July 17 in Pop Culture History

July 17 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

July 17 History Highlights

  • 1918 – Czar Nicholas II and his family were executed at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
  • Disneyland was dedicated at an “International Press Preview” event held on Sunday, July 17, 1955, and opened to the public on July 18.
  • 1975 – The US Appolo 18 linked with the Soviet Soyez spacecraft
  • 1981 – The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, MO, had a partial collapse, killing 114 people.
  • 1984 – The minimum legal drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 nationally in the United States.
  • 1989 – B-2 Stealth Bombers were successfully tested over Palmdale, CA.
  • If you were born on July 17th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… October 24th (prior year)

World Emoji Day

Although there were similar things referenced in the late 1960s/early 1970s, until some definitive evidence comes down, Scott’s statement pretty much stands. “I’ve never seen any hard evidence that the 🙂 “The sequence was in use before my original post, and I’ve never run into anyone who actually claims to have invented it before I did,” He added “That it’s always possible that someone else had the same idea — it’s a simple and obvious idea”

Typewriters were around for over 100 years, why didn’t they come up before?

Most typing was for professional reasons, the emoticons were computer guys were having fun with each other. There are references going back to the 1600s, but I don’t think emoticons really count unless they are used with a typewriter, or at least not hand-written. A handwritten emoticon is just a doodle.

The basic Smiley Face was created in 1963 by an artist named Harvey Ball. The Pop Culture Madness Logo is a play on that, the smiley face with a bite taken out of it.

Now there are dozens of “Western Emoticons” and we have “Eastern Emoticons” – Japan’s version.
Generally, the Western Emoticons are read sideways (turn your head) like 🙂 and Eastern Emoticons are read straight up like (-_-).

We’re in the Age of the Emoji.

The Emoticons and Internet abbreviations are really important because quick text messages can come across as cold or even terse. That little smiley emoji or LOL can tell somebody that you are not really mad. But if you are angry, you can make that clear with the Angry Face Emoji. Once texting became a thing, emoticons and internet slang like LOL or BTW became a quicker way of expressing a thought.

There are hundreds of emojis (emojii?) at this point, but one of the most popular, and universal is the POOP Emoji. It was meant to be soft-serve chocolate ice cream, but people didn’t read it that way.

July 17 is…

National Peach Ice Cream Day
National Tattoo Day
World Day for International Justice
World Emoji Day
Observed annually on July 17th
Wrong-Way Corrigan Day
Yellow Pigs Day

July 17 Birthday Quotes

“When you realize that life isn’t fair, you don’t act out, you don’t get overly wasted, you don’t get self-indulgent. You just move forward.”
– David Hasselhoff

“Acquaint yourself with your own ignorance.”
– Isaac Watts

“Do a little more than you’re paid to. Give a little more than you have to. Try a little harder than you want to. Aim a little higher than you think possible, and give a lot of thanks to God for health, family, and friends.”
– Art Linkletter

“Find your mark, look the other fellow in the eye, and tell the truth.”
– James Cagney

“I come from Nova Scotia, and I’d never seen a theater or been inside of a theater. When I was 17, my dad asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I thought I would like to be an actor. I didn’t have any idea what it was to be an actor. None. I’d wanted to be either an actor or a sculptor, which are both essentially the same thing. That’s how it all started for me.”
– Donald Sutherland

“If you’re not invited to the party, throw your own.”
– Diahann Carroll

“The problem with me is that nothing embarrasses me.”
– David Hasselhoff

July 17 Birthdays

1674 – Isaac Watts, English hymn writer and theologian (died in 1748)
1763 – John Jacob Astor, German-American businessman and philanthropist (died in 1848)
1899 – James Cagney, American actor (died in 1986)
1912 – Art Linkletter, Canadian-American radio and television host (died in 2010)
1917 – Phyllis Diller, American actress and comedian (died in 2012)
1918 – Red Sovine, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died in 1980)
1923 – John Cooper, English car designer, co-founded the Cooper Car Company (died in 2000)
1928 – Vince Guaraldi, American songwriter and pianist (died in 1976)
1932 – Quino, Spanish-Argentinian cartoonist
1935 – Diahann Carroll, American actress and singer (died in 2019)
1935 – Donald Sutherland, Canadian actor
1939 – Spencer Davis, Welsh singer-songwriter
1944 – Catherine Schell, Hungarian-English actress
1947 – Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall
1949 – Geezer Butler, English bass player and songwriter
1950 – Phoebe Snow, American singer-songwriter (died in 2011)
1951 – Lucie Arnaz, American actress
1952 – David Hasselhoff, American actor, singer, and producer
1952 – Nicolette Larson, American singer-songwriter (died in 1997)
1954 – Angela Merkel, German chemist politician, 8th Chancellor of Germany
1963 – Regina Belle, American singer-songwriter
1965 – Alex Winter, English-American actor
1975 – Darude, Finnish DJ and producer (Sandstorm)
1976 – Luke Bryan, American singer-songwriter

July 17 History

1429 – Charles VII of France was crowned the King of France in the Reims Cathedral after a successful campaign by Joan of Arc.

1856 – The Great Train Wreck of 1856 in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, injured over 100, and killed over 60 people.

1867 – Harvard School of Dental Medicine was established in Boston, Massachusetts

1899 – NEC Corporation is organized as the first Japanese joint venture with foreign capital. Today, NEC has structured its organization around three principal segments: IT solutions, network solutions, and electronic devices.

1918 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his immediate family were murdered by Bolshevik Chekists at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

1938 – Douglas Corrigan took off from Brooklyn to fly the “wrong way” to Ireland and becomes known as “Wrong Way” Corrigan.

1955 – Disneyland was dedicated and opened by Walt Disney in Anaheim, California.

1981 – A structural failure caused the collapse of a walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.

1984 – The national drinking age in the United States was changed from 18 to 21.

1989 – First flight of the Northrop B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber.

1999 – #1 Hit July 17, 1999 – July 23, 1999: Destiny’s Child – Bills, Bills, Bills

July 17, 2002 – The Apple iPod (2nd generation) was released.

2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a Boeing 777, was shot down near the border of Ukraine and Russia. All 298 people on board were killed.

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

The word “idea” has an unusually high syllable-to-letter ratio.

The Caspian Sea is actually the world’s largest lake.

Notice the big letter on the face of the dollar bill? Each letter represents which Federal Reserve Bank printed it! “I” is for Minneapolis

Cleopatra lived closer in time to the founding of the internet than to the building of the pyramids.

What was Captain Hook’s name before he got the hook?

Violet Jessop was an early 20th-century stewardess/nurse who survived being on the Olympic, the Titanic, and the Britannic.

William Henry Harrison was the only US President to never issue an executive order

Roger Vadim – Real Name: Roger Vadim Plemiannikov

“If you build it, he will come.”- Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta)

I want a doorbell that says *King* **Kong** #soundhumor

“Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.” #moviequotes

The Lion King was actually about how irresponsible Hakuna Matata really was.

More Pop Culture History Resources