Today in History: Many Random Things!

This is a Yesterday in History! I am doing many small snippets of history! Though there are not huge historical events like the signing of the Declaration of Independence or the first time mankind landed on the moon, there are many interesting milestones that have etched its mark on history.


Does this look familiar?

It's the United States Seal! We can see the seal on United States passports, presidential seal, and on United States Dollars. On June 20st, 1782, Congress adopted the seal. Congress took six years, from 1776 to 1782, to decide on this seal. The seal includes a bald eagle, America's national bird and animal, holding and olive branch and thirteen arrows. Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, explained that, "the Olive branch and arrows denote the power of peace and wart which is exclusivelly vested in Congress."

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The American Civil War was a bloody, violent time in the United State's relatively young history. As people began to separate, so did the states. West Virginia decides to join the union on June 20th, 1863. When Virginia decided to secede, many in Virginia who lived to the west did not, therefor deciding to secede and join the Union.

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You probably know this theme song. (Well, it does say the song title on the link)

A particular movie directed by Steven Spielberg premiered in the summer of 1975, and it became the summer blockbuster of that year. On June 20th, 1975, Jaws, the Academy Award winning film, was released. This movie is considered Spielberg's breakout movie. Spielberg went on to direct many more notable films including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones.

Though Jaws took $12 million to produce, it net $430,653,000 in box office sales. Adjusted for inflation today, it would rank 9th in the highest grossing movies of all time.