This Day in Pop Culture for August 7

1974: Philippe Petit Tightropes Between the Twin Towers

It was on this day in 1974 that Philippe Petit traveled the void between the World Trade Center towers, 1350 feet off the ground, via tightrope. The “rope” was actually a 450-pound cable, and he used a 26-foot-long balancing pole which weighed 55 pounds. In 45 minutes, he managed to make four round trips on the wire, an act that was not approved of. Fortunately for Petit, all charges were dropped in exchange for a performance for children. On October 2, 2015, Robert Zemeckis released the film The Walk based on the event. (Image: TriStar)

1987: Swimming from the U.S. to the Soviet Union

On this day in 1987, Lynne Cox became the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union. The trip from Little Diomede in Alaska to Big Diomeded (then a part of the Soviet Union) took two hours and five minutes to complete in water that was a chilly 43 to 44 degrees. This trip was relatively short compared to other swimming challenges that she has tackled. She swam across the English Channel from England to France twice. In 1972 it took her nine hours and 57 minutes and the following year it took her nine hours and 36 minutes. In 1976 Cox was the first person to the Straits of Magellan in Chile and the first to swim around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. (Image: Wikimedia)

2018: Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians premieres in L.A. It’s the first Hollywood movie to feature an all-Asian cast.

1959: First Earth

The Explorer 6 transmit the very first images of Earth from space.

1969: Green River

Creedence Clearwater Revival releases Green River which includes “Bad Moon Rising” and “Lodi”.

2018: Oh Bother

Talk about no sense of humor, images of Disney’s version of Winnie-the-Pooh became censored in China in 2017 when internet memes compared Chinese Paramount Leader and General Secretary of the Communist Party Xi Jinping to the bear stuffed with fluff. Still sore on this day, the live-action film, Christopher Robin wasn’t allowed to open in theaters, although no official explanation was given for the ban. (Image: Wikipedia)

1992: Award-Winning Clint Eastwood Movie Opens

Clint Eastwood produced, directed and starred in the western movie, Unforgiven. He played a former outlaw and killer who after changing his ways and raising a farm agrees to “one more job”. Based on a screenplay by David Webb Peoples, the movie also starred Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris. Made with a budget of $14.4 million, the movie grossed over $159 million. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four for Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Hackman) Best Director and Best Picture. It was only the third western to win for Best Picture (the other two were Dances with Wolves and Cimarron. (Image: Wikipedia)