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1963
in
Michigan

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Decades:
See also:

Events from the year 1963 in Michigan.

The Detroit Free Press[1] and the Associated Press[2] each selected the top 10 news stories in Michigan. The top stories included the following:

  1. The voters' adoption of a new Michigan Constitution (AP-1, DFP-1);
  2. Gov. George W. Romney's fiscal reform campaign, including a proposed state income tax that was defeated by the Legislature (AP-2, DFP-4);
  3. A boom year for the automobile industry (AP-6, DFP-2);
  4. Racial demonstrations, including the June 23 Detroit Walk to Freedom that drew an estimated crowd of 125,000 and was known as "the largest civil rights demonstration in the nation's history" up to that date (AP-7, DFP-3);
  5. A botulism outbreak that (i) killed two Grosse Ile women in March tied to canned tuna, (ii) resulted in two additional deaths in October tied to smoked whitefish, and (iii) caused five deaths in the south traced to Michigan-packaged smoked chubs; some of the botulism was traced to smoked fish canned in Grand Haven (AP-4, DFP-7);
  6. The ouster of Joe Collins led by former Gov. John Swainson and selection of Zolton Ferency as chairman of the state Democratic Party at the February convention in Grand Rapids (AP-9, DFP-6);
  7. Detroit's bid to host the 1968 Summer Olympics, ending with the International Olympic Committee's selection of Mexico City on October 18 (AP-8, DFP-8);
  8. The April escape of four prisoners from the Michigan State Prison in Jackson leading to an intensive manhunt (AP-11 [tie], DFP-9);
  9. The disappearance and murder of Joan Watkins, a 28-year-old housewife and mother from Brooklyn, Michigan (AP-11 [tie], DFP-10);
  10. The impact on Michigan of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (AP-3);
  11. Gov. George W. Romney's first year in office (AP-5);
  12. An April election in which Detroit voters rejected school millage and building bonds (a schools only proposal passed in November) (DFP-5); and
  13. The suspension of Alex Karras by the Detroit Lions as a result of a betting scandal (AP-10).

The United Press International (UPI) selected the state's top sports stories as follows:[3]

  1. The suspension of Alex Karras by the Detroit Lions;
  2. The June 18 firing of Bob Scheffing as manager of the Detroit Tigers;
  3. Detroit's loss of its bid to host the 1968 Summer Olympics;
  4. Gordie Howe's 545th regular season goal on November 10, breaking the NHL record set by Maurice Richard;
  5. The 1963 Michigan State Spartans football team's unsuccessful bid to play in the 1964 Rose Bowl, losing to Illinois in the final game of the season;
  6. William Clay Ford Sr.'s November 22 purchase of a controlling interest in the Detroit Lions;
  7. The November 18 trade of Rocky Colavito by the Detroit Tigers to the Kansas City Athletics;
  8. The collapse of the 1962 Detroit Lions season after numerous injuries;
  9. The July 27 collapse of a bridge into the Clinton River, causing injury to 48 persons, during a golf tournament at Hillcrest Country Club in Macomb County; and
  10. The 1962–63 Detroit Red Wings playing in the 1963 Stanley Cup Finals.

Office holders

State office holders

Gov. Romney

Mayors of major cities

Mayor Cavanagh

Federal office holders

Sen. McNamara
Sen. Hart

Population

In the 1960 United States census, Michigan was recorded as having a population of 7,823,194 persons, ranking as the seventh most populous state in the country. By 1970, the state's population had grown 13.4% to 8,875,083 persons.

Cities

The following is a list of cities in Michigan with a population of at least 60,000 based on 1960 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1950 and 1970 is included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Cities that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.

1960
Rank 		City County 1950 Pop. 1960 Pop. 1970 Pop. Change
1960-70
1 Detroit Wayne 1,849,568 1,670,144 1,514,063 −9.3% Decrease
2 Flint Genesee 163,143 196,940 193,317 −1.8% Decrease
3 Grand Rapids Kent 176,515 177,313 197,649 11.5% Increase
4 Dearborn Wayne 94,994 112,007 104,199 −7.0% Decrease
5 Lansing Ingham 92,129 107,807 131,403 21.9% Increase
6 Saginaw Saginaw 92,918 98,265 91,849 −6.5% Decrease
7 Warren Macomb 42,653 89,246 179,260 100.2% Increase
8 Pontiac Oakland 73,681 82,233 85,279 3.7% Increase
9 Kalamazoo Kalamazoo 57,704 82,089 85,555 4.1% Increase
10 Royal Oak Oakland 46,898 80,612 86,238 7.0% Increase
11 St. Clair Shores Macomb 19,823 76,657 88,093 14.9% Increase
12 Ann Arbor Washtenaw 48,251 67,340 100,035 48.6% Increase
13 Livonia Wayne 17,634 66,702 110,109 65.1% Increase
14 Dearborn Heights Wayne 20,235 61,118 80,069 31.0% Increase
15 Westland Wayne 30,407 60,743 86,749 42.8% Increase

Counties

The following is a list of counties in Michigan with populations of at least 100,000 based on 1960 U.S. Census data. Historic census data from 1950 and 1970 are included to reflect trends in population increases or decreases. Counties that are part of the Detroit metropolitan area are shaded in tan.

1960
Rank 		County Largest city 1950 Pop. 1960 Pop. 1970 Pop. Change
1960-70
1 Wayne Detroit 2,435,235 2,666,297 2,666,751 0.0% Increase
2 Oakland Pontiac 396,001 690,259 907,871 31.5% Increase
3 Macomb Warren 184,961 405,804 625,309 54.1% Increase
4 Genesee Flint 270,963 374,313 444,341 18.7% Increase
5 Kent Grand Rapids 288,292 363,187 411,044 13.2% Increase
6 Ingham Lansing 172,941 211,296 261,039 23.5% Increase
7 Saginaw Saginaw 153,515 190,752 219,743 15.2% Increase
8 Washtenaw Ann Arbor 134,606 172,440 234,103 35.8% Increase
9 Kalamazoo Kalamazoo 126,707 169,712 201,550 18.8% Increase
10 Berrien Benton Harbor 115,702 149,865 163,875 9.3% Increase
11 Calhoun Battle Creek 120,813 138,858 141,963 2.2% Increase
12 Jackson Jackson 108,168 131,994 143,274 8.5% Increase
13 Muskegon Muskegon 121,545 129,943 157,426 21.2% Increase
14 St. Clair Port Huron 91,599 107,201 120,175 12.1% Increase
15 Bay Bay City 88,461 107,042 117,339 9.6% Increase
16 Monroe Monroe 75,666 101,120 118,479 17.2% Increase

Sports

Baseball

American football

Basketball

Ice hockey

Gordie Howe

Golf

Boat racing

Music

Little Stevie Wonder

Detroit's Motown record label had several hits in 1963, including the following:

Chronology of events

January

  • January 1 - George Romney was sworn in as Governor of Michigan before a crowd of 3,000 persons in Lansing.[20]
  • January 1 - Demolition began on the site of the Pontchartrain Hotel, the first major hotel built in Detroit in more than 30 years.[21]
  • January 3 - Sixten Ehrling was named permanent conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
  • January 7 - Henry Ford II announced a $400 million expansion plan for Ford Motor Company, including $50-60 million in the Detroit area
  • January 8 - Detroit Police Commissioner George Edwards charged that several Detroit Lions players, including Alex Karras and Wayne Walker, were associating with "notorious gamblers"[22]
  • January 12 - Three persons were killed when a plane crashed into the back yard of a home in Warren, Michigan
  • January 23-24 - Cold weather covers much of the country with over 100 deaths; Detroit records a record 12 degrees below zero
  • January 28 - General Motors announced a 1962 profit of $1.459 billion, the largest corporate profit in history

February

  • February 5 - Following a month of sniper shootings in Oakland County, a 15-year-old genius (140 IQ) from Bloomfield Township, Douglas Cooper Godfrey, was arrested. He confessed to shooting and killing his mother.[23] A 22-year-old Novi man confessed on February 7 to another shooting which was intended to copy the Bloomfield shooter.
  • February 6 - Ford Motor Company announced record 1962 profits of $480.7 million.
  • February 15 - Studebaker announced it would install seatbelts on all new cars, becoming the first auto maker to make the commitment.
  • February 18 - General Motors announced a $1.25 billion expansion plan, including $500 million in investments in Michigan
  • February 24 - The executive offices of Hygrade Food Products in Detroit were destroyed by a fire.

March

  • March 4 - Detroit Tigers holdout Rocky Colavito signed a $54,000 contract with the club.
  • March 18 - Detroit announces as the winner of the USOC bid to host the 1968 Summer Olympics.[24]

April

  • April 7 - Three Central Michigan University students were killed and 12 injured as a wall collapsed in a burning building in Mount Pleasant.
  • April 9 - Arjay Miller was announced as the new president of Ford Motor Company.
  • April 12 - Two white men were arrested in Mississippi for throwing a firebomb into a house where Detroit Congressman Charles Diggs was staying.
  • April 16 - Chrysler announced a $36.2 million profit in first quarter with a 50% increase in sales.
  • April 17 - NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Lions' star Alex Karras for one year for betting on football games. Five other Lions were fined $2,000 each for betting on the 1962 NFL Championship Game.
  • April 18 - The Detroit Red Wings lost the final game of the 1963 Stanley Cup Finals to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
  • April 23 - Four prisoners escaped from Jackson Prison. The last three prisoners were captured on May 25 in Wisconsin.
  • April 24 - General Motors announced record profits of $414 million in first quarter on sales of $4.1 billion.

May

  • May 9 - Jimmy Hoffa was indicted on charges of tampering with a federal grand jury in Nashville.

June

  • June - Charles S. Mott gifted General Motors stock valued at $129 million to the Flint schools and other local programs.
  • June 4 - Jimmy Hoffa was indicted in Chicago on federal charges of fraudulently obtaining loans from Teamsters pension funds.
  • June 9 - A tornado injured 12 persons in Belmont, Michigan (north of Grand Rapids), with storms and flooding extending to Detroit
  • June 18 - Bob Scheffing was fired as manager of the Detroit Tigers
  • June 20 - Anthony Giacalone was arrested for bribing a police officer to lay off his gambling operation.
  • June 23 - Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to 125,000 at the Detroit Walk to Freedom in downtown Detroit. At the time, it was the largest civil rights demonstration in US history.
  • June 27 - The first public hearing is held on the new I-696 freeway which is expected to require demolition of 1,500 homes and businesses.

July

  • July 24 - The body of Detroit confidence man Sol C. Brodsky was discovered riddled with bullets in Macomb Township.
  • July 27 - A bridge collapsed into the Clinton River, causing injury to 48 persons, during a golf tournament at Hillcrest Country Club in Macomb County.[25]
  • July 29 - General Motors announced second quarter earnings that broke 10 records. Earnings for the first six months totaled $878 million on $8.668 billion in sales. Worldwide employment reached 641,449.

August

  • August 21 - General Motors and Chrysler announce that seat belts will be standard equipment starting in 1964.

September

  • September 19 - 40 persons arrested in Detroit drug raid; heroin and marijuana seized.
  • September 26 - An elephant escaped from a carnival, broke through the windows of a Lansing department store, and rampaged through the store.
  • September 29 - The Detroit Free Press publishes an investigative report on the runway at Selfridge Air Force Base built with defective concrete that has developed thousands of small holes, forcing the Air Force to declare it hazardous.

October

  • October 3-8 - Four die in botulism outbreak tied to smoked whitefish packaged in Michigan
  • October 5 - Unemployment rate in Michigan and Detroit area drops to 3.9%, the lowest level since 1955.
  • October 10 - Detroit Police Commissioner testified before Congress about the operations of the Mafia in Detroit.
  • October 11 - Michigan State Police raided the Star Social Club in Madison Heights, alleged to be a gambling operation tied to the Mafia.
  • October 18 - The International Olympic Committee awarded the 1968 Summer Olympics to Mexico City. The vote count was 30 votes for Mexico City, 14 for Detroit, 12 for Lyons, and two for Buenos Aires.[26]
  • October 25 - A five-year-old girl was kidnapped from a car in Lansing. She was found alive one day later.
  • October 28 - General Motors announced record profits of $1.086 billion for first three quarters on sales of $11.681 billion.

November

  • November 6 - Detroit's Archbishop John Dearden was appointed to the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.
  • November 9 - After a 10-year decline in Detroit's population from 1.905 million in 1953 to 1.620 million in 1963, Detroit Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Commission projected an increase in population moving forward.
  • November 10 - Gordie Howe scored his 545th regular season goal against the Montreal Canadiens, breaking the NHL record set by Maurice Richard.
  • November 18 - The Detroit Tigers traded Rocky Colavito to the Kansas City Athletics.
  • November 20 - A federal judge in Nashville charged that Jimmy Hoffa's attorney conspired to bribe a juror in Hoffa's trial for tampering with a grand jury.
  • November 22

December

  • December 2 - Chrysler plans disclosed for a stamping plant in Sterling Heights providing 3,000 jobs.
  • December 9 - Studebaker announced it would cease manufacturing automobiles in the United States.

Births

Deaths

See also

References

  1. ^ "Top Stories of the City and State". Detroit Free Press. December 29, 1963. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Romney Stories Lead Off Top 10 In News Of 1963". Escanaba Daily Press. December 27, 1963. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Lion Incident Top '63 Story". Traverse City Record-Eagle. December 26, 1963. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "1963 Detroit Tigers Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "2012 University of Michigan Baseball Record Book" (PDF). University of Michigan. 2012. pp. 22, 71. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  6. ^ 2012 Record Book, p. 13.
  7. ^ "1963 Detroit Lions Statistics & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  8. ^ "1963 Michigan State Spartans Stats". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  9. ^ "1963 Michigan Wolverines Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  10. ^ "1962–63 Detroit Pistons Roster and Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  11. ^ "1962–63 Michigan Wolverines Schedule and Results". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  12. ^ "1962–63 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  13. ^ "1962–63 Detroit Titans Roster and Stats". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  14. ^ "1962–63 Western Michigan Broncos Schedule and Results". SR/CBB. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  15. ^ "1962–63 Detroit Red Wings Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  16. ^ "Michigan Tech Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  17. ^ "Michigan Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  18. ^ "Michigan State Team History". College Hockey News. Retrieved August 19, 2017.
  19. ^ "Bardahl Roars To Gold Cup Records". Detroit Free Press. July 8, 1963. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Romney Takes Oath, Asks Support of All". Detroit Free Press. January 2, 1963. pp. 1A, 4A – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Clearing of New Hotel Site Starts: 25-Story Pontchartrain To Rise On Spot". Detroit Free Press. January 2, 1963. p. 1A – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Hiding Nothing, Lion Says; Offers To Take Lie Test". Detroit Free Press. January 9, 1963. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "How Sniper Plotted To Kill His Mother". Detroit Free Press. February 6, 1963. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "City Wins Olympic Bid". Detroit Free Press. 19 March 1963. p. 1.
  25. ^ "40 Injured As Bridge Falls At Golf Meet". Detroit Free Press. July 28, 1963. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Olympic Loss Laid to Anti-U.S. Bias". Detroit Free Press. October 19, 1963. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "U.S. Judge Picard Dies at 73". Detroit Free Press. March 1, 1963. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Boxing's Greatest Manager: Doc Kearns Dead". Detroit Free Press. July 8, 1963. p. 31 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "This clipping has been marked as not public". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  30. ^ "Willie Heston, 85, Football Star At Michigan Under Yost, Dies; Wolverine Halfback Scored 93 Touchdowns During Seasons of 1901-4; Was a Speedy Runner; Birth of a Keen Rivalry". The New York Times. 1963-09-11.
  31. ^ "Singer Dinah Washington Dies". Detroit Free Press. December 15, 1963. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
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