1963: 'The Year Everything Happened'

To many historians, 1963 was a pivotal year. Yet for many of us around 50 years ago, it was more like a roller coaster of ups and downs, highs and lows.

An online CBS News retrospective earlier this year dubbed 1963 “The Year Everything Happened.”

The CBS piece continued: “Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous 'I Have a Dream' speech, the JFK assassination and the beginning of Beatlemania are just some of the history-altering events that made 1963 one of the most memorable years in U.S. history.”

New York's prestigious Howard Greenberg Gallery of photographs in the media held a special exhibit earlier this year chronicling the year half a century ago, focusing mostly on photos of the civil rights movement, the March on Washington and President Kennedy's assassination.

But so much more happened, and some of us remember like it was yesterday:

BIG EVENTS

■ President Kennedy was killed in Dallas, Nov. 22; the man accused of doing the shooting, Lee Harvey Oswald, was killed two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby on live TV.

■ U.S. Supreme Court ruled local governments cannot require the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools. The Court also ruled that a lawyer must be provided to a defendant in a criminal case if the defendant cannot afford to hire one.

■ The Washington-Moscow “hotline” was established as a way to prevent nuclear war, Aug. 30.

■ Astronaut Gordon Cooper orbited the Earth 22 times in 34-plus hours in the final solo Mercury mission on May 15-16. On June 16, Soviet Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

CIVIL RIGHTS

The civil rights movement was a monthly headline with black demonstrations throughout the South and angry backlash by whites. Many historians contend 1963 was its defining year:

■ Harvey Gantt was the first black admitted to Clemson University in South Carolina on Jan. 28.

■ In April, blacks began nonviolent sit-ins at all-white lunch counters in Birmingham, Ala. In May, police turned fire hoses and police dogs on peaceful black marchers. Televised images raised sympathy for the movement.

■ On June 11 in Alabama, Gov. George Wallace barred two black youth from registering at the University of Alabama. After President Kennedy federalized the National Guard, Wallace stood aside. The incident and Kennedy's speech that night ultimately led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Hours later, Mississippi NAACP leader Medgar Evers was gunned down outside his home in Jackson.

■ Four young girls are killed when an explosion rocks the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., Sept. 15. Three KKK members eventually were tried and convicted.

■ More than 200,000 went to the nation's capital for the March on Washington, Aug. 28; Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I have a dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

OTHER EVENTS OF NOTE

■ The University of Central Florida was established in Orlando by the Florida Legislature.

■ American mountaineer Jim Whittaker became the first American to successfully scale Mount Everest on May 1.

■ First-class postage rose from four cents to five cents. ZIP codes were introduced by the U.S. Post Office.

■ The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio, Sept. 7. Instant replay was used for the first time in the annual Army-Navy game.

■ Pope John XXIII died on June 3, succeeded by Pope Paul VI June 21

■ Dr. James Hardy performed the first successful lung transplant.

ENTERTAINMENT

■ The Beatles released “Please Please Me,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There.” They recorded their debut album in one day at London's Abbey Road Studios. Their second album, “With the Beatles,” was released in November.

■ Beatle George Harrison encouraged Decca Records to sign a band he discovered, The Rolling Stones.

■ British television science fiction series “Doctor Who” premiered. Afternoon soap opera “General Hospital” premiered on ABC.

■ “The Beverly Hillbillies” was the most popular prime-time television show, followed by “Bonanza,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Petticoat Junction.”

■ “Astro Boy,” the first anime series, debuted on Japanese television.

■ Julia Child debuted her “The French Chef” cooking show on educational television.

■ Country music star Patsy Cline died in a small-plane crash in Tennessee.

■ The most popular movies included “The Birds,” “Cleopatra,” “The Pink Panther,” “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Tom Jones” and “Lilies of the Field.”

■ The most popular songs included “Sugar Shack,” “Hey Paula,” “Puff, the Magic Dragon,” “Blowin' In the Wind,” “Wipe Out,” “Devil in Disguise” and “Ring of Fire.”

■ Folk singer Allan Sherman released “Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda;” the Kingsmen released “Louie, Louie” and to this day no one can acurately decipher the lyrics.

POP CULTURE

■ AT&T introduced the first touch-tone telephone. It had only 10 buttons; the * and # keys were added five years later.

■ The lava lamp was first offered for sale.

■ Cassette tapes were used to record and play audio in Europe; introduced in the U.S. a year later.

■ Pull tabs on soda cans were introduced by U.S.A. Alcoa

■ An artist for State Mutual Life Insurance in Worcester, Mass., created the smiley face.

■ “Oh I wish I was an Oscar Meyer wiener” jingle debuted.

■ Mouse Trap, the Easy Bake Oven and trolls were the top toys at Christmas.

■ Born in 1963: Johnny Depp, Michael Jordan, Brad Pitt, Whitney Houston, Lisa Kudrow, Mike Myers and Helen Hunt