August 1963
{{short description|Month of 1963}}
{{events by month|1963}}
{{calendar|year=1963|month=August}}
File:March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Joachim Prinz 1963.jpg
File:Martin Luther King - March on Washington.jpg
The following events occurred in August 1963:
[[August 1]], 1963 (Thursday)
- The "Protocol to Amend the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air signed at Warsaw on 12 October 1929", commonly known as the Hague Protocol, came into effect.{{cite book |first=Chia-Jui |last=Cheng |title=Basic Documents on International Trade Law |publisher=BRILL |year=1990 |page=366}}
- The first Design Engineering Inspection of the full-scale test vehicle of the Gemini Paraglider Landing System Program was done by North American Aviation and resulted in 30 requests for alterations.{{Source attribution}} {{cite book |title=Project Gemini Technology and Operations - A Chronology |chapter=PART II (A) Development and Qualification January 1963 through December 1963 |last1=Grimwood |first1=James M. |last2=Hacker |first2=Barton C. |last3=Vorzimmer |first3=Peter J. |series=NASA Special Publication-4002 |chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4002/p2a.htm |publisher=NASA |access-date=23 February 2023}}
- The United States amended its Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) for nuclear war for the first time, altering the original plan that had been in place since July 1, 1962.{{cite journal |title=Nuclear Notebook |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |date=June 1989 |page=48}}
- George Harrison and Paul McCartney sang a duet on a Beatles tape recording of the Goffin-King song "Don't Ever Change" for later broadcast on BBC radio.
- The 11th World Scout Jamboree began, in Marathon, Greece.
- The Banque du Liban was established in Lebanon.
- Born: Coolio (stage name for Artis Ivey, Jr.) American rapper (d. 2022); in Monessen, Pennsylvania{{cite news |title=The rapper Coolio has died at 59 |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/09/28/1125843390/coolio-rapper-dead |agency=The Associated Press |publisher=NPR |department=MUSIC NEWS |date=28 September 2022 |access-date=23 February 2023}}
- Died: Theodore Roethke, 55, American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet; of a heart attack{{cite book |author=Gale, Cengage Learning |author-link=Gale (publisher) |title=A Study Guide for Theodore Roethke's "Dolor" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9LVSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT5 |publisher=Gale, Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-5358-4544-1 |page=5 |via=Google Books}}
[[August 2]], 1963 (Friday)
- The Sino-Soviet split widened as the People's Republic of China, in its strongest condemnation to that time of the Soviet Union, criticized the Soviets as being "freaks and monsters" for making "unconditional concessions and capitulation to the imperialists" after the USSR had agreed to a partial nuclear test ban treaty with the United States and the United Kingdom. The statement came in an editorial in the Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily."Soviets are 'Freaks, Monsters'", Miami News, August 2, 1963, p1
- The NFL champion Green Bay Packers were upset, 20–17, by the College All-Stars in the annual Chicago College All-Star Game."All-Stars Upset Packers", Milwaukee Sentinel, August 3, 1963, p7 It would be the last time that the All-Stars would win the series, which would be discontinued after the 1976 contest.[http://www.profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/08-An-04.pdf "The Death of an All-Star Game"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218222016/http://profootballresearchers.org/Coffin_Corner/08-An-04.pdf |date=2010-12-18 }}, by John C. Hibner, Coffin Corner 1986 Annual, (Professional Football Researchers Association)
- José de Jesús García Ayala was consecrated as Auxiliary Bishop of Campeche. He would go on to become the oldest bishop in the Mexican church, living beyond his 100th birthday.
- A tropical storm off Bermuda intensified and was classified as Hurricane Arlene, though it would degenerate into a tropical depression the following day.{{cite web|author=Hurricane Specialists Division |publisher=National Hurricane Center |year=2009 |access-date=September 6, 2009 |title=Easy to Read HURDAT 2008 |url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/easyread-2009.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413163306/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/easyread-2009.html |archive-date=April 13, 2010 }}
[[August 3]], 1963 (Saturday)
- The U.S.-launched Syncom 2, launched on July 26, was successfully lifted to an altitude of {{convert|22,500|mi}} and achieved a speed of {{Convert|6,880|mph}} in order to keep pace with the Earth's equatorial rotational movement of {{Convert|1,040|mph}}, becoming the first Earth-made object to achieve geosynchronous orbit. Syncom 2 remained fixed at a point near the equator and over Brazil.{{cite news |title=Syncom 2 Orbits |journal=Miami News |date=July 26, 1963 |page=1}}
- The Beatles performed at The Cavern Club in Liverpool for the 275th, and final time, nearly 18 months after their first appearance on the club's stage on February 9, 1961.{{cite book |first=Barry |last=Miles |author-link=Barry Miles |title=Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now |title-link=Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now |publisher=Macmillan |year=1998 |page=80}}
- Born:
- James Hetfield, American singer/songwriter and founder of the rock band Metallica; in Downey, California
- Tasmin Archer, English singer; in Bradford, Yorkshire
- Died:
- Stephen Ward, 50, English osteopath and a central figure in the Profumo affair, died three days after taking an overdose of barbiturates. In his suicide note, he wrote, "It's a wish not to let them get me. I'd rather get myself."{{cite news |title=Ward Dies, Leaves Note: 'I'd Rather Get Myself' |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 4, 1963 |page=1}}
- Phil Graham, 48, publisher of The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine; by suicide{{cite news |title=Washington Post Chief Killed |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 4, 1963 |page=1}}
[[August 4]], 1963 (Sunday)
- At 5:00 in the morning, Haiti was invaded from the Dominican Republic by an army of 500 Haitian rebels seeking to overthrow the dictatorship of President Francois Duvalier, commonly referred to as "Papa Doc". The rebel forces crossed the border from the Dominican town of Dajabón to strike at Ouanaminthe, moving across the Rivière du Massacre/Rio Dajabón."Haiti Rushes Men by Air to Fight Rebels", Chicago Tribune, August 7, 1963, p1
- The 1963 German Grand Prix was held at the Nürburgring and won by John Surtees, with Jim Clark finishing second. Clark remained well in first place in the world auto-driving championship standings, with 42 points, while Surtees was second at 22."Jim Clark Holds Auto Point Lead", Miami News, August 5, 1963, p1B
- The African Development Bank (AfDB) was created by agreement of the leaders of 33 African nations meeting in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan."African Development Bank", in International Governmental Organizations: Constitutional Documents, Amos J. Peaslee and Dorothy Peaslee Xydis, eds. (BRILL, 1961) p66
- Born: Keith Ellison, U.S. Representative for Minnesota from 2007 to 2019, the first Muslim to be elected to the United States Congress; in Detroit
[[August 5]], 1963 (Monday)
File:Next Nine Desert Survival Training.jpg
- All members of NASA Astronaut Group 2 and two of the Mercury astronauts began a five-day desert survival course at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada. The course, oriented toward Project Gemini missions, had (1) one and one-half days of academic presentations on characteristics of world desert areas and survival techniques; (2) one day of field demonstrations on use and care of survival equipment and use of the parachute in construction of clothing, shelters, and signals; and (3) two days of remote site training, when two-man teams were left alone in the desert to apply what they had learned from the academic and demonstration phases of the program.
- In Moscow, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the first Nuclear Test Ban treaty. The ceremony took place at the Kremlin with U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk, British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home, and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko signing on behalf of their respective nations.{{cite news |title=Big 3 Sign Ban Pact In Kremlin Ceremony |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 5, 1963 |page=1}}
- Craig Breedlove set the record for fastest driver in the world, reaching {{convert|428.37|mph}} "for a measured mile" in a jet-powered vehicle, Spirit of America, on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. His average for two runs was {{convert|407.45|mph}}.{{cite news |title=American Driver Sets Speed Mark-- 407 MPH |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 5, 1963 |page=1B}}
- The trial of Stephen Ward was formally closed with no sentence pronounced, two days after Ward's suicide.{{cite book |first=Ludovic |last=Kennedy |author-link=Ludovic Kennedy |year=1964 |title=The Trial of Stephen Ward |isbn=978-0-575-01035-2 |page=227}}
- Born: Mark Strong, English actor; in London
- Died: Salvador Bacarisse, 64, Spanish composer
[[August 6]], 1963 (Tuesday)
- The United States Senate voted, 84 to 0, for a pay increase to nearly all members of the United States Armed Services, whether active or on reserve, three months after the House of Representatives had passed a "somewhat similar, but less generous bill".{{cite news |title=MILITARY PAY RAISE OK'D — Senate Approves by 84-0 Margin |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=August 7, 1963 |page=1}}
- Died:
- Lina Ruz González y Castro, 60, mother of Cuban leaders Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro
- Sophus Nielsen, 75, Danish soccer player and manager
[[August 7]], 1963 (Wednesday)
- A freak escalator accident at the Garden State Park Racetrack in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, killed a man and his daughter. John Patrick Sweeney and 8-year-old Peggy Sweeney, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, were touring the closed park with a friend when they stepped over a box of tools that had been blocking the moving stairway, unaware that a protective plate at the top had been removed for maintenance. The two fell into the moving machinery and were crushed to death.{{cite news |title=Father, Daughter Crushed to Death Under Escalator |newspaper=Long Beach Press Telegram |location=Long Beach, California |date=August 8, 1963 |page=3}}
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 181 was passed, calling for a voluntary arms embargo of South Africa because of its racial discrimination. The United States and the United Kingdom abstained from the vote.{{cite book |first1=Jacklyn |last1=Cock |first2=Laurie |last2=Nathan |title=War and Society: The Militarisation of South Africa |publisher=New Africa Books |year=1989 |page=233}}
- Test pilot Jim Eastham made the first flight of the Lockheed YF-12 jet fighter over Nevada's Groom Dry Lake.{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Crickmore |title=Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond The Secret Missions |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2004 |page=93}}
- The beach party film genre began with the release of AIP's Beach Party.{{AFI film|18825}}Staff (July 3, 1962) "'Beach Party' Fifth on API Schedule" Los Angeles Times p.C6
- Born: Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, by emergency caesarean section, five and a half weeks early, at the Otis Air Force Base Hospital in Bourne, Massachusetts.{{cite news |title=IT'S A BOY FOR THE KENNEDYS |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |date=August 7, 1963 |page=1}}{{cite book |title=America's Royalty: All the Presidents' Children |first1=Sandra L. |last1=Quinn-Musgrove |first2=Sanford |last2=Kanterand |year=1995}} He was quickly transferred to the Children's Hospital Boston, and would die 39 hours later of respiratory problems.{{cite news |title=KENNEDYS MOURN DEATH OF BABY |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |date=August 9, 1963 |page=1}}
- Died: Ramon Vila Capdevila, 55, nicknamed Caraquemada, Spanish rebel who was killed in a gun battle with Spanish Civil Guards
[[August 8]], 1963 (Thursday)
- The Great Train Robbery of 1963 took place at Ledburn, Buckinghamshire, England, when a gang of bandits halted a train ferrying mail between Glasgow and London. At 3:00 a.m., the group caused the train's engineer to stop by activating the red signal and covering the green signal. When the train came to a halt, engineer Jack Mills and his assistant were overpowered, while others in the group boarded the first two coaches hauling mail and tied up the four employees on board. The group then uncoupled the engine and two coaches from the other ten cars on the train, and forced the engineer and assistant to move one mile down the line to the Bridego Bridge, where the mail bags were dropped into automobiles waiting beneath. The haul was estimated at £2,600,000 (at the time worth about $7,300,000; equivalent to £70 million or $87,500,000 in 2023).{{cite news |title=Train Robbery Nets $2.8 Million |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 8, 1963 |page=1}}{{cite book |first=Brenda |last=Haugen |title=The Great Train Robbery: History-Making Heist |publisher=Capstone Press |year=2010}}
- Ndabaningi Sithole, future Zimbabwean prime minister (and later, president) Robert Mugabe, and other members of the Zimbabwe African People's Union formed the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) after being dissatisfied with the leadership of Joshua Nkomo.{{cite book |first=Andrew |last=Norman |title=Robert Mugabe and the Betrayal of Zimbabwe |publisher=McFarland |year=2004 |page=57}}
- Qualification testing of the Gemini parachute recovery system demonstrated water-impact accelerations low enough to make water landing safe.
[[August 9]], 1963 (Friday)
File:Pizzo Exh B-Oswald leaflets FPFC-WH Vol21 139.jpg
- American dissident Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in New Orleans while distributing leaflets for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee at the corner of Canal Street and Baronne Street, after getting into a scuffle with three Cuban men (Carlos Bringuier, Celso Macario and Miguel Mariano), who were also arrested. Oswald spent the night in jail, and was then released.{{cite book |author=Warren Commission |author-link=Warren Commission |title=The Warren Commission Report: Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy |orig-year=Originally published by Associated Press in 1964 |publisher=Filiquarian Publishing |year=2007 |pages=407–408}}{{cite book |first=John |last=Newman |author-link=John M. Newman |title=Oswald and the CIA: The Documented Truth About the Unknown Relationship Between the U.S. Government and the Alleged Killer of JFK |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |year=2008 |pages=328–329}} A week later, on August 16, Oswald again passed out Fair Play for Cuba leaflets with two hired helpers, this time in front of the International Trade Mart.
- Representatives of Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC), Arnold Engineering Development Center, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, and Thiokol met to analyze problems in the Gemini retrorocket abort system. Several components, including retrorocket nozzle exit cones and mounting structure, had failed in recent tests at Arnold. After improvements, a retesting in October was successful.
- Hurricane Arlene passed directly over Bermuda with winds of {{convert|85|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. The storm continued to intensify after passing the island, with a barometric pressure of {{convert|969|mbar|hPa inHg|abbr=on}} and winds reaching {{convert|105|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}. The hurricane weakened and was downgraded to an extratropical cyclone as it moved out to sea.
- The British rock music show Ready Steady Go! premiered on Associated-Rediffusion in London, part of Britain's ITV network, and would later be shown on the other ITV stations. It would run until December 7, 1966.{{cite book |first=Ian |last=Inglis |title=Popular Music And Television In Britain |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |year=2010 |pages=71–72}}{{cite book |first=Horace |last=Newcomb |author-link=Horace Newcomb |title=Encyclopedia of Television |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |page=1895}}
- Born: Whitney Houston, American pop singer (d. 2012); in Newark, New Jersey{{Cite web |date=August 9, 2023 |title=11 of Whitney Houston's Most Dazzling Beauty Looks |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/whitney-houston-best-beauty-looks |access-date=August 9, 2023 |work=Vogue}}
- Died: Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, two-day-old son of President John F. Kennedy, of infant respiratory distress syndrome. A funeral mass for the child was held the next day in the private chapel of Cardinal Richard Cushing in Boston.{{cite news |title=Children's Mass for JFK's Son |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 9, 1963 |page=1}}
[[August 10]], 1963 (Saturday)
- A new record was set for latest ending to a Major League Baseball game, when the second game of a doubleheader between the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the visiting Houston Colt .45s (now the Astros) lasted until 2:30 in the morning. The first game had been delayed for an hour by rain. Only 300 of the original 9,420 fans stayed to watch Pittsburgh win 7–6 after 11 innings. The record would be broken on June 13, 1967, when a Washington Senators' 6–5 win over the Chicago White Sox ended at 2:44 a.m.Philip J. Lowry, Baseball's Longest Games: A Comprehensive Worldwide Record Book (McFarland, 2010) p274
- Giovanni Colombo became Archbishop of Milan, replacing Pope Paul VI, who had been elected to the papacy two months earlier.
- Born: Phoolan Devi, Indian bandit and politician (d. 2001); in Ghura Ka Purwa, Uttar Pradesh state
- Died: Estes Kefauver, 60, American politician who almost won the 1952 Democratic presidential nomination and then served as running-mate for nominee Adlai Stevenson II in 1956.
[[August 11]], 1963 (Sunday)
- Four of the defendants who had been arrested on July 11, at the Liliesleaf Farm near Johannesburg, were able to escape their South African jail after a bribe was promised to their guard by the ANC. Harold Wolpe and Arthur Goldreich, who were both white, were confined at Johannesburg's Marshall Square Police Station, in the same cell with Indian South Africans Abdulhay Jassat and Moosa Moolla, separate from the black South African defendants. Their white guard, Johannes Greeff, served three years of a six-year sentence, and later received 2,000 African pounds.Nelson Mandela, Conversations with Myself (Random House Digital, 2010) Wolpe and Goldreich would elude a nationwide search and, "disguised as priests", make it to Swaziland (which was surrounded by South Africa), and on September 8, would charter a plane to fly to Tanganyika.Gideon Shimoni, Community and Conscience: The Jews in Apartheid South Africa (University Press of New England, 2003) p67
- Lieutenant General Song Yo-Chang, former Prime Minister of South Korea, was arrested on orders of the President and his former superior officer, General Park Chung-hee. On August 8, General Song had published a letter in the nation's newspapers, calling on General Park not to run in the October elections."Gen. Song Is Arrested In Korea", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 12, 1963, p2
- Two teams of surgeons, at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, carried out the successful separation of a pair of conjoined twins, Daniel Bartley and David Bartley, 27 hours after their birth. The two were joined at the abdomen."2 Teams of MDs Separate Day-Old Siamese Twins", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 12, 1963, p1 Daniel died three days later, on August 14.[https://calisphere.org/item/b19061ef6116cbee1cf10285eda55855/ Surviving month-old Siamese twin goes home today]
- Food poisoning struck about 150 of 800 women who had attended a dinner at which the Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cardinal Cushing, was the guest speaker."150 Stricken After Church Dinner", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 13, 1963, p1
- Benoni Beheyt won the 1963 UCI Road World Championships bicycle race at Renaix, Belgium.
- Jim Clark won the 1963 Kanonloppet motor race at Karlskoga Circuit in Sweden.
- Died:
- Clem Bevans, 83, American vaudeville star and film actor
- Charles Seymour, 78, American academician
[[August 12]], 1963 (Monday)
- Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya, spoke to 300 white farmers at Nakuru, and reassured them that the new black African government would look after their interests if they remained. "To the chagrin of many freedom fighters, his prophecy turned out to be accurate", one commentator would observe later about the former Mau Mau Uprising leader."Kenyatta, Jomo", in Encyclopedia of the Developing World, Thomas M. Leonard, ed. (Taylor & Francis, 2006) p806
- Fifteen of the 16 people on board an Air-Inter flight were killed when the Viscount airplane they were on crashed while attempting a landing in a thunderstorm at Lyon. The airplane, which was stopping at Lille on the way to Nice, struck a barn as it descended, and debris from the wreckage killed the farm owner. The sole survivor was a three-year-old girl."Airliner Hits Barn, 16 Die", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 13, 1963, p1
- Born: Kōji Kitao, Japanese sumo wrestler (d. 2019); in Mie
[[August 13]], 1963 (Tuesday)
- The "Trois Glorieuses" uprising began in Congo-Brazzaville (formerly the French Congo), as political rallies degenerated into violent clashes.Bazenguissa-Ganga, Rémy. [https://books.google.com/books?id=15Qza8LQcFMC Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique]. Paris: Karthala, 1997. pp. 65, 71 Striking workers in the capital, Brazzaville, stormed the city prison and released all of the inmates."Brazzaville Rioters Free All Prison Inmates", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 12, 1963, p2
- Born:
- Sridevi, Indian actress cited as the "first female superstar" of Indian cinema; as Shree Amma Ayyapan in Meenampatti, Madras State (died of cardiac arrest, 2018){{cite web|last=Saxena|first=Poonam|date=26 February 2018|title=Sridevi: the rough diamond who transformed into India's first female superstar|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1391756|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427104428/https://www.dawn.com/news/1391756|archive-date=27 April 2018|access-date=27 April 2018|website=DAWN.COM|language=en-PK}}
- Édouard Michelin, managing partner and co-chief executive of the Michelin Group in 1999; in Clermont-Ferrand (died by drowning, 2006)
- Valerie Plame, American CIA Operations Officer who was identified after a leak from a U.S. State Department official; in Anchorage, Alaska
[[August 14]], 1963 (Wednesday)
- A forest fire in Brazil killed 110 people and caused damage in 128 villages and towns in the state of Paraná.{{cite news |url=https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/vida-e-cidadania/quando-o-parana-virou-um-inferno-cek86t5u466b3ztyk8vor6jim/#ancora |title=Quando o Paraná virou um inferno |trans-title=When 2 million hectares burned in 128 cities: the country's worst fire was in Paraná |language=pt |first=Vivian |last=Faria |newspaper=Gazeta do Pavo |location=Curitiba, Brazil |date=August 28, 2019}} The fire, which broke out in four districts around the city of Londrina, started when local farmers were clearing their land by setting small blazes that grew out of control. Eventually, two million hectares or {{convert|20000|km2|sqmi}} were burned by the blaze before it was brought under control. Besides the 110 known dead, another 1,000 were injured and 5,700 families were left homeless. The death toll may have been as high as 250 people, more than twice the official report.{{cite news |via=Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=0klj8wIChNAC&dat=19630907&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=Fire Toll in Brazil Set at 250 |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Spokane Spokesman-Review |location=Spokane, Washington |date=September 7, 1963 |page=2}}{{cite news |via=Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=MDQ-9Oe3GGUC&dat=19630909&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |title=250 Dead, 250,000 Homeless in Forest Fire |newspaper=The Age |location=Melbourne |date=September 9, 1963 |page=1}}
- British police arrested five people believed to have been members of the gang that had carried out the robbery of the Glasgow-London mail train the previous week and recovered £100,000 of the loot that had been stolen.{{cite news |title=Yard Nabs 5; $280,000 |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 15, 1963 |page=1}}
- The first of the Yirrkala bark petitions, created by Aboriginal leaders in the Arnhem Land region of the Northern Territory of Australia, were presented to Australian governmental leaders at the capital in Canberra.{{cite book |first=John |last=Miller |title=Australia's Writers and Poets |publisher=Exisle Publishing |year=2010 |page=11}}
- Hamburger SV won the 1962–63 DFB-Pokal, the second-most important national competition in German football.
- Died: Clifford Odets, 57, American playwright
[[August 15]], 1963 (Thursday)
- Fulbert Youlou was forced to resign as president of the Republic of Congo, after a three-day uprising in the capital."Congo Head Youlou Resigns", Miami News, August 15, 1963, p1 A delegation of military leaders, led by Colonel David Mountsaka and Major Felix Mouzabakani, refused to obey President Youlou's order for the Congolese Army to shoot at the protesters, and demanded his resignation."Mountsaka, David (Colonel)", in Historical Dictionary of Republic of the Congo, John F. Clark and Samuel Decalo, eds. (Scarecrow Press, 2012) p297 Youlou was replaced the next day by Alphonse Massamba-Débat, who was designated by the title "chief of government", rather than president."Moderate Heads Congo", Miami News, August 16, 1963, p1 He would be imprisoned until being freed by his supporters on February 7, 1964."Youlou, Fubert", in An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996, by John E. Jessup (Greenwood, 1998) p819
- The last of the American nuclear Thor missiles, located in the United Kingdom at the 144th Strategic Missile Squadron at North Luffenham, was taken off of alert, ending a process that had started on November 29. The missiles were removed by September 27, and the missile facilities closed by December 20.Jacob Neufeld, The Development of Ballistic Missiles in the United States Air Force 1945–1960 (Government Printing Office, 1998) pp232-233
- A team of scientists from Yale University and the Brookhaven National Laboratory announced their discovery of what was believed at the time to be the last class of subatomic particle, the hyperon referred to as "anti-xi-zero"."Scientists Find Anti-Xi-Zero As A Matter Of Fact", Miami News, August 15, 1963, p2
- Born: Simon Brown, Jamaican boxer, IBF welterweight champion (1988–1991), and WBC light middleweight champion (1993–1994); in Clarendon
- Died:
- Eddie Mays, 34, the last person to be executed in the state of New York; in the electric chair at Sing Sing prison
- Karl Drews, 43, former American MLB pitcher from 1946 to 1954; by a drunk driver"Car Kills Ex-Pitcher Karl Drews", Miami News, August 15, 1963, p2
- John Powell, 80, American pianist, ethnomusicologist and composer[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20101005020659/http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/260849 Tonia Moxley, "White supremacist's name removed from RU building"], The Roanoke Times, 18 September 2010, accessed 26 August 2011
- Vsevolod Ivanov, 68, Soviet novelist
[[August 16]], 1963 (Friday)
- Test pilot Milton Orville Thompson made the first flight of the NASA M2-F1, a wingless lifting body glider nicknamed the "flying bathtub". The lifting body design, which permitted a spacecraft to descend horizontally through the atmosphere, would be put into service through the U.S. Space Shuttle.{{cite book |first1=R. Dale |last1=Reed |author1-link=R. Dale Reed |first2=Darlene |last2=Lister |title=Wingless Flight: The Lifting Body Story |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2002 |pages=50–53}}
- Former President of Venezuela Marcos Pérez Jiménez was extradited from the United States back to Venezuela, eight months after his arrest and confinement in the Dade County Jail in Miami. Perez Jimenez had been dictator from 1952 to 1958, then fled to the U.S., where he lived in luxury until being jailed in Miami on December 12, 1962.{{cite news |title=P.J. Cools Heels In Air-Conditioned Venezuelan Cell |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 17, 1963 |page=1}}
- Two people walking in Dorking Woods discovered a briefcase, a holdall and a camel-skin bag, all containing money. The evidence would lead to the arrest of Brian Field, a member of the gang who had carried out the Great Train Robbery a few days earlier. The discovery raised the total amount of money recovered to £141,000 ($394,800).{{cite news |title=5 Charged In Train Robbery; Net Grows |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 16, 1963 |page=1}}
- Canada's new Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson, reversed the policy of his predecessor, John G. Diefenbaker, and announced that his government had agreed with the United States to arm American-deployed missiles with nuclear warheads.{{cite news |title=Warhead Okay— Cabinet Approves |newspaper=Windsor Star |date=August 16, 1963 |page=1}}{{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Lennox |title=At Home and Abroad: The Canada-US Relationship and Canada's Place in the World |publisher=University of British Columbia Press |year=2009 |page=65}}
- Born: Christine Cavanaugh, American voice actress known for voicing Chuckie Finster in the cartoon series Rugrats (d. 2014); in Layton, Utah{{Cite news |last=Moret |first=Jim |date=August 7, 1995 |title='Babe' the Pig Really Sizzles |work=CNN Showbiz News |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/Babe/index.html |access-date=June 2, 2011 |archive-date=May 26, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526183045/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Movies/Babe/index.html |url-status=live }}
[[August 17]], 1963 (Saturday)
- Fifty-five people were drowned when the Japanese ferry boat Midori Maru capsized in heavy waves as it sailed from the Okinawan capital to Kumejima Island. Another 185 of the passengers and crew were rescued by fishing boats and U.S. military aircraft."Ferry Boat Sinks, 55 Believed Dead", Miami News, August 18, 1963, p1
- Died:
- Richard Barthelmess, 68, American silent film actor who was nominated for Best Actor in the first Academy Award ceremony
- Ed Gardner, 62, American radio comedian who starred in the series Duffy's Tavern
[[August 18]], 1963 (Sunday)
- James Meredith became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Mississippi in its 115 years of existence. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, having majored in political science and minored in French. The cost of Meredith's protection by federal marshals was more than $5,000,000.George A. Sewell and Margaret L. Dwight, Mississippi Black History Makers (University Press of Mississippi, 1984) p142 His graduation day was without incident; Meredith would later earn a law degree from Columbia University.Frank Lambert, The Battle of Ole Miss: Civil Rights v. States' Rights (Oxford University Press, 2009)
- The last match in the third round of the 1963 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was played at the Estadio Nacional in Costa Rica. The final, scheduled to be played the following month, would eventually be scratched, and Racing Club Haïtien would eventually be declared champion.
[[August 19]], 1963 (Monday)
- Israel's Prime Minister Levi Eshkol agreed to allow American observers to visit the Negev Nuclear Research Center at Dimona, where Israel was working on developing a nuclear weapon.Herbert Druks, John F. Kennedy And Israel (Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005) p125
- Born:
- Monday Michiru, Japanese "acid jazz" musician and actress; in Tokyo, to jazz pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi and jazz saxophonist Charlie Mariano
- John Stamos, American TV actor and producer; in Cypress, California
- Died:
- Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, 74, Pakistani politician, President (speaker) of Pakistan's first Constituent Assembly
- Jay Meuser, 51, American abstract expressionist painter
[[August 20]], 1963 (Tuesday)
- In the case of Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts, former University of Georgia football coach Wally Butts won a $3,060,000 judgment in his libel lawsuit against the Saturday Evening Post magazine. The March 19, 1963 issue of the magazine alleged in an article that Butts and University of Alabama coach Bear Bryant had conspired to fix the outcome of the game between their schools.{{cite news |title=Butts Wins $3 Million Suit |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 20, 1963 |page=1}} The jury verdict would later be reduced to $460,000 by the trial court, but would be upheld by the United States Supreme Court.
- In the Bristol South East by-election, Tony Benn regained his seat in the House of Commons. Benn had been forced to resign Commons in 1960, when he inherited a peerage, becoming the 2nd Viscount Stansgate (and a member of the House of Lords) on his father's death. Benn had won the by-election on May 4 but had been disqualified by law. When the Peerage Act 1963 took effect, Benn renounced his peerage, ran again and received 79.7% of the vote.{{cite book |title=The House of Lords: Reform |publisher=Crown Copyright |year=2007 |page=12}}
- The Israeli government informed the United Nations Special Committee on apartheid that it had taken all necessary steps to ensure that no arms, ammunition, or strategic materials would be exported from Israel to South Africa in any form, directly or indirectly.
- The Royal Shakespeare Company introduced its performance cycle of Shakespeare's history plays under the title The Wars of the Roses, adapted and directed by John Barton and Peter Hall, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
- Rocketdyne began testing its new thrust chamber assembly (TCA) design for the Gemini reentry control system (RCS) and the orbit attitude and maneuver system (OAMS). Design verification testing was completed in October.
[[August 21]], 1963 (Wednesday)
- Victor Mostovoy, the pilot of a disabled Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-124 airliner, successfully made an emergency landing in the Neva River at Leningrad after the jet developed engine trouble. The Tu-124 remained afloat, and all 52 people on board were able to escape without injury.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%202230.html |title=Prepare to Ditch |magazine=Flight International |date=13 August 1964 |page=241 |access-date=12 March 2013 |archive-date=22 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190822070554/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1964/1964%20-%202230.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite book |first=K. C. |last=Khurana |title=Aviation Management: Global Perspectives |publisher=Global India Publications |year=2009 |page=141}}
- The first of five flight tests in the Gemini malfunction detection system (MDS) piggyback series was made with the Titan II rocket. Because of a short circuit, all MDS parameter data was lost 81 seconds after liftoff. Performance would be verified by the final test on March 23, 1964.
- The Army of the Republic of Vietnam Special Forces, on orders of President Ngô Đình Diệm and his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, arrested thousands of monks and nuns (some of whom would die in prison or disappear entirely), and vandalised Buddhist pagodas across South Vietnam.{{cite news |title=Diem Seizes Pagodas; U.S. Denounces S. Viet |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 21, 1963 |page=1}}{{cite book |first=Bradley |last=O'Leary |title=Triangle of Death: The Shocking Truth About the Role of South Vietnam and the French Mafia in the Assassination of JFK |publisher=Thomas Nelson Inc |year=2003}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=Xa Loi Pagoda Raids |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History |editor-first=Spencer C. |editor-last=Tucker |editor-link=Spencer C. Tucker |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |page=1351}}
- Lee Harvey Oswald, identifying himself as New Orleans representative of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, debated against Cuban exile Carlos Bringuier in a live radio program on the New Orleans station WDSU-AM.{{cite news |title=N.O. Official of 'Fair Play for Cuba' Admits He Was Marxist, Lived in USSR |newspaper=Alexandria Daily Town Talk |location=Alexandria, Louisiana |date=August 22, 1963 |page=7}}
- U.S. President Kennedy issued a Presidential Memorandum establishing the National Communications System.{{cite book |first=Myriam Dunn |last=Cavelty |title=Cyber-Security and Threat Politics: US Efforts to Secure the Information Age |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |pages=41–42}}
- MSC ordered the procurement of eight Atlas rockets for the Gemini program, at a cost of $40,000,000.
- The Soviet Union established diplomatic relations with Jordan for the first time.{{cite book |first=Andrej |last=Kreutz |title=Russia in the Middle East: Friend Or Foe? |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2007 |page=40}}
- Born: King Mohammed VI of Morocco, son of King Hassan II of Morocco and Lalla Latifa Hammou; in Rabat{{cite web |url=http://dcusa.themoroccanembassy.com/moroccan_embassy_political_system_the_king.aspx |title=King Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan |publisher=Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100407120638/http://dcusa.themoroccanembassy.com/moroccan_embassy_political_system_the_king.aspx |archive-date=7 April 2010 |df=dmy-all }}
- Died: Gladys Dick, 81, American physician and co-developer of the vaccine against scarlet fever
[[August 22]], 1963 (Thursday)
- Lloyd Miller Jr., convicted in 1956 of the murder and rape of an 8-year-old girl, was given a stay of execution seven hours before he was scheduled to die in the electric chair at the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois.{{cite news |title=Seeks a Writ in Bid to Save Doomed Killer |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=August 22, 1963 |page=22}} U.S. District Court Judge Bernard M. Decker issued a writ of habeas corpus to halt proceedings while Miller's attorneys continued to pursue an appeal. Three-and-a-half years later, on February 13, 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court would reverse Miller's conviction after it was determined that the prosecutor in Fulton County, Illinois, had presented faked evidence at Miller's trial, and Miller would be set free on March 20 after more than ten years behind bars.{{cite news |title=10 Yrs. in Death Row; Free— Cabbie Held in Slaying of Girl, 8 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=March 21, 1967 |page=1}}
- American test pilot Joe Walker made a second sub-orbital spaceflight, according to the international standard of 100 kilometers, piloting an X-15 rocket plane to an altitude of {{convert|354,200|ft|mi km}}.{{cite news |title=X-15 Pilot Rockets 66.5 Miles Into Space |newspaper=Bridgeport Telegram |location=Bridgeport, Connecticut |date=August 23, 1963}}{{cite book |first1=Roger D. |last1=Launius |author1-link=Roger D. Launius |first2=Andrew K. |last2=Johnston |title=Smithsonian Atlas of Space Exploration |publisher=HarperCollins |year=2009 |page=56}} The record was unofficial, because the X-15 did not take off from the ground under its own power, and was sent up by an air launch. Walker's flight would remain the highest ever achieved by an airplane for more than fifty years, until broken on October 4, 2004, when Brian Binnie would pilot SpaceShipOne to an altitude of {{convert|367,500|ft|m km}}.{{cite book |first=Steve |last=Pace |title=X-Planes at Edwards |publisher=Zenith Imprint |year=1995 |page=11}}{{cite web |url=http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/combined_white_knight_spaceshipone_flight_tests |title=Combined White Knight/ SpaceShipOne Flight Tests |publisher=Scaled.com |access-date=2013-10-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822194232/http://www.scaled.com/projects/tierone/combined_white_knight_spaceshipone_flight_tests |archive-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{cite book |first=Michel |last=Van Pelt |title=Rocketing Into the Future: The History and Technology of Rocket Planes |publisher=Springer |year=2012 |page=230}}
- Died: Eric Johnston, 66, American motion picture executive who had served as president of the Motion Picture Association of America since 1945
[[August 23]], 1963 (Friday)
- Einar Gerhardsen resigned as Prime Minister of Norway after losing a motion of no confidence by a two-vote margin."Norway Regime Falls by 76 to 74", Stars and Stripes (European Edition), August 24, 1963, p24 The 76–74 vote came about when two deputies in the Storting (Finn Gustavsen and Asbjørn Holm) broke with the ruling Labor Party to vote against Gerhardsen."Kings Bay Affair", in The A to Z of Norway, Jan Sjåvik, ed. (Scarecrow Press, 2010) p143
- Born:
- Stephanie Biddle, Canadian jazz musician; in LaSalle, Quebec
- Glória Pires, Brazilian actress; in Rio de Janeiro
[[August 24]], 1963 (Saturday)
- Newspaper photographer John O'Gready took the iconic photograph The Gladiators, showing opposing players Norm Provan and Arthur Summons embracing at the end of the 1963 NSW Rugby League Premiership Grand Final at Sydney Cricket Ground.{{cite web |title=The Gladiators (Norm Provan and Arthur Summons) |url=https://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2009.46/the-gladiators-norm-provan-and-arthur-summons |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=8 June 2023}}
- The very first games of the Bundesliga, composed of the 16 best professional soccer football teams in West Germany, were played, with all eight matches starting at 5:00 p.m. In Bremen, Timo Konietzka of Borussia Dortmund scored the first goal in league history, 59 seconds into the match against SV Werder Bremen, although Bremen would win 3–2. In other contests, Meidericher SV beat Karlsruher SC, 4–1; FC Schalke 04 defeated VfB Stuttgart, 2–0; 1. FC Köln won 2–0 over FC Saarbrücken. The other four games ended in 1–1 draws.{{cite web |url=http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/1964/1/ |title=Der 1.Spieltag der Bundesliga 1963/1964 |trans-title=The 1st matchday of the Bundesliga 1963/1964 |website=Fussballdaten.de |language=de}}
- With conditional approval by President Kennedy, the U.S. Department of State sent what would later become known as "Cable 243" to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge in South Vietnam. The wording of the message, which was dispatched after the violent Xá Lợi Pagoda raids, included the statement that the Ambassador should "make detailed plans as to how we might bring about Diem's replacement if this should become necessary", and implied support for a coup against President Ngo Dinh Diem.[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/vn02.pdf the telegram], NSA Archive, www.gwu.edu{{cite book |first=James A. |last=Bill |title=George Ball: Scenes in U.S. Foreign Policy |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1998 |pages=154–155}}
- John Pennel, who had broken the world record in the pole vault on August 5, became the first person to vault more than {{convert|17|ft}}, vaulting {{convert|17|ft|0.75|in}} in a meet near his hometown, at the University of Miami.{{cite news |title=Our John Pennel Goes Over 17 Feet! |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 25, 1963 |page=1}}
[[August 25]], 1963 (Sunday)
- All 26 people aboard the Greek freighter MV Donald (formerly the U.S. Navy cargo ship USS Cabell) disappeared shortly after the captain reported by radio that he was encountering bad weather in the Indian Ocean. The ship had been en route to Indonesia with a cargo of {{Convert|5,000|t}} of iron, and was never found after being reported as missing a month later by the Greek Ministry of Merchant Marine.{{cite news |title=Ship Missing, 26 Aboard |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=September 25, 1963}}{{cite web |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/13/130166.htm |title=USS Cabell (AK-166) |website=NavSource}}
- McDonnell completed the fabrication and assembly of Gemini spacecraft No. 1 with the mating of the spacecraft's major modules. The spacecraft passed its final roll-out inspection on October 1 and was shipped to Atlantic Missile Range October 4.
- Nearly three years after the December 15, 1960 decision by King Mahendra of Nepal to abolish the nation's short-lived elected legislature, the King held the first meeting of the new "National Guidance Council" as an advisory body.{{cite book |first1=Bhuwan Lal |last1=Joshi |first2=Leo E. |last2=Rose |title=Democratic Innovations in Nepal: A Case Study of Political Acculturation |publisher=University of California Press |year=1966 |page=412}}
- Died: Karl Probst, 79, American automobile engineer who, in 1940, designed the U.S. Army's "G.P." (general purpose) vehicle, which would become known as the "jeep"
[[August 26]], 1963 (Monday)
- In a meeting with U.S. President Kennedy, Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin told Kennedy that all Soviet combat troops had been removed from Cuba. In actuality, one brigade of Soviet troops had remained after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, at the request of Fidel Castro. The existence of the brigade would not be discovered by U.S. intelligence until 1979.James G. Blight and David A. Welch, Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis (Frank Cass Publishers, 1998) pp42-43
- Born: Cristina Favre-Moretti and Isabella Crettenand-Moretti, twin sisters Swiss ski mountaineers who both won gold medals in the 2004 World Championships
[[August 27]], 1963 (Tuesday)
- Singaporean bar waitress Jenny Cheok disappeared at sea during a scuba diving trip near Sisters' Islands, Singapore. Initially considered as a missing persons case, it was found that Cheok was killed by her boyfriend, Sunny Ang, for her insurance money, which amounted to $450,000 in total. Despite the circumstantial evidence and lack of a body, Ang would be convicted on May 19, 1965 for murder, making the case one of the most sensational murder cases in Singapore's legal history. Ang would be executed in Changi Prison on February 6, 1967. Till this day, Cheok's body has never been found.{{cite news |title=Guilty As Charged: Sunny Ang found guilty of girlfriend's murder though body was never found |url=http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/guilty-as-charged-sunny-ang-found-guilty-of-girlfriends-murder-though-body |newspaper=The Straits Times |location=Singapore |date=16 May 2016 |access-date=30 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516050602/http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/guilty-as-charged-sunny-ang-found-guilty-of-girlfriends-murder-though-body |archive-date=2016-05-16 |url-status=live}}
- Less than six hours before the railroads of the United States were scheduled to be shut down by a walkout of railway employees, President Kennedy signed anti-strike legislation that had been passed minutes earlier by the U.S. House of Representatives. The vote in the House, finished at 4:42 p.m., was 286–66 on a bill that had passed the U.S. Senate on August 22. President Kennedy signed the bill into law at 6:14 p.m., ending the strike that had been scheduled for one minute after midnight.{{cite news |title=Trains Roll As Strike Is Blocked |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 28, 1963 |page=1}}
- Japanese Construction Minister Ichirō Kōno announced that the government would construct a new city on undeveloped land in "a very suitable place near Mount Tsukuba". The "Tsukuba Science City", located {{convert|35|mi}} northeast of Tokyo and intended as a community for researchers and scientists, would be ready for its first residents after ten years of construction, and would have over 200,000 residents within 50 years.{{cite book |first=James W. |last=Dearing |title=Growing a Japanese Science City: Communication in Scientific Research |publisher=Routledge |year=2012}}
- Eighteen miners were killed in an explosion at an underground potash mine near Moab, Utah, but five men were able to survive the carbon monoxide by finding an air pocket, {{convert|2,712|ft}} below the surface, and were lifted to safety by rescue workers."Miracle In Utah Mine Cave-In: Survivors From 2,700 Feet", August 28, 1963, p1; "5 More Rescued From Utah Mine; Death Toll At 18", August 30, 1963, p1
- Born: Greg Daniels, former Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1986{{Ref AFL Encyc|4th|146}}
- Died:
- W. E. B. Du Bois, 95, African-American professor and civil rights activist, who later became a citizen of Ghana; of health problems{{cite book|title=W. E. B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race 1868–1919|first=David Levering|last=Lewis|publisher=Henry Holt and Co.|year=1993|page=11|location=New York City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tSoFQEbmhyMC&pg=PA11|quote=[Du Bois] would unfailingly insist upon the 'correct' pronunciation of his surname. 'The pronunciation of my name is Due Boyss, with the accent on the last syllable,' he would patiently explain to the uninformed.|isbn=978-1-4668-4151-2}}
- Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi, 75, Indian mathematician, logician, political theorist, Islamic scholar and the founder of the Khaksar movement
- Werner Kuhn, 64, Swiss physical chemist
[[August 28]], 1963 (Wednesday)
- At the "March on Washington" (officially, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom), Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to an audience of at least 250,000 people.{{cite news |title=200,000 March On Washington |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 28, 1963 |page=1}}
- The "Career Girls Murders" were committed as Janice Wylie, a 21-year-old researcher for Newsweek magazine, and her roommate, 22-year-old schoolteacher Emily Hoffert, were stabbed to death in their luxury apartment on New York's Upper East Side.{{cite news |title=Sadist Sought In Killing Of Two N.Y. Career Girls |newspaper=Miami News |date=August 30, 1963 |page=4A}} An innocent man would be convicted of the murders and was imprisoned until the discovery of the actual killer, Richard Robles.{{cite web |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/career_girls/1.html |title=The Career Girls Murders |first=Mark |last=Gado |website=trutv.com |access-date=2013-03-03 |archive-date=2012-12-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210114207/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/career_girls/1.html |url-status=dead }}
- John Lyng became Prime Minister of Norway, forming the first government in 28 years not to be led by the Norwegian Labour Party. Lyng's government would last for only one month.
- Two U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotankers collided over the Atlantic Ocean and crashed.{{ASN accident|title=61-0322|id=19630828-1|access-date=12 August 2022}}{{ASN accident|title=61-0319|id=19630828-0|access-date=12 August 2022}}
[[August 29]], 1963 (Thursday)
- Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., the U.S. Ambassador to South Vietnam, sent a top secret cable to the White House, reporting that "We are launched on a course from which there is no turning back: the overthrow of the [Ngo Dinh] Diem government."Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA (Random House Digital, 2008) pp699-700 At noon in Washington, D.C., President Kennedy held a conference with his Secretaries of State, Defense and the Treasury, as well as with the CIA Director, after which Kennedy authorized a reply to Lodge, which included the statement that "The USG [United States Government] will support a coup which has good chance of succeeding but plans no direct involvement of U.S. Armed Forces."[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB101/vn12.pdf NSA Archive], George Washington University
- The Policlínico Bancario bank in Argentina was robbed by members of Tacuara Nationalist Movement, who stole 14,000,000 Argentine pesos (equivalent to US$100,000), and killed two bank employees in the process.Germán Ferrari, Simbolos y Fantasmas (SudAmericana, 2012)
- Gulzarilal Nanda replaced Lal Bahadur Shastri as India's Minister for Home Affairs.
[[August 30]], 1963 (Friday)
File:ITT Intelex Teletype L015.jpg
- The Moscow–Washington hotline began operations, as the U.S. Department of Defense made a one-sentence announcement to the world press: "The direct communication link between Washington and Moscow is now operational."{{cite news |title='Hot Line' Ready For Use In East-West Crisis |journal=Miami News |date=August 31, 1963 |page=4}} Because the spoken word could be misunderstood, the hot line was actually a link of teletype machines rather than the red telephone commonly depicted in television and film.{{cite book |first1=Paul |last1=Joseph |first2=Simon |last2=Rosenblum |title=Search for Sanity: The Politics of Nuclear Weapons and Disarmament |publisher=South End Press |year=1984 |page=169}}
- The modern audio cassette tape and the tape recorder that used it were both introduced to the public by the Philips Company, at the annual Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin, an exhibition of the latest consumer technology, in West Germany. For the next 30 years, the "cassette" would be the standard form of portable recorded music.{{cite news |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/30/50_years_of_the_compact_cassette/ |title=Happy 50th birthday, Compact Cassette: How it struck a chord for millions |first=Bob |last=Damon |journal=The Register |date=August 30, 2013}}
- Kansas City Chiefs rookie Stone Johnson, a former United States Olympic sprinter, sustained a fractured vertebra in his neck during a kickoff return in a preseason game against the Houston Oilers in Wichita, Kansas. Johnson would die on September 8 as a result of the injury.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2205&dat=19630914&id=7wknAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2gIGAAAAIBAJ&pg=626,5381609&hl=en |title=Stone Johnson dies of broken neck |journal=The Baltimore Afro-American |date=September 14, 1963 |page=23 |access-date=July 12, 2021}}
- Born:
- Paul Oakenfold, British record producer and DJ; in Mile End, London{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_NNmFiUnSmUC&dq=paul+oakenfold+1963&pg=RA6-PA1966 | isbn=9780857125958 | title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | date=27 May 2011 | publisher=Omnibus Press }}
- John King, American journalist; in Dorchester, Massachusetts
- Died:
- Eddie Mannix, 72, American film executive
- Axel Stordahl, 50, American bandleader
- Guy Burgess, 52, British spy
[[August 31]], 1963 (Saturday)
File:Proposed Gemini parasail landing system.jpg
- Gemini Project Office (GPO) reported that it was investigating the use of a parasail and landing rocket system to enable the Gemini spacecraft to make ground landings rather than splashing down at sea. Major system components were the parasail, drogue parachute, retrorocket, control system, and landing rocket. Unlike the conventional parachute, the parasail was capable of controlled gliding and turning. Landing rockets, fired just before touchdown, reduced the spacecraft rate of descent to less than {{convert|11|ft}} per second or {{convert|7.5|mph}}. After a briefing by GPO to NASA Headquarters on September 6, no further action was taken on the parasail and landings of U.S. spacecraft would continue to be in the ocean until the first space shuttle flight in 1981.
- Singapore declared its independence from the United Kingdom, with Yusof bin Ishak as the head of state (Yang di-Pertuan Negara) and Lee Kuan Yew as prime minister. Sixteen days later, Singapore would join the Federation of Malaysia, but would declare independence again on August 9, 1965.{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=McCarthy |title=The Political Theory of Tyranny in Singapore and Burma: Aristotle and the Rhetoric of Benevolent Despotism |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2006 |pages=68–69}}
- John Dalgleish Donaldson and his first wife, Henrietta Clark Horne, married at Port Seton, Scotland. One of their daughters, Mary Donaldson (born 1972), would marry Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark in 2010 and become Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark.
- GPO reported that the Gemini Guidance Computer was in its final factory testing phase and would be ready for inertial guidance system integration testing on September 6.
- British North Borneo became the self-governing territory known as Sabah, pending the establishment of the Federation of Malaysia later in the year.
- The National Museum of Malaysia opened, on the sixth anniversary of the independence of Malaya.
- Winston P. Wilson became chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau.
- Died: Georges Braque, 81, French painter and sculptor