Table of Contents July 13 Fun Facts, Trivia and History |
July 13 History Highlights |
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Barbershop Music Appreciation Day |
“Barbershop music” has been described by Samuel Pepys as amateur instrumental tunes in the 17th century. The style may have its origins from barber’s mandolin or guitar playing, which were used to help people relax during their haircuts and shave. Some even believe that the Barbershop Quartet started back when Barbershops served as community centers where men would gather for social activities with a barber while working on their hair cuts. Tradition says that post-Civil War, black men were known for singing in groups, called quartets, and informally “cracking up a chord”. This can be traced back to 1882 when the New York Age wrote about this as entertainment that arises from African Americans not being able to attend theater or concert halls because they were excluded from it alltogether. Reviving the tradition, Edna Mae Anderson of Tulsa, Oklahoma invited some women to her home on July 13th, 1945. Their husbands were members of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA). The ladies wanted to participate in all that fun and enjoyment. On this night, they created a group called Sweet Adelines International |
July 13 is… |
| Barbershop Music Appreciation Day Bean ‘n’ Franks Day Embrace Your Geekness Day Fool’s Paradise Day Go West Day Gruntled Workers Day National Beef Tallow Day National French Fry Day |
July 13 Birthday Quotes |
“You can have all the tools in the world but if you don’t genuinely believe in yourself, it’s useless.” “If you wish a thing done, get someone to do it for you; but if you wish it done well, do it yourself.” “People are always saying that I must have been the class clown, with all these voices. No, I was way too shy to be the class clown; I was a class clown’s writer.” “If there’s anyone in space, what they’ll learn about the human race will be listening to us talking on the car phone.” “If someone says ‘Give me one word of advice,’ I say ‘be fearless.’ And knowing without any shadow of a doubt that what they have to give – who they are – is totally unique and not shared by anybody else. And to believe in that uniqueness. It took me decades before I developed courage as an actor.” “When people lack jobs, opportunity, and ownership of property they have little or no stake in their communities.” |
July 13 Birthdays |
| 1864 – John Jacob Astor IV, American businessman (died in 1912) 1911 – Bob Steele, American radio personality (died in 2002) 1913 – Dave Garroway, American journalist and television personality (died in 1982) 1922 – Leslie Brooks, American actress (died in 2011) 1928 – Bob Crane, American actor (died in 1978) 1935 – Jack Kemp, American politician (died in 2009) 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor 1942 – Harrison Ford, American actor 1942 – Roger McGuinn, American singer-songwriter 1946 – Cheech Marin, American actor and comedian 1951 – Didi Conn, American actress 1956 – Michael Spinks, American boxer 1957 – Cameron Crowe, American director, producer, and screenwriter 1962 – Tom ‘SpongeBob” Kenny, American voice actor and screenwriter 1966 – Gerald Levert, American R&B singer-songwriter (died in 2006) 1969 – Ken Jeong, American actor, comedian and physician 1974 – Deborah Cox, Canadian singer-songwriter 1988 – Colton Haynes, American actor 1988 – Steven R. McQueen, American actor 2003 – Wyatt Oleff, American actor 2005 – Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, Canadian actor |
July 13 History |
| 1787 – The Continental Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing governing rules for the Northwest Territory. It also established procedures for the admission of new states and limits the expansion of slavery. 1923 – The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It originally read “Hollywoodland ” but the four last letters are dropped after a renovation in 1949. 1951 – Arnold Schoenberg, a famous 20th-century composer, had triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13), he died on July 13th, 1951. 1957 – #1 Hit July 13, 1957 – August 30, 1957: Elvis Presley – (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear 1959 – #1 Hit July 13, 1959 – August 9, 1959: Paul Anka – Lonely Boy 1974 – #1 Hit July 13, 1974 – July 26, 1974: George McCrae – Rock Your Baby 1977 – New York City Blackout of 1977 1985 – #1 Hit July 13, 1985 – July 26, 1985: Duran Duran – A View to a Kill 2002 – Fox News Channel became the #1 cable TV news service of the US, beating long-time champ CNN 2013 – George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. July 13, 2305 Birthday (fictional) Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation, TV |
Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts |
| Harry’s father, James Potter is the villain from every teen comedy. Clarke’s First Law: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Every activity will lead to weight loss if you add “instead of eating” at the end of the sentence. Legally Blonde was originally a novel based on author Amanda Brown’s experiences at Stanford Law School. The Capital of Nauru is no official capital; government offices in Yaren District Vincent Van Gogh sold only one work of art during his lifetime. There are a total of 3,863,484 unique Lego bricks in The Lego Movie. A group of Guinea Fowl is called a Confusion. Roulette Odds: numbers 1 to 12: Payoff: 2:1 True Odds: 31.58% Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance. Quotes from Spongebob are like inside jokes; you’ll get weird stares if you say them around people who don’t know them. “I never thought those Pirates would beat all those Robots!” I bought the world’s worst thesaurus earlier. Not only was it terrible, but it was also terrible. |
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