Date in year · 1963 · The 1960s

October 24, 1963

On October 24, 1963, an oxygen leak from an R-9 Desna missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome triggers a fire that kills seven people. The year's #1 song was "Surfin' U.S.A." by The Beach Boys. Garry Kasparov, Conan O'Brien, Rachel Whiteread would arrive in the same year.

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1963

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Featured · October 24, 1963

An oxygen leak from an R-9 Desna missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome triggers a fire that kills seven people.

The R-9 was a two-stage ICBM of the Soviet Union, in service from 1964 to 1976.

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Around 1963

The year in brief

1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1963rd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 963rd year of the 2nd millennium, the 63rd year of the 20th century, and the 4th year of the 1960s decade.

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What happened

On October 24, 1963

1963 An oxygen leak from an R-9 Desna missile at the Baikonur Cosmodrome triggers a fire that kills seven people.

Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missile

The R-9 was a two-stage ICBM of the Soviet Union, in service from 1964 to 1976.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1963

The class of 1963

Others born in 1963

Garry Kasparov 1963– Russian chess player and author

Conan O'Brien 1963– American television host, comedian, and writer

Rachel Whiteread 1963– English sculptor

Ken Caminiti 1963– American baseball player (died 2004)

Rosalind Gill 1963– English sociologist and academic

Sean Lock 1963– English comedian and actor (died 2021)

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