Today's TIME MACHINE takes a step back to 1963. It was the year when the former king Constantine and his bride Anna Maria got engaged, when Grigoris Lambrakis got killed, when AEK celebrated its first post-World War II championship game, when the former Queen Frederica attended the funeral of US President John F. Kennedy, when the Nobel for Literature is awarded to George Seferis marking the first such distinction by a Greek, and the Cyprus crisis begins with a firefight in Nicosia. It was a year when the the trendy song was "HAli Gali" and when house parties were considered cool. It was also a year when the legendary rock band the Beatles sang a song from Mikis Theodorakis, and the late actors Aliki Vougiouklaki, Thanassis Vegos, Dimitris Papamichayl were winning the hearts of theater goers.
It was also a year when the legendary Bob Hope Narrated a documentary on humanitarian activities In various countries around the world including Greece, and the year when refugees from the Albanian nation stepped on Greek soil for the very first time.
Earlier in the year Jacqueline Kennedy had tea and sandwiches with the late King Paul and Queen Frederika of Greece at their mountain retreat in Tatoi, which is 20 miles north of Athens.Jackie then joined Aristotle Onassis on his yacht Christina with several other friends and went sailing, while in Marathona, the 11th World Scout Jamboree took place.
Parties were considered cool, and necking was "in", and those whose hearts got broken would often hum the classic "Kathe limani kai kaimos".
January
- January 13: A mudslide kills 13 persons in Mikro Chorio, Evritania prefecture.
- January 24: Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and Princess Anna Maria of Denmark get engaged.
- February 5: Vassilis Georgiou begins his career as a sportscaster (Panathinaikos - Asteras 2-1 at Leoforos)
- February 21: The ERE government puts forward proposals to amend the Greek constitution by expanding the power of the executive branch of government.
- March 1: A fixed fine is established for Members of the Greek Parliament who miss a session without a valid excuse.
- April 20: Queen Frederika visits England where she will become the target of demonstrators.
- April 21: MP Gregoris Lambrakis marches alone in the Marathon to Athens peace rally that was banned by the police.
- May 8: St. Sevastopoulos breaks the 2m mark for a new Greek record in the high jump.
- May 17: Stjepan Bobek takes over as coach of Panathinaikos FC.
- May 18: French President, Charles De Gaulle, visits Greece and speaks in the Hellenic Parliament.
- May 22: MP Grigoris Lambrakis is run down by a delivery truck driven by two right-wing extremists (Emmanouil Emmanouilidis and Spyros Gotzamanis) after delivering the keynote speech at a pacifist meeting in Thessaloniki. He will die five days later.
- May 27: Grigoris Lambrakis, a leftist politician, succumbs to his injuries of May 22.
- May 28: Hundreds of thousands attend the funeral of murdered MP Grigoris Lambrakis.
- June 2: AEK defeat Iraklis 5-0 for the Greek League. All five goals are scored by Kostas Nestoridis.
- June 11: Constantine Karamanlis resigns the premiership after a disagreement with King Paul of Greece
- June 16: King Paul of Greece appoints Panagiotis Pipinelis as Prime Minster following Constantine Karamanlis' resignation
- June 23: AEK celebrate their first post-World War II championship as they draw 3-3 with Panathinaikos in a playoff game. Mimis Papaioannou (2) and Kostas Nestoridis score for the champions (the latter directly from a corner kick).
- July 1: Aristotle Onassis acquires Skorpios island off the coast of Lefkada.
- July 9: King Paul and Queen Frederika visit England where they are greeted by mass demonstrations.
- July 12: King Paul and Queen Frederika return from England where they were the target of mass demonstrations.
- July 25: Panathinaikos footballer, Panikos Shailos, is killed in an automobile accident in Athens. His passenger, team mate Kostas Linoxylakis, survives.
- September 18: Olympiakos defeat Levski Sofia 1-0 in Istanbul and are crowned Champions of the Balkans. Centre back Mimis Stefanakos headed home the winning goal in the 87th minute.
- September 18: AEK play their first match in Europe - a 7-2 loss to AS Monaco (78' Nestoridis, 80' Tasinos).
- September 29: Stylianos Mavromichalis forms a caretaker government.
- September 29: In a memorable football game, Panathinaikos defeat AEK 5-4 after trailing 0-2 and 1-3.
- October 20: Olympiakos defeat Zaglebie Sosnowiec of Poland 2-0 in Vienna for the Cupwinners' Cup and become the first club from Greece to advance to the next round of a European Cup.
- November 3: Georgios Papandreou's political party, Center Union, emerges the winner in the national elections held and forms a minority government with 42.2% of the votes.
- November 13: APOEL FC set a negative European record as they lose to Sporting Lisbon 16-1 in the first leg of the second round of the Cup Winners' Cup.
- November 25: Queen Frederica attends the funeral of US President John F. Kennedy on behalf of Greece.
- November 27: The players of PAOK walk off the pitch when the Bulgarian referee denies them an obvious penalty against Olympiakos. Olympiakos are awarded the match 2-0 (forfeit).
- November 27: Cyprus defeat Greece 3-1 in the first game ever played between the two teams. Mimis Papaioannou debuts with Greece.
- November 30: Archbishop Makarios III proposes 13 amendments to the constitution of Cyprus.
- December 3 : Prime Minister Georgios Papandreou announces the government's plan to distribute free books to all elementary and highschool students.
- December 9: Constantine Karamanlis resigns from the leadership of his party, National Radical Union (ERE), and leaves for an 11 year self-imposed exile to Paris, France.
- December 10: The Nobel for Literature is awarded for the first time to a Greek; to George Seferis. In his award speech the poet is quoted as saying: "I belong to a small country. Our place is small but it has a huge tradition... The Greek language has never stopped being spoken..."
- December 21: The Cyprus crisis of 1963-1964 begins with a firefight in Nicosia that leaves one Greek Cypriot policeman and two Turkish Cypriot civilians dead.
- December 27: Student rallies take place in Athens and Thessaloniki in favor of a union between Greece and Cyprus.
- December 30: Banker Ioannis Paraskevopoulos forms a caretaker government as elections are proclaimed for February 1964.
- December 30: The Green Line, separating the Greek and Turkish sectors of Lefkosia, is agreed upon by the two communities.
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