April 13 in Pop Culture History

Old Town Road by Lil Nas X, featuring vocals from country singer Billy Ray Cyrus was released independently on December 3, 2018, and gained popularity through social media, particularly on the video-sharing app TikTok.

The song combines elements of country, rap, and trap music, and its lyrics tell the story of a cowboy riding his horse on a road called “Old Town Road.” It quickly became a viral sensation, with users on TikTok creating dance videos and memes using the song.

In March 2019, Old Town Road debuted on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, but it was later removed by Billboard, who stated that it did not have enough elements of country music to qualify for the chart. This decision sparked controversy and accusations of racism, as Lil Nas X is a black artist and many saw the decision as an attempt to exclude him from a traditionally white genre.

Despite this setback, Old Town Road continued gaining popularity, and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus released a song remix in April 2019. The remix featured new verses from Cyrus and additional production, and it quickly rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it stayed for a record-breaking 19 weeks. The song also topped the charts in numerous other countries and became one of the biggest hits of 2019.

In addition to its commercial success, Old Town Road has been credited with breaking down barriers between different genres of music and challenging traditional notions of what constitutes “country music.”

note: On April 13th, a Friday in 2029, 99942, Apophis, an asteroid more than 1,000 feet wide, will pass by Earth closer than the moon and should easily be observed with the naked eye.

1204 – Constantinople fell to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade.

1360 – On “Black Monday,” a hail storm killed 1,000 English soldiers and 6,000 horses. Edward III, fearing it a sign from God, paused the Hundred Years’ War.

1570 – Guy Fawkes was born (died in 1606)

1742 – Handel’s Messiah premiered in Dublin, Ireland.

1829 – The Roman Catholic Relief Act gave Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom the right to vote and to sit in the UK’s Parliament.

1869 – The first US Patent (#88,929) for an air brake was issued to George Westinghouse of Schenectady, N.Y., called an “Improvement in steam-power-brake devices”.

1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded.

1902 – James C. Penney (now Penneys) opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

1943 – The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, DC.

1957 – #1 Hit April 13, 1957 – June 7, 1957: Elvis Presley – All Shook Up

1957 – There was no Saturday mail delivery due to a budget crunch at the US Post Office. Additional funds insured Saturday mail continued by the following week.

1959 – #1 Hit April 13, 1959 – May 10, 1959: The Fleetwoods – Come Softly to Me

1968 – #1 Hit April 13, 1968 – May 17, 1968: Bobby Goldsboro – Honey

1970 – An oxygen tank exploded on Apollo 13, but everyone survived. It was also the major plot for the 1995 film Apollo 13.

1974 – Western Union, with NASA and Hughes Aircraft, launched the US’ first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.

1976 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduced the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note.
1985 – #1 Hit April 13, 1985 – May 10, 1985: USA for Africa – We Are the World

1984 – Friday the 13th: Final Chapter, Iceman, and Swing Shift were released in theaters.

1990 – The Gods Must Be Crazy II, and Crazy People debuted in theaters.

1991 – #1 Hit April 13, 1991 – April 19, 1991: Londonbeat – I’ve Been Thinking About You

1994 – Serial Mom was released in theaters.

1997 – Tiger Woods became the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.

2001 – Bridget Jones’s Diary debuted in theaters.

2002 – My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Scorpion King and Murder By Numbers were released in theaters.

2007 – Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film, The Condemned and The Invisible debuted in theaters.

2012 – The Cabin in the Woods and The Three Stooges were released in theaters.

#1 Hit April 13, 2019 – August 23, 2019: Lil Nas X solo and/or featuring Billy Ray Cyrus – Old Town Road