Real Time 1960s

Nov. 14, 1963 - At today's press conference, President Kennedy gave his appraisal of the situation in South Vietnam.

Nov. 13, 1963 - Here are President Kennedy’s remarks of welcome today to the Scottish infantry regiment The Black Watch (also known as the Royal Highland Regiment) on the White House South Lawn. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 11, 1963 - President Kennedy placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns today as the nation honored its war veterans. Veterans Day brought perfect weather, bright and sunny. Flanked by military aides, the President stood in front of the simple white tomb at Arlington National Cemetery, which has this inscription: “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.” Mr. Kennedy, hatless and in a dark, pinstriped suit, placed the red, white, and blue wreath on the tomb, then stepped back as a bugler sounded taps. The President had planned to return immediately to the White House. Instead he decided to stay for the rest of the ceremony in the amphitheater. With him was his son, John Jr., who will be 3 years old Nov. 25. The boy sat in the audience while his father was on the stage. At one point, John Jr. broke away from a Secret Service agent and headed for the stage. When he had been recaptured, he was placed in a walkway, guarded by the agent and a White House photographer. They managed to discourage him from breaking out again. After the ceremony, however, he found his way between a pair of military aides and seized his father’s hand. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 9, 1963 - Tonight's episode of the British television show "Hullabaloo" featured performances by Peter, Paul and Mary, Carolyn Hester, Long John Baldry, and Cyril Davies. The program was taped at Teddington Lock Studios in London. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 10, 1963 - Former President Eisenhower was interviewed today on CBS-TV's "Face the Nation." Among the questions was one concerning his feelings toward his former Vice President, Richard M. Nixon. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 10, 1963 - Here are some highlights of today's game between the Baltimore Colts and Detroit Lions at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Colts won the NFL contest, 24-21. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 9, 1963 - Here are some highlights of today's game between the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo. The Bills won the AFL contest, 27-17. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 8, 1963 - Here are President Kennedy’s remarks today to the Protestant Council of the City of New York during a ceremony presenting the 1963 "Family of Man Award" to President Kennedy. In his speech, the President explained that robust foreign and domestic aid programs are an essential method for reducing and eliminating the problems that afflict the international “human family” such as poverty, malnutrition, and political instability. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 7, 1963 - Here are President Kennedy’s remarks today in the White House Flower Garden to officers of the State Governors’ Committees on the Employment of the Handicapped. In his speech, the President commended his audience for their efforts to improve hiring practices concerning the physically and mentally handicapped, and he discussed the need for additional improvements on both the state and Federal level. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 7, 1963 - The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — spoke today with Frank Hall in a filmed interview upon their arrival at Dublin Airport. The interview aired on Radio Telefis Eireann. Hall and the group discussed the Beatle haircut, Irish connections in their family heritage, and the "Liverpool Sound." Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 5, 1963 - President Kennedy filmed a short speech today in observance of Bill of Rights Day, Dec. 15, for distribution to theaters throughout the country. The film was made at the request of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations as part of a drive sponsored by the movie industry to remind the American public of the significance of the Bill of Rights. The speech, which runs 2½ minutes, was filmed at the White House by a cameraman for News of the Day, a newsreel service. About 1,000 prints of the film will be made available to theaters free of charge by the National Screen Service. This was the first public-service film made by President Kennedy at the request of motion picture industry leaders. Similar films have been made for theatrical release by other Presidents since the advent of talking features in 1927, most frequently in connection with bond drives, health campaigns, and national welfare issues. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 5, 1963 - In Denver today, heavyweight champion Sonny Liston and challenger Cassius Clay signed at a packed, hilarious news conference for a 15-round title fight next year. No date or site was set, but handlers said it would be in February. There was a delay in the signing when Clay at first refused to sit at the same table as the champion. He said: “I don’t want to sit by him.” Later he sat at the table with Jack Nilon, the champion’s adviser, between the two fighters. Cassius was in characteristic form. He continually interrupted the proceeding and traded barbs with newsmen, recited poetry in which he predicted he would send Liston “into orbit,” and stood up after the signing and said: “This is my dream. Let the annihilation begin.” Liston presented Clay with an oversized picture of himself inscribed: “Well, Cassius — now that we have signed, I don’t want nothing to happen to you. I am sending my picture along to guard you.” Liston also held up a pair of large, mink-covered boxing gloves and told Clay he was going to use them on him “so I won’t hurt your pretty face.” Clay retorted: “I tell this to you television cameramen, I tell this to you radio men, I tell this to all you in all the world — if Sonny Liston knocks me out, I will kiss his feet in the ring. I will crawl across the ring and kiss his feet and say he’s the greatest. Then I’ll take the next jet out of the country.” The afternoon conference came after police dogs routed Clay from in front of Liston’s home early this morning. Clay was driven in his private bus to the street in front of the champion’s home. He shouted at Liston and honked the horn of the bus, which was decorated with such slogans as “Sonny Liston will go in eight.” In the doorway of his home, Liston watched without any show of emotion. When Clay stepped up on the lawn and yelled at Liston, the champion shouted back and waved a gold-headed cane he carried. A big police dog was within inches of Clay as the No. 1 contender was told to “move on right away or be taken in.” Clay left promptly. Clay hasn’t been defeated since turning pro after he won the light-heavyweight crown in the 1960 Olympics. He has posted 19 victories, including 15 knockouts. Liston scored his 28th straight victory and his 35th in 36 starts when he beat Floyd Patterson in July for the second time. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 4, 1963 - “Beatlemania,” a new form of madness, is striking everywhere in Britain, and tonight the Queen Mother herself confronted the four lads responsible. There on the stage of London’s Prince of Wales Theater stood a quartet called the Beatles, and there across the moat of Establishment faces sat the Queen Mother. “Those in the cheaper seats, clap,” said John Lennon, one of the Beatles. “The rest of you rattle your jewelry.” Then the Beatles broke into “From Me to You,” and the Queen Mother beamed. A short year ago, the lads were singing such songs as “Twist and Shout” and “Love Me Do” into the din of the tough Merseyside pubs. Now, they earn $5,000 a week playing one-night stands all over Britain. Their records have sold 2.5 million copies, and crowds stampede for a chance to touch the hem of the collarless coats sported onstage by all four of them. They look like shaggy Peter Pans, with their mushroom haircuts and high white shirt collars, and onstage they clown around endlessly. “I dropped in at a smoky, smelly, squalid cellar,” says Brian Epstein, the group’s manager, of the day he discovered them, “and there were these four youths. Their act was ragged, their clothes were a mess. And yet I sensed at once that there was something here.” Such talk amuses the Beatles. “The day the fans desert us,” says 23-year-old John Lennon, “I’ll be wondering how I’m going to pay for my whisky and Cokes.” The other Beatles — bass guitarist Paul McCartney, 21, guitarist George Harrison, 20, and 23-year-old drummer Ringo Starr (who wears four rings on his fingers) — are also keeping their heads. “We’re not interested in living it up,” says Ringo. “All our money goes into Beatles, Ltd., and we take only enough out for clothes and a few ciggies.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 3, 1963 - Here are some highlights of today's game between the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills at Bears Stadium in Denver. The Bills won the AFL contest, 30-28. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 3, 1963 - Here are some highlights of today's game between the Baltimore Colts and Chicago Bears at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Bears won the NFL contest, 17-7. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 2, 1963 - The South Vietnamese Government of President Ngo Dinh Diem has fallen in a swift military coup d’état. Both the President and his brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu, are reported to have been assassinated. This is a CBS report on the situation as it now stands in South Vietnam as well events which led to the coup. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 1, 1963 - At least 54 persons were killed and hundreds were injured last night in an explosion during the opening performance of the Holiday on Ice revue at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum. Fire Chief William Lynch said he had counted 54 bodies removed from the shattered remains of bleachers and structural concrete. The state police said there were unconfirmed reports of five more dead. Many of the victims were children. The injured were being taken to several Indianapolis hospitals in taxis, ambulances, cars, and buses. Deputy Sheriff Bernard Gohmann said there were indications that a gas explosion had occurred under a refreshment stand beneath the seats. After the blast, rows of bodies were lined up under blankets on the ice. Other rows were started outside the building in a drizzling rain. “They went up in the air like flies,” said a woman who survived the explosion. Methodist Hospital, near the scene, was quickly jammed with at least 40 injured. Stretchers packed the hospital halls. Leon Eaton of Osgood, Ind., a spectator sitting on the opposite side of the rink, said flames shot 30 feet in the air. He went on: “One whole section was ripped out, bleachers and everything. There were people lying there halfway across the ice in pools of blood. There was a big boom, just like a charge of dynamite.” Said Robert Young, assistant manager of the Coliseum: “I was about to go out a southside door when I heard a terrible explosion. I flew through the air and almost did a swan dive onto the hood of a car 30 or 35 feet out in the parking lot. You have to be hurt, Bob, I told myself, but I stood up and realized I was all right. I rushed back in and immediately realized it was terrible.” Young seemed to be in a state of shock as he spoke. “I always thought I was a hero. I pulled a pilot out of a plane during the war, and he had an arm off. But I couldn’t take this. I carried out four or five bodies that had blankets over them. But when they ran out of blankets, I just couldn’t take any more. Just thank God it wasn’t a Saturday or Sunday. There would have been hundreds of kids in there.” Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Nov. 1, 1963 - In Beverly Hills, Calif., today, Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu bitterly accused the U.S. Government of inciting and backing the military revolt in South Vietnam. Uncertain whether her husband, the brother of South Vietnam’s President, was alive or dead, Madame Nhu was angry and distracted during her first appearance since receiving news of the uprising in Saigon. She met reporters as she left her hotel for an All-Saints Day noon mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Madame Nhu began calmly by observing that “it was not the first time” the American Government had tried to overthrow President Diem, her brother-in-law. She became more agitated when asked whether the U.S. had played a role in the coup. “Definitely,” she replied. “No coup can erupt without American incitement and backing.” Asked whether she might seek political asylum in the U.S., Madame Nhu replied, “Never!” She added, “I cannot stay in a country with people who have stabbed my Government.” “I believe that all the devils of hell are against us,” she said before being escorted to a limousine. “But we shall triumph.” She did not explain what she meant by triumph, but presumably she was alluding to the fight against the Communists. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 31, 1963 - Following are some of the highlights of President Kennedy’s news conference today: Troops — The U.S. plans no reduction of American combat troops in West Germany, despite reports of withdrawals. Moon — Premier Khrushchev’s recent statement about Russian space plans did not necessarily mean that the Soviet Union was “out of the moon race.” Mr. Khrushchev’s announcement was cautiously worded, and all indications are that the Soviet Union is pressings its space program. Rights — A company “as influential as U.S. Steel” is in Birmingham, Ala., might use its influence to help solve racial turmoil in that city. Johnson — If Mr. Kennedy is nominated next year, he wants and expects Vice President Johnson to be his running mate. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 30, 1963 - In an interview today at London Airport, the Beatles discussed their upcoming Royal Command Performance at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London in the presence of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 27, 1963 - Here is your Sunday night news with Bob Dunn on KGO-TV San Francisco. Much of this evening's program deals with the visit of Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu, South Vietnam's controversial de facto First Lady, to the Bay Area. Support this program at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 27, 1963 - Here are some highlights of today's game between the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles at Wrigley Field. The Bears won the NFL contest, 16-7. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 26, 1963 - Here are President Kennedy’s remarks today at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Robert Frost Library at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 26, 1963 - Here are some highlights of today's game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Wisconsin Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. The Buckeyes won the NCAA contest, 13-10. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s

Oct. 26, 1963 - Here is a clip from President Kennedy's address today during a ceremony at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. In his speech, President Kennedy explained the importance of public service from educated citizens and described the role of an artist in society, noting Frost’s contributions to American arts, culture, and ideology. Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s