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This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for July 13

French fries and the Hollywood sign.

July 13, 2020

1–2 minutes

1923: Hollywood Sign is Dedicated

Placed on Mount Lee in Hollywood Hills, the giant 45-foot-tall letters that spells out “Hollywood” was dedicated on this day in 1923. Originally placed as an advertisement for a local real estate development, it read, “Hollywoodland,” the name of the development. Not intended to last a lifetime, the sign deteriorated and was restored in 1949 with the decision to remove “land.”

Urban legend would have us believe that the letters were removed due to the death of movie star, Peg Entwistle who in 1932, committed suicide by climbing a workman’s ladder up to the top of the ‘H’ and jumping to her death. She was 24 years old.

The sign was restored again in 1949 with help from Gene Autry, Andy Williams, Alice Cooper and others. Today the sign is protected and promoted by the Hollywood Sign Trust, a nonprofit organization. (Image: Wikimedia)

2022: Day Devoted to Fries Gets Moved

Although July 13 has long been known as National French Fry Day and celebrated at a number of fast-food outlets across the country, in 2022, the unofficial holiday spent its last day on this day – at least for a while. Blame it on fast-food chain Checkers & Rally’s who petitioned that the holiday be moved to the second Friday in July to more align with “fry day.” To avoid confusion, some chains like McDonalds and Smashburger decided to stick with the old date to give out deals on their fries for 2023 while others embraced the change. In some cases, eateries decided to give out specials on fries on both days. (Image: Pixabay)