July 11 in Pop Culture History

1796 – The United States took possession of Detroit from Great Britain under terms of the Jay Treaty.

1798 – The United States Marine Corps was re-established (they had been disbanded after the American Revolutionary War).

1889 – Tijuana, Mexico, was founded.

1893 – The first cultured pearl was created under the direction of Kokichi Mikimoto in Japan.

1914 – Babe Ruth debuted in Major League Baseball with the Boston Red Sox.

1915 – The earliest known instance of “Jazz” being used to refer to music was in the Chicago Daily Tribune

1921 – Former President of the United States William Howard Taft is sworn in as 10th Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court – the only person ever to hold both offices.

1922 – The Daisy Dell reopened as The Hollywood Bowl.

1960 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was published in the United States.

#1 Hit July 11, 1960 – July 17, 1960: Hollywood Argyles – Alley-Oop

#1 Hit July 11, 1970 – July 24, 1970: Three Dog Night – Mama Told Me (Not to Come)

1972 – The first game of the World Chess Championship 1972 between challenger Bobby Fischer and defending champion Boris Spassky began.

1973 – Varig Flight 820 crashed near Paris, France on approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 on board. The FAA (The Federal Aviation Authority) banned smoking on flights.

1975 – Chinese archeologists announced the uncovering of a 3-acre burial mound concealing 6000 clay statues of warriors. The “Terracotta Army” and their regalia dating from 221 to 206 BC, near the ancient capital of Xian.

1977 – Martin Luther King, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

1979 – America’s first space station, Skylab, was destroyed as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.

1986 – Club Paradise was released in theaters.

#1 Hit July 11, 1987 – July 31, 1987: Heart – Alone

1991 – The ‘eclipse of the century ‘ solar eclipse cast a shadow stretching 9,000 miles from Hawaii to South America, lasting nearly seven minutes in some areas.

1997 – Contact and Thrill Ride (IMAX) debuted in theaters.

2001 – Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was released in theaters.

2003 – The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen debuted in theaters.

2007 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was released in theaters.

2008 – Journey to the Center of the Earth, Meet Dave and Hellboy II: The Golden Army debuted in theaters.

#1 Hit July 11, 2009 – October 16, 2009: The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling

2011 – Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun, completed its first full rotation of the sun since its discovery in 1846.

2012 – Astronomers announced the discovery of Styx, the fifth moon of Pluto.

2014 – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Boyhood were released in theaters.

2013 – Sharknado aired on SyFy