#TodayInHistory – July 13
3 min read
July 13 – Some important events on this day.
1568 👉🏼 Dean of St. Paul’s London, Alexander Nowell perfects a way to bottle beer
1668 👉🏼 Van Marco Cesti’s opera “Il Pomo d’Oro” (the Golden Apple or Tomato) premieres in Vienna
1772 👉🏼 Captain James Cook begins 2nd voyage aboard the Resolution to the South Seas to search for Terra Australis (Southern continent)
1832 👉🏼 Source of Mississippi River discovered by American geographer Henry Schoolcraft
1865 👉🏼 Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the “New-York Tribune” reputedly advises his readers to “Go west young man”
1923 👉🏼 The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. It originally reads “Hollywoodland” but the four last letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.
Originally erected in 1923 as a billboard for a new residential development, by the 1940s the then Hollywoodland sign was in disrepair. Donated to the city of Los Angeles in 1944, it was in such a state that the city’s Recreation and Parks Commission wanted it torn down. However the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and local residents resisted and won the day.
It was decided to tear down the old sign and rebuild it but without the “LAND”at the end. Since then it has become an emblem for the film industry and the city. In 1973 it was granted status as a historical cultural monument and it was rebuild once again in 1978 as the world’s largest sign.
1930 👉🏼 1st-ever football World Cup competition begins in Uruguay
1943 👉🏼 Greatest tank battle in history ends with Russia’s defeat of Germany at Kursk, almost 6,000 tanks take part, 2,900 lost by Germany
1966 👉🏼 A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founds the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna movement) in New York City
1978 👉🏼 BBC bans Sex Pistols “No One is Innocent”.
In January 1978 the Sex Pistols embarked on their first and last tour of America, and their last tour as a band. They might not have known it, but the group that had caused a moral panic in their native UK and helped spark the punk wave of the late 1970s was about to collapse completely.
The audiences were hostile – their promoter had purposely booked what he called “redneck bars” to provoke violence. During the concerts Sid Vicious fought with audience members and attacked them with his bass guitar, as well as fighting with security guards and staff on and off stage.
During their final show Johnny Rotten walked off after having performed one song, a cover of “No Fun” by the Stooges. The band would never perform together again. Sid Vicious – described by Rotten as having gone “completely off the rails” by the start of the tour – was hospitalized shortly after the tour but would die of a heroin overdose in 1979.
1985 👉🏼 “Live Aid” concerts held at both Wembley Stadium (London) and John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia) raises over $70 million for African famine relief.