Three Tragedies in the Middle of 1963

When the Houseman family was unloading their car at the Kellerman resort hotel on August 10, 1963, the dialogue included the following:

Lisa Houseman
Oh, my God. Look at that! Mom, I should've brought the coral shoes. You said I was taking too much.

Marjorie Houseman
Well, sweetheart, you brought ten pairs.

Lisa Houseman
But the coral shoes matched that dress.

Jake Houseman
This is not a tragedy. A tragedy is three men trapped in a mine or police dogs used in Birmingham.

Baby Houseman
Monks burning themselves in protest.

Lisa Houseman
Butt out, Baby.

Baby's three tragedies were as follows.

1. Three Men Trapped in a Mine

The Wikipedia article titled Sheppton Mine Disaster and Rescue includes the following passages:

The Sheppton Mine Disaster and Rescue in Sheppton, Pennsylvania, was one of the first rescues of trapped miners accomplished by raising them through holes bored through solid rock, an event that gripped the world's attention during August 1963.

The roof of the Sheppton anthracite coal mine collapsed on August 13 and three miners were trapped 300 feet below ground. A small borehole was drilled from the surface in an attempt to contact the miners. 

Rescue workers at the Sheppton Mine in August 1963

After several days a borehole successfully reached a mine, and revealed that two of the miners,Henry Thorne and David Fellin, had survived in a small, narrow chamber. Rescuers dropped provisions to the miners and subsequent larger boreholes were made, including the final large hole bored with the assistance of billionaire Howard Hughes, and the two surviving miners were successfully raised to the surface on August 27. Attempts to contact the third miner, Louis Bova, were unsuccessful.

2. Police Dogs Used in Birmingham

The Wikipediaarticle about the Birmingham riot of 1963 includes the following passages:

The Birmingham riot of 1963 was a civil disorder in Birmingham, Alabama, that was provoked by bombings on the night of May 11, 1963. .... The places bombed were the parsonage of Rev. A. D. King, brother of Martin Luther King, Jr., and a motel owned by A. G. Gaston, where King and others organizing the campaign had stayed. ....

Many black witnesses held police accountable for the bombing of the King house, and immediately began to express their anger. Some began to sing "We Shall Overcome," while others began to throw rocks and other small objects. More people mobilized after the second blast. ... Many of them were already frustrated with the strategy of nonviolence ... Three black men knifed white police officer J. N. Spivey in the ribs.

Several reporters who had been drinking at the bar got into a shared rental car and headed toward the commotion. A crowd of about 2,500 people had formed and was blocking police cars and fire trucks from the Gaston Motel area. A fire that started at an Italian grocery store spread to the whole block. As traffic started to move, Birmingham Police drove their six-wheeled armored vehicle down the street, spraying tear gas. An unexplained U.S. Army tank also appeared.

A police dog attacking a Black man in Birmingham on May 12, 1963

At 2:30 AM, a large battalion of state troopers, commanded by Al Lingo and armed with submachine guns, arrived on the scene. About 100 were mounted on horses. These troops menaced any blacks remaining in the street, as well as the white journalists, who were forced into the lobby of the motel. Hospitals treated more than 50 wounded people.

3) Monks Burning Themselves in Protest

The Wikipedia article about the Vietnamese monk Thích Quảng Đức includes the following passages:

Thích Quảng Đức was a Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk who burned himself to death at a busy Saigon road intersection on 11 June 1963. Quang Duc was protesting the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government led by Ngô Đình Diệm.

Vietnamese monk burning on June 11, 1963

Photographs of his self-immolation were circulated widely across the world and brought attention to the policies of the Diệm government. John F. Kennedy said in reference to a photograph of Đức on fire, "No news picture in history has generated so much emotion around the world as that one." Malcolm Browne won a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of the monk's death.

Quảng Đức's act increased international pressure on Diệm and led him to announce reforms with the intention of mollifying the Buddhists. However, the promised reforms were not implemented, leading to a deterioration in the dispute. With protests continuing, the ARVN Special Forces loyal to Diệm's brother, Ngô Đình Nhu, launched nationwide raids on Buddhist pagodas, seizing Quảng Đức's heart and causing deaths and widespread damage.

Five Buddhist monks followed Quảng Đức's example, also immolating themselves ... until late October 1963 as the Buddhist protests in Vietnam escalated.