Video: 'I Left My Heart In San Francisco by Tony Bennett (Subtitled)'
(Wednesday, May 15, 1963) — Tony Bennett won Record of the Year for “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” at the 5th Grammy Awards tonight, held in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York (click here to watch Bob Newhart at the ceremony). Continue reading Tony Bennett wins top Grammy awards 50 years ago today (1963)
Video: 'Weight Watchers History'
(Wednesday, May 15, 1963) — Weight Watchers, an international company based in the United States that offers various products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance, was incorporated today by Brooklyn homemaker Jean Nidetch.
(Monday, May 13, 1963) — The U.S. Supreme Court, in Brady v. Maryland, upheld today, 7-2, a lower court decision overturning the death sentence (but not the conviction) of John L. Brady for murder because the prosecution had withheld from the defense a statement by a separately tried accomplice, Charles D. Boblit, that he’d actually carried out the 1958 killing of William Brooks during a robbery.
Brady spent years in prison in legal limbo, declining his right to another sentencing hearing; he was eventually paroled. Boblit, 79, remains imprisoned in Maryland.
(Sunday, May 12, 1963) — Bob Dylan walked off the set of the variety TV program The Ed Sullivan Show this afternoon because CBS would not allow him to sing “Talking John Birch Society Blues” on tonight’s show. Continue reading Bob Dylan walks off ‘Ed Sullivan Show’ set in censorship dispute 50 years ago today (1963)
(Sunday, May 12, 1963, 10:20 p.m. local time) — Pilot Betty Miller, 36, became the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean today as she landed her Piper Apache in Brisbane, Australia, having left Oakland, Calif., on April 30, making three stopovers along the way.
Video: 'President John F. Kennedy's 55th News Conference, May 8, 1963'
(Wednesday, May 8, 1963, 4:00 p.m. EDT; during the Birmingham Campaign, part of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–68)) — U.S. President John F. Kennedy today at his news conference hailed what looked like a compromise in the tense racial situation in Birmingham, Alabama — the halt of African-American demonstrations in exchange for “steps to meet the justifiable needs of the Negro community.”
Video: 'Birmingham 1963' (May 2, 1963, at 0:53)
(Thursday, May 2, 1963; during the American Civil Rights Movement‘s Birmingham Campaign) — The Children’s Crusade began today in Birmingham, Alabama, as more than 1,000 black schoolchildren skipped classes and marched downtown to protest racial segregation; hundreds were arrested. During another march the following day, authorities unleashed police dogs and fire hoses on the young protesters.
Video: 'Tab Cola Commercial' (1966)
(Wednesday, May 1, 1963) — The Coca-Cola Co. today began marketing TaB, its first low-calorie beverage.
Video: '"OBCR - "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"' (six-part playlist)
(Sunday, April 28, 1963) — Broadway’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was named best play today at the 17th Tony Awards, while A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum won best musical. The ceremony was held in the Hotel Americana Imperial Ballroom in New York City and hosted by Abe Burrows and Robert Morse.
Video: 'THE BEATLES IN TENERIFE MAY 1963'
(Sunday, April 28, 1963) — The Beatles set off today on their first vacations of 1963. John Lennon accompanied manager Brian Epstein to Barcelona and Torremolinos, Spain, while Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr headed for Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands off Spain’s coast, meeting up with old friends from Hamburg, Klaus Voormann and Astrid Kirchherr. Continue reading The Beatles go on holiday 50 years ago today (1963)
