Today in History: Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Television:
The Hollywood sign was officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles in 1923. It originally read “Hollywoodland,“ but the four last letters were dropped after its renovation in 1949…A power failure in 1977 plunged New York City and Westchester County into a nearly 24-hour blackout...CBS sitcom “Cybill,” created by Chuck Lorre and headlined by Cybill Shepherd and Christine Baranski, concluded in 1998 after four seasons…PBS began airing concerts by the Boston Pops Orchestra in 1970…In 1985, the “Live Aid” concerts held at both Wembley Stadium (London) and John F. Kennedy Stadium (Philadelphia) raised over $70 million for African famine relief.

Movies:
“The Spy Who Loved Me“, the tenth James Bond film in the long-running franchise, starring Roger Moore and Barbara Bach opened in the U.S. in 1977. Its theme song “Nobody Does It Better” was written by Carole Bayer Sager, composed by Marvin Hamlisch and performed by Carly Simon… “Contact” starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey premiered in wide release in 1997… hit comedy “Legally Blonde” starring Reese Witherspoon opened in 2001…”Dunkirk,” starring Mark Rylance and Tom Hardy, opened in London in 2017.

Music:
George Harrison released single “Faster” in 1979…Kylie Minogue released her debut single “Locomotion” in 1987..“She Wolf,” the lead single from Shakira’s eighth album, premiered in 2009… Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100: “Rock Your Baby” by George McCrae in 1974; “A View To A Kill” by Duran Duran (the lone James Bond film theme to hit No. 1) in 1985; “How Do U Want It/California Love” by 2Pac in 1996.

News:

In 1994, Jeff Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison for his attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

Celebrity Birthdays
Game show announcer Johnny Gilbert is 93; “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star Patrick Stewart is 81; Harrison Ford is 79; singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn of The Byrds is also 79; “Nash Bridges” star Cheech Marin is 75; “Pardon the Interruption” host Tony Kornheiser is 73; actress Daphne Maxwell Reid (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) is also 73; “Jerry Maguire” scribe Cameron Crowe is 64; actor Michael Jace (“The Shield”) is 59; actor-comedian-“Masked Singer” judge Ken Jeong is 52; “Survivor Guatemala” winner Danni Boatwright is 46; singer Leon Bridges is 32.

Did You Know?
In her autobiography, “Cybill Disobedience,” Cybill Shepherd stated that the Cybill character was based on herself — or at least what her life as an actress could have been without the successes of 1971 theatrical “The Last Picture Show” and ABC 1980s detective drama “Moonlighting.”