🇺🇸United States · 60s
The End of Innocence
A dream, an assassination, and music that changed the world.
4 milestones of 1963
President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dealey Plaza, Dallas. The nation watched in shock as Walter Cronkite delivered the news. Lyndon B. Johnson sworn in on Air Force One.
National trauma — respectful, factual, avoid conspiracy theories
250,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered 'I Have a Dream.' The moral peak of the civil rights movement.
Civil rights milestone — center Dr. King's words and the movement's courage
'I Want to Hold Your Hand' aired on US radio in December. By February 1964, The Beatles would conquer Ed Sullivan. The British Invasion was underway.
A Ku Klux Klan bomb killed four young Black girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The tragedy galvanized support for civil rights legislation.
Racial violence against children — somber, dignified, name the victims
70% local · 30% international
Cleopatra
Joseph L. Mankiewicz — Most expensive film ever made at the time. Elizabeth Taylor's spectacle.
The Birds
Alfred Hitchcock — Nature attacks. Hitchcock at his most unsettling.
The Great Escape
John Sturges — Steve McQueen on a motorcycle. POW adventure classic.
The Sword in the Stone
Wolfgang Reitherman — Box office hit in the US — TMDB 7.2
Jason and the Argonauts
Don Chaffey — Box office hit in the US — TMDB 7.2
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962-1971 — #1 rated show. Fish-out-of-water comedy America loved.
Doctor Who
1963-present — Debuted on BBC the day after JFK's assassination.
CBS News with Walter Cronkite
1962-1981 — 'The most trusted man in America' delivered the JFK news.
Currency: USD
Inflation: 1.3%
Kennedy-era prosperity. Strong growth, low unemployment, and the promise of Camelot.
Inflation-adjusted values
Touch-tone phones
AT&T introduced push-button phones to replace rotary dials.
Instant replay
CBS used instant replay for the first time during Army-Navy football game.
ZIP codes
US Post Office introduced Zone Improvement Plan codes nationwide.
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