This Day in Pop Culture for June 6

1933: The First Drive-In Opens

The first drive-in theater rolled into Camden, New Jersey on this day in 1933. Richard M. Hollingshead, Jr. first began his outdoor theater tests in his driveway and backyard before building his 400 car capacity drive-in. The slogan for the new invention was “The whole family is welcome, regardless of how noisy the children are.” The very first movie ever played at a drive-in was 1932’s Wives Beware. Though he failed to make a profit on the new venture, Hollingshead sold his drive-in theater three years later and soon, drive-ins were popping up from coast to coast.

1844: The YMCA is Founded

The “Y” (formerly known as the YMCA and before that, the Young Men’s Christian Association) was founded on this day in 1844 by George Williams in London. Williams was concerned about the lack of healthy activities of youth and wanted to keep young men out of the taverns and brothels. His goal was to share Christ by focusing on three “healthy” areas – the body, mind and spirit. By 1851, there were YMCA’s in the United States as well as other countries. Initially, the YMCA concerned itself with Bible studies, but over the years the organization has moved to a more “holistic” approach. While the “C” in YMCA is less of importance today than it was years ago, the Y still puts a strong importance on the values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility