June 16 in Pop Culture History

June 16 Fun Facts, Trivia and History

June 16 History Highlights

  • 1858 – Abraham Lincoln gave his “a house divided against itself cannot stand” speech.
  • June 16, 1938 – The planet Krypton blew up, DC Comics
  • 2010 – Bhutan became the first country to institute a total ban on tobacco.
  • 2016 – Shanghai Disneyland Park, the first Disney Park in Mainland China, opened to the public.
  • If you were born on June 16th,
    You were likely conceived the week of… September 23rd (prior year)

The Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway

The first real roller coaster amusement ride was LaMarcus Thompson’s “Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway”, basically a “fast” train ride at Coney Island in 1884. The (6 mph) ride cost 5 cents. In 1887, he opened the “Scenic Railway” on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. Originally he showed a scenic view of the Atlantic City but he added painted backgrounds and scenes from the Bible, and Swiss Alps-type landscapes. Additionally, he added electric lights which were still a novelty in the 1880s.

The world’s oldest roller coasters descended from the “Russian Mountains,” which were constructed hills of snow, in the mid-1700s, much beggir than sleds. By the early 1800s, in France, they had a metal wagon that was towed up a wall, then let go for the trip back down. In the 1850s, a mining company in Summit Hill, Pennsylvania constructed the Mauch Chunk gravity railroad, a brakeman-controlled, 8.7 mile downhill track used to deliver coal to Mauch Chunk (now known as Jim Thorpe), Pennsylvania. By 1872, the “Gravity Road” was selling rides to thrill-seekers – technically, they were probably the first railway with paying customers, but not quite a “Roller Coaster”.

June 16 is…

Bloomsday
Fudge Day

June 16 Birthday Quotes

“I cannot think that we are useless or God would not have created us. There is one God looking down on us all. We are all the children of one God. The sun, the darkness, the winds are all listening to what we have to say.”
– Geronimo

“You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be led.”
– Stan Laurel

“I don’t think about commercial concerns when I first come up with something. When I sit down at the piano, I try to come up with something that moves me.”
– Lamont Dozier

“Wisdom and peace come when you start living the life the creator intended for you.”
– Geronimo

“Live Strong, Act Bold, Be Brave. Nothing’s too hard to do, ALWAYS BELIEVE.”
– The Ultimate Warrior

June 16 Birthdays

1829 – Geronimo, American tribal leader (died in 1909)
1890 – Stan Laurel, English comedic actor (died in 1965)
1907 – Jack Albertson, American character actor (died in 1981)
1941 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer
1959 – The Ultimate Warrior, American wrestler (died in 2014)
1962 – Arnold Vosloo, South African-American actor
1982 – Missy Peregrym, Canadian model and actress
1987 – Diana DeGarmo, American singer-songwriter and actress
2003 – Anna Cathcart, Canadian actress

June 16 History

1816
Lord Byron read Fantasmagoriana to his four house guests – Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire Clairmont, and John Polidori, and inspired his challenge that each guest writes a ghost story.

1884
The first public roller coaster, LaMarcus Adna Thompson’s “Switchback Railway” (patent #310,966) opened in New York’s Coney Island amusement park.

1893
Cracker Jack, a snack created by R.W. Rueckheim, was introduced at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago’s World Fair.

1903
Pepsi-Cola Co. registered the Pepsi-Cola trademark.

 Henry Ford and 11 investors incorporated the Ford Motor Company.

1904
Bloomsday commemorates the life of Irish writer James Joyce during which the events of his novel, Ulysses, took place.

1911
IBM was founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in Endicott, New York.

1938
June 16, 1938 (fiction) The planet Krypton blew up, DC Comics

1956
#1 Hit June 16, 1956July 27, 1956: Gogi GrantThe Wayward Wind

1958
Mount Blackburn – 16,390 ft (4,996 m) – Alaska, USA – First ascent: June 16, 1958 by Bruce Gilbert, Dick Wahlstrom, Hans Gmoser, Adolf Bitterlich, and Leon Blumer

1961
Dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the US from the Soviet Union.

1963
Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on Vostok 6.

1967
The Monterey Pop Festival began.

1977
Oracle Corporation was incorporated in Redwood Shores, California,

1990
#1 Hit June 16, 1990June 29, 1990: RoxetteIt Must Have Been Love

2006
June 16, 2006Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior aired on The Disney Channel

2010
Hot in Cleveland premiered on TV Land.

2018
#1 Hit June 16, 2018 – June 29, 2018: Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla Sign – Psycho

Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts

Montgomery Clift – Real Name: Edward Montgomery

People say that playing violent video games will turn you into a violent person. I’ve been playing sports videogames for some time and I’m still not an athletic person.

7-Eleven makes its Slurpees using machines licensed from ICEE.

TV Quotes… “Now cut that out!” (Jack Benny) on The Jack Benny Program.

Bambi, Fantasia, and Pinocchio bombed at the box office.

When we want another person’s thoughts, we say “penny for your thoughts.” When we offer up our own, we say “putting my two cents in.” We value our own opinion twice as much.

A group of feral cats is called a “destruction”

US President #9 William Henry Harrison (1841) William died of pneumonia one month to the day after making, in the snow, the longest U.S. presidential inauguration speech so far.

“I don’t think I’ve ever drunk champagne before breakfast before. With breakfast on several occasions, but never before, before.” #moviequotes

Scrawny nerds with braces will be the most horrifying zombies since they can get through small spaces and those metal mouths won’t deteriorate.

I hope the good guys win, whoever they are.

I should start a group that does cold war reenactments. It would be pretty easy. All you have to do is sit around and look worried about Russia.

The Capital of Serbia is Belgrade

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