IN THE NEWS 1963
It’s a year of shock and scandal, with the deaths of US president John F Kennedy and the first Moors murder victims, plus the Profumo Affair and subsequent resignation of Harold Macmillan due to ‘ill health’.
IN THE CHARTS
The Beatles. That’s about all there is in 1963. Imagine dominance like this nowadays: the Beatles LP Please Please Me spends 30 weeks in a row at number one in the album charts. It’s finally knocked off top spot on November 30 when a new LP arrives… called With the Beatles.
AT THE FLICKS
An African-american handyman is wandering through Arizona when he bumps into a flock of German nuns. They hit it off and he builds them a chapel. It’s hard to see this idea getting a green light even in 2019, but in 1963 it was truly remarkable. Oh, and Sidney Poitier won Best Actor at the Oscars for it. The name? Lilies of the Field.