22, 2019) was an American aerospace and NASA engineer who was instrumental in establishing the agency's Mission Control Center and shaping its organization and culture. His protégé ...
, John D. Hodge, and William L. Davidson of Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC)'s Flight Operations Division met at Langley with a large contingent of that Center's research staff to discuss LaRC's proposed Manned Orbital Research Laboratory (MORL). Langley spokesmen briefed their
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
visitors on the philosophy and proposed program phases leading to an operational MORL. Kraft and his colleagues then emphasized the need for careful study of operational problems involved with the MORL, as well as those associated with the smaller crew ferry and logistics supply vehicles. Specifically, they cited crew selection and training requirements, the need for a continuous recovery capability, communications requirements, and handling procedures for scientific data. *
Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
issued his final
encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...
, ''
Pacem in terris ''Pacem in terris'' () was a papal encyclical issued by Pope John XXIII on 11 April 1963 on the rights and obligations of individuals and of the state, as well as the proper relations between states. It emphasized human dignity and equality a ...
'', entitled ''On Establishing Universal Peace in Truth, Justice, Charity and Liberty'', the first papal encyclical addressed to "all men of good will", rather than to Roman Catholics only. * Buddy Rogers became the first WWF Champion, defeating
Antonino Rocca Antonino Rocca (born Antonino Biasetton; 13 April 1921 – 15 March 1977) was an Italian Argentine professional wrestler. He tag teamed with partner Miguel Pérez. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the class ...
at the finals of the first World Wrestling Federation tournament, held in
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. *
Mohamed Khemisti Mohamed Khemisti ( ar, محمد خميستي; born 11 August 1930; died 5 May 1963) was an Algerian politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria for nine months, from 1962 prior to his assassination in 1963. He was married to Fatima ...
, the 33-year-old Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria, was mortally wounded by a gunman who shot him outside the National Assembly. *The U.S.
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
went before the press corps at the Pentagon to announce that the nuclear submarine USS ''Thresher'' had been lost with all hands. *Born: **
June and Jennifer Gibbons June Gibbons (born 11 April 1963) and Jennifer Gibbons (11 April 1963 – 9 March 1993) were identical twins who grew up in Wales. They became known as "The Silent Twins", since they only communicated with each other. They wrote works of ficti ...
, the "Silent Twins", criminals and writers; in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
(d. 1993, Jennifer) **
Saif al-Adel Saif al-Adel ( ar, سيف العدل; born April 11, 1960/63) is a former Egyptian colonel, explosives expert, and a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda who is still at large. Adel is under indictment by the United StatesMonufia Governorate,
United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...


April 12, 1963 (Friday)

*The Soviet nuclear powered submarine '' K-33'' collided with the Finnish merchant vessel M/S ''Finnclipper'' in the Danish Straits. Although severely damaged, both vessels made it to port. * Martin Luther King Jr.,
Ralph Abernathy Ralph David Abernathy Sr. (March 11, 1926 – April 17, 1990) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was ordained in the Baptist tradition in 1948. As a leader of the civil rights movement, he was a close friend and ...
,
Fred Shuttlesworth Frederick Lee Shuttlesworth (born Fred Lee Robinson, March 18, 1922 – October 5, 2011) was a U.S. civil rights activist who led the fight against segregation and other forms of racism as a minister in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a co-founder o ...
and others were arrested in a Birmingham, Alabama, protest for "parading without a permit". *Died: **
Herbie Nichols Herbert Horatio Nichols (January 3, 1919 – April 12, 1963) was an American jazz pianist and composer who wrote the jazz standard " Lady Sings the Blues". Obscure during his lifetime, he is now highly regarded by many musicians and critics. Lif ...
, 44, American jazz pianist and composer; of leukemia ** Kazimierz Ajdukiewicz, 72, Polish philosopher and logician


April 13 Events Pre-1600 *1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. * 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire. 1601–1900 *1612 – In one of the epic samurai ...
, 1963 (Saturday)

*
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
UH-34 Seahorse transport helicopters based at
Da Nang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
, South Vietnam, airlifted 435 South Vietnamese troops to attack a suspected Viet Cong stronghold in mountains along the
Thu Bồn River The Thu Bồn River ( vi, Sông Thu Bồn) is a river in central Vietnam, located in Quảng Nam Province. From its source near the border of Quảng Nam and Quảng Ngãi provinces, it flows northwest through Bắc Trà My, Phú Ninh, Hiệp Đ ...
. For the first time, Marine Corps helicopters received an
attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they ...
escort, in the form of
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
UH-1B The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of the prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and YH-40 The firs ...
gunships. *Divers discovered the wreckage of the Dutch ship ''
Vergulde Draeck The ''Vergulde Draeck'' (), also spelled ''Vergulde Draak'' and ''Vergulde Draek'', was a , ship constructed in 1653 by the Dutch East India Company ( nl, Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, commonly abbreviated to VOC). The wrecking of the ''V ...
'' almost 307 years after it sank off the coast of Australia. The vessel, carrying 193 people, had gone down on April 28,
1656 Events January–March * January 5 – The First War of Villmergen, a civil war in the Confederation of Switzerland pitting its Protestant and Roman Catholic cantons against each other, breaks out but is resolved by March 7. The ...
, with 118 drowning. Three centuries later, a group of skindivers found the wreck from Ledge Point, Western Australia. * Pete Rose of the
Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...
got the first of a record 4,256 hits in a Major League Baseball game, hitting a triple off a pitch by
Bob Friend Robert Bartmess Friend (November 24, 1930 – February 3, 2019) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher between and , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. A fou ...
of the
Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
. The Reds lost, 12–4. *The USSR launched Kosmos 14 from Kapustin Yar aboard a
Kosmos-2I Kosmos-2I (GRAU Index: 11K63, also known as Cosmos-2I and also known by the designation Kosmos-2) is the designation applied to two Soviet carrier rockets, members of the R-12 Kosmos rocket family, which were used to orbit satellites between 196 ...
63S1 carrier rocket. *The UK's Independent Labour Party held its 71st Annual Conference, at Bradford. *Born: Garry Kasparov, Russian/Soviet chess grandmaster, and world champion from 1985 to 2000; as Garik Kimovich Weinstein in
Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
,
Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
*Died:
Babu Gulabrai Babu Gulabrai (17 January 1888 – 13 April 1963) was a significant figure in modern Hindi literature. Biography Babu Gulabrai was born in Etawah, where his father, Babu Bhawani Prasad, was a munsarif in the judicial court. His mother was ...
, 75, Indian Hindi writer


April 14 Events Pre-1600 * 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum. * 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
, 1963 (Sunday)

*The Institute of Mental Health (Belgrade) was established. *Born: Cynthia Cooper, American women's basketball player, MVP of the WNBA for 1996–97 and 1997–98 for the
Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...
; in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...


April 15, 1963 (Monday)

*A White House press release announced that First Lady Jackie Kennedy was pregnant and that her baby would be delivered by Caesarean section in September. Mrs. Kennedy, who had a history of miscarriages, had delayed announcement of her pregnancy. She had been delivered of stillborn children in 1955 and 1956, and had two living children, Caroline (b. 1957) and John Jr. (b. 1960). The child, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, would be born prematurely on August 7, and would survive for only two days. *The Manned Spacecraft Center published a detailed flight plan for
May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...
's Mercury 9 mission. Due to the extended duration of the flight, an 8-hour sleep period was scheduled with a 2-hour option for when the
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
would begin his rest period. In addition to the general guidelines, the astronaut had a minute-to-minute schedule of tasks to accomplish. *An unidentified 58-year-old man, with
lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
, was admitted to the University of Mississippi hospital. On June 11, 1963, he would become the first person to receive a lung transplant. *Seventy thousand marchers arrived in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
from
Aldermaston Aldermaston is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. In the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1015. The village is in the Kennet Valley and bounds Hampshire to the south. It is approximately from Newbury, Basingstoke ...
, to demonstrate against
nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
. The breakaway group
Spies for Peace Spies for Peace was a British group of anti-war activists associated with the Committee of 100 who publicized government preparations for rule after a nuclear war. In 1963 they broke into a secret government bunker, Regional Seat of Government N ...
set up a picket at RSG-6. *British driver
Innes Ireland Lieutenant Robert McGregor Innes Ireland (12 June 1930 – 22 October 1993), was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver, with 1 Championship and 8 non-Championship Formula 1 race victories, and several sports car wins inclu ...
won the
1963 Glover Trophy The 11th Glover Trophy was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 15 April 1963 at Goodwood Circuit, England. The race was run over 42 laps of the circuit, and was won by British driver Innes Ireland in a Lotus 24, after polesitter Graha ...
motor race, held at Goodwood Circuit. *British driver
Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...
won the
1963 Pau Grand Prix The 23rd Pau Grand Prix was a non-Championship motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 15 April 1963 at Pau Circuit, the street circuit in Pau. The race was run over 100 laps of the circuit, and was won by Jim Clark in a Lotus 25. Clark a ...
motor race, held at Pau Circuit. *Died: "Colossus", the largest snake ever kept in captivity, at the
Highland Park Zoo __NOTOC__ The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is one of only six major zoo and aquarium combinations in the United States. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Highland Park, the zoo sits on of park land where it exhibits more than 4,000 animals rep ...
in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
. A
reticulated Python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and is among the three heaviest. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wi ...
, she measured 28 1⁄2 feet long (8.68 meters) and at one time weighed 320 pounds (145 kg).


April 16, 1963 (Tuesday)

* Martin Luther King Jr. issued his "
Letter from Birmingham Jail The "Letter from Birmingham Jail", also known as the "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" and "The Negro Is Your Brother", is an open letter written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King Jr. It says that people have a moral responsibility to b ...
". *Born: ** Jimmy Osmond, American singer, actor, and businessman; youngest member of the sibling musical group the Osmonds; in Canoga Park, California ** Saleem Malik, Pakistani cricketer and national team captain; in
Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...


April 17 Events Pre-1600 *1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized. *1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of Hasan ...
, 1963 (Wednesday)

*NFL players Paul Hornung of the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
and
Alex Karras Alexander George Karras (July 15, 1935 – October 10, 2012) was an American football player, professional wrestler, sportscaster, and actor. He was a four-time Pro Bowl player with the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), ...
of the
Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
were ordered suspended indefinitely by Commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on league games. Five other Lions players (John Gordy, Gary Lowe, Joe Schmidt, Wayne Walker and Sam Williams) were fined $2,000 each for betting on the Packers to win the
1962 NFL Championship Game The 1962 NFL Championship Game was the 30th NFL title game, played on December 30 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It matched the New York Giants (12–2) of the Eastern Conference and Green Bay Packers (13–1) of the Western Conference, ...
. Hornung and Karras would be reinstated by Rozelle eleven months later after being barred from playing during the 1963 NFL season. *Representatives of
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
signed a declaration in
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
to merge their three nations into a new United Arab Republic. Egypt and Syria had been merged as the United Arab Republic from 1958 to 1961 before Syria withdrew, and Egypt and retained the UAR name. Demonstrations followed in
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, where citizens of the Kingdom wanted to join the federation, which was never ratified. *
Grigori Nelyubov Grigory Grigoryevich Nelyubov (russian: Григо́рий Григо́рьевич Нелю́бов; 31 March 1934 – 18 February 1966) was one of the original 20 Soviet cosmonauts, who was dismissed from the Soviet space program in 1963 for ...
, Ivan Anikeyev and Valentin Filatyev were all dismissed from the USSR's cosmonaut corps, after their March 27 arrest for drunk and disorderly conduct.


April 18 Events Pre-1600 * 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days. * 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
, 1963 (Thursday)

*The
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
beat the
Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
, 3–1 in Toronto, to win the
NHL Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
, four games to one. *Born:
Conan O'Brien Conan Christopher O'Brien (born April 18, 1963) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is best known for having hosted late-night talk shows for almost 28 years, beginning with ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' (19 ...
, American television host, comedian, writer, and producer; in
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, in the United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton, A ...
*Died: **Yetta Grotofent, 42, tightrope walker who had been part of
The Flying Wallendas The Flying Wallendas is a circus act and group of daredevil stunt performers who perform highwire acts without a safety net. They were first known as ''The Great Wallendas'', but the current name was coined by the press in the 1940s and has st ...
high wire act under the stage name "Miss Rietta". The sister-in-law of Karl Wallenda fell to her death while performing at the
Shrine Circus The Shrine Circus is a circus founded in Detroit, Michigan on Woodward Avenue in 1906. It travels to roughly 120 cities per year in the United States and a separate unit travels to about 40 in Canada. It is affiliated with the former Ancient Ara ...
in the Civic Auditorium in
Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...
,
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
. Two other members of the circus troupe had been killed after falling from the high wire in Detroit on January 30, 1962. ** Hemendra Kumar Roy, 74, Bengali children's writer


April 19 Events Pre-1600 *AD 65 – The freedman Milichus betrays Piso's plot to kill the Emperor Nero and all the conspirators are arrested. * 531 – Battle of Callinicum: A Byzantine army under Belisarius is defeated by the Persians at ...
, 1963 (Friday)

*Under pressure from the United States, South Korea's President Park Chung Hee returned to his pledge to return to civilian rule, and announced that multiparty elections for the presidency and the National Assembly would take place before the end of the year. Park had promised a return to democracy in 1963 when he had taken power in a coup on August 12, 1961, but on March 16, 1963, proposed to extend military rule for another four years. The voting (in which Park would be elected president) would be held on October 15. *A new dam was inaugurated on the Chubut River west of
Trelew Trelew (, from cy, tref "town" and the name of the founder, Lewis Jones) is a city in the eastern part of the Chubut Province of Argentina. Located in Patagonia, the city is the largest and most populous in the low valley of the Chubut River, wit ...
, Argentina, removing the risk of flooding in the Lower Chubut Valley.


April 20, 1963 (Saturday)

*The caves at
Lascaux Lascaux ( , ; french: Grotte de Lascaux , "Lascaux Cave") is a network of caves near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne in southwestern France. Over 600 parietal wall paintings cover the interior walls and ceilings of ...
were closed to the general public after fifteen years, in order to protect cave paintings dating from more than 17,000 years ago. The paintings had been rediscovered on September 12, 1940, in the caverns in southwestern France. After the complex was opened to the public in 1948, the works began to erode from carbonic acid produced by the exhalations of the visitors. The Department of
Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...
would create a replica of the paintings in another cave hall, opened as "Lascaux II" in 1983. *The final water condensate tank was installed in
Mercury spacecraft Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbital spaceflight, orbit and return him safely, ideally ...
20 for the Mercury 9 mission. The system had a , built-in tank, a auxiliary tank located under the couch head, and six auxiliary plastic containers. The total capacity for condensate water storage was . In operation, the astronaut hand-pumped the fluid to the 3.6-pound tank to avoid spilling moisture inside the cabin during weightlessness. *In
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, the terrorist campaign of the
Front de libération du Québec The (FLQ) was a Marxist–Leninist and Quebec separatist guerrilla group. Founded in the early 1960s with the aim of establishing an independent and socialist Quebec through violent means, the FLQ was considered a terrorist group by the Canadia ...
claimed its first fatality. William Vincent O'Neill, a 65-year-old night watchman and janitor, died in the explosion of a bomb at a
Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
recruitment center. O'Neill, who was planning to retire at the end of May, had been scheduled to start his shift at midnight, but had arrived at 11:30 to allow a co-worker to go home, and was killed when the bomb exploded at 11:45 p.m. *Italy created its first space agency, the ''Istituto Nazionale per le Richerche Spaziali'' (IRS) (National Institute for Space Research). *The
1963 Pan American Games The 1963 Pan American Games were held from April 20 to May 5, 1963, in São Paulo, Brazil. Host city selection For the first time, two cities submitted bids to host the 1963 Pan American Games that were recognized by the Pan American Sports O ...
opened in São Paulo, Brazil. *Died:
Julián Grimau Julián Grimau García (18 February 1911 – 20 April 1963) was a Spanish politician, member of the Communist Party of Spain, executed during Francisco Franco's Francoist State. Political activities Initially active in the Federal Republican ...
, 41, Spanish Communist leader, was executed by a firing squad despite pleas to Spanish dictator
Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
for clemency.


April 21 Events Pre-1600 *753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date). * 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
, 1963 (Sunday)

*The first elections for the Supreme Institution of the
Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
(known as the
Universal House of Justice The Universal House of Justice ( fa, بیت‌العدل اعظم) is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate o ...
, whose seat is at the
Baháʼí World Centre The Baháʼí World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Baháʼí Faith, representing sites in or near the cities of Acre and Haifa, Israel. Much of the international governance and coordination of the ...
on
Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...
in
Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
) were held, with voting open until April 23. * A. J. Foyt won the USAC Championship Car event at
Trenton Speedway Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway. Racing histor ...
(New Jersey). *Hussein ibn Nasser replaced
Samir al-Rifai Samir al-Rifai ( ar, سمير الرفاعي; 30 January 1901 – 12 October 1965) was Jordanian politician. He served several terms as the 8th Prime Minister of Jordan. He was born in Safed. Al-Rifai served under Kings Abdullah I, Talal a ...
as
Prime Minister of Jordan The prime minister of Jordan is the head of government of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The prime minister is appointed by the List of kings of Jordan, king of Jordan, who is then free to form his own Cabinet of Jordan, Cabinet. Th ...
. *
Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...
won the
1963 Imola Grand Prix The 4th Imola Grand Prix was a motor race, run to Formula One rules, held on 21 April 1963 at the Autodromo di Castellaccis. The previous three Imola Grands Prix were sports car races held in the mid-1950s, and this was the first Formula One event ...
(in Italy).


April 22 Events Pre-1600 * 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil. * 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico. * 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern ...
, 1963 (Monday)

*
Bendix Corporation Bendix Corporation is an American manufacturing and engineering company which, during various times in its existence, made automotive brake shoes and systems, vacuum tubes, aircraft brakes, aeronautical hydraulics and electric power systems, av ...
completed the design and fabrication of an
air lock An air lock is a restriction of, or complete stoppage of liquid flow caused by vapour trapped in a high point of a liquid-filled pipe system. The gas, being less dense than the liquid, rises to any high points. This phenomenon is known as vapor l ...
for the Mercury spacecraft. This component was designed to collect micrometeorites during
orbital flight An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in outer space, space for at least one orbit. To do this Geocentric orbit, around the Earth, it must be on a free ...
. The air lock could accommodate a variety of experiments, such as ejecting objects into space and into reentry trajectories, and exposing objects to a
space environment Space environment is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and space physics that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that affect the design and operation of spacecraft. A related subject, space weather, deals ...
for observation and retrieval for later study. Because of the modular construction, the air lock could be adapted to the
Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...
and Apollo spacecraft. *President Kennedy started the one-year countdown for the opening of the
1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...
by keying "1964" on a touch-tone telephone in the Oval Office, starting "a contraption which will count off the seconds until the opening". Kennedy then spoke over the line to a crowd of about 1,000 people at
Flushing Meadow Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...
, and said "Three hundred sixty-six days from today, I plan to attend your opening". President Kennedy would be killed, however, exactly five months before the Fair's opening on April 22, 1964. *Mercury spacecraft No. 20 was moved from Hangar S at Cape Canaveral to Complex 14 and mated to
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
launch vehicle 130-D in preparation for the Mercury 9 mission. The first simulated flight test was begun immediately. Afterward, a prelaunch electrical mate and abort test and a joint flight compatibility test were made. *
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
released its last American prisoners, 27 men who had been incarcerated by the Castro government. Twenty-one were flown from
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
to
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
after New York lawyer James Donovan had negotiated their freedom. Another six elected to go to other nations rather than returning to the U.S. *
Lester Bowles Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...
became the 14th
Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Hou ...
, soon after
John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...
resigned. The oath was administered by Governor-General
Georges Vanier Georges-Philias Vanier (23 April 1888 – 5 March 1967) was a Canadian military officer and diplomat who served as governor general of Canada, the first Quebecer and second Canadian-born person to hold the position. Vanier was born and ...
in Ottawa at Vanier's office, where Pearson presented the names of his 25-member cabinet. *Representatives of the USAF Space Systems Division, the Manned Spacecraft Center, and
Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ot ...
met in
Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...
, for the first management review of the Gemini Agena target vehicle (GATV). *
Robert Taschereau Robert Taschereau (September 10, 1896 – July 26, 1970) was a lawyer who became the 11th Chief Justice of Canada and who briefly served as the Administrator of the Government of Canada following the death of Governor General of Canada Georg ...
took office as the 11th Chief Justice of Canada, replacing
Patrick Kerwin Patrick Kerwin (October 25, 1889 – February 2, 1963) was the tenth Chief Justice of Canada. Life and career Patrick Grandcourt Kerwin was born in Sarnia, Ontario to Patrick Kerwin and Ellen Gavin. Kerwin attended Osgoode Hall Law School ...
, who had died on
February 2 Events Pre-1600 * 506 – Alaric II, eighth king of the Visigoths, promulgates the Breviary of Alaric (''Breviarium Alaricianum'' or ''Lex Romana Visigothorum''), a collection of "Roman law". * 880 – Battle of Lüneburg Heath: King ...
.


April 23 Events Pre-1600 * 215 BC – A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene. * 599 – Maya king Uneh Chan of Calakmul attacks rival city-state Palenque in southe ...
, 1963 (Tuesday)

*
Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Wilhelm Erhard (; 4 February 1897 – 5 May 1977) was a German politician affiliated with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. He is known for leading the West German postwar economic ...
was chosen as the successor for retiring West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, despite Adenauer's recommendations that the Christian Democratic Party and the Christian Socialist Union Bundestag members choose another person. Erhard, who had been the nation's Economic Minister since 1950, was approved by a vote of 159 to 47. *The Ukrainian football club FC Karpaty Lviv played its first official match, defeating Lokomotiv Gomel 1–0. *Died:
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi Yitzhak Ben-Zvi ( he, יִצְחָק בֶּן־צְבִי‎ ''Yitshak Ben-Tsvi''; 24 November 188423 April 1963) was a historian, Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist leader and the longest-serving President of Israel. Biography Born in Poltava in the ...
, 78, second and longest-serving President of Israel since 1952. Speaker Kadish Luz became acting president until
Zalman Shazar Zalman Shazar ( he, זלמן שז"ר; born Shneur Zalman Rubashov; be, Шнэер За́льман Рубашо́ў; russian: Шне́ер За́лмен Рубашо́в; November 24, 1889 – October 5, 1974) was an Israeli politician, author ...
was selected by the Knesset.


April 24, 1963 (Wednesday)

*The
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
defeated the
Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
, 112–109, to win their fifth consecutive NBA championship, four games to two. * Princess Alexandra of Kent, first cousin of
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
, married The Hon. Angus Ogilvy at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
,
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. *The
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
was signed, and would enter into force on March 19, 1967. *Died:
Leonid Lukov Leonid Davydovich Lukov (russian: Леонид Давидович Луков; 2 May 1909 – 24 April 1963) was a Soviet film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 films between 1930 and 1963. Leonid Lukov was named People's Artist of the ...
, 53, Soviet film director and screenwriter


April 25, 1963 (Thursday)

*The United States removed the last of its Jupiter missiles from
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, completing an agreement that had been reached with the Soviet Union after the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
of 1962. *The 12th Syracuse Grand Prix took place in Sicily and was won by Jo Siffert.


April 26, 1963 (Friday)

*
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
signed an agreement with Dassault Aviation to acquire MD-620 short-range missiles, to which Israel would give the name Jericho (missile), Jericho-1. *The third and final launch of the U.S.'s expendable launch system Scout X-2M ended in a failure, without reaching orbit. *Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, became Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh. *Born: Jet Li, Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist and wushu champion; as Li Lianjie in Beijing


April 27, 1963 (Saturday)

*Bob Hayes became the first person to run the Men's 100 metres world record progression, 100-meter dash in less than ten seconds, in 9.9 seconds at a meet in Los Angeles. However, the accomplishment could not be recognized as a world record because the wind was faster than 5 meters per second (18 km/h or 11.2 mph); the barrier would be broken on October 14, 1968, by Jim Hines at 9.95 seconds. *Final design review of complex 14 modifications and activation of facilities was held under the aegis of the USAF Space Systems Division (SSD) in Los Angeles, to begin January 1, 1964, with an estimated 10 months required to prepare complex 14 for Project Gemini Atlas-Agena launches. *The U.S. Marine Corps lost its first aircraft to enemy action in Vietnam, when Viet Cong ground fire shot down a UH-34D transport helicopter near Do Xa, South Vietnam. *Born: Russell T Davies, Welsh television producer and screenwriter; in Swansea


April 28, 1963 (Sunday)

*In the 1963 Italian general election, Italian general election, voting was held for all 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies and 315 of the 321 seats in the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic. Although the Christian Democracy (Italy), Christian Democratic Party of Aldo Moro retained control with 260 (38.3%) of the Deputies' and 129 (36.6%) of the Senate seats, the Italian Communist Party of Palmiro Togliatti almost doubled its presence in the lower chamber, from 85 to 166 seats, for the second largest number. *The 17th Tony Awards ceremony took place in New York City.


April 29, 1963 (Monday)

*NASA Headquarters approved rescheduling of the Gemini flight program due to late delivery of the spacecraft systems. In the revised program, Gemini 1 was still set for December 1963 as an uncrewed mission but would be orbital rather than suborbital to flight-qualify the Titan II GLV subsystems and demonstrate the compatibility of the launch vehicle and spacecraft. Gemini 2, originally a crewed orbital flight, was set for July 1964 as an uncrewed suborbital flight to test spacecraft reentry under maximum heating-rate reentry conditions. Gemini 3, formerly planned as an orbital Space rendezvous, rendezvous mission, became the first crewed flight, a short-duration (probably three-orbit) systems evaluation flight scheduled for October 1964. Subsequent flights were to follow at three-month intervals, ending in January 1967. Gemini 4 would be a seven-day mission using a rendezvous pod. Gemini 6 was to be a 14-day long-duration mission with rendezvous with the Agena D target vehicle. Water landing by parachute was planned for the first six flights and land landing by paraglider from flight 7 on. *Five Latin American nations— Mexico,
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Bolivia, Chile and
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
— announced their agreement to a proposal by Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos to prohibit the placement of nuclear weapons in their territory. *Andrew Loog Oldham, 19, signed a contract with The Rolling Stones, becoming their manager. Oldham had seen the band in concert the previous day at the Crawdaddy Club in London.


April 30, 1963 (Tuesday)

*NASA announced a number of improvements to the Mercury spacesuit, Mercury pressure suit for the upcoming Mercury 9 flight. These included a mechanical seal for the helmet, new gloves with an improved inner-liner and link netting between the inner and outer fabrics at the wrist, and an increased mobility torso section. The boots were integrated with the suit to provide additional comfort for the longer mission, to reduce weight, and to provide an easier and shorter donning time. Another change relocated the life vest from the center of the chest to a pocket on the lower left leg. This modification removed the bulkiness from the front of the suit and provided for more comfort during the flight. *After U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara implied that the U.S. Air Force would take over Project Gemini, NASA Associate Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr. stressed that although the U.S. Department of Defense had a vital role in Gemini management and operations, NASA had the final and overall responsibility for program success. *New Hampshire became the first of the United States to legalize a lotteries in the United States, state lottery in the 20th century. The first drawing in the New Hampshire Sweepstakes would take place on March 12, 1964. *Born: Michael Waltrip, American race car driver, winner of Daytona 500 in 2001 and 2003; in Owensboro, KentuckyCoca-Cola Racing Family.com
/ref>


References

{{Events by month links April, 1963 1963, *1963-04 Months in the 1960s, *1963-04