June 30 in Pop Culture History
1831 – A patent for a platform scale was issued to brothers Erastus and Thaddeus S. Fairbanks of St. Johnsbury, Vermont.
1859 – Jean-Francois Gravelet, known as Emile Blondin, became the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
1860 – The 1860 Oxford evolution debate (Huxley-Wilberforce debate or the Wilberforce-Huxley debate) at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History took place.
1886 – The United States Division of Forestry was recognized and established by an Act of Congress
1894 – The Tower Bridge across the River Thames in London was officially opened
1906 – The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
1908 – The Tunguska Event happened near Lake Baikal, Russia. Destroying 770 square miles in Eastern Siberian Taiga. It was probably a big meteor. Or was it?
1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind was published.
1940 – Brenda Starr, the first newspaper comic strip by a woman, Dale Messick, appeared for the Chicago Tribune Syndicate.
1952 – The Guiding Light premiered on CBS.
1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
1966 – The National Organization for Women (NOW) was founded.
1971 – Ohio ratifies the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, reducing the voting age to 18, putting the amendment into effect.
1973 – British and French Concorde pilots chased a solar eclipse at Mach 2. They extended their view of it from 7 minutes to 74 minutes.
1972 – The first leap second was added to the UTC time system.
1973 #1 Hit June 30, 1973 – July 6, 1973: George Harrison – Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)
1979 #1 Hit June 30, 1979 – July 13, 1979: Anita Ward – Ring My Bell
1987 – Iran-Contra hearings aired during daytime television, pre-empting most programming.
1989 – The Karate Kid Part III and Do The Right Thing were released in theaters
1995 – Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Judge Dredd debuted in theaters
1990 #1 Hit June 30, 1990 – July 20, 1990: New Kids on the Block – Step By Step
1999 – South Park – Bigger, Longer and Uncut and Wild Wild West were released in theaters
2000 – The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle and The Perfect Storm debuted in theaters
2004 – Spider-Man 2 was released in theaters
2006 – The Devil Wears Prada debuted in theaters
2010 – The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was released in theaters
