JULY 16, 1963 -- About 70 protestors waved signs as 200 members of the newly formed Birmingham Community Affairs Committee convened for the first time.
A meeting to discuss Birmingham school integration ended in disorder after protests drowned out speakers.
- During a Senate committee hearing on civil rights legislation, Gov. George Wallace had a heated exchange with U.S. Sen. Philip Hart, D-Michigan, as Wallace noted that several Michigan cities had stringent segregation laws.
"There is not a town in Alabama that bars Negroes in such a manner," Wallace said.
"Ours is sophisticated. Yours is hard-nosed," Hart replied. "We are wrong both ways."
- Reports circulated that President Kennedy planned to leave Washington on Aug. 28, the day scheduled for a massive civil rights rally, to attend a birthday party for Lyndon Johnson and campaign fundraiser in Texas.
- Birmingham Mayor Albert Boutwell denied reports from the Rev. A.D. King and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy that the city's municipal auditorium would host an integrated fundraiser to carry people from Birmingham to D.C. for the march on Washington.
Abernathy had said Sammy Davis, Jr. and Ray Charles were to perform at the Birmingham event.
- The first protest against the war in Vietnam was held in New York City, although only two people participated.