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This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for July 6

Forest Gump and Anne Frank

July 6, 2020

1–2 minutes

1994: Run Forrest Run

The hugely successful movie, Forrest Gump starring Tom Hanks opened in U.S. theaters on this day in 1994. It was based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom, who like Gump, grew up in Alabama and served in the Army during the Vietnam war, but the similarities probably ended there.

In Gump, Forrest waxes eloquently that “life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” He outruns his use for crutches, becomes a ping-pong champ, mixes with key iconic figures like Elvis and Nixon and even helped create the smiley face by cleaning mud off his face.

The movie received 13 Academy Award nominations and took home six Oscars. The win was Hanks’ second in the Best Actor category.

1942: Anne Frank Goes into Hiding

Annelies Marie Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her family moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1934 when Adolf Hitler gained control over the country. In 1941, she lost her German citizenship becoming stateless. On her 13th birthday on June 12, 1942, Anne received an autograph book which she used as a diary. Just one month later on this day, Anne and her family began hiding in a secret annex hidden behind a bookcase in building where her father worked.

Anne frequently wrote in her diary until her family was captured and sent to a concentration camp on August 4th. Anne’s diary became famous giving an interesting viewpoint of what life was like during those trying times Over 30 million copies of The Diary of a Young Girl have been produced and in 67 languages.