July 14 in Pop Culture History

1789 – Bastille Day. Tens of thousands of the citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille, the Paris fortress used as a prison to hold political prisoners and released the seven prisoners inside at the onset of the French Revolution.

1798 – The Sedition Act became law in the United States, making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.

1853 – Opening of the first major US World’s Fair – the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City.

1874 – The ‘Little Chicago Fire’ of 1874 burns down 47 acres of the city, destroying 812 buildings and killing 20. The October 10, 1871 ‘Great Chicago Fire’ was bigger.

1881 – Billy the Kid was shot and killed by frenemy Pat Garrett outside Fort Sumner.

1911 – Harry Atwood, an exhibition pilot for the Wright Brothers, landed his airplane on the South Lawn of the White House.

1933 – Gleichschaltung: All political parties except the Nazi Party were outlawed in Germany.

1933 – The Nazi eugenics plan began with the proclamation of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring, which called for the compulsory sterilization of any citizen who suffered from alleged genetic disorders.

1960 – Jane Goodall arrived at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild.

1962 – #1 Hit July 14, 1962 – August 10, 1962: Bobby Vinton – Roses Are Red (My Love)

1969 – The United States $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills were officially withdrawn from circulation.

1979 – #1 Hit July 14, 1979 – August 17, 1979: Donna Summer – Bad Girls

1986 – SpongeBob SquarePants was born.

1989 – When Harry Met Sally, Peter Pan (reissue) and Licence To Kill debuted in theaters.

1992 – 386BSD was released by Lynne and William Jolitz, beginning the Open Source Operating System Revolution. Linus Torvalds released his Linux soon afterward.

1995 – Nine Months, Living in Oblivion, and The Indian in the Cupboard were released in theaters.

1999 – Muppets From Space was released in theaters.

2000 – A powerful solar flare, later named the Bastille Day event, caused a geomagnetic storm on Earth.

2000 – X-Men was released in theaters.

2006 – You Me and Dupree and Little Man debuted in theaters.

2008 – The Wendy Williams Show premiered in syndication.

2010 – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was released in theaters.

2015 – NASA’s New Horizons probe performs Pluto’s first flyby, completing the Solar System’s initial survey.