Best Picture: Tom Jones
Tom Jones also won Academy Awards for Directing (Tony Richardson), Music – Music Score, substantially original (John Addison), and Writing – Screenplay based on material from another medium (John Osborne).
Sidney Poitier was the first African American to win Best Actor, for Lilies of the Field. Among the four acting category winners that year, he was the only one present at the ceremony.
Jack Lemmon was the master of ceremonies.
In January 1963, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa was exhibited in America for the first time at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
In February 1963, President Kennedy proclaimed a total embargo on all trade with Cuba and also prohibited all travel by U.S. citizens to Cuba.
In February 1963, Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique was published.
In March 1963, Iron Man debuted in Marvel Comics' Tales of Suspense.
In March 1963, the Beatles released their first album, Please Please Me, in the U.K.
In May 1963, Dr. No was released in the U.S.
In May 1963, Bob Dylan released his second album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.
In June 1963, Pope Paul VI succeeded Pope John XXIII as the 262nd pope.
On June 26, 1963, John F. Kennedy delivered his Ich bin ein Berliner speech in West Berlin.
In July 1963, zip codes went into full effect nationwide for United States mail.
In July 1963, Introducing the Beatles was released in the U.S., marking the first album released in America by the British band.
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his I Have a Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
In September 1963, Marvel Comics released the first X-Men comic book.
In September 1963, the Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio.
On October 2, 1963, Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax set a World Series record by striking out 15 batters. The Dodgers won the game, 5-2, the first of a four-game sweep of the series.
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president.
Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award
To Sam Spiegel