April 6 in Pop Culture History

648 BC – Earliest solar eclipse recorded by the Ancient Greeks.

1748 – Excavations began at Pompeii, covered by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

1830 – Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in Fayette Township, New York.

1852 – Edward Sabine announced that the 11-year sunspot cycle was “absolutely identical” to Earth’s geomagnetic cycle.

1895 – Oscar Wilde was arrested and later found guilty of being a homosexual and sentenced to two years of hard labor.

1896 – In Athens, the first modern Olympic Games was opened 1,500 years after being banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I.

1906 – The first animated cartoon, Humorous Phases of Funny Faces,  was copyrighted.

1930 – Hostess Twinkies snack cakes were invented by James ‘Jimmy’ A. Dewar at the Continental Baking Company in Chicago

1931 – Little Orphan Annie debuted on the Blue Network of NBC.

1936 (Tornado) Gainesville, Georgia.

1938 – Roy J. Plunkett and Jack Rebok accidentally discovered the chemical compound polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), later marketed as Teflon by DuPont.

1947 – The first Tony Awards were presented for theatrical achievement.

1957 – #1 Ht April 6, 1957 – April 12, 1957: Perry Como – Round And Round

1957 -Trolley cars in ended service in New York City.

1965 – Launch of Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit via NASA by the Space and Communications Group of Hughes Aircraft Company.

1966 – Hundred of children and their teachers reported seeing a UFO over Melbourne, Australia.

1973 – NASA launched Pioneer 11 to Jupiter and Saturn.

1974 – #1 Hit April 6, 1974 – April 12, 1974: Blue Swede – Hooked on a Feeling

1974 – Waterloo won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden. ABBA went on to pop music success for much of the 1970s.

1984 – The Gods Must Be Crazy, Moscow on the Hudson, Up The Creek and Hard To Hold were released in theaters.

1990 – Ernest Goes to Jail, The First Power, Cry-Baby and I Love You To Death debuted in theaters

1998 – Travelers and Citicorp merged (the merger was completed on October 8) forming Citibank.

1999 – Mamma Mia! (East End Musical) Opened on April 6, 1999

2001 – Along Came a Spider and Pokemon 3: The Movie were released in theaters.

2007 – Grindhouse debuted in theaters.