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This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for June 27

On this day in pop culture, Route 66 is taken off the map and Wall-E came to theaters.

June 27, 2020

1–2 minutes

1985: Route 66 is Officially Taken Off the Map

U.S. Route 66, AKA the Will Rogers Highway AKA Main Street of America AKA the Mother Road was one of the original highways within the U.S. Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926 and ran from Chicago, Illinois all the way to Santa Monica, California and covered 2,448 miles. Many took the trek from end to end just to do it and many more were familiar with the highway because of the song (“Get Your Kicks on Route 66”) and the Route 66 television show.

During its heyday, local businesses did a pretty good business attracting travelers along route. Those same businesses fought against the growing threat of a new Interstate Highway System. On this day in 1985, the route was officially removed from the U.S. Highway System, but several states have “adopted” bypassed sections and renamed them “Historic Route 66.” (Image: Tobi/Pixabay)

2008: ‘Wall-E’ Rolls Into Theaters

Directed and co-written by Andrew Stanton along with Jim Reardon, Wall-E is a futuristic love story between two robots set in world destroyed by human excess.

Since the film featured very little dialogue for the first half of the story, some were concerned that the film would not do well with young children. However, grossing $533.3 million worldwide on a $180 million budget making the film an instant hit.

Wall-E won a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film, and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The film also topped Time’s list of the “Best Movies of the Decade.” (Image: Disney/Pixar)