“By any measure, 1963 was a year brimming with great events – both good and bad. The most important was also the most universally tragic…. And the date…. November 22nd, will need not explanation for a long time to come.” The date referred to is the date that United States president John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas – an event that more than any other, defined 1963. But closer to home news events continued to shape the local landscape, as well.
Ferguson Jenkins, from Chatham, Ontario is drafted and signed by the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. Jenkins would go on to win the National League Cy Young Award in 1971 and pitch six seasons with 20 or more wins - the longest streak since Warren Spahn.
The federal Liberals return to power under Lester B. Pearson, who will lead two back-to-back minority governments. During this time new social programs are introduced including: Student Loans, Universal Health Care, and the Canada Pension Plan.
In her book, “The Feminine Mystique,” Betty Friedan refutes the notion that women find fulfillment only through childbearing and homemaking.
While riding in an open limousine in Dallas Texas, President John F. Kennedy is killed by a sniper’s bullets.
On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. makes his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompting the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In 1964 King will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Film footage
This Was 1963 – Year End Show
1963 (excerpts)
black and white 16mm motion picture film,
silent and sound
Reference Code: F 4396-2-1-10
Archives of Ontario
Scripts
This Was 1963 – Year
End Show 1963 (excerpts)
news script
Reference Code: F 4396-2-2
Archives of Ontario