December 1963

January – February – March – April – May – June  – July – August – September – October – November – December

The following events occurred in December, 1963.

December 1, 1963 (Sunday)

• The Venezuelan general election, 1963, results in victory for Raúl Leoni of the Democratic Action party.
• In the Senegalese general election, 1963, incumbent President Léopold Sédar Senghor of the Senegalese Progressive Union is elected unopposed, and his party wins all 80 seats with 94.2% of the vote.
• The constitution of India is amended to establish the state of Nagaland.
• Born: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sri Lankan cricketer and politician, in Gampaha

December 2, 1963 (Monday)

• In the UK, the Weedon to Marton Junction railway line closes.

December 3, 1963 (Tuesday)

• The Warren Commission begins its investigation into the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy.
• The Romanian legation in Belgium is upgraded to an embassy.

December 4, 1963 (Wednesday)

• Christophe Soglo, the military officer who took control of Dahomey in a coup d'état two months earlier, forces the resignation of former President Hubert Maga from the provisional government, suspecting Maga of involvement in an assassination attempt.
• The second period of Second Vatican Council closes.
• The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopts Resolution 182relating to the apartheid policy of the Government of the Republic of South Africa
• Born: Sergey Bubka, Ukrainian pole-vaulter, in Luhansk

December 5, 1963 (Thursday)

• The Seliger Forschungs-und-Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH demonstrates rockets for military use to military representatives of non-NATO-countries near Cuxhaven. The rockets land via parachute at the end of their flight and no allied laws are violated, but the Soviet Union protests.
• The bodies of Patrick Bouvier Kennedy and his stillborn sister Arabella are re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery, next to that of their father, President John F. Kennedy.
• Died: Karl Amadeus Hartmann, 58, German composer, of stomach cancer

December 6, 1963 (Friday)

• Brian Booth of Australia scores a century in the first test against South Africa at Brisbane.
• Born: Ulrich Thomsen, Danish actor, in Fyn

December 7, 1963 (Saturday)

Tony Verna, a CBS-TV director, invents "Instant Replay" and demonstrates it during his direction of a live, televised sporting event: the 1963 Army-Navy Game played in Philadelphia.

December 8, 1963 (Sunday)

• A lightning strike causes the crashing of Pan Am Flight 214 near Elkton, Maryland, killing 81 people.
• Frank Sinatra Jr. is kidnapped at Harrah's Lake Tahoe.
• Eddie Barlow of South Africa scores a century in the first test against Australia at Brisbane.

December 9, 1963 (Monday)

• Died: Daniel O. Fagunwa, 60, Nigerian Yoruba language novelist

December 10, 1963 (Tuesday)

• Aden Emergency: A grenade is thrown at a gathering of British officials at Aden Airport, resulting in a state of emergency being declared in the British Crown colony.
• In the United States, the X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane program is cancelled.
• Chuck Yeager, while testing an NF-104A rocket-augmented aerospace trainer, narrowly escapes death when his aircraft goes out of control at 108,700 feet (nearly 21 miles up) and crashes. He parachutes to safety at 8,500 feet after vainly battling to gain control of the powerless, rapidly falling craft, becoming the first pilot to make an emergency ejection in the full pressure suit needed for high altitude flights.

December 11, 1963 (Wednesday)

• Parliamentary elections are held in the Republic of the Congo, contested by only one party, the National Movement of the Revolution, which wins all the seats.
• Born: Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, German tennis player, in Saarbrücken

December 12, 1963 (Thursday)

• Kenya becomes independent, with Jomo Kenyatta as prime minister.
• A European Conference on Experimental Social Psychology opens at Sorrento, Italy.
• Died: Theodor Heuss, 79, 5th President of Germany; Yasujiro Ozu, Japanese filmmaker, on his 60th birthday (cancer)

December 13, 1963 (Friday)

• At the Gaumont Cinema, Southampton, The Beatles make the 34th and last appearance of their autumn tour of the UK and Ireland.
• Died: Mahmud Shaltut, 70, Egyptian Islamic theologian

December 14, 1963 (Saturday)

• Died: Dinah Washington, 39, African-American blues, R&B and jazz singer, from an overdose of barbiturates; she is found dead by her eighth husband Dick "Night Train" Lane.

December 15, 1963 (Sunday)

• The Schwyzer Strassenbahn electric tramway in Schwyz, Switzerland, ceases to operate after 63 years.
• Born: Samura Kamara, Sierra Leone politician
• Died: Oscar Traynor, 77, Irish politician

December 16, 1963 (Monday)

• The Saturday Evening Post issues its Kennedy memorial edition with cover by Norman Rockwell.
• Died: Nam Phuong, 49, former Empress of Vietnam (heart attack)

December 17, 1963 (Tuesday)

• Park Chung-hee is confirmed as President of South Korea, having been Acting President since the previous year.
• Born: Ivan Korade, Croatian general and war criminal (died 2008) in Velika Veternička

December 18, 1963 (Wednesday)

• Ahti Karjalainen's first cabinet, the 47th government of Finland, comes to an end, following the withdrawal of the Social Democratic Union of Workers and Smallholders from the coalition two months earlier, and is replaced by Reino Lehto's cabinet.
• Born: Brad Pitt, American actor, in Shawnee, Oklahoma

December 19, 1963 (Thursday)

• Zanzibar gains independence from Great Britain as a constitutional monarchy, under Sultan Jamshid bin Abdullah.

December 20, 1963 (Friday)

• Armed conflict breaks out between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, as a result of a random incident in Nicosia when a Greek police patrol tries to control a group of Turkish citizens.

December 21, 1963 (Saturday)

• Cyprus dispute: Inter-communal fighting erupts between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
• Died: Sir Jack Hobbs, 81, English cricketer

December 22, 1963 (Sunday)

• The cruise ship Lakonia burns 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira, with the loss of 128 lives.

December 23, 1963 (Monday)

• The New York Giants defeat Pittsburgh to win their third Eastern Division championship in a row.
• Born: Donna Tartt, American novelist, in Greenwood, Mississippi
• Died: Sándor Wekerle Jr., 85, Hungarian politician

December 24, 1963 (Tuesday)

• At Paládicspuszta, Szolnok, Hungary, a passenger train hits a freight train. 45 people are killed and 34 injured.
• Died: Mikhaylo Parashchuk, 85, Ukrainian sculptor

December 25, 1963 (Wednesday)

• Walt Disney releases his 18th feature-length animated motion picture The Sword in the Stone, about the boyhood of King Arthur. It is the penultimate animated film personally supervised by Disney.
• İsmet İnönü of CHP forms the new government of Turkey (28th government, coalition partners; independents, İnönü has served 10 ten times as a prime minister, this is his last government).
• Died: Tristan Tzara, 67, Romanian-French poet

December 26, 1963 (Thursday)

• An important Islamic holy relic disappears from the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar, India. The relic is recovered after a week.
• At their home ground, Turf Moor, Burnley F.C. defeat Manchester United F.C. by 6 goals to 1.
• Born: Lars Ulrich, Danish rock drummer, in Gentofte

December 27, 1963 (Friday)

• Born: Gamal Mubarak, Egyptian politician, to Hosni Mubarak and his wife Suzanne, in Cairo.

December 28, 1963 (Saturday)

• Television Singapura begins operating under a new name: Television Malaysia (Singapura)
• Died: Paul Hindemith, 68, German composer

December 29, 1963 (Sunday)

• Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation: A Royal Malay Regiment position at Kalabakan, west of Tawau in Sabah, is taken by surprise after KKO forces conceal themselves in nearby swampland. Eight soldiers are killed, including the commander, and 19 wounded.

December 30, 1963 (Monday)

• A total lunar eclipse takes place.
• The pilot edition of I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again is broadcast on the BBC Home Service under the title Cambridge Circus.
• Died: Prince Chula Chakrabongse, 55, member of the Thai royal family (cancer)