When I was in college (in the mid-1970s), I took part in a seminar called "The History of the 1960s." We read a 300-page book and various other things. I can’t recall the name of the professor (although I can remember her face). One of the first things she told us was, "You might think the 1960s ran from January 1, 1960, to December 31, 1969, and that everything that happened between those dates was ‘The 60s.’ But that’s a mathematical definition. What would a historian say about the 60s? When did they begin and when did they end?"
We discussed it and decided that 1963 was the key year when things began to change. That’s when the 60s started. Here’s why: