21 Dec 1963
Page 1
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
This newspaper page contains 14 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Somerset Daily American
Location
Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Date
Dec 21, 1963
Page
1
West Berlin residents surged into East Berlin on a Christmas pass day, crossing at five points and returning by midnight. About 2,800 visitors, some tearful, reunited with relatives behind the wall while East Berlin officials loosened restrictions for the occasion.
Somerset Postmaster George Cassett says Christmas mail may match or beat last year's record if current volume holds. Daily 30,000 to 40,000 canceled letters and cards plus 4,200 parcel posts in 10 days, with 12 hour shifts. Windows will stay open till 5 p.m. to improve service and parcel delivery by Christmas Eve.
In East Berlin Hans Schmidt, using an assumed name, reunites with his mother Erika after 28 months separated by the Berlin Wall. Erika traveled 16 hours by train to the meeting as Christel, Hans wife, and 16 month old Anna join the embrace with tearful joy and cautious smiles.
Partly cloudy and windy with scattered snow flurries in Western Pennsylvania. Saturday brings a high of 10 to 20 with lows zero to 8 above, and possible heavy snow squalls in the north. Sunday remains chilly with more scattered flurries and slightly warmer temperatures.
Jordanian liaison officer Hussein Badr Khalidi says more than 3,000 Israeli Christian Arabs will cross the Mandelbaum Gate into Jordan for Christmas Mass at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
President Johnson called on states to scrap outdated voting barriers and pass reforms from a presidential commission study. The report urges establishing state election review bodies, lowering the voting age to 18, and abolishing poll taxes and literacy tests while stressing broad voter participation.
Flags will return to full staff Monday morning as a 30 day national mourning ends at sundown Sunday. Candlelight services will be held nationwide, with officials announcing the lifting of mourning customs including black drapes and other signs at the White House.
Soviet Tass warned African students who joined a Red Square march to respect Soviet laws or exit the country. They protested a Ghanaian student’s death, claiming racial prejudice. Tass said there was no discrimination and the man died from frost exposure while drunk.
Two man made Christmas stars sighted after the Explorer 19 balloon satellite launched near Point Arguello. The other is the cannister that released a 12 foot diameter balloon. Both should be visible for years and may appear to merge as they orbit Earth.
Robert Beaty Fennell, 29, a Fair Play for Cuba Committee member, charged by the Secret Service with threatening to kill President Johnson. He was arrested in Berkeley with notes stating his aim to assassinate the president. a court ordered psychiatric exam followed.
Washington AP Sen ate House conferees ended a deadlock over foreign aid and credit for Communist wheat buyers but failed to adjourn as a parliamentary tangle stalled a half hour later vote. Republicans balked at the wheat sale compromise and demanded Rules Committee action delaying adjournment past midnight.
Robert Cogan of Meyersdale RD 4 is appointed school director in the Meyersdale Area School District by Judge Thomas I F Lansberry. The vacancy followed the death of Charles Shipley who was Larimer Two director. Cogan will finish Shipley’s term.
Defense Secretary McNamara, after meetings with Minh and Tho in Saigon, urged a tougher offensive by South Vietnam’s US backed forces in 1964 and said regions like the Mekong Delta may stay under Viet Cong influence until pacified, while others receive concentrated strikes. He expressed optimism despite limited progress since Diem’s overthrow.
A vast high pressure ridge pushed Arctic air into Pennsylvania as frigid lows dominated Friday. Clarion County’s East Branch Dam bottomed out at 10 below, with multiple towns from Clarion to Philadelphia recording subzero to single-digit readings.
We want people to find what they are looking for at NewspaperArchive. We are confident that we have the newspapers that will increase the value of your family history or other historical research. With our 7-day free trial, you can view the documents you find for free.
People find the most success using advanced search. Try plugging in keywords, names, dates, and locations, and get matched with results from the entire collection of newspapers at NewspaperArchive!
You can also successfully find newspapers by these browse options. Explore our archives on your own!
Browse by location and discover newspapers from all across the world.
Browse by date and find publications for a specific day or era.
Browse old newspaper publications to find specific newspapers.