July 14 Fun Facts, Trivia and HistoryTable of Contents |
July 14 History Highlights |
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Shark Awareness Day |
Sharks are one of the most fascinating creatures on Earth. They’re able to sense their prey from miles away and they have an impressive arsenal, including rows upon rows of teeth that can deliver a lethal bite with just millimeters in between! Sadly enough, it’s people who pose more danger for sharks than vice versa – you’ve probably heard about or seen dramatic pictures depicting how close we come to them when snorkeling as opposed to what those situations look like in reality. Sharks as “aggressive” creatures of the sea don’t help either. The global demand for these delicacies like shark-fin soup, combined with the false perception that beaches couldn’t be dangerous if there is no lifeguard nearby, means millions of innocent animals die each year. About 8 people a year are killed by shark attacks worldwide every year, and six times that number (50) are killed by lightning strikes. |
July 14 is… |
| Bastille Day (France) National Grand Marnier Day National Mac and Cheese Day National Tape Measure Day Pandemonium Day Shark Awareness Day |
July 14 Birthday Quotes |
“It’s a folk singer’s job to comfort disturbed people and to disturb comfortable people.” “I have never painted a self-portrait. I am less interested in myself as a subject for a painting than I am in other people, above all women… There is nothing special about me. I am a painter who paints day after day from morning to night… Whoever wants to know something about me… ought to look carefully at my pictures.” “I am living permanently in my dream, from which I make brief forays into reality.” “I am a child of America. If ever I’m sent to Death Row for my revolutionary ‘crimes,’ I’ll order as my last meal: a hamburger, french fries, and a coke.” “At the end of the day, you gotta feel some way. So why not feel unbeatable? Why not feel untouchable.” “I promise my fellow citizens only this: To uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and…to do the very best that I can for America.” |
July 14 Birthdays |
| 1861 – Kate M. Gordon, American suffragette (died in 1931) 1862 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter and illustrator (died in 1918) 1894 – Dave Fleischer, American animator, director and producer (died in 1979) 1906 – Tom Carvel, Greek-American businessman, founded Carvel (died in 1990) 1912 – Woody Guthrie, American singer-songwriter (died in 1967) 1912 – Buddy Moreno, American musician and entertainer (died in 2015) 1913 – Gerald Ford, American politician, 38th President of the United States (died in 2006) 1918 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (died in 2007) 1926 – Harry Dean Stanton, American actor (died in 2017) 1927 – John Chancellor, American journalist (died in 1996) 1927 – Mike Esposito, American comic book author and illustrator (died in 2010) 1930 – Polly Bergen, American actress (died in 2014) 1932 – Rosey Grier, American football player and actor 1938 – Jerry Rubin, American activist and businessman (died in 1994) 1949 – Tommy Mottola, American businessman and music publisher 1952 – Franklin Graham, American evangelist and missionary 1952 – Joel Silver, American actor and producer, co-founded Dark Castle Entertainment 1961 – Jackie Earle Haley, American actor 1966 – Matthew Fox, American actor 1986 – Dan Smith, English singer-songwriter 1988 – Conor McGregor, Irish mixed martial artist |
July 14 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. 1791 – The Priestley Riots drove Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution and religious dissenter, out of Birmingham, England. 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, killing 20. The October 10, 1871 ‘Great Chicago Fire’ was beggir. 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 at the South Lawn of the White House. 1933 – Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties were outlawed except the Nazi Party. 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. 1938 – Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91-hour airplane flight around the world. 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 1992 – 386BSD was released by Lynne and William Jolitz beginning the Open Source Operating System Revolution. Linus Torvalds released his Linux soon afterward. July 14, 19** Birthday (fictional) SpongeBob SquarePants, Cartoon, TV 2000 – A powerful solar flare, later named the Bastille Day event, caused a geomagnetic storm on Earth. 2008 – The Wendy Williams Show premiered, in syndication. 2015 – NASA’s New Horizons probe performs the first flyby of Pluto, completing the initial survey of the Solar System. |
Today’s Random Trivia and Shower Thoughts |
| Ben Franklin’s 13 Virtues #5 – Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing. When the Clue movie was released, they gave movie theaters 3 different endings. The Tower of London is wider than it is high. In Dirty Dancing, what was Baby’s real name? Frances! When I was in elementary school, we would bring pop songs to class to translate the lyrics together with our teacher. With today’s pop lyrics, that would be very awkward. The Capital of Namibia is Windhoek There is only one country between North Korea and Norway. #russia “Friendships born on the field of athletic strife are the real gold of competition. Awards become corroded, friends gather no dust.” – Jesse Owens I bet the first person who said “I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it” felt really clever. “Plastics.” – Mr. Maguire (Walter Brooke) in Graduate, The Graduate, 1967 The sleeve on the outside of a coffee cup is called a “zarf.” Isn’t it odd the way everyone just assumes that the goo in soap dispensers is always soap? I should fill mine with mustard, just to teach people a lesson in trust. |
More Pop Culture History Resources |
