Pop Culture Flashback: Philippe Petit Walks Across the Sky (August 7)

August 7th is known as a day of great feats in pop culture history. Philippe Petit took an amazing walk while Lynne Cox went for a swim that lasted for hours. Kinda makes you want to get off that couch and do something, huh?

1974 – Philippe Petit Tightropes Between the Twin Towers

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit in the movie "The Walk" — Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit in *The Walk. (Tri-Star Pictures via TVDB)*

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, Tri-Star Pictures released Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk, a movie based on this event and starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

OTHER EVENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THIS DAY

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

Lynne Cox smiles for the camera — Lynne Cox *(TEDxMonterey via Wikimedia Commons)*

On this day in 1987, Lynne Cox took a cold plunge and 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 journey 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, the trip took her nine hours and 57 minutes to complete. She beat her time the following year with just nine hours and 36 minutes.

In 1976 Cox was the first person to swim to the Straits of Magellan in Chile and the first to swim around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Only one word can sum this all up. Overachiever.

2018: Rich Asians

Henry Golding and Constance Woo smile at each other for the "Crazy Rich Asians" movie poster — *(TVDB)*

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

1959: First Earth

The first image of Earth from Explorer 6 — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

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

1969: Green River

Members of Creedence Clearwater Revival — *(Wikimedia Commons)*

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

2018 – Oh Bother

An internet meme comparing Carrie Lam and Xi Jinping to Piglet and Winnie-the-Pooh. *(Wikipedia)*

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 in 2018, the live-action film, Christopher Robin wasn’t allowed to open in theaters, although no official explanation was given for the ban.

OSCAR WINNER

1992 – Clint Eastwood’s ‘Tombstone’ Movie Opens

Clint Eastwood points a rifle — Clint Eastwood in *Unforgiven (Warner Bros. via TVDB)*

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 Oscars for Best Picture, Film Editing, Supporting Actor (Hackman) and Director. It was only the third western ever to win for Best Picture (the other two were Dances with Wolves and Cimarron.)